william_kent

Well-known member
@william_kent true: hidden fortress, but I do think the Star Wars re-genre-ization (mildly intoxicated at the moment) is a pretty historically successful one. Like how early westerns (40's Ford, Hawks, etc) inspired Kurosawa with Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, and how those in return re-inspired American (Magnificent Seven) and Italian (Fistful of Dollars) westerns - all of which eras/genres had great films in them.

So yeah Star Wars is a rework of Hidden Fortress - but not a poor one, I'd argue.

you know I was just trolling?

but there was a japanese remake a couple of years ago ( actually longer ago than I care to remember ) starring some guy who was probably the top earning host of the month in some seedy club in Kabukicho which was, and excuse my french, SHITE, so yeah, the Lucas do-over is probably the best re-interpretation

220px-Hidden_Fortress_-_The_Last_Princess.jpg
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
This is a well-known problem in philosophy actually! It pops up with the logical positivists' verifiability principle, or the post-modernists contention that all claims are Or Socrates's "I know that I know nothing." Or the postmodernist contention that all positions are relative itself being relative.

Not sure what to make of it, just noting that it pops up
Obi-Wan was about to say 'Only a sith and I deal in absolutes and since you are not me, then you must be a Sith' but he realised that time was of the essences and that Anakin would get the point either way.
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Comparing Star Wars with Kurosawa is like comparing an oak tree with an acorn. Which is better? Both are better.
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Which is a better film, i.e. more artfully composed? Probably Hidden Fortress (been a while since I've seen it, but I did see a 35mm screening of it in some hollywood film preservation society theater I forget the name of). But that said, Star Wars is a defining feat of hollywood magic (a sort of magic which is at best emulated by other countries, I maintain), and of sci-fi epics.
I remember one of my Japanese grandfathers telling me about the wave of enthusiasm about Hidden Fortress in his primary school class. Everybody would rush to the toy shop after school to get their wooden figurines of Princess Yuki, the Death Squirrel and Obi-Wan Fungus to recreate that scene where Luke Wan Trailwalker gets a glimpse up Princess Yuki's camisole as she clambers over a stile. Good times. The only thing missing from Kurosawa's masterpiece was an intergalactic jazz band.
 

luka

Well-known member
Yoda is a creature made by Frank Oz in a Muppet shop. But Oz and Lucas were not content to make Yoda realistic. They wanted to make him a good actor, too. And they did; in his range of wisdom and emotion, Yoda may actually give the best performance in the movie.

The worst, I'm afraid, is Chewbacca's. This character was thrown into the first film as window dressing, was never thought through, and as a result has been saddled with one facial expression and one mournful yelp. Much more could have been done. How can you be a space pilot and not be able to communicate in any meaningful way? Does Han Solo really understand Chew's monotonous noises? Do they have long chats sometimes?
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
Yoda is a creature made by Frank Oz in a Muppet shop. But Oz and Lucas were not content to make Yoda realistic. They wanted to make him a good actor, too. And they did; in his range of wisdom and emotion, Yoda may actually give the best performance in the movie.

The worst, I'm afraid, is Chewbacca's. This character was thrown into the first film as window dressing, was never thought through, and as a result has been saddled with one facial expression and one mournful yelp. Much more could have been done. How can you be a space pilot and not be able to communicate in any meaningful way? Does Han Solo really understand Chew's monotonous noises? Do they have long chats sometimes?
Animals communicate principally by telepathy.

dogs.png
 
  • Haha
Reactions: sus

sus

Moderator
If by telepathy you mean they are attuned to subtle nonverbal signals, as we all are, then sure.
 

sus

Moderator
I'm not sure why you'd call that telepathy though. What do you mean by telepathy Biscuits, is this another "NLP" thing?
 

mixed_biscuits

_________________________
If by telepathy you mean they are attuned to subtle nonverbal signals, as we all are, then sure.
Telepathy is proven in human beings and animals have greater need for it because of the crap voiceboxes Darwin made for them.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: sus

sus

Moderator
Please, say more! I'm fascinated. What is telepathy? Can you define for me the kind of telepathy you believe in, I don't want to just to any conclusions
 

sus

Moderator
I think a reasonable person presenting a reasonable idea could give a reasonable synopsis in a few sentences, written in a few minutes. I don't think this is a big ask. I think telling me to read an entire book to understand a provocative and hard-to-believe claim is the big ask here, and unreasonable
 
Top