A little Overrated?


I really did like this movie. But some are referring to "The Hidden Fortress" as a Kurosawa masterpiece. I just couldn't see it. The messages were all great, and the duel between the two "friends" was outstanding, but did anyone else find the pacing off? Did anyone else find the peasants unfunny? I'm not here to tear the movie apart, just wondering if anyone shares my opinion.

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Sorry, I think you stand alone, I loved the pace of the film and I loved the peasants hilarious.

"The world will look up and shout "save us"... and I'll whisper, no"
Yes, that's the movie quote.

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[deleted]

No, I don't.

--
I never make mistakes. Once I thought I did, but I was wrong.

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I have not seen every Akira Kurosawa film. The only ones i've seen: The Hidden Fortress, Seven Samurai, Ran, Throne of Blood, Rashomon Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Madadayo, - of all of these, I watch The Hidden Fortress the least. I like the movie, but it doesn't capture my attention like the other films of his that I have seen.

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You're probably right, movietroj, in your estimation of this film.
I just finished watching it, and I must say that I did enjoy *beep* no Sanakuin quite a bit...just not as much as some of his other more cerebral, touching, or graceful pictures(Rashoumon, Ran, Ikimono no Kiroku, Subarashiki Nichiyoubi, Waga Seishun ni Kuinashi, Warui Yatsu Hodo Yoku Nemuru, Shichinin no Samurai, etc.)..and I've seen around 2/3 of the Kurosawa oeuvre. But that's like saying that I didn't enjoy the Mercedes as much as the Rolls...but it's still a damn good car. As some people have noted here, this movie is a "romp," and I think it's best to view it as such--a movie that entertains without requiring its audience to think too much. I do agree with another poster in that it had its share of breathtaking shots, and from a visual standpoint, Kurosawa gets an A+ for his first effort on widescreen. It certainly wasn't a bad flick, as Kurosawa didn't make many of those (*cough* Ichiban Utsukushiku, Zoku Sugata Sanshiro, *cough*), but it wasn't, IMO, one of his ten best pictures.

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And apparently ka-ku-shi-tori-de is a "bad word" on IMDB...try typing it altogether and you get *beep*
Hilarious! What filters!

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I wouldn't call it overrated. Just look at the top 250 for overrated.
But it is not Kurosawa's best by any means.

The movie did so much right, but it did have it's flaws.
The duel you liked I found a bit drawn-out (unlike the horse sequence right before it, which was absolute awesomeness), the peasants were treated as caricatures and the whole message was dealt with a bit heavy-handedly.
But overall (compared to everything else) I still found it to be a great movie.

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Oh you mad cuz I'm stylin on you

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At 8/10, I find it underrated, actually. It does have its flaws, namely plot-wise. But it's a damn good film, easily a 9/10 for me.

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I think this movie tends to get overblown by a few people who hear of it via the "George Lucas inspiration" route and think of it as some preface to Star Wars or something. I haven't seen every Kurosawa film, here is a list of the ones I have seen:

Stray Dog
Drunken Angel
Rashomon
Ikiru
Seven Samurai
Throne of Blood
Hidden Fortress
High and Low
Red Beard
Kagemusha
Ran

Out of all of these I'd put The Hidden Fortress somewhere near the bottom above stray dog, drunken angel, and red beard but below the truly great masterpeices like Ikiru and Seven Samurai. It doesn't having the makings of a great film but it's clearly made by a great filmmaker.

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I'm very much a Kurosawa fan, and I have seen most, if not all, of his films that are available in the US. I enjoyed seeing some of the rare ones on the TCM tribute a while back. I'll have to admit that The Hidden Fortress is the only film of his I don't like. I find it kind of generic, and the Princess' part is wooden and one-dimensional. I was speculating with a friend that maybe Kurosawa just wasn't good at presenting heroic women, just the evil ones like in Throne of Blood, or the downtrodden, like in Red beard. I don't really totally buy my own speculation, but I don't buy the Princess either. Even Mifune seems kind of flat in the film.

But, I will see The Hidden Fortress, for the fourth or fifth time, on a big screen, with a new 35mm print, later this week. I'll try one final time to appreciate it.

The Kurosawa film I enjoy most is Sanjuro. I love the way the apprentice samurai follow him around like he's a mother hen, and they're his brood. I love Sanjuro's discomfort at the presence of the great lady, and his having to act as a footstool for her. I love how he can figure everything out, just from listening to the young guys talk, even though they missed the import of what they relate. I love how clever he is, all through the film. But, I wouldn't claim it as his best film. Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Dersu Uzala, those are my candidates for his best. But, all the others are good, too!

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I find it kind of generic, and the Princess' part is wooden and one-dimensional. I was speculating with a friend that maybe Kurosawa just wasn't good at presenting heroic women, just the evil ones like in Throne of Blood, or the downtrodden, like in Red beard. I don't really totally buy my own speculation, but I don't buy the Princess either. Even Mifune seems kind of flat in the film.

Well, you shouldn't buy that speculation especially if you've seen NO REGRETS FOR OUR YOUTH from 1946. In that film, you had not one but two heroic women, (the young woman and her mother-in-law) fighting prejudice and the elements and ultimately succeeding.

Also, Princess Yuki was really not meant to be seen as heroic, but rather her tale is more of a coming-of-age story. Now, the same could be said of the lead female character in NO REGRETS, but the major difference in that one was that she took it upon herself to carry the heavy burden on her shoulders in helping out her late husband’s parents now downtrodden by their own community because of their son’s anti-war involvements. She could have gone back to her father and return to her life of leisure, but ultimately she did not and ends up working the farm (Princess Yuki, by contrast, does go back to that life of pleasantness).

If one wants to find a heroic woman in THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, look not to the princess, but rather the peasant girl they pick up along with way. She was willing to sacrifice her own life for that royal family that may not have treated her people right in the past (remember, the princess stated she was always shielded from the outside world and never really saw the true light of ordinary folks, until this journey).

And Mifune was anything but flat, I thought. Makabe’s purpose was as a loyal subject and to protect the princess at all costs, and he never once side-stepped from that mission. He is not meant to be Sanjuro or even Kikuchiyo for that matter. Rather, I always saw Makabe as a throwback to a Douglas Fairbanks Sr. (whose films Kurosawa very much admired) or an Errol Flynn - characters that may not have been very deep, but were always fun to watch, and afterall this movie was meant to be a fairy tale. And because of that, Mifune played it just right.

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Well if the trivia on imdb is right, (and according to other sources, it is)

Kurosawa did this one, which is much easier to understand and so, less risky for the studio, to get some safe money for the studio, to thank for the trust they had in him, and their support or some o his more risky projects.

In retroperspective we know what great movies, films like kagemusha are, but back then nobody knew it.

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