Hidden Fortress (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

love this movie. the two main characters are so fun to watch

I can see why George Lucas was so captivated by this movie. Star Wars was based on this movie. A Samurai, rescuing a Princess, accompanied by two comic figures in their adventures. I truly enjoyed watching this movie. Strongly recommended.

This video was shipped quickly and arrived in good condition. This video is an enjoyable addition to my video collection! I am always impressed by the quality of the Criterion Collection versions of these films. My only complaint with this video is that it is hard to enable the English subtitles for this particular video on my system, unlike other Criterion Collection offerings.

Absolutely the basis of Star Wars - George Lucas admits this. Rescue of a sometimes difficult princess with a mind of her own. Two 'common fighters' on their way home from the latest war end up helping Toshiro Mifune, as the general in disguise, save the princess. Right there you have the basis of R2D2 and C3PO. The light sabre duel is based on a large spear duel, and some of the sounds of the light sabres, and the spears as they are swung, are the same. I've rented the video from a shop in town but decided I needed to buy it so I could watch it as often as I like. Akiro Kurosawa was a master of cinema in Japan. So many of his films have been made over for the west...the Clint Eastwood westerns are good examples, Magnificent Seven are a copy of Seven Samurai. Toshiro Mifune was one of the major stars of Japanese films, and I prefer him to Eastwood in the films.

Great classic restored and presented in the best way possible.

We all agree that 'The Hidden Fortress' is one of our favorite Kurosawa films (if not our first choice) for various reasons you'll find in the Amazon positive reviews. A few years ago we made a trip from Connecticut to Portsmouth New Hampshire to watch it in a theater to enjoy it better on a big screen. But seeing this new Blu-ray is a revelation after owning the previous Criterion DVDs and watching a good print with an audience. This restoration is the best we'll ever see so trade in your previous editions and get this one which includes a DVD version for non Blu-ray owners and looks very good as well. In addition to the older extras there's more of the Toho series about the director's films, 'It is Wonderful to Create,' found on other Criterions and now there's an excellent commentary by Stephen Prince who has contributed other Kurosawa commentaries. Fan of these films should get his book 'The Warrior's Camera.' However I will repeat my disappointment about Criterion's Blu-ray of another Kurosawa classic 'Throne of Blood' I reviewed on Amazon: "My only complaint is that the subtitles on this black & white film are too often difficult to read and worse on the above mentioned extra 'It is Wonderful to Create' due their white letters not having wide enough black edges when shown over white or light grey backgrounds. I've seen worse on other films and this continuous problem makes for a frustrating viewing experience which lessened my understanding and therefore enjoyment of the story. I have complained on Criterion's website about the bad subtitling on their Blu-ray of Fritz Lang's 'M' and other Amazon customers have commented about this problem on other Criterion discs of black & white films. Why they continue to release films this way is a mystery. Don't the folks in charge see what we see at home or more likely what we can't see? This problem could have been corrected very easily or at least have the subtitles printed in easy-to-read yellow as I've seen on B&W films from other companies." What's the point of Criterion issuing a great restoration with new extras and us always willing to pay more for their quality discs if we can't fully enjoy them because of bad subtitling? Even a mediocre English dub would be preferable but you won't find one here. If the subtitles were easier to read, I would rate this Criterion five stars. Anyway it's a five star classic movie in any book and a must own set for fans. Postscript 2/9/15: So far my review earned some unhelpful votes. I don't understand why anyone would think that being warned about illegible subtitling would be unhelpful unless the voter had something to do with this disc and didn't like my comments. Other than that, I praised this edition. Go figure...

Amazing how familiar this film seemed the first time I viewed it.

A unique movie. A breathtaking journey for a very intelligent viewer. (it is me ;) It is the most intriguing plot ever.

This is a fantastic movie. You can tell early on in the film that George Lucas was influenced by Akira Kurosawa. This gets my highest recommendation.

私はその昔、湘南のとある中学校に通っていたのですが、 学校教育の一環として、毎年全校生徒を対象に体育館で映画会が行われていました。 何年生の時かは忘れてしまいましたが、その際に掛った一本がこの『隠し砦の三悪人』でした。 時代劇を観る機会など、自分では一切作らなかったお年頃でしたが この作品の面白さはそんな当時の自分にも強烈な印象を残し、 以来、ボチボチ黒澤明監督の作品を好んで見るようになりました。 自分中心に世界が動いているかのような感覚で生きている中学生にも十分伝わる娯楽大作だったわけです。 個人的には、 加藤武さん演じる武者の死後硬直の体勢をあのようにした演出に無理を感じられたこと（硬直した後も加藤さんは少し揺れている）、 真壁と田所の１対１の槍の対決が残っていた印象ほど迫力が無かったこと（槍が重いのか動きがやや緩慢）、 姫様の演技やセリフ回しがやはりどうしても拙いこと（でも好き。）などなど、 疑問や不満に思える点も確かにあるのですが それを補って余りあるほどに、本作は魅力に溢れていました。 衛星放送でなどで、黒澤明特集が組まれる度に、その時代のメディアで録画保存して来た作品です。 なので、BDで購入したいという感覚にはなかなかなれずにいたのですが、 先日、amazonで投げ売りされていたリメイク版「隠し砦の三悪人」のDVDを手に入れたので （通常版より豪華版の方が安いという珍現象が起きていました） ダメだと分かっていながらそれを観たら、やっぱり駄目だったのはもちろんですが このダメダメなリメイク版を持っているのに、本家の市販ソフトを持っていない状況が許せない気がして 今回、評判の良いクライテリオン版の購入に至りました。 昨日開封し、我が家の貧弱なAV機器で再生しましたが 評判通りの高画質で、もう、それだけで心躍りました。 それは、まるでモノクロの銀塩写真が動いているような感覚でした。 我が家のAV機器が貧弱とは言っても、一応はハイビジョンの再生環境ですから これはひょっとして、画面の大きさを差し引けば、公開当時に劇場で観た人たちよりも ずっと良い状態で観ることが出来ているのではないでしょうか？ そう思うと、この時代に生まれて生きている事への有難みすら感じてしまいます。

今まで見もしないで大した作品ではないと勝手に考えていました。 ところが実際に映画を見て驚きました。 こんなに面白い活劇作品だったんだと。もっと早く見ておけば良かったなと反省しているところです。 改めて黒澤明のすごさに感心しているところです。

I have been very surprised and pleased to see that Amazon had in stock Akira Kurosawa's samurai masterpieces, including The Hidden Fortress ! And at very good prices.

この作品を観てからスターウォーズシリーズを観るとより作品に没頭出来ます。