Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress (original Japanese title: Kakushi Toride No San Akunin) stars Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara as a pair of misfit soldiers. Running from the enemy after a disastrous defeat, the two soldiers fall in with general Toshiro Mifune, who is in search of a huge cache of gold. Mifune is also desirous of freeing princess-in-exile Misa Uehara from the clutches of the evil victorious army. Several large and small battles ensue before Mifune can realize his goal. If the plot of Hidden Fortress sounds vaguely familiar to you, try this exercise: substitute two robots for Chiaki and Fujiwara, Mark Hamill for Mifune, and Carrie Fisher for Uehara. George Lucas himself admitted that Hidden Fortress was a principal inspiration for his Star Wars saga; stretching the point farther, both Hidden Fortress and Star Wars had their roots in John Ford's The Searchers. Originally released in a 137-minute form, The Hidden Fortress was sliced to ribbons by its American distributors, and years later received extensive restoration.
Minoru Chiaki | Tahei |
Kamatari Fujiwara | Matashichi |
Susumu Fujita | General Hyoe Tadokoro |
Takashi Shimura | The Old General, Izumi Nagakura |
Misa Uehara | Princess Yuki |
Eiko Miyoshi | Old Lady-in-Waiting |
Toshiko Higuchi | Farmer's Daughter bought from slave trader |
Yû Fujiki | Barrier guard |
Yoshio Tsuchiya | Samurai on horse |
Kokuten Kôdô | Old man in front of sign |
Takeshi Katô | Fleeing, bloody samurai |
Kôji Mitsui | Guard |
Toranosuke Ogawa | Magistrate of the bridge barrier |
Kichijirô Ueda | Slave Trader |
Kazuo Yamasaki | Cinematographer |
Akira Kurosawa | Editor |
Masaru Satô | Composer |
Toshiro Mifune | General Rokurota Makabe |
Yoshirô Muraki | Production Designer |