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Japanese Remake

posted 17 years ago by eeeeehhhhh
13 replies | jump to latest

Toho rebuilds Kurosawa 'Fortress'
Shinji Higuchi to direct Hiroshi Abe in remake
By MARK SCHILLING
Toho is planning a remake of Kurosawa's 1958 film 'The Hidden Fortress.'

Akira Kurosawa's 1958 action comedy "The Hidden Fortress" ("Kakushi toride no san-akunin") -- said to be the inspiration for "Star Wars" -- will be remade in Japan, producer and distrib Toho has announced.
The pic will be helmed by Shinji Higuchi, an SFX whiz also responsible for the hits "Lorelei" (2005) and last year's "The Sinking of Japan" (Nihon chinbotsu).

Playing the Toshiro Mifune role of a general guiding a princess through enemy territory is Hiroshi Abe, a Hugh Grant-ish star who is branching out from romantic comedy to action roles.

Taking the Misa Uehara role of the princess is Masami Nagasawa, a film and TV star since her breakthrough in the 2004 megahit weepy "Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World" (Sekai no chushin de ai o sakebu).

In a departure from the original, the two bumbling peasants who attach themselves to the general and princess -- and are the models for C-3PO and R2-D2 -- will be combined into a single character, a mountain-dweller played by Jun Matsumoto, from boy band Arashi, who stars in hit TV drama "Hana yori dango" (Boys Over Flowers). Matsumoto has also appeared in pics, including 2004 hit "Tokyo Tower."

Shooting starts Thursday and is skedded to wrap by the end of the year. Toho has slotted "The Hidden Fortress" for a May 10 release.

Also on the Toho line-up is "Subaki sanjuro," a remake of the 1962 Kurosawa pic of the same title, starring Yuji Oda ("Bayside Shakedown") in the Mifune role. Release is skedded for Dec. 1.

[Date in print: Tue., Oct. 30, 2007, Los Angeles]
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117974976.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] eeeeehhhhh 17 years ago

I hate remakes too but Abe Hiroshi is playing Mifune's character. He's good.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] eeeeehhhhh 17 years ago

It seems there's going to be another character for comic relief but from the Japanese news reports, Matsumoto character is the lead.

[–] Dancing_Bear 17 years ago

I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to see Jun Matsumoto in this movie, he's an amazing actor. I think Kurosawa himself would have adored to work with this actor.

[–] krackajap 17 years ago

I believe the reason why Kurosawa wasn't as revered in Japan was that his movies were very western. He was influenced a lot by western cinema and it showed in this movies.

Also it is very common in Japan for celebrities to be multi-faceted. Actors will sing and singers will act (and not completely suck at it). In this way i'm not surprised of them choosing some pop star, especially Jun Matsumoto who's acting talent has been critically acclaimed. Why they felt the need to combine the two characters though, i have no idea.

[–] shinmilkmanx 17 years ago

Interesting. I wonder how much it will suffer without the banter of the 2 peasants. I mean that is most of the key parts of the original.

[–] eeeeehhhhh 17 years ago

a little preview of the new remake.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Y6sykv_6i-g

Looks really promising.
From the preview it looked very gritty and wild. The shots were great especially the close up of Princess Yuki shedding a tear. Abe-san does resembles Mifune and Matsumoto character is the most intriguing since I'm not sure what to expect of this new character. Read some Japanese friends of mine commented it looked like they'd redone the Kurosawa movie but in colour.

[–] keely-bailey 17 years ago

The brand new official trailer just came out on the movies main site. It looks really good. I have high hopes for Jun. I think he'll do a great job.

I've got a jar of diiiirt!!
I've got a jar of diiiirt!!
And guess what's inside iiit!!
T~O

[–] DeathoNacrackeR 17 years ago

For once i don't mind this remake as long as it's not Hollywood remaking it, and thank god it's not! I feel that Americans who may have never heard of Kurosawa may watch this version and become curious to see what the original has to offer.

I have only been aware of the man himself for the past few years(sadly). But he has since become one of my top two favorite directors ever, along with Takashi Miike. i only wish i would have known sooner. I'm constantly trying to turn friends and family onto directors of this caliber but it's a hard road... most mainstream Americans just don't get it, or don't want to get it...

Brian, there's a message in my AlphaBits. It says "OOOOOO".
Peter, those are Cheerios.

[–] captainsteroid 16 years ago

The last post on the subject of a remake, was a year ago, when keely-bailey saw a trailer. But, did it ever come out ?. I can't find a reference to it in IMBD.
Maybe, it's only in Japan. Any info ?

( 15 minutes later )

I guess, I'm replying to my own post, of a few minutes ago.
I went to Wikipedia, for hidden fortress and they mentioned the remake, called "The Last Princess" That shows up on IMBD, but no one seems to have it.

[–] indioblack117 11 years ago

It came out. It is terrible. It's an insult to the original which is one of the greatest Japanese Samurai films ever made.

[–] frankielafferty 10 years ago

I watched the remake and felt it was well made. I know it sounds weird to say so but colour does add to the story. And it feels there are sneaky tributes to star wars, the bad guy has a cape like D. Vader nad his samurai helmet does look like Darths. Watch the remake and try imagine you have not seen Akiras version.