The Hidden Fortress - Criterion Collection
by Akira Kurosawa
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Kamatari Fujiwara, Minoru Chiaki, Misa Uehara, Takashi Shimura, Toshir? MifuneDirector: Akira Kurosawa
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Japanese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 139 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-05-22
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of The Hidden Fortress - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: Good
Summary: 3 Stars
Those film viewers who equate foreign films with pretense need to sit down for a couple of hours and watch director Akira Kurosawa's first widescreen (Tohoscope) film, the black and white The Hidden Fortress (Kakushi-Toride No San-Akunin- literally The Three Villains Of The Hidden Fortress), from 1958. While it is a very good film, it is a great movie- in the feel good sense of the term. Filmmaker George Lucas claims this film was the inspiration for his third rate Star Wars films. Yes, there are a handful of similarities, but `influence' is usually used when a great work of art is influenced by an equal or lesser work of art, not when bad art rips off greater art. In short, influence occurs in evolution, not devolution, and Lucas's claims bear the stench of a lesser artist trying to parasitically sponge off a greater artist's reputation.
The Hidden Fortress runs 139 minutes, but it never slows down nor gets boring. It is action and humor nonstop, and Kurosawa reputedly only made the film to repay Toho Studios for allowing him to make riskier, more artistic films like Ikiru and Rashomon. In many ways, even though the film stars the great Toshir? Mifune, as General Rokurota Makabe, a role that is quite reserved in comparison to his other roles in period films- or jidai-geki (from where Lucas got the term Jedi), the film's narrative and heart belong to the two peasant farmer fools, tubby Tahei (Minoru Chiaki- the good natured samurai from Seven Samurai) and tiny Matakishi (Kamatari Fujiwara- the farmer Manzo from Seven Samurai), who make a terrific comedy team- far better than their supposed Star Wars stand-ins, R2D2 and C3PO. This duo not only get the most screen time, but the tale is basically from their point of view, and the viewer roots for them, despite their greed and stupidity constantly endangering them; whereas the more conventional tale of the Princess and her General is backgrounded and rather rote.... Fortunately, the occasional anachronism is about the only thing wrong with the tale, for The Hidden Fortress is a great adventure movie, as well as very funny. That said, I can state with the utmost seriousness that I know Akira Kurosawa. Akira Kurosawa is a friend of mine. And you, Mr. Lucas, are no Akira Kurosawa. Now, if only Tahei and Matakishi were around to beat him, as he so richly deserves.
Summary of The Hidden Fortress - Criterion Collection
A general and a princess must dodge enemy clans while smuggling the royal treasure out of hostile territory with two bumbling, conniving peasants at their sides; it's a spirited adventure that only Akira Kurosawa could create. Acknowledged as a primary influence on George Lucas' Star Wars, The Hidden Fortress delivers Kurosawa's inimitably deft blend of wry humor, breathtaking action and humanist compassion on an epic scale. The Criterion Collection is proud to present this landmark motion picture in a stunning, newly-restored Tohoscope edition.In one of the many classic collaborations between director Akira Kurosawa and his leading man Toshir? Mifune, this 1958 film tells the story of a warrior and a princess trying against all odds to return to their homeland with their fortune. Along the way, they are simultaneously assisted and thwarted by two itinerant and not too bright farmers with their own designs on the treasure, giving the story a subtle comic bent. The Hidden Fortress combines an epic tale of struggle and honor with modern comic sensibilities, creating a masterful addition to world cinema. --Robert Lane
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