Space Battleship Yamato

[elite]

http://dddhouse.com/v3/product_detai...roductID=12173

It took about a month after the Japan release but Hong Kong is following up with their own release and it has English subtitles! I love Hong Kong distributors for this and I've really been looking forward to seeing this movie.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by elite

http://dddhouse.com/v3/product_detai...roductID=12173

It took about a month after the Japan release but Hong Kong is following up with their own release and it has English subtitles! I love Hong Kong distributors for this and I've really been looking forward to seeing this movie.

Here's a great user review at IMDB. I have a feeling that I will agree with him if I see this film:



4 out of 10 stars
First of all pardon my English, not my mother language.

The first thing that comes to my mind after watching this movie is a "Southpark" episode, specifically the one in which S.Spielberg and G.Lucas rape (and I mean literally rape) Indiana Jones.

My feeling about this movie is basically the same, the creative team behind this movie raped a World Icon of Japanese animation.

The characters in this movie have a total lack of empathy, you cannot possible care less about any character, whatever happen to them is of no importance in terms of feeling. Most of the characters are pale and dull, and seems they are speaking the lines without any emotion attached to them, beside being overacted roles which deliver the usual "japanese performance" of looooooooooooooong cheesy lines. (anyone said Eli Wallach in "The Good, the Ugly, the Bad"?.... - If you are going to shoot, shoot, do not speak, just shoot!").

Kimura Takuya delivers "his usual performance", nothing great, but the rest of the crew is plain and even silly, including the venerable Captain Okita. The movie relies heavily on the "mental image" created by the audience based on the original anime characters and do not make any effort on creating new psychological features that could give emotional deep to the characters, they are just soulless caskets.

The plot is basically the same as the original anime version, but focuses completely on accomplishing a mission rather than on "the journey". They go to Iskandar by crossing the galaxy, jumping a couple of times to warp speed and fighting the Gamilus's forces, but that's it, plain and simple. There is no "Odyssey" attached to it, there is no "costly enterprise" full of sacrifices and self-immolation that built characters and join the crew as "band of brothers".

The director made a terrible job in terms of "time management".The trip seems to have taken no more than 2 days, instead of the original 1 year, there is no pace, no tension after one could say "Oh, my God the clock is ticking, the earth is gonna die, c'mon Yamato!". In addition, the design does not present anything relevant or vaguely original, everything seems plastic and fake, people do not sweat, bleed, or cry, and to make things worst..."insectoid aliens", for god sake!

The original Anime series delivered a compelling "conflict" by making the aliens a Humanoid race whose planet is dying and need to colonize other planet. In this movie the Aliens are the insectoid kind who are "super dupper evil", that's it, bad for the sake of being bad.

And the ending... the ending...c'mon! Where did that children come from?, Maybe I'm missing something but, Do I have to assume he is the fruit of a "5 minutes relationship"?",Do I have to assume that Love is just 2 persons Kissing each other? Even Padme-Anakin's relationship is more credible!

I could spent hundreds of line complaining about how the creative team behind this movie raped the original series and gave us, the loyal fans to the Yamato Universe, the biggest disappointment since Dragon Ball Evolution. What's next, somebody is going to take a cr#p on Macross?

[elite]

That's the general reaction I've seen from fans of the series but I guess that's to be expected with such a revered franchise. I don't have any connection to it though, I'm just looking for an enjoyable space opera type of film, nothing extraordinary. It seems people who went into the movie with no previous knowledge of the franchise enjoyed it for what it was.

[cardiac161]

I've seen the movie, and totally agree on the negative criticism against the film. The heroics executed by the protagonists were quite uninspiring since the threat seems non-existent throughout; and the Yamato itself, big of a ship as it should be, looks quite cramped and shot out of a small studio space.

The acting, especially by Kuroki Meisa, was incredibly poor with the actor playing Capt. Okita seemingly bored out of his mind. Plus it's quite apparent that the enemy mother ship looks almost exactly out of the JJ Abrams' Star Trek. But then again, I would've expected that from the director Yamazaki which emulated "Returner" (which I enjoyed, by the way) from the last decade's action/sci-fi movies (Matrix, ID4, MiB, Mission Impossible).

Very disappointing, to say the least, considering the potential for it being very great film.

[bytebackjrd]

This is great news - the trailer looks good. However I noticed that the distributer was Panorama Distributions. I just got "a chinese ghost story" which was also distributed by Panorama and I have to say that the english subtitles were just horrible. I could not even make out whole sentences. So I am a little worried about buying another bluray from Panorama - I hope these subs are better than a chinese ghost story>

[AnimeOnBlu]

At least for the Japanese films Panorama handles, I found the subtitles on those titles to be very good for the most part.

[BettiePage]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Here's a great user review at IMDB. I have a feeling that I will agree with him if I see this film:



4 out of 10 stars
First of all pardon my English, not my mother language.

