THE HIDDEN FORTRESS

Version: 2001 Criterion #116 DVD; English subtitles

Have you seen the first Star Wars movie? If so, then you already know a little bit of this movie! George Lucas admits that The Hidden Fortress was an inspiration. It is very apparent. Hidden Fortress is about two peasants that get swept up in a revolution. The peasants let their greed guide them, and are split up a couple times. They eventually encounter a general from the losing side, and end up helping the general and his female companion smuggle something important to their cause out of the territory. Does that sound familiar? It should. :D There are even scenes in both films that match. Near the beginning of Hidden Fortress, the peasants get into an argument about where to go next and split up, only to be captured and reunited. Same thing happens in Star Wars. Lucas also stole the wipe effect from here, I'll bet. Both films also have a general face a former ally (though Obi-Wan's ends a little differently...)

Speaking of the general, Rokurota Makabe is easily my favorite character. Granted, Toshiro Mifune got me into the Kurosawa films, but his character in this one is just awesome. The glare he gives the peasants when they first meet him is hilarious, and his fight scenes are awesome. Yuki, the female companion, is also pretty cool. She smacks the peasants with her stick a couple times, but she has this problem of shouting everything she says. You'll find out why.

I did have a couple problems with the film. No matter what track I listened to, the voices didn't seem to match the lips. I am suspicious of my copy's authenticity, though, so this may not be a universal issue. There is also the runtime. The film is 2 and a half hours long, so you get the feeling it will never end. The subtitles apparently miss some lines as well, but again I can't tell if that is a universal problem. There are some effect scenes that you can tell they spliced, but hey, this film was made in the 50s!

I would definitely watch this one.