Kakushi-toride no san-akunin

George Lucas declared that this film was an inspiration for Star Wars. The similarities are very obvious.

There is a hero, actually a General undercover, and two bumbling fools that stumble upon the Hidden Fortress in the title. You can consider these two fools to be the robots in Star Wars. They certainly provide a lot of laughs. They are constantly being fooled as they help the general.

The fools, played brilliantly by Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara do manage to survive at the end and walk off together as friends. They are the most interesting part of Akira Kurosawa's film that relies more on characters than most of his other Samurai pictures.

Of course, there is the pleasure of seeing Toshiro Mifune as General Rokurota Makabe, whose mission it is to save the Princess, no, not Leia, but Princess Yuki (Misa Uehara), who has the same spirit that Lucas used in Princess Leia.

The rebel forces are, of course, fooled and the Princess and the gold they are carrying gets to a friendly province.

Another fantastic adventure by Kurosawa and Mifune.

The Hidden Fortress is a fine movie that deserves better than to be remembered as the inspiration for Star Wars. Two more dissimilar movies would hard to be imagined. The peasants bear a striking resemblance to Vladimir and Estragon in their infighting, negotiable affection for each other and their seeming inability to make any real progress toward any goal whatsoever. They are truly a venal pair, loveable only in their humanity and humor.

I saw The Hidden Fortress on the Criterion DVD. Beautiful print but no commentary outside of a brief interview with George Lucas distancing himself from the film's alleged influence on Star Wars. It would have been nice to hear interviews with surviving cast and crew or a knowledgeable historian. Criterion also made a terrible choice in not translating more of the credits. Only Kurosawa and Mifuni had the honor of an English translation. Surely Misa Uehara, Minoru Chaiki and Kamatari Fujiwara deserve to have their names known to we who lack basic Japanese. The Princess and the peasants help make this movie what it is. I gripe too much though. Without Criterion (and Netflix)I would not have been able to see this movie at all.

Again, The Hidden Fortress is a great movie that also happens to be great fun. Highly recommended

This is one of the most hilarious movies I have ever seen. There is just too much to write about, so just rent it, or better yet, buy it! Toshiro Mifune's performance as Rokorota alone is worth it. His "duel scene" in which he battles general Hoye is fantastic. I guess George Lucas based Star Wars on this wonderful movie. I've already watched this movie 6 times, Star Wars 3. I just can't recommend it enough. Hidden Fortress & Rashomon are 2 of my favorite Kurasawa/Mifune collaborations. Rent them both & have fun!

It might not quite compare with Kurosawa's greatest movies, but "The Hidden Fortress" is good entertainment with an interesting story and characters. Toshiro Mifune is enjoyable to watch as always, and although most of the story is played for action and/or humor, it does have a couple of powerful scenes as well. The story of a defeated general trying to lead his princess past the enemy to safety is given plenty of twists and turns that give all of the characters some good moments.

Along with all of the action, there are some pretty good characters, with Mifune, as the general, a big part of holding everything together in his interactions with all of the others. The rather spoiled princess learns quite a bit about life, and the two greedy farmers learn - and often quickly forget - some lessons of their own. There are also some good scenes with an enemy general. Most of it works well, and it's an entertaining movie.

I'm not sure that it is helpful knowing that George Lucas found inspiration for his `Star Wars' films in Kurosawa's historical epic, `The Hidden Fortress' (1958). Oh, there are a number of matters of content that seem quite similar. Though Kurosawa's story takes place in sixteenth century Japan and Lucas sets his in space in the future, the basic struggles are the same-the restoration of power to a princess and her clan. Some would compare Toshiro Mifune's General Rokurota Makabe to Harrison Ford's Hans Solo in `Star Wars' (1977), though there may be more commonality shared with Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker. And the two peasant farmers, pawns in the turmoil of sixteenth century Japanese civil wars, are easily identified as precursors of the `Star Wars' droids, R2-D2 and C3PO.

However, when all is said and done, the comparisons are only superficial. It may be more constructive to note some aspects of humor and character that are utilized in general. Kurosawa has always been willing to develop exaggerated characters. The peasant farmers, with their quick shifts between cowardice, bickering , and thievery are good examples of this. Certainly the first two of these traits were incorporated in the character of C3PO (the mechanical humanoid), but R2-D2 shows none of these characteristics. There is, however, an overall sense of humor that permeates both `The Hidden Fortress' and the `Star Wars' films-as well as a strong sense of nobility in the central characters, Rokurota and Skywalker.

That said, `The Hidden Fortress' seems to me to have clearly been made by a superior filmmaker. Both are good at telling the story. The `Star Wars' films rely heavily on special effects, to the extent, I think, that these are the central features of the films. `The Hidden Fortress,' while a relatively light weight work for Kurosawa, involves much more subtle character development achieved by means of acting skill revealed through visual composition and unenhanced camera work.

This was Kurosawa's first use of Tohoscope, a Japanese widescreen process. And he uses the screen frequently to develop character. Over and over again he uses the wide screen to develop and reveal character. The peasant farmers are certainly more complex than the droids, though they are simplistically exaggerated. Kurosawa chose to explore the situation of these piteous beings, buffeted about in the feudal wars of sixteenth century Japan, in visually reinforced wide screen long shots in those final scenes on the plains.

The code of the samurai is central to an understanding of `The Seven Samurai' (1954), `Yojimbo' (1961), and `Sanjuro' (1962), and even `Rashomon' (1954). These are all great films centered around the samurai class in Japan's past. From the ninth century, samurai warriors followed a strict code of ethical behavior known as `bushido,' which remained orally transmitted for generations. Briefly it is a way of life in which the warrior's honor and purpose are tied closely to the needs of his master. In this respect, he was to be selfless. His was not to understand or concern himself with politics-only to defend with honor the family or clan he served. For such a man the ideal was to be without fear-to always move forward in his employer's interest-without fear of death-only fear of dishonor. Toshiro Mifune's character in `The Hidden Fortress' is a military general, but his devotion to the creed and to his princess can be explained relative to this code. His daring, too, extends from that. So, too, his reputation reflects that of an accomplished samurai. An especially strong scene in this regard is the duel scene in which Rokurota's skill and bravery are what are prized and respected by his opponent.

Above all, The Hidden Fortress remains a great adventure permeated with humor and nobility. While the force in the `Star Wars' sense is never mentioned, it remains a tacit part of Rokurota's nobility.