The hidden fortress.

The main characters are the most interesting aspects about the movie for me, but I have to appreciate how the entire world, around them seems genuine.

While I’m certain so many people wouldn't be wearing shorts, everything else feels like an authentic recreation of life in Japan. The costumes, the sets, the buildings etc. The way the characters go about also adds to the feeling of authenticity.

If I had to pick a scene in particular that really show’s off the films style and makes it unique it would be the duel between the two generals. Firstly we aren't told how exactly they know each other, your just shown these two characters, right after an exciting chase- the hero fails to actually do what he set out to do[stop the messengers from delivering information] telling the viewer that he is not infallible. You have a tired general in odd short pants against a general in full armor. They then do what you never see in your average sword and sandal movie. They fight with spears, not the sword - that is apparently noble and what have you. They fight using the simple spear, used by peasants and nobles alike.   

It might seem like a stupid cause for liking a movie, but this is Japan the land where the most overrated sword of all time comes from[ Japanese steel was often inferior to other steels ,which meant the Katana was often inferior to swords forged in Damascus or most other places in the world]! Showing an almost dance like fight, that felt so grounded and realistic and made no attempt to go out of its way to seem more exciting just felt so refreshing.

You see Conan the barbarian with a gigantic clumsy hunk of metal that’s meant to be a sword, you see people killing each other with a single slash [human beings aren't that delicate and swords aren't that good].  The way the movie just seems to care more about showing the events of the story, without any attempt at making it more acceptable or exciting helps create an atmosphere that engages you by being unaware of your presence. 

The swords is everywhere from Narnia to actual legends [the sword of Charlemagne] it is an omnipresent of nobility, power, kingship and all that jazz. The spear, it isn't all that important in the legends, but it’s always there, it was there before the sword was invented and it was preferred to the sword in almost every culture.  A man with a long stick that’s pointy on one end may not cut a noble or heroic figure, but the movie shows it to us, the most climatic moment in the first part of the movie is a spear fight.  Not two men cutting at each other, delivering witty lines, and showing their faces in close ups; two men almost dancing, oblivious to world. 

I don’t know what else I can say about the movie. Like the spear duel, it just feels like an authentic piece of medieval Japan that you are viewing. The story doesn't care that you’re watching it goes where it will; it doesn't try very hard to be complex, dramatic or sentimental. It just feels like a realistic, albeit incredible story, story you could see in a history book or a legend about famous Japanese generals like Oda Nobunaga.