were samurais really that great in japan, or is that just in the media?

Samurai is not just about fighting, it's a way of living (strict discipline, strong morals and loyalty, etc). Samurai is more like a protector of the noble people. To them, it's an honor to serve and protect their lord. It's the discipline, loyalty and courage that the Japanese still have great pride in.

The royalty and nobility didn't send the samurais to go attack foreign countries, the samurai were more of protection from invaders from foreign countries and rebels within Japan.

there were pretty wild

samurais were pretty hard core. but id rather be a ninja

Because that's their culture/history. It makes the country unique that's why when someone says "samurai" we immediately think "Japan" because it started there.

Your information about Japan never winning a war is incorrect. Japan defeat China in 1895 and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War circa 1905-08. In the Russo-Japanese War, Japan sunk virtually the entire Grand Fleet of the Baltic in the battle of Tsushima. Japan was also on the Allied side, that's the US and Brittan, in World War I.

Samurais go back over a thousand years. Over that time, the samurai developed their own code of behavior called bushido. It emphasized duty, honor and absolute loyalty to one's master even if it meant losing your life in the process. Originally, the code applied to only those of samurai class but by the 19th century it spread to the entire nation. If you think "what so great about self sacrifice", then ask what is so great about the Alamo, etc..

Basically they were parasites. The peasants, merchants and caftsmen worked really hard while the samurai did nothing because Japan was at peace during the Tokugawa era. That's why they had to come up with bushido-to justify their pointless existence. When Perry showed up it turned out they had no answers for his rifled barrels so that was the end of them.

The code of the samurai (Bushi-do) deserves to be respected. But I believe there were quit a few samurais who were afraid of death and out of the samurai spirit.

The samurai defeated Mongol invasions twice. The early proto-samurai fought in the wars of the Three Kingdoms Period of Korea and carved out a territory for Japan that lasted some generations. In the late 16th Century, samurai cut a bloody destructive path through Korea but their Achilles's Heel was the sea.

By the time of the Russo-Japanese War and Sino-Japanese War which were victories for Japan, the samurai no longer existed as a class.

The reason why Japanese are proud of the samurai is not their deeds in battle but their ideals of loyalty, discipline, and dedication to duty. Many salarymen see themselves as a modern samurai in this respect.

Not all historical samurai were like this of course but it's the symbol of the samurai rather than the actual historical reality that people are proud of much like Europeans are with knights and Americans are with cowboys.

One of the most popular stories of samurai that best illustrates the traits that Japanese admire in the samurai and themselves for that matter is the story of the 47 Ronin:
http://samuraidave.wordpress.com/2007/12/22/japan-remembers-its-47-hero-samurai-the-47-ronin-story/
One scholar said that to know the story of the 47 Ronin is to know Japan.

Also in modern times, samurai are still seen as cool as represented here in Akihabara:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRJJFsN5IME