The first thing that comes to my mind after watching this movie is a "Southpark" episode, specifically the one in which S.Spielberg and G.Lucas rape (and I mean literally rape) Indiana Jones.

My feeling about this movie is basically the same, the creative team behind this movie raped a World Icon of Japanese animation.

The characters in this movie have a total lack of empathy, you cannot possible care less about any character, whatever happen to them is of no importance in terms of feeling. Most of the characters are pale and dull, and seems they are speaking the lines without any emotion attached to them, beside being overacted roles which deliver the usual "japanese performance" of looooooooooooooong cheesy lines. (anyone said Eli Wallach in "The Good, the Ugly, the Bad"?.... - If you are going to shoot, shoot, do not speak, just shoot!").

Kimura Takuya delivers "his usual performance", nothing great, but the rest of the crew is plain and even silly, including the venerable Captain Okita. The movie relies heavily on the "mental image" created by the audience based on the original anime characters and do not make any effort on creating new psychological features that could give emotional deep to the characters, they are just soulless caskets.

The plot is basically the same as the original anime version, but focuses completely on accomplishing a mission rather than on "the journey". They go to Iskandar by crossing the galaxy, jumping a couple of times to warp speed and fighting the Gamilus's forces, but that's it, plain and simple. There is no "Odyssey" attached to it, there is no "costly enterprise" full of sacrifices and self-immolation that built characters and join the crew as "band of brothers".

The director made a terrible job in terms of "time management".The trip seems to have taken no more than 2 days, instead of the original 1 year, there is no pace, no tension after one could say "Oh, my God the clock is ticking, the earth is gonna die, c'mon Yamato!". In addition, the design does not present anything relevant or vaguely original, everything seems plastic and fake, people do not sweat, bleed, or cry, and to make things worst..."insectoid aliens", for god sake!

The original Anime series delivered a compelling "conflict" by making the aliens a Humanoid race whose planet is dying and need to colonize other planet. In this movie the Aliens are the insectoid kind who are "super dupper evil", that's it, bad for the sake of being bad.

And the ending... the ending...c'mon! Where did that children come from?, Maybe I'm missing something but, Do I have to assume he is the fruit of a "5 minutes relationship"?",Do I have to assume that Love is just 2 persons Kissing each other? Even Padme-Anakin's relationship is more credible!

I could spent hundreds of line complaining about how the creative team behind this movie raped the original series and gave us, the loyal fans to the Yamato Universe, the biggest disappointment since Dragon Ball Evolution. What's next, somebody is going to take a cr#p on Macross?

Guess whoever reviewed this miss the info that Kodai was married and had a kid. Wife along with his parents died but the child survived. I figured Yuki was just raising the kid as her own...

(or was that an unborn child who died with his wife?)

Well anyway, it also only takes 1 time to get a bun in the oven if it's the right time of the month I figured they went all the way when it faded to black that time...

[LatemDeeps]

If the "reviewer" had no connection with the characters, it has more to do with their obvious lack of understanding about them than poor performances or insufficient realization -- and to say that there is "NO SACRIFICES" by the crew? DID THIS PERSON EVEN WATCH THE MOVIE?!?

I wonder if this person saw it subtitled, or just missed the boat with some major plot points... First of all, the "aliens" (or "GAMILAS" as THEY'RE CALLED IN THE MOVIE) are NOT just insect-like, they are CRYSTALLINE (how this could be missed even WITHOUT subtitles (as I first saw it) is beyond me). And they are not just "super dupper (sic) evil" for the sake of being evil (this part MAY have been lost in a non-translation) -- Earth is being "renovated" for colonization BECAUSE THEIR PLANET IS DYING.

Given the (relatively) shoe-string budget ($22 million US was the last quote I read), I think some of the film's production short-comings can be forgiven. It's also not quite fair comparing a MOVIE to an ENTIRE SEASON of a TV show -- of course there are events that are going to have to be dropped (kind of like the Lord of the Rings trilogy...). However, the seemingly short trek there and back IS a valid point, as is the shortness of the relationship between Kodai Susumu and Mori Yuki.

Also, it was never stated that Kodai Susumu was ever married -- his parents were killed by his actions, but it's SHIMA's wife and child that are injured (and not killed) at the same time.

If you're going into this expecting a live-action version of the anime, don't bother -- this is shorter, and a lot darker. If you're looking for a pretty-good science fiction movie (that may not seem wholly original) then watch away.

It should also be pointed out that the film's soundtrack is OUTSTANDING.

I hope my rant is relatively coherent as it stands -- I was on my way to bed when I read the "review".

[logboy]

$22m is a huge budget for Japan.

hard to argue what's typical as a budget, or what should be possible with it, but the typical upper-limit currently seems to be about $8-10m, and very few get that. if anything, a decade ago the average cinema release there seemed to cost $2.5m and it only seems tonhave largely gone down, with the increase in a small section being something to do with an increase in tv films and major franchise stuff with an eye in the international Market.

my impression of Yamato is that it's been largely slated.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by LatemDeeps

If you're going into this expecting a live-action version of the anime, don't bother -- this is shorter, and a lot darker. If you're looking for a pretty-good science fiction movie (that may not seem wholly original) then watch away.

I'm tired of blind-buying mediocre Japanese action films so if a movie gets a lot of mixed to poor reviews, there's a good chance it's not that good for people that aren't as forgiving as you. And certainly not rewatchable...I would love to rent it, not buy it.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

I'm tired of blind-buying mediocre Japanese action films so if a movie gets a lot of mixed to poor reviews, there's a good chance it's not that good for people that aren't as forgiving as you. And certainly not rewatchable...I would love to rent it, not buy it.

it's still a lesson that's being learnt, how to be realistic with what to accept with the relatively modesty / inexperience with bigger budgets. for me, the modesty is a major draw, but i think there's ways to assess films without being forgiving to the point of putting up with crap - i'm guessing that the art form of the film that looks huge but costs very little is one that japan is unable to manage now, or is at least out of touch with. personally, i've long avoided most large-scale japanese (and other asian) films because one major reason for heading there was the aspects i sensed it hadn't yet learnt to discard that the american market began to lose back in the 70's. at that point in time, america seemed to get eternally bigger and was unable to turn back - japanese audiences (but not the industry, at least not to the same extent), however, seemed to fall out of love with the cinema and things remained largely modest as a result.

[Sky_Captain]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

I'm tired of blind-buying mediocre Japanese action films...

Indeed.

This one is no different, IMO.

[Dragon Lee]

I too am not fond of Japanese action/adventure/sci-fi flicks. most are just too obscure and weird for my taste; the good ones (I say that loosely) are typically pale when compared to their HK or Korean counterparts.

[LatemDeeps]

I'd say your enjoyment of this film really depends on your expectations going into it. I LOVED Star Blazers when I was young, and although I didn't end up seeing the proper anime until much later (the names were all different than I was used to hearing, of course -- Derek Wildstar, Captain Gideon, etc. were nowhere to be found -- and I still remember the Star Blazers theme song three decades later), I still loved it.

When I was in Japan at the beginning of the year and took the opportunity to see the movie without subtitles, I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see. I have to admit I came out of it somewhat disappointed with the CGI (I STILL don't understand why Japan isn't on the global cutting edge of CGI given its national propensity for amazing-looking videogames), a little confused about the story line (I could tell it was based on the original story, but I didn't understand the changes that had been made regarding Gamilas, and Starsha), and right after thinking about how it was starting to look kind of like an episode of Star Trek what with nobody major dying, and having the Japanese aspect of the story really kicking into high gear with almost nobody coming out alive by the end of it, I was kind of stunned. That, and I was truly impressed with the majestic soundtrack (which I almost didn't buy becasue even the CD cover features some pretty poor-looking CGI on the cover). The cheesy jazzy bits from the original soundtrack would have been totally out of place in the movie (even my favourite tracks from the original soundtrack sound kind of hokey in comparison).

Having rewatched it a few times now with subtitles and being able to understand everything about the characters and story, I really, really enjoyed this. I can easily see why people would be disappointed by this, and like the original "movie" cobbled together from some episodes of the anime, there is a lot of the "back-story" that would appear to be missing, but this is not the (first season of the) anime. It's definitely not visually on a par with say, the last Star Trek movie, but given the budget and the country that it was made in combined with the time constraints of a movie, I'm more than okay with the results. I wouldn't say it's the best movie (Japanese or otherwise) ever made, but I also wouldn't summarily dismiss it as a piece-of-crap, either. I'd also never expect a movie looking like Avatar to come out of Japan (or any other "Asian" country for that matter) either. It all boils down to individual expectations and tastes -- and even I end up being the only viewer on the planet who gets so much enjoyment from it, I'd say it's worth at least watching once (with proper subtitles, that is).

On a kind of unrelated note, most of my favourite Japanese movies (Confessions; Crying Out Love at the Centre of the World; Yomigaeri; Kamikaze Girls; Battle Royale) are just that because I couldn't imagine them being made anywhere else -- especially NOT in Hollywood.

[jlaavenger]

What are the odds of a US or Canadian release?

[Dark Lord]

I'm hoping that the Blu-Ray will be Region Free...

[stevo4264]

Originally Posted by Dark Lord

I'm hoping that the Blu-Ray will be Region Free...

I ordered a copy from Play Asia, so when it arrives I will post the info, but on their website it lists it as region A

[Dark Lord]

Originally Posted by stevo4264

I ordered a copy from Play Asia, so when it arrives I will post the info, but on their website it lists it as region A

Cheers.

[bytebackjrd]

Yesasia just gave me confirmation, it shipped out today.

[stevo4264]

Originally Posted by bytebackjrd

Yesasia just gave me confirmation, it shipped out today.

Yep, me too,