But Actually ...
Whoever said Tom Cruise was the last samurai? It may have been his rugged visage next to the title on the movie posters ...
Warner Bros. Pictures
... but the true last samurai (plural) were the group of warriors with whom his character trained and fought. He may have learned from them and even taught them a thing or two about Americans (read: guns), but he could never truly hope to be one of them, if only because of the height requirement.
The last samurai (singular) was the final survivor of that group, Katsumoto. Based upon Saigo Takamori, who is considered to be the bona fide last samurai, Katsumoto meets his end the same way his real-world counterpart did: by following the samurai code and committing ritual seppuku. Unlike his real-world counterpart, he does so with assistance from Cruise's character -- who, in true American fashion, completely fucks it all up.
Warner Bros. Pictures
To be clear, Cruise's real role here would have been to behead Katsumoto to end his suffering.
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