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Review: My copy has a small glich at the end of chapter 18. I have not been able to secure an answer for the "criterion collection" as to whether this is part of the transfer or a problem with my disc. Otherwise, an outstanding show with brilliant characterizations.Minus one star for the questionable glich.
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Summary: marred remastering
Review: The remastering has cleaned up each frame and made each frame that much more visually acute. Unfortunately the quality is not consistent across frames. This is especially apparent on consecutive frames with dark pictures. Some frames have perceptibly darker tones than the surrounding ones. Also the film freezes at the end of track 18, in transition to track 19, ruining the experience.
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Summary: It's Kurosawa so you've got to see it
Review: Most people have only heard of The Hidden Fortress through association with Star Wars. It is quite common for reviewers to say that Lucas owed The Hidden Fortress a great debt. However, you should not go into this movie thinking you are going to see some martial arts version of America's most sucessful trilogy (if you want that take a look at Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon). The Hidden Fortress is all Kurosawa and you are better off anticipating something like Yojimbo or 7 Samurai. The main similarity to Star Wars is that the tale is told from the two most insignifigant characters. The film follows two useless pesants around (much like Star wars follows around R2-D2 and C-3P0) while the action happens surrounding them. There are other similarities, but this is the most striking. As always in Kurosawa movies, there are shots that are angled a certain way to provoke a certain effect that you will probably recognize as having seen a thousand times in modern movies, but the thing that is remarkable here is that chances are this is the first time they were used. Mifune gives a typically great performance so this movie is definately worth checking out, just don't take the Star Wars comparisons too seriously. The influence is there, but if you bend over backward trying to make connections you'll miss the best that both movies have to offer.
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Summary: THE summer blockbuster of 2001
Review: Perfect timing for this release. A summer-style blockbuster, made over a decade before the concept hit the Hollywood machine. The release adds little to Janus' already-excellent VHS release, but the DVD format is so sweet I had to get it anyway. Keep the Kurosawas coming, Criterion! Lucas adds some interesting commentary, but I sensed he's still holding back in his acknowledgements. As far as the eternal STAR WARS vs. HIDDEN FORTRESS debate goes, just thank your personal deity that we have them both. Now, as someone said, if only more modern filmmakers would copy from the master....
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Summary: Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress"
Review: Kurosawa Akira's "Hidden Fortress" is a thoroughly entertaining film. Although this is not a world cinema great, it is a classic action/adventure in a manner that is now rarely made.
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Summary: Hidden Fortress should be an inspiration to all
Review: Many have complained that directors such as George Lucas and John Sturges have blatantly ripped off the master of film Akira Kurosawa. What they should lament is that there hasn't been further homages of his work by other directors. Tight pacing, solid characters, intense action. These are things that present day cinema have seem to have forgotten. While some have said that Lucas' epic is a pale shadow to what Kurosawa wrought (even Lucas himself might admit this), it can be said that Lucas championed the Kurosawa style. This DVD is a perfect addition to anyone's collection; Kurosawa afficionados, Star Wars fans and film buffs.
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Summary: Stunning transfer of a classic adventure
Review: I saw 'Seven Samurai' several years before this film, whereas I think watching them the other way round would have been better. This film is a rousing action adventure with few pretensions to great art, while Seven Samurai, although containing breathtaking battle scenes, is a more profound work. I'd recommend this film first, especially as it seeem to have had a larger budget with many spectacular sequences.The film itself is marvellously entertaining, with classic characterisations from the entire cast, especially the two bickering peasants who accompany the General (Toshiro Mifune, brilliant as always) and the young princess into enemy territory. Criterion's anamorphic DVD transfer is quite simply flawless, much finer than 'Seven Samurai', decent though that is. No nicks or scars at all, and the subtletly of varying grays is marvellous. In fact I can't think of *any* black and white film I've seen which looks better on DVD, and I've seen quite a few, like the great 1959 courtroom drama 'Anatomy Of A Murder' (James Stewart), which looks excellent (I recommend it). Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' and Scorsese's 'Raging Bull' (which date from 1979 and 1980) don't look any finer. This 1958 transfer is that good! The sound is decent mono (there is also an unusual 3 channel fake stereo version if you want to try it, it sounds good), and decent extras, including an interview with George Lucas, who was of course influenced by this film when he made Star Wars. Do not miss this excellent film on this outstanding DVD. Then sample the Kurosawa/Mifune symbiosis in 'High & Low', and 'Seven Samurai' (perhaps in that order). The former's Criterion transfer is excellent, the latter less so, but still good.
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Summary: HEROIC ACTION, WRY WIT, HUMAN COMPASSION
Review: This terrific 1958 action adventure is probably best known as the inspiration for George Lucas' "Star Wars." Exotic adventure, historical myths, moral themes and knight-like chivalry are the prime elements in Akira Kurosawa's 1958 magnum opus of heroic action and self-discovery. The plot concerns a general and a princess who must escape enemy forces while smuggling royal treasure out of hostile territory with two inept, conspiring peasants at their sides. Kurosawa's uses all the cinematic tools to deliver a spectacular blend of epic action, wry humor and human compassion. Man in nature, man against nature, man against man and man fulfilling his destiny or fighting fate are all played out in rain and fog, on rock and sand, in woods and water. The superb visual composition and lighting make this among the very best of all black and white films. Rich greys, velvety blacks and silvery glints of dazzling light abound in the deeply evocative cinematography in this stunning, newly restored, widescreen (2.35:1) Tohoscope transfer. The disc includes an exclusive new interview with George Lucas. A must have. 139 minutes, not rated. ...
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Summary: CROUCHING SAMURAI, HIDDEN FORTRESS
Review: Thanks to Criterion, here is another title that will find its place in your library : Akira Kurosawa's HIDDEN FORTRESS. Shot in Tohoscope and in b&w, this 1958 action film may easily be compared to any Hollywood movies of the late fifties. In fact, HIDDEN FORTRESS is superior to most of the american productions of that period for a simple reason : Akira Kurosawa had a personal style very recognizable while Hollywood directors were very often only yes-men hired by producers for their technical skills. The first 5 minutes of HIDDEN FORTRESS are already a moment of anthology. As well as the duel scene involving a fabulous Toshiro Mifune. The cinematography is gorgeous, Akira Kurosawa filming a wide variety of landscapes under the sun, the rain, in the fog, by day and by night : simply stunning. If you are not familiar with japanese movies, HIDDEN FORTRESS or YOJIMBO, also available in the Criterion Collection, could be an excellent introduction to this cinema that has produced numerous masterpieces. As bonus features, a trailer and a 10 minutes interview with George Lucas recorded in january 2001. The american producer confirms that HIDDEN FORTRESS had a great influence on him while he was writing the Luke Skywalker saga. Movie lovers had already noticed it a long time ago. A DVD zone reference.
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Summary: The Hidden Fortress
Review: The least of Kurosawa's works is also the most fun. It follows the adventures of two cowardly, greedy peasents as they try to smuggle 200 pieces of gold out of enemy territory. They encounter a powerful warrior, played by the great Toshiro Mifune, and a beautiful yet strong willed princess, to whom the gold really belong. Mifune is excellent as he outwits and outfights the enemy soldiers as well as bamboozling the hapless peasents by playing upon their excessive greediness. Parallels can be seen to Star Wars but not as many as you might think. Kurosawa's love of all things film can be seen in the impressive shots of the land as well as his cleaver editing techniques.
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