Oba: The Last Samurai (2011)

Synopsis Oba: The Last Samurai (Taiheiyou no kiseki: Fokkusu to yobareta otoko) (2011) July 1944, The Imperial Japanese Army Garrison on Saipan mounted its final suicidal Banzai charge against the American Marines in the Battle for Saipan. Out of the 4000 Japanese who waged the charge there are almost no survivors but among them left alive is Captain Oba Sakae (Yutaka Takenouchi). Playing dead, he initially avoids capture and then is joined by a small band of survivors who retreat deep into the jungle. There, he as the highest ranking officer still alive will take command of the surviving 46 soldiers and 200 plus Japanese civilians now in his care who will evade the Marines and conduct a hit and run Guerrilla War long after the Americans declare the island secured in American hands. Enraged by Oba's resistance, the temperamental USMC Commander Colonel Pollard (Daniel Baldwin) launches an all out effort to hunt the man the Marines have dubbed "The Fox" of the Pacific. Failing to Capture Oba, Pollard is sacked and replaced by the mild mannered Colonel Wessinger (Treat Williams) who decides to take a rational less aggressive approach by deploying Captain Lewis (Sean McGowan) who lived in Japan and was both fluent in Japanese language and Culture to go reason with Oba and convince him to surrender. Based on the real life exploits of Captain Oba Sakae, Oba - The Last Samurai tells the incredible true story of one man who found the courage to live defying both the Bushido of the day and the overwhelming US Forces for over 512 days raiding US bases for supplies while evading capture well past the Japanese Surrender and into history. ??Louis E. Rosas Awards: 1 win Worldwide Gross: $17,737,092 Soundtrack: We Wish You A Merry Christmas (Traditional)