The Origins of the Jedi

George Lucas has created a trademark in the cinema history for both Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. His company has also become a trailblazer in the advancement of special effects, post-production audio and digital sound systems for movies. George Lucas was greatly influenced by a Japanese director Akira Kurosawa as well as others.

In addition to that, Kurosawa was also influenced by western literature and movies. He directed some western classics like Throne of Blood and Ran. Kurosawa is known for his distinct Japanese styles such as arrogant samurai, tragic ladies, scheming lords and the lone ronin.

During the period of dramas that are often associated with costumes and sets, the �Westerns� has great visual work from the director John Ford. He admired the pictures of the lonely road, the borderline town, the gathering of two men to combat to the death, and the anti-hero who kills unbelievably bad odds.

In the 1960s, Kurosawa started to influence many American filmmakers to the extent that two of his movies were remade for western viewers. The movies were the Seven Samurai as The Magnificent Seven in 1960 and Yojimbo as A Fistful of Dollars in 1964. That is why the young George Lucas was a fan of Kurosawa's drama that is called JIdaigeki or in other word �Jedi�. Now, did you get it?

Kurosawa's most significant films on Star Wars were 1958's The Hidden Fortress. Jesus Diaz stated in his video were �Two disagreeing farmers who help a run-away princess and a samurai guru escaped the authorities of enemy royal armies�. And Diaz said, �this should sound familiar to you.�

With that being said, you can also see its similarities between Darth Vader, Storm Troopers and samurai garb. If you look closely to Master Yoda's appearance, well except the height, he has similarities with the character Kambei Shimada from the Seven Samurai.

Find out more at the 'Today I Found Out' website below.