What do you make of the theory that much of Star Wars is cribbed from Kurosawa flicks?
My knowledge of Kurosawa is not comprehensive: I've seen Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), Sanjuro (1962), and Dreams (1990), meaning among other things that I've missed all his film noir. I've seen as much of Ran (1985) as exists in Chris Marker's A.K. (1985). So to me Star Wars doesn't look like outright lifting so much as fascinatingly refracted influence—visual, thematic; I think Lucas' perceptions of Japanese jidaigeki must be part of what gives the first film its real sense of alienness, which none of the sequels or prequels ever quite repeated—but someone who's seen Throne of Blood (1957) or The Hidden Fortress (1958) or more of Ran than a gorgeous deleted scene might disagree. See cucumberseed's "The Love Song of Admiral Piett."
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My knowledge of Kurosawa is not comprehensive: I've seen Rashomon (1950), Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), Yojimbo (1961), Sanjuro (1962), and Dreams (1990), meaning among other things that I've missed all his film noir. I've seen as much of Ran (1985) as exists in Chris Marker's A.K. (1985). So to me Star Wars doesn't look like outright lifting so much as fascinatingly refracted influence—visual, thematic; I think Lucas' perceptions of Japanese jidaigeki must be part of what gives the first film its real sense of alienness, which none of the sequels or prequels ever quite repeated—but someone who's seen Throne of Blood (1957) or The Hidden Fortress (1958) or more of Ran than a gorgeous deleted scene might disagree. See