To shoot the war scenes in the film, Akira Kurosawa dispatched 1,400 performances, 200 horses, and 1,400 armor sets. The armor was designed by Akira Kurosawa himself. The horses were also lavishly transported from the United States to Japan for shooting. Hundreds of exquisite costumes, all handmade, took nearly two years to complete. In addition, the climax scene of the burning city in the movie is not using a mini model at all, but a real shot of setting up a scene on Mount Fuji. The epic firework war scenes are all real, not computer special effects.
In order to complete the creation, Kurosawa drew hundreds of color sketches during the past ten years, establishing various details such as the color, light, characters, and architectural structure of the image. When the shooting started, Akira Kurosawa had reached the age of 75, his eyesight had deteriorated to a state of blindness, and he was still striving to complete the shooting with great ambitions.
