Got a hankering for some live action Star Blazers? We've been talking for months now about the upcoming live action adaptation of Space Battleship Yamato - the original Japanese title for the anime series released here as Star Blazers - from director Takashi Yamazaki and with the release almost upon us the first two minutes of the film have been released online. So strap yourself in and get ready for some large scale space combat, the video lies below.
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More from Space Battleship Yamato
- News: Catch A Glimpse Of The Wave Motion Cannon In Action In The Latest Trailer For Takashi Yamazaki's SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO (STAR BLAZERS)
- News: Full Trailer For Takashi Yamazaki's SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO Packs Plenty Of Epic Into Just A Minute And A Half.
- News: SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO Goes Live Action!
around 4 minutes worth of movie here...all in Japanese of course.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nIej5weq1U
Reviews by viewers in Japan have been decidedly mixed. Worst reviews coming from long time fans whose biggest complaints are the mashing up of the entire 4-part saga into 2.5 hours; the alteration of the Gamelon race to generic & ambiguous "aliens"--ergo no Leader Deslok; and the intentional focus on melodrama to make the 18-35 female demographic fans of Kimura Takuya cry culminating in the ending Steven Tyler song. Oh yeah, there also seems to be a "transformer" in this film that is causing some head scratching for some viewers.
So, temper your excitement accordingly. Here's a "teary" commercial that ran 3 days prior to the release:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1TncRdVeZQ&feature=player_embedded
I kind of like the designs so far, but I'll miss the army of minions doing the 'Desslok' chant
"Worst reviews coming from long time fans whose biggest complaints are the mashing up of the entire 4-part saga into 2.5 hours"
"Mashing up the Four-part saga"? No, this is not the case. I saw the film last month at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, and it follows the narrative of the original 26-episode original from 1974, and peppers in some dramatics from the third act of the second feature film, FAREWELL YAMATO (1978). The narrative never feels compromised in any regard for what it set out to do.
Now, maybe even cramming the 26-episode story into one 138 min. film might cause some concern. But, it's already been done — back in 1977. The original series was cut into a 130 min. feature and released to Japanese theaters to record box office (both for domestic and foreign films) and single-handledly created the Anime Boom of the late 1970s/early 1980s.
So, no, this isn't a problem at all.
"Reviews by viewers in Japan have been decidedly mixed."
Most professional Japanese film reviewers are rating the film between a three and a four on a scale of five. All of the Japanese and American fans whom I've spoken to (including those at the Santa Monica screening), were all extremely positive about the film — with most of them loving it. There was only one sour grape in the bunch, and he admitted that he was entirely more married to the animated incarnation.
"The Melodrama" is entirely within keeping of the YAMATO tradition — see the original series/movie or FAREWELL YAMATO. As one fan stated, "Things are different, but it's still YAMATO through and through".
As for the Gamilas or Gamilus (Gamilons in the US version) it makes sense that they would be fundamentally changed, otherwise it would have necessitated a longer film to prevent too much of a compromise in terms of character development — more characters, less screen time for all. Again, as a fan since 1975, I was surprised by this change, and thought it was a smart move on the part of Yamazaki and screenwriter Sato.
"Oh yeah, there also seems to be a 'transformer' in this film that is causing some head scratching for some viewers."
Actually, it's a homage to another famous animated franchise, SUPER DIMENSIONAL FORTRESS: MACROSS aka ROBOTECH: THE MACROSS SAGA. At first I said, "WTF?", but then in the context of what happens later in the film, it fits in the whole scheme of things.
I went into the theater thinking that they were going to let me down, but I came out a fan of this film.