George Lucas and Irvin Kershner studied Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala (1975), Kurosawa's film about crossing the Siberian wilderness. They wanted Hoth to feel like an actual arctic landscape—flat, unforgiving, cold as antagonist. Kurosawa's mastery of shooting figures moving through snow against absolute whiteness became the blueprint for the ice planet.
Films That Influenced Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back
