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
was a principal inspiration for his
Star Wars
saga; stretching the point farther, both
and
had their roots in John Ford's
The Searchers
. Originally released in a 137-minute form,
was sliced to ribbons by its American distributors, and years later received extensive restoration.