Space Battleship Yamato (2010) [Movie Review]

Uchū Senkan Yamato (宇宙戦艦ヤマト), also known as Space Battleship Yamato is and was a classic anime that ran from 1974-75. But it was not over then. It would reappear time and again from the late 1970s all the way through to 2009.

At over 2 hours running time, the movie is packed.

Then in 2010 the Yamato was resurrected yet again, this time as a Live Action Movie through Robot Communications, TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), and Toho.

3.5 out of 5 stars

The movie actually had a rather substantial budget for a Japanese science fiction film. It costs over $23 million USD. It also made more than twice that at box-office.

Ok. Be honest, this reminds you a little of BSG.

And I had never heard of the live action movie before last week. The internet is a wonderful place. With fresh knowledge of this movie I proceeded to purchase it... which was nice since it only came out on Blu-Ray in the states in 2014. It would be nice if movies from other countries did not take so long to come over. I mean I've seen Hollywood pictures in Mexico and Japan... at the same time as their US releases.

Very awesome space battles.

But no... it takes forever for something to cross the ocean.

I've watched some strange live action movies from Japan. I've also watched some good ones (Gantz springs to mind... I should review those sometime).

I have no idea which series this is from.
However this looks real close to the consoles in the Movie.

This was certainly one of the better ones. However that being said there are a few problems. Things that my mind balks at, like "Why was the captain's scarf fluttering in the wind when the giant Space Battleship was 'diving'?" Sure it doesn't seem big, but it can hurt my 'suspension of disbelief.' This movie had a few of those moments. There were also extended moments of silence and some pacing issues. This movie could have probably been about 20 minutes shorter with some crisp editing. Yes, those are actually stylistic elements in Japanese movies... but for a movie that is really about action, they seemed weird.

My favorite poster.

The plot is not bad, nor is it great. It probably worked a bit better as an animation series... but I do not know. I really have to find a copy of this anime. I want to watch it. 

What this movie excels at is space battles. They easily outclass their ground battle effects.The space battles, that ate the budget up. They did those well. Fun, fast, explosion filled, bullet swarms... it felt really anime while being live action.

That makes me desire a Robotech / Macross live action movie. Missile Swarms! Oh, please do this, do this thing I've said.

Oh, this movie has the single most well trained cat I've ever seen. This cat is composed. I know, that is a very strange aside, but damn. Whoever trained that cat did an amazing job. Kudos.

Anyways. For the price I paid for this movie, I'd easily recommend it. It costs less on Blu-Ray than going to see a 3D movie in the theater, and this one you can watch over and over again. But please, do not watch it dubbed. Dubbing a live action movie is one of the greatest cinema sins ever.

Still. I recommend watching this movie.

Now, I need to find this anime. One of em at least... 

This movie really matches up with which ever animation this is...
Well, save for Yuki, she is not golden blonde. Doesn't matter. Trust me.
They got Susumu Kodai's hair perