Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1958 • Japan
A grand-scale adventure as only Akira Kurosawa could make one, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS stars the inimitable Toshirô Mifune as a general charged with guarding his defeated clan's princess as the two smuggle royal treasure across hostile territory. Accompanying them are a pair of bumbling, conniving peasants who may or may not be their friends. This rip-roaring ride is among the director's most beloved films and was a primary influence on George Lucas' STAR WARS. THE HIDDEN FORTRESS delivers Kurosawa's trademark deft blend of wry humor, breathtaking action, and compassionate humanity.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1960 • Japan
A young executive hunts down his father's killer in director Akira Kurosawa's scathing The Bad Sleep Well. Continuing his legendary collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa combines elements of Hamlet and American film noir to chilling effect in...
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1961 • Japan
The incomparable Toshiro Mifune stars in Akira Kurosawa's visually stunning and darkly comic Yojimbo. To rid a terror-stricken village of corruption, wily masterless samurai Sanjuro turns a range war between two evil clans to his own advantage. Remade tw...
Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1962 • Japan
Toshirô Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Akira Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed Sanjuro. In this sly companion piece to Yojimbo, jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's ...
