I see, very informative. I was simply curious as to other's opinions on the matter. I own these movies, and I enjoy them, yet as to not disrespect the friendship and bond I have with my Japanese friends, I do not speak on the subject. However, they love DDR, smoking, BBQs, Green Tea, Rock music, and abstract photography. Very fun to be around. We often go to Samurai Expos, Tea Ceremonies, and Botanical Gardens. As asked by megabyte117, I have not asked them on their opinion of that movie. Everyone does have differing opinions though, it is only natural. The Chinese playing Japanese in movies is also something that irritates them, as stated earlier in this thread.

If you have seen the quality of your typical Japanese movie or television drama, then there is no mystery why American productions do so well. Japanese productions are so neurotic and predictable that I'm often tempted to start throwing things at my tv screen. Japanese pop music is much the same, it's over-produced crap, like the "Back Street Boys" on steroids. It's no wonder that stores, hair salons, and radio stations play primarily Western music.

As for the popularity of anime in Japan, it's still very strong. The annual "Naruto-fest" draws huge crowds, and you'll find long lines in Akihabara when new editions are released.

BTW, "Letters from Iwo Jima" was a big hit here, and Clint Eastwood is more or less a hero.

Cool. I saw the movie and wondered how receptive the Japanese were to it. Very well done.

Last Samurai
 

I got past the whole white guy riding in to save the day thing and saw The last samurai for what it was, a great movie. To me , it was the best american asian movie I'd seen in along time. Edward Zwick really tried to stay true to Japanese culture. The best sequence of the whole movie is when the ninja's try to assasinate Katsumoto. The sheer intensity of the fighting was unbelievable.

I really enjoyed Last Samurai, It's probably going to be difficult to market that type of movie to both countries and make everyone happy, but I think they did an admirable job.

Letters from Iwo Jima was really good as well. I particularly enjoyed the extras on the DvD.

I never saw Kill Bill as a Japanese movie so eh.

There is a novel out called "All you need is Kill" that shows Americans in a positive light, American military no less. It's a pretty action based read wich I enjoyed.

i only enjoyed the last samurai movie...........becouse its showed the meaning of respect and friendship,eventhough its not 100% about the true friendship

That's a bit harsh...

The majority of American productions are typically crap also... (GI Joe? Transformers 2? Disaster movie, Superhero movie... I could go on forever! )

There are gems amongst the crap though... both in Japan and in America.

Loved The Last Samurai, one of my favorites. Hated Kill Bill. I still don't know if it was meant to be a comedy or if its just that stupid. Never saw Memoirs of a Geisha. Most of the crap movies from America are crap because they play off something that did good. Transformers 1 did amazing, so everyone expected Transformers 2 to be just as good and would go see it no matter what they did to it. Same thing with Disaster movie and date movie and all those crappy parody movies. Scary Movie was semi funny and the general population of America (not being very smart, sorry its a fact, I live with these people everyday) find these movies hilarious. People kept going to see them so they kept making them. It was all about money.

Why would this piss anyone off? You know, when people are in movies, they are acting. People fake accents, looks, styles, behavior, etc. all the time, but should the people who really have those qualities be mad at them? Nationalities are no different. Seriously, it does not take a Japanese person to act like a Japanese person.

....huh?

I think the typical Japanese movie is a lot better than the typical American movie.....as for drama I can't say, don't have time to watch them...maybe US has the upper hand here.