Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess[4] (Japanese: 隠し砦の三悪人 THE LAST PRINCESS, Hepburn: Kakushitoride no Sanakunin: Za Rasuto Purinsesu, lit.'The Three Villains of the Hidden Fortress: The Last Princess') is a 2008 Japanese film directed by Shinji Higuchi. A remake of the 1958 Akira Kurosawa film The Hidden Fortress, it was released on 10 May 2008.[2][5]
Makabe Rokurota (Hiroshi Abe), a loyal retainer of Princess Yuki (Masami Nagasawa), has been commissioned to transport Yuki and Akizuki's ample treasury of gold bars safely to the politically stable Hayakawa. They disguise themselves as humble firewood peddlers, hiding the gold bars inside the logs they are carrying so as to pass safely through roadblocks set up by Yamana, which is under the control of Takayama Gyobu (Kippei Shiina), whose attire bears a striking resemblance to that of Darth Vader.
Along the way, Rokurota comes across Takezo (Jun Matsumoto) and Shimpachi (Daisuke Miyagawa), who have escaped from forced labor in a gold mine. Takezo and Shimpachi first frown on joining the journey, but eventually agree to help out in the hope of escaping Yamana's oppression and cashing in on the gold reward Rokurota offers them.[citation needed]