隠し砦の三悪人 (aka The Hidden Fortress) (1958)

During a war between two fighting clans (Yamada vs. Akizuki), two ignorant peasants (Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara) join up with a mysterious man (Toshiro Mifune) and a mute woman (Misa Uehara) in crossing enemy lines with hidden sacks of gold. What the peasants don't know is that the man is a general in the Akizuki army and the woman is a princess of the Akizuki clan. Directed by Akira Kurosawa (SEVEN SAMURAI), this epic adventure movie was Kurosawa's first film in wide screen (TohoScope) and an obvious major influence on George Lucas' STAR WARS (1977). A big success in Japan, the film did poorly in the U.S. As usual, the clueless New York Times critic Bosley Crowther dismissed it. It's exciting and great fun and visually, it's a stunning film and cinematographer Ichio Yamazaki and Kurosawa's use of the B&W wide screen is superb. The action scenes are impressive but the visual highlight is the mesmerizing fire festival sequence. Some refer to the film as second tier Kurosawa but I don't view that as a condescension, second tier Kurosawa towers over most other directors. Mifune gives a robust performance and the appealing Misa Uehara in her film debut quit acting two years later. With Susumu Fujita and Eiko Miyoshi.