Akira Kurosawa made this commercial and accessible film as a way to repay Toho Studios for allowing him to make riskier, more artistic fare such as
Rashomon (1950). It was later one of the greatest inspirations for
George Lucas'
Star Wars (1977), which originally started out as a sci-fi themed remake of this film set in the distant future, similar to how
The Magnificent Seven (1960) was a Western-themed remake of Kurosawa's
Seven Samurai (1954). However Star Wars went through so many drafts and rewrites that the final version of the film bares almost no resemblance to The Hidden Fortress. The inspiration can also be seen in
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), which shares certain plot points with this film.
