  == Please mention Michael Anderson in your article. ==  Star Wars is not loosely based on the Hidden Fortress.  Star wars is a remake of the first two-thirds of the Hidden Fortress.  The movie follows the Hidden Fortress closely until after the spear duel.  That is where the similarity ends.  It is then that the movie is a remake of the final battle of The Damnbusters.    The Damnbusters is 1954 Micheal Anderson film depicting a battle in which british bombers make attack runs at low altitude along a river trench to launch bouncing bombs at precise moments to destroy nazi damns.  They are harried by enemy fighters and guns mounted on the damns.  Even the targeting methods they use are strikingly similar to the targeting computers used in star wars.  If you wish to be accurate and fair you should give credit to both Kurosawa and Michael Anderson.  If you watch both movies you will see that Star Wars is not loosely remade of either one, but it is a remake of both.  It is two thirds Hidden Fortress/one third Damnbusters.  I am a huge fan of Star Wars and George Lucas.  His great gift was taking two old, totally unrelated, stories and creating the greatest sci-fi movie of all time.  He introduced many new, rich, bold, characters and created an entire saga around this one remake.  I just feel very strongly that credit should be given where credit is due.  I appluad you for giving credit to Akira Kurosawa and ask you extend the same courtesy to Michael Anderson.