Star Wars: Every Kurosawa Reference & Homage In Movies & Shows Explained

The films of legendary director Akira Kurosawa were one of the primary inspirations for Star Wars, and the franchise continued to make references and homages to Kurosawa’s films well after it debuted in 1977. Before becoming a massive media franchise and worldwide pop culture juggernaut, Star Wars was simply a passion project by George Lucas, who sought to make a science fantasy film that honored the movies, film serials, and comic books that he loved in his youth. Kurosawa’s films were a particular favorite of Lucas’, and its influence can be observed in the original six films (particularly A New Hope). Non-movie material from the canon and Legends continuities honor Kurosawa’s films through homages and references as well.

Among the many inspirations for Star Wars were the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon movie series, which Star Wars referenced through single-biome planets and its famous opening crawl. J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth also had a strong influence on Lucas, with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker sharing a similar relationship to Gandalf and Frodo Baggins, as well as glowing blue swords being used by heroes while villains use burning red ones. Marvel Comics, whose adaptations currently dominate pop culture, also had a mild impact on Star Wars through Doctor Doom. Doom, a diabolical sorcerer who wears a cloak over a full suit of body armor, was one of several visual inspirations for Darth Vader.

Real-world historical conflicts and warriors also inspired the Star Wars franchise. The overarching political story of the saga shows how a democracy becomes a fascist state through the gradual forfeiting of freedom by its people, and how those who oppose fascism will band together and defeat it. The Galactic Civil War, particularly its dogfights, was inspired by World War II aerial combat, and whether intentional or not, the heroic Jedi have much in common with medieval knights, feudal samurai, and Maccabean rebels. Given the number of references to the films of Kurosawa, whose movies were often set in feudal Japan, the similarities between Jedi and samurai are particularly evident.

The Hidden Fortress

Akira Kurosawa’s 1958 film, The Hidden Fortress, had one of the largest influences on Star Wars. George Lucas carefully and intentionally used numerous story elements and character archetypes from The Hidden Fortress in Star Wars, with perhaps the most famous example being C-3PO and R2-D2. Just as a significant portion of The Hidden Fortress was told from the perspective of two peasants, who constantly bicker with each other as they go from one perilous situation to the next, Star Wars follows Artoo and Threepio until the introduction of Luke Skywalker on Tatooine. Similarly, Rokurota Makabe, a general of a now-defeated noble family, was referenced through Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi, a former general in the Clone Wars and one of the last surviving members of the extinct Jedi Order. Before casting Sir Alec Guinness as Kenobi, Lucas initially wanted Toshiro Mifune to play the venerable Jedi.

Rokurota famously dueled his rival, Hyoe Tadokoro, and defeats him, leaving him scarred but alive, Lucas references this in Obi-Wan’s battle with Darth Vader on Mustafar, where he spares the Sith Lord but leaves him disfigured. The Hidden Fortress also features a Rebel Princess as part of its main cast. Princess Yuki is one of the few survivors of the Akizuki clan, just as Leia is one of the few Alderaanians in the galaxy, following the Empire’s destruction of the peaceful world. In addition to its characters and unique perspective, Lucas also referenced Kurosawa through cinematography. The Star Wars franchise is famous for its use of wipe transitions, which Lucas used as a reference to The Hidden Fortress.

Seven Samurai

Kurosawa’s 1954 epic Seven Samurai is easily one of his most famous films. Unsurprisingly, it’s also one of his most remade films, both officially and unofficially, in pop culture. Seven Samurai tells the tale of a small group of Ronin who defend an otherwise helpless farming village from an onslaught of marauders. The Star Wars franchise has adapted this famous story template three times, beginning with one of the very first Legends-era Star Wars stories. Marvel’s Star Wars comics predated Splinter of the Mind’s Eye as some of the first Expanded Universe properties, and their first original story set after A New Hope was a multi-issue adaptation of Kurosawa’s epic.

In Star Wars issues 8 through 10, Han Solo and Chewbacca formed a motley crew of warriors called the “Star-Hoppers of Aduba-3,” to defend the farming village of Onacra from the vicious criminal gang known as the Cloud-Riders (who would later be drastically reimagined in canon’s Solo: A Star Wars Story). In canon’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a season 2 episode sees three Jedi and four bounty hunters defending a Felucian farming community from Hondo Ohnaka’s pirate gang. Even more recently, a season one episode The Mandalorian has Din Djarin and Cara Dune protect a Sorgan village from Klatooinian raiders.

Other Akira Kurosawa References

While The Hidden Fortress and Seven Samurai are the most referenced Kurosawa films in Star Wars, they are not the only ones. While Lucas had plenty of inspiration from westerns, especially in regards to the franchise’ criminal underworld, a scene in 1961’s Yojimbo was referenced in A New Hope. Ben Kenobi dispatching a pair of criminals (who brag about their heinous crimes), including cutting off the arm of one, references Yojimbo’s Kuwabatake Sanjuro in a similar scenario. Star Wars also references its sequel, 1962’s Sanjuro, when Han, Chewbacca, and their passengers hide under the floorboards of the Millennium Falcon, just as several samurai do in Kurosawa’s film.

The Star Wars franchise’s non-movie material also references other Kurosawa films. In canon, the Clone Wars episode “Lightsaber Lost” is an homage to Kurosawa’s 1949 crime drama, Stray Dog. In The Clone Wars, Ahsoka’s lightsaber is stolen on Coruscant, leading her to pursue the thief and his associates through Coruscant’s criminal underworld, just as Detective Murakami tracks his stolen pistol as part of a case in Stray Dog. In the Star Wars Legends continuity, Asajj Ventress, a Rattataki and the ruler of her homeworld Rattatak, was named after Asaji, a major character in Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 Macbeth adaptation, Throne of Blood, at the recommendation of Lucasfilm executive Leland Chee.

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David Miller
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David Miller is a staff writer for Screen Rant, indie comic writer, and life-long lover of all things Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. He was born and raised in New York and has a degree in English from Rider University. He relates to Peter Parker maybe a little too much.

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