Imperial Entertainment TV and Movies > Star Wars Movies

movies that influenced Star Wars

<< < (2/5) > >>

JDeck:
    What do you think of my theory of the Imperial Walker/probe droid origins. That it was inspired by Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940) as far as the idea not the actual design. When the indestructible remote exploding robots called "Walking Bombs" invade the ice planet Frigia. As you can see the bottom two pictures show the similarities between general veers periscope and the periscope used to direct the Walking Bombs. Also note the vauge similarities of the armor.

Tamer:
Makes a lot of sense to me.

JDeck:
  I know I can get long winded with these posts so I'll keep this one short, to the point. Today Im showcasing Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa (1961). first I'll say this is a terrific movie said to be one of the most influential movies of all time. And that's where Star wars comes in. Lucas pays homage to this wonderful Samurai classic by using it in the beloved Cantina scene we all know, the scene were  Obi Wan cuts the arm off walrus man (Ponda Baba). It comes directly from the scene where Sanjuro (a wandering Samurai who takes residence in a currupt gambling town run by two rival gangs) Approaches a group of thugs to show the rest of the town he can handle them. So he tells the thugs they look adorable, so they get mad and start bragging about how they're wanted men and if they get caught they'll be put to death. So the Samurai is unamused and talks some more trash so the thugs draw their swords and attack the samurai. So he (Sanjuro) instantly kills two and cuts the arm off a third. Now there is some  speculating here Lucas doesn't confirm or deny anything, but its clearly taken from this movie. If you've never seen a Samurai movie and you like westerns especially Clint Eastwood flics (as I do) I highly suggest this movie. Word of warning it is black and white with subtitles but who cares. Here's some pics to go with.

Rezikai:
I got to say I'm loving this thread, seeing the old call backs filled me with nostalgia. JDeck I appreciate the work done to gather this up. I remember the episode of the Clone Wars dedicated to Akira Kurosawa's "7 Samurai". It triggered a memory of something I read waaay back when someone said George was also influenced by Kurosawa's 1958 "The Hidden Fortress". I've heard recently that some at Lucasfilm have dismissed this connection but *shrugs* the similarities are strangely familiar.


p.s.
I've watched Kurosawa since high school taking in as much as possible even his slice of life/emotional films like One Wonderful Sunday, The Lower Depths  and Ikiru.



The Hidden Fortress-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hidden_Fortress

One Wonderful Sunday-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Wonderful_Sunday

The Lower Depths-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lower_Depths_(1957_film)

Ikiru-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikiru

7 Samurai-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Samurai

JDeck:
Thank you Rezikai for your encouraging words. I'll be showcasing 7 samurai and Hidden Fortress in the next couple of days. I'm really enjoying watching these great classics I haven't seen Kurosawa's movies in a long time but I'll have to check out Wonderful Sunday I'm not familiar with it. And the lower depths looks cool too.
As for Lucas and co. They claim they're paying homage to these movies and like you said denying it later but that's show business I guess.
 Again thank you for your time. And I'm glad you enjoy.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page