This is THE worst film I have seen in a very long time, and I actually don't mind Kurosawa's other films. This 'new direction' of his was quite a hit with some fans, but I found it to be agonizingly dull. In a short time, our two peasant chimps became like nails being driven into my head. Aside from the many ape sounds, the delivery of the too-stupid-for-words dialog, particularly from the Princess, is torturous, and I've never heard such a beautiful language sound so annoyingly grotesque. By the end of this aimlessly meandering film, all of our protagonists could have been beheaded and I really wouldn't have cared.
Review of The Hidden Fortress
