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The Hidden Fortress
Directed by
Akira Kurosawa
Not Rated
1960
2h 19m
Adventure
,
Action
,
and more
8.0
96%
92%
8.0
Add to Watchlist
Lured by gold, two greedy peasants unknowingly escort a princess and her general across enemy lines.
More
Where to Watch The Hidden Fortress
Shout! Factory TV
Free
Tubi TV
Free
Criterion Channel
Subscription
+6 more
Cast of The Hidden Fortress
Toshirō Mifune
General Rokurota Makabe
Minoru Chiaki
Tahei
Kamatari Fujiwara
Matashichi
Misa Uehara
Princess Yuki
Susumu Fujita
General Hyoe Tadokoro
Takashi Shimura
General Izumi Nagakura
Ikio Sawamura
Gambler (uncredited)
Kōji Mitsui
Guard (uncredited)
Takeo Oikawa
Guard (uncredited)
Yū Fujiki
Guard (uncredited)
Yutaka Sada
Guard (uncredited)
Haruo Suzuki
Horseman (uncredited)
Haruya Sakamoto
Horseman (uncredited)
Hiroyoshi Yamaguchi
Horseman (uncredited)
Minoru Itō
Horseman (uncredited)
Shigekatsu Kanazawa
Horseman (uncredited)
Shin Ōtomo
Horseman (uncredited)
Yoshio Tsuchiya
Horseman (uncredited)
Eiko Miyoshi
Maid (uncredited)
Toranosuke Ogawa
Magistrate (uncredited)
The Hidden Fortress Ratings & Reviews
Variety
Harold Myers
One of the best recent examples of Japanese film-making, this festival entry is distinguished by high grade direction. It also abounds in action, and is handsomely acted and produced.
New York Daily News
Dorothy Masters
Suspense and tension are maintained by able performances, skilled direction, shrewd photography.
Boston Globe
Marjory Adams
The photography is excellent.
Newsday
Ben Kubasik
It's good to have Japanese director Akira Kurosawa back with us in top form again with his The Hidden Fortress.
Chicago Reader
Dave Kehr
George Lucas says he lifted the plot of Star Wars from this 1958 production, which remains the only Kurosawa film unburdened by a need to make art.
IONCINEMA.com
Nicholas Bell
An entertaining adventure comedy that utilized widescreen technology to breathtaking effect (and represents Kurosawa's first time using Toho Scope), it's an impressively structured endeavor.
Gone With The Twins
Mike Massie
Even in the moments of levity, cleverness works its way into forms of manipulation, trickery, and lucky escapes.
Rachel's Reviews (YouTube)
Rachel Wagner
A bit on the dry side but worth watching for its influence and scope
Esquire Magazine
Dwight MacDonald
The film illustrates Kurosawa's two weaknesses: a tendency to over-labor and repeat and the mingling of incompatible genres; both are traits of a director who is unsure of his style.
Washington Post
Gary Arnold
Kurosawa's calculations pay off in thrills and clever character delineation. The trials of the journey impose heroic imperatives and bonds of loyalty that ennoble even the meanest characters.
Scene-Stealers.com
Eric Melin
Kurosawa was drawing influence from American directors like John Ford, so its an enjoyable film, but sometimes the movies that influenced a generation of filmmakers lose some of their luster because they've been borrowed from so many times.
Film Freak Central
Walter Chaw
For all its scale, it is at its heart a "nerd" comedy
Groucho Reviews
Peter Canavese
The play of light and dark elements in what's arguably Akira Kurosawa's most broadly appealing and entertaining picture...explores a dichotomy of the idiocy of greed and the rewards of sacrifice. [Criterion Blu-ray]
Movie Metropolis
Christopher Long
An immaculately staged bit of escapist entertainment that should not get lost among Kurosawa's more celebrated works.
The Dissolve
Keith Phipps
Kurosawa stages every scene with an eye toward screen-filling spectacle, [...] But he's also concerned with the characters' journey, and how they change-or don't-along the way.
Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
Dennis Schwartz
Highly entertaining comical samurai film.
Filmcritic.com
Paul Brenner
a masterpiece of composition, atmosphere, and subtext.
New York Times
Bosley Crowther
This is not to say that the action is not vivid, exciting and tense... This is simply to say that "The Hidden Fortress" is essentially a superficial film and that Kurosawa, for all his talent, is as prone to pot-boiling as anyone else.
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
George Lucas gives this Kurosawa classic its props as one of his inspirations for Star Wars.
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