The Hidden Fortress
1958, NR, 139 min.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa, Starring Toshiro Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki.

Mifune plays a loyal samurai general who leads a princess and her fortune back to her homeland with the help of two bumbling aides. Sound familiar? George Lucas gives this Kurosawa classic its props as one of his inspirations for Star Wars.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.