Ten years after the end of the American Civil War, the Civil War hero Nathan (Tom Cruise Tom Cruise) drank too much because he had nothing to do. By chance, he met a Japanese businessman who came to the United States to do business. Nathan's brilliant record impressed the other side. At this time, during the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese emperor wanted to train a modern combat force, so Nathan was invited to Japan. Many Japanese samurai do not welcome Nathan's arrival, they firmly refuse to abandon the traditional Bushido spirit, and are very disgusted with the westernization of the samurai. Under the leadership of the leader Ugio (Hiroshi Mada), they raised their knives and revolted and went to a remote mountain village to stand on their own feet. The emperor was furious and sent Nathan with a modern army he had trained to encircle and suppress the renegade samurai. Unexpectedly, the imperial army was wiped out, and Nathan became a prisoner.