Thought some of you younglings could benefit from finding out about this guy. He is today's Google page and has reminded me of his work. So get your self out and find some of his films
yup balf, that's the fella. in fact there are a few scenes in the original star wars (ep IV) that are very very similar in their way to scenes from hidden fortress.
george lucas also used a lot of kurosawa's "hidden" screen wipes for scene changing.