The films of Akira Kurosawa have generated far more remakes than those of any other Japanese director, beginning with the John Sturges 1960 Western "The Magnificent Seven," a reworking of Kurosawa's "Shichinin no Samurai (Seven Samurai)."

Kurosawa himself was no fan of these homages — though his production company, now run by his son Hisao, has done a tidy business selling remake rights.

I'm no fan of some of them myself, but I also understand why filmmakers keep coming back to Kurosawa: His best films have strong narrative bones that can be fleshed out in any number of ways, from the macho minimalism of Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Western "A Fistful of Dollars," based on "Yojimbo," to the energy and sass of George Lucas' "Star Wars," inspired by "Kakushi Toride no San Akunin (The Hidden Fortress)."