We love Twilight Samurai! It's really unusual to find a Japanese movie that isn't too violent, or too scary, or just plain weird in some other way. Twilight Samurai is so good because it portrays the way life really was in that time period, and to me it shows that culture doesn't define you. I'll explain...
In Japan, there are very strict, traditional male-female roles. Men are the bread winners, and women are expected to take care of the house. As it is anywhere, more and more women are out working. But that hasn't changed the expectation for them to do all the housework.
Japanese men also are expected to put work and relations with co-workers first. This makes them class-A workers, but not great family men. Men will often work 10+ hours a day and then go out at night with their co-workers. This creates "unity" within the workplace, and they are never at home.
In Twilight Samurai, the main character, Seibei Iguchi (I know, I know! I typed it backwards, but I didn't think the non-Japanophiles would get that), is a recent widower. He has two children and an ailing mother with Alzheimer's. He is constantly trying to balance home life with work life, and he chooses home life! It's amazing! At one point, his uncle comes to his house and very rudely tells him he should marry someone, anyone, so that he won't have to do the housework anymore. Seibei refuses to marry just to have a house keeper and then says something to the effect of, "Watching my daughters grow up is like watching crops grow to maturity. It's very satisfying."
To me this shows that good values are not always culturally influcened. They are universal.
Twilight Samurai is an excellent movie. I highly recommend it. It's not really a kid friendly movie though. It is in Japanese so you have to read the subtitles, and there are a couple fight scenes that kids probably wouldn't understand. They're nothing too violent or gory like a lot of samurai movies. Throughout the entire movie, Seibei is very hesitant to use violence to solve a problem. And when he has to fight, tries every other option even as he's fighting. But he is pretty awesome at sword play.
PS: The actor who plays Seibei Iguchi, Hiroyuki Sanada, is also in several other popular movies such as, Speed Racer, Rush Hour 3, The Last Samurai, and Ringu (the original, Japanese movie, The Ring).
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