Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (Akira Kurosawa, 1958)

Cited by George Lucas as a key influence on the first Star Wars film for its telling of a getaway adventure from the perspective of a pair of lesser characters, The Hidden Fortress follows two greedy and cowardly good-for-nothings who get caught up in smuggling gold and a princess in disguise after the defeat of their clan's army. The clan general Toshiro Mifune is involved to keep them in line and provide the action heroics in the motley band's escape, but it's the bickering duo who take centre stage and this is much to the film's detriment. There is simply no good reason for them to be kept in tow, barring a need to have a device to get the serious protagonists into trouble time and again, and their low comedy grates right from the start. As you might expect, Kurosawa does manage to give the story an easy flow, but it's nevertheless one of his most disposable films.

5/10