Star Wars is one of the most iconic film franchises in pop culture and has likely inspired many modern filmmakers. But George Lucas also admired a legendary filmmaker. One of his films is also strongly reminiscent of Star Wars.
What is it about? Star Wars is one of the most relevant film series in all of pop culture. Everyone knows laser swords, Darth Vader or Yoda. Many young filmmakers have probably been inspired by George Lucas and his series.
But George Lucas also had filmmakers he respected and praised, including Akira Kurosawa. The legendary director was a pioneer of film art. If you look at his 1958 film The Hidden Fortress in comparison to Star Wars, you’ll see a suspicious number of similarities.
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Star Wars and The Hidden Fortress
What are these similarities? Akira Kurosawa is one of cinema’s visionaries, and many of his films have been important sources of inspiration for other cult directors. Star Wars is very similar to The Hidden Fortress, which appeared in 1958. The similarities run through several Star Wars films, as BBC’s Nicholas Barber explains in an article.
The first similarity would be with the characters Tahei and Mataschichi. The two differ greatly in size, wander through a desert and can’t keep their mouths shut. In the film, the two help a former general escort a princess. This is reminiscent of C3P0 and R2D2, who are supposed to help Obi-Wan-Kenobi bring Leia to the base.
The princess from The Hidden Fortress even disguises herself as a simple farmer’s wife to hide herself. Like Princess Amidala in the Star Wars prequels. At the end of The Hidden Fortress, the heroes are rescued by a scarred enemy who switches sides towards the end. Similar to Darth Vader.
There are also some visual similarities. Darth Vader’s design was partly inspired by samurai armor, and sword fighting is also a central means of combat in samurai films. The iconic black fades from the Star Wars films were also often used by Kurosawa.
More like a coincidence
What does George Lucas say about this? In an old interview (via YouTube), George Lucas also talked about Kurosawa and the influence he had. He says that he only got to know his films when he was studying film. The first film he saw by Kurosawa was The Seven Samurai. Afterwards he was tied up.
George Lucas was particularly impressed by Kurosawa’s visual skills and camera techniques. While The Hidden Fortress isn’t his favorite Kurosawa film, he admits that he was inspired by some aspects of it.
He liked how Kurosawa told the story from the perspective of the two lowest characters (Tahei and Mataschichi). That’s where he came up with the idea of C3P0 and R2D2.
The aspect with the princess, who also operates within enemy lines, is more of a coincidence for him. At first he planned a story about an old Jedi who has to escape with Leia, but it turned into the story of Luke Skywalker and his development.
Nevertheless, the story of the princess and the old general is pretty close to Star Wars.
He also says that he believes that all stories have existed for thousands of years, and at some point you notice that stories are repeated over and over again.
Is Star Wars a cheeky copy of The Hidden Fortress? Of course not. Just like all artists, filmmakers are inspired by all kinds of things and films. Sometimes this happens consciously and sometimes unconsciously. In the case of Akira Kurosawa, this is even more special because he was a true visionary.
His camera techniques, perspectives and ideas still have a great influence on many directors today. A Fistful of Dollars, The Magnificent Seven, The Usual Suspects are just a few examples of films that were inspired by Kurosawa’s works. A lot has changed since the concept phase of Star Wars. So did Master Yoda: Star Wars: Master Yoda almost didn’t exist – another Jedi should have taken over his role