Overrated

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Like some other reviewers of Hidden Fortress, this was my first experience of an Akira Kurosawa film and unfortunately I was disappointed. There are several reasons for me finally viewing Hidden Fortress. One reason is that I have had several friends recommend this film and the main reason is because it is the inspiration for the Star Wars: A New Hope. I will first focus on why this film was such a disappointment for this reviewer. At first I thought the banter between the characters of Tahei and Matashichi was amusing. That being said, within ten minutes of this banter and their actions I was quickly annoyed by these characters. I kept hoping throughout the film that these two characters would develop into better and less annoying characters. Unfortunately this characters remained one dimensional with only a glimmer of growth at the end. In addition, the Princess Yuki character was just as annoying and whinny(at least during the first half). My second problem with Hidden Fortress is the pacing. The pacing of this film is tedious, aimless, and without a sense of urgency or suspense.I know that the characters of this film have to be cautions, but you would think there would a little urgency in getting the princess over hostile territory. That being said, I believe that Tahei and Matashichi hindered both the mission in the film and the film itself. The good of the film are the characters of General Rokurota and later Princess Yuki. Unlike two characters mentioned in this review, Yuki seems to demonstrate a sense of character development/depth. I would also say that my favorite character is The Old General. I actually cared about his character. Secondly, the direction and cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. And thirdly, the pacing during the second half improved and I felt some sense of suspense. I give the film a 6/10 and or a C+. I do look forward to watching Yojimbo sometime soon.

Tahei and Matashichi are two greedy bumbling peasants in feudal Japan. They are late to fight in a battle for the Yamana clan against the defeated Akizuki clan and end up digging graves. In the chaos, they escape and encounter General Rokurōta of the Akizuki clan hiding in the Hidden Fortress with Princess Yuki Akizuki and the remaining family gold. After Rokurōta's sister sacrifices herself in the princess' place, he takes the princess to a friendly ally. He tricks the two fools to carry the gold while the tomboy princess pretends to be mute. After witnessing an enslaved girl mistreated, the princess gets Rokurōta to purchase her.The great Akira Kurosawa made this samurai adventure comedy. The two foolish peasants are kind of funny. I imagine that they are a whole lot funnier back in the day for a Japanese audience. The culture, language and time differences do create a distance for a modern English audience. They are obviously broadly comical.

Set during the Sengoku period (1460s-1600s), Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" stars Minoru Chiaki and Kamatari Fujiwara as Tahei and Matashichi, a pair of squabbling peasants. The duo roam the Japanese countryside, doing their best to avoid bands of marauding soldiers."Hidden's" first act watches as Tahei and Matashichi are manipulated by Rokurota Makabe (Toshiro Mifune), a cunning samurai general. Promising the greedy peasants mountains of gold, he uses them as camouflage in his attempts to transport a princess (Misa Uehara) across enemy lines."What you make of another's kindness is up to you," Kurosawa has character's say. Kindness is something the film's princess learns, as she witnesses first-hand the sacrifices of her bodyguard, General Makabe, and the suffering of the peasants who live outside her castle walls. Kindness is also something General Rokurota must grapple with. He's a rival warrior with whom General Makabe fights an extended battle. During this battle, Makabe's objective is not to kill, but to frustrate, to deflect, to guide his belligerent opponent away from a fixation upon military solutions."The Hidden Fortress" is one of Kurosawa's more playful films. Part comedy, part adventure, part action epic, the film boasts glorious widescreen photography, a jaunty plot, some fine compositional work and the shortest short shorts ever worn by a princess. Aesthetically, the film's the bridge between Eisenstein, Ford and later imitators like Lucas and Leone. Indeed, George Lucas would lift chunks of "Hidden Fortress" for the plot of his "Star Wars", especially Kurosawa's notion of a tough, imperious princess.Though a bit long-winded, a number of Kurosawa's action sequences still pack a punch. One sequence in particular recalls Eisenstein's Odessa Steps sequence in "Battleship Potemkin". Elsewhere Kurosawa stages a sequence in which General Makabe – cool, tough and resourceful - pursues enemy scouts all the way back to their base, a scene which would influence the speeder bike chase in George Lucas' "Return of the Jedi". Lucas would help a financially-strapped Kurosawa get his 1980 film, "The Shadow Warrior", produced. Indeed, Lucas would be indirectly responsible for two of Kurosawa's greatest epics ("The Shadow Warrior" and "Ran"). Every good apprentice lends their master a helping hand.8/10 – See "Throne of Blood" and "Twilight Samurai".

One of those brilliant classics from Akira Kurosawa, it has a bit of everything, and shows a way to newer films with its very brilliant acting and more so its shots, which really set you into the film. There is not a dull moment like in a lot of old films, the style of Kurosawa showing through and his quality of film making.Clearly one for all true film lovers and one for all film students to watch and awe over, the brilliance of each shot and the refinement of brilliant film making.A clear 8/10, a brilliant film.One of two Japanese film makers to watch Kurosawa and Ozu, leading the way to modern film making.