 In an interview for the Criterion collection DVD, George Lucas  stated that while this film is a story about a princess and her  protectors that this was not the primary element that he employed in  Star Wars. He stated that he was more concerned with the way that  Hidden Fortress is told through the eyes of two lesser characters.  In Hidden Fortress it is the two thieves; in Star Wars it is C3PO  and R2D2. In both films the comical interplay between the two  characters is a major theme.