12 quotes
Unexpected Halt in Military Action
Colonel Bagley
What on earth?!
Omura
What is happening?
Colonel Bagley
The attack has been stopped.
Omura
Send in rest of the regiment.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Questioning Loyalty and Identity
Colonel Bagley
Just tell me one thing. What is it about your own people that you hate so much?
[to Algren]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Fate of Warriors Discussed
Katsumoto
What happened to the warriors at ]?
[[w:Battle of Thermopylae|Thermopylae]
Nathan Algren
Dead to the last man.
[smiling]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conflict Between Tradition and Modernity
Katsumoto
With this sword I guarded the Emperor...
Omura
We don't need your protection. We are a nation of laws.
Katsumoto
We are a nation of whores selling ourselves...
Omura
If we are whores, the samurai made us this way.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Confrontation Between Imperial Forces and Samurai
Colonel Bagley
Good God! Sir, the Imperial Army of Japan demands your surrender. If you and your fellows lay down your arms, you will not be harmed.
[Recovers to face both Algren and Katsumoto]
Katsumoto
This is not possible as Mr. Omura knows.
Colonel Bagley
Captain Algren, we will show you no quarter. You ride against us and you're the same as they are.
Algren
I'll look for you in the field.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
A Tense Standoff Between Soldiers
Algren
Load. Mr. Graham, tell this man to fire at me!
[To one Japanese soldier; to Simon Graham]
Simon Graham
I beg your pardon?
Algren
Tell this man that if he does not shoot me, I will kill him.
[Pulls out his pistol and cocks it]
Sgt. Gant
Captain, if I might have a word...
Algren
Tell him... tell him!
[Re-cocks his pistol]
Algren
Load!
Algren
Faster! Faster!
[fires again]
Algren
Shoot me, damn it.
Algren
Fire! Fire, ute!
Algren
They're not ready.
[to Bagley]
Colonel Bagley
The regiment leaves at 6 AM!
[to the rest of the army]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Perceptions of Leadership and Honor
Omura
Katsumoto is an extraordinary man, is he not?
Algren
He's a tribal leader. I've known many of them.
Omura
But none who are samurai. Their ways have great appeal.
Algren
I don't see how this concerns me.
Omura
Ah, but it does. You see, you were right, Captain Algren. Last year, we were not prepared to go to battle. You were right and Colonel Bagley was wrong. But now, we are ready. If Katsumoto is allowed to attract other samurai to his cause, we will have 10 years of rebellion. This is something I will not allow. Either I will stop him at the council today, or you will lead my army against him. And with these new weapons, you will crush him.
Algren
I appreciate the offer...
Omura
It is not an offer.
Algren
Mr. Omura, my contract with you was to train your army.
Omura
Then we will make a new contract. One that will recognize the extraordinary contribution you have made to the emperor. Do we understand each other?
Algren
Yes, we understand each other perfectly.
Omura
Then I am pleased. Follow him. If he goes anywhere near Katsumoto, kill him.
[Algren bows, turns, and leaves the room. Omura turns to his secretary and speaks in Japanese]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Loyalty and Conflict Among Advisors
{{w|Emperor Meiji}}
You rise against me, my teacher.
Katsumoto
No, Highness. I rise against your enemies.
Emperor Meiji
They are my advisors, like you.
Katsumoto
They advise in their own interest!
Emperor Meiji
I need advisors who know the modern world.
Katsumoto
If I am no use, I will happily end my life.
Emperor Meiji
No, I need your voice in the Council.
Katsumoto
It is your voice we need, Highness. You are a living god. Do what you think is right.
Emperor Meiji
I am a living god - as long as I do what *they* think is right.
[ruefully]
Katsumoto
...What sad words you speak...
[stunned beyond words, sorrowful]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
The Impact of Intense Physical Pain
Nathan Algren
Imagine someone who hates you with the utmost intensity grabbing a handful of your hair while you're lying prostrate and helpless. Then scraping the dull blade of a rusty knife across you scalp. And let your imagination grasp if you can, Mr. Graham, the effect that a strong, quick jerk on the turf of your hair to release any clinging particles would have on your nervous system.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Finding Peace in an Unfamiliar Land
Nathan Algren
Spring, 1877. This marks the longest I've stayed in one place since I left the farm at 17. There is so much here I will never understand. I've never been a church going man, and what I've seen on the field of battle has led me to question God's purpose. But there is indeed something spiritual in this place. And though it may forever be obscure to me, I cannot but be aware of its power. I do know that it is here that I've known my first untroubled sleep in many years.
[narrating]
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Conflict Over Railroad Control and Native Resistance
Colonel Bagley
Nathan, Katsumoto's attacked the railroad at the border of this province.
Omura
We cannot govern a country in which we cannot travel freely. He must be stopped now. My railroad is a priority for this country.
Algren
They're not ready.
[about the army]
Colonel Bagley
The rebels don't have a single rifle. They're savages with bows and arrows.
Algren
Whose sole occupation for the last thousand years has been war.
Colonel Bagley
You have superior firepower and a larger force. I am ordering the regiment to move against the rebel Katsumoto. You will track him down and engage him.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
Legacy of the Samurai's Strength
Nathan Algren
This is Katsumoto's sword. He would have wanted you to have it, that the strength of the Samurai be with you always.
[presents a sword]
Omura
Enlightened One, we weep for Katsumoto, but...
Algren
He hoped with his last breath that you would remember the ancestors who held this sword and what they died for.
Omura
Your Highness...
[as Emperor Meiji receives the sword]
Emperor Meiji
You were with him, at the end?
Algren
Hai.
[bows]
Omura
Emperor. This man fought against you!
[in English]
Algren
Your Highness, if you believe me to be your enemy, command me and I will gladly take my life.
Meiji
I dreamed of a unified Japan, of a country strong and independent and modern. And now we have railroads and cannon, Western clothing. But we cannot forget who we are, or where we come from. Ambassador Swanbeck, I have concluded that your treaty is NOT in the best interests of my people.
[ponders Algren's words and stands up; looks at sword]
Ambassador Swanbeck
Sir, if I may...
Meiji
So sorry, but you may not.
Swanbeck
This is an outrage!
[angrily storms out of the room. His aide bows to the emperor before leaving]
Omura
Enlightened One, we must discuss this-
[in Japanese]
Meiji
Omura, you have done quite enough.
Omura
Everything I have done, I have done for my country.
Meiji
Then you will not mind when I seize your family's assets and present them as my gift to the people.
[disbelieving Omura; Algren is seen pleased at Omura's downfall.]
Omura
You disgrace me!
[furious]
Meiji
If your shame is too unbearable, I offer you this sword! Tell me how he died.
[holds up Katsumoto's sword in front of Omura; Omura backs down. to Algren]
Algren
I will tell you how he lived.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.