A pair of greedy peasants agrees to lead a man and woman through hostile territory to safety in exchange for gold, unaware that they are a princess and her general.

George Lucas would never have conceived of Star Wars without this film, which continues to influence contemporary cinema today. A monument in Akira Kurosawa’s career, The Hidden Fortress is a must-see Japanese epic: a samurai film tinged with the master’s humor, action scenes, and humanism.