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Throughout theStar Warsfranchise , a spectacular portmanteau of westerly and easterly influences has combined to create a science fiction epic that contains both religious mysticism , morality , and a warm mother wit of honour . George Lucas owe much of the themes of his Skywalker saga to both westerly and Samurai films , two trenchant genre which admit vivid filming , powerful mental imagery , and clearly defined factions of right and haywire .
Filmmakers like J.J. Abrams , Rian Johnson , Jon Favreau , and others have withdraw Lucas ' lead and include factor of both Western and samurai movie in their additions to a galaxy far , far off . From the Disney sequel trilogy toThe Mandalorian , the influence of the two genres can be seen everywhere . Here are five Western and five samurai celluloid that inspired the franchise .
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
Despite only making nine films , Sergio Leone was the authority on the Spaghetti Western , a report he gained crafting hisFistful Trilogy , which includedThe Good , The Bad , and The Ugly(another of Lucas ' influence).His post - trilogy motion picture , Once Upon a Time in the Westwas perhaps the bad influence Leone had .
The film centered on a tyrannical rail magnate who endeavor to labour a landowners from literal estate he desired to take for his new railway line . To carry through this chore he sent in Frank ( Henry Fonda ) , " the human beings in black , " his intimidating hatchet man whose first appearance is said to have influenced Darth Vader .
THE HIDDEN FORTRESS
There are several components that George Lucas take from Kurosawa’sThe Hidden Fortress , notably his use of powerful imagery and camera techniques to keep apart character reference . The two panicked peasants in the very first of the moving picture echo the droids C-3PO and R2 - D2 inStar Wars , and in fact , the focus of characters in frames dwarf by the circumstances of their surroundings is a pervasive theme throughout the franchise .
Hidden Fortress ' plot of land features two peasants who happen upon a Isle of Man and woman hide out in a fort , whom they mistake for others entrance in the cross - hairs of a tribal war like themselves . The man is really a notable general ( much like Obi - Wan Kenobi , once a general in the Clone Wars ) , and the woman is secretly a princess . The peasants must protect them and conceal their identity as enemy tight in on their position .
THE SEARCHERS
Any part of the Skywalker Saga that focused on Tatooine ca n’t help but borrow from the John Ford masterpieceThe Searchers , featuring sprawling desert land and rust - colored four flush . The movie focuses on John Wayne ’s retired soldier , now a squatter drawn into conflict when his family is kidnapped by Comanche pillager , and their homestead burned .
Luke Skywalker ’s burning homestead was a shot select directly fromThe Searchers , and later , when his sire Anakin is stalking a radical of Tusken Raiders who kidnapped his mother , he apes the same shots of Ethan Edwards ( Wayne ) as he proceeds deep into Comanche territory to retrieve his drop niece .
SEVEN SAMURAI
The Kurosawa cinema that " hooked " George Lucas on the Kurosawa cinematic style ( and remains his favorite),Seven Samuraiis a story that has been told many metre since it premier in 1954 . It focus on a once renowned samurai approached by farmers hoping to enlist his religious service to protect their village from invader .
Because he can not help them alone , he gather six more swordsman to facilitate , and the seven samurai train the villagers to protect themselves against the bandits , who attack in a climactic battle at the end . Lucas used this " few versus many " active throughout theStar Warsfranchise to represent the Rebel Alliance fighting the Evil Empire , andJon Favreau pattern Episode 4 ofThe Mandalorianafter the precise secret plan .
HOW THE WEST WAS WON
This really heroic westerly featuring dozens of ace from the Golden Age of Hollywood concentre specifically on the Prescott family as they make their way from one side of the United States to the other . From the 1830s until the 1880s , roughly the same amount of time as the first sixStar Warsfilms , the family receive triumphs and tragedies as they sour to achieve their destination of plain destiny .
The Skywalker saga is at its heart a transmissible drama about a kindred ’s destiny ( be it the Skywalkers , the Palpatines , or others ) to be the cause of , and tat with , some of the most significant events in a beetleweed far , far forth . The champion and enemy they make become major players in the unfolding of the narration ’s struggle .
RASHOMON
Kurosawa ’s exploration of accuracy , justice , and human nature inRashomoncan be learn meander into the complex tapis of the Skywalker saga in many path . The film examines four unlike people ’s version of the same tale concerning a man ’s execution and the rape of his wife , and had a profound effect on both George Lucas and Rian Johnson .
It is give an homage when Obi - Wan Kenobi secern Luke Skywalker inReturn of the Jedithat " many of the truths we hang to depend greatly on our own point of view " , reference the act of Darth Vader symbolically " murdering " Anakin Skywalker to pledge himself to the benighted side . Johnson utilized it later inStar Wars : The Last Jediwhen both Luke and Kylo Ren share unlike perspectives of the same outcome involving Luke attempting to hit his former pupil .
THE BIG COUNTRY
The sweeping vistas of horse opera are a staple of their filming , and nowhere is this captured more reverently than inThe Big Country . When an easterner ( Gregory Peck ) travel out West to wed , he find the way of his fiancée ’s family root in staunch traditionalism and their own brand of maleness , both of which are at betting odds with the intellectual industrialist .
He ’s placed in a quandary , captivate between two rival families , each force him into a destiny he wants nothing to do with . finally , he close that whatever future materialize will be on his own terms , like many heroes in theStar Warsuniverse . look on for a scene involving him trying to tame a wild horse that’sstraight out ofThe Mandalorian .
DERSU UZALA
Akira Kurosawa strayed from his typical strong suit to produce his first non - Japanese language filmDersu Uzalain the mid ' 70 , which evidence the level of a surveyor and an aging hunter who still practiced the mysticism of his ancestor . His moral code , along with his survival accomplishment , kept him and the surveyor awake through rough conditions .
A friendly relationship form between the two , and at one point they shared a striking vista combining the moon and the sun in a conniption that comport a strong resemblance to the matching sundown on Tatooine . afterward in the film , the hunter drag on the surveyor into a shelter to protect him from an ice storm , much like Han Solo did forLuke SkywalkerinThe Empire Strikes Back .
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
One of the most iconic pairs in cinematic history , Butch Cassidy ( Paul Newman ) and the Sundance Kid ( Robert Redford ) electrify the blind in their Western buddy film about a degenerate twosome of outlaws and their exploits throughout the Old West , including power train robberies , gunfights , and damsels .
Their friendly relationship is not unlike the hamper between Luke Skywalker and Han Solo , orPoe Dameron and Finnfrom the Disney sequel films — two improbable comrades , who have a kinetic charisma between them that only grows during the touch-and-go upshot they both face .
YOJIMBO
One of the early influences on bothStar Warsand Sergio Leone’sThe Good , The Bad , and The Uglywas Akira Kurosawa’sYojimbo . LikeLeone’sMan With No Nameseries of films , Yojimbofocused on a laconic ronin who used his wits and skill with a sword to realise a living .
The reserved samurai ’s character is the cornerstone for the Mandalorian inThe Mandalorian , a gentleman’s gentleman who defines honor through the warrior culture of his people , doing whatever is necessary to survive . In addition , the brawl inStar Warsat the Mos Eisley Cantina is accept straight fromYojimbo .
NEXT : Japan ’s 10 Best Samurai Films Of All Time , Ranked On Rotten Tomatoes
