What is Reddit's opinion of Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide?
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I'd also point out that it draws heavily from the final duel in Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro, which is appropriate since Lucas himself drew very heavily from Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress in writing the first Star Wars movie, and Toshiro Mifune, the star of both Sanjuro and The Hidden Fortress, was one of Lucas' early choices to play Obi-Wan and the Jedi in general are influenced by samurai. (Mifune turned the role down.)

The full circle of influences in this scene is really fantastic in that regard.

Anyone who hasn't explored Kurosawa's work really should. Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ran, Yojimbo, and so many more. The man's entire filmography is filled with masterpieces. Plus, Mifune was a beast and most of his best work was done with Kurosawa.

> I think another one we studied in class was he famously based most of Star Wars off of an old Japanese movie that focused on two joke characters and their journey. Those characters became C-3PO and R2D2

The Hidden Fortress by Akira Kurosawa, who also did Seven Samurai (which was adapted into The Magnificent Seven), Yojimbo and Sanjuro (which became the Clint Eastwood movies Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars more), and many others.

The general plot outline of Star Wars is quite close to The Hidden Fortress. I look at it in detail in my book on Kurosawa's work.

Lucas made no secret of this. He was a huge Kurosawa fan. At one point he even considered Toshiro Mifune, who starred in all the above movies, to play Obi-Wan.

Lucas certainly paid it forward. When Kurosawa was all but washed up and couldn't get funding for his movies anymore, Lucas helped convince Fox to help fund Kurosawa's next project. It ended up reinvigorating his career, and Kurosawa went on to make masterpieces like Ran and Dreams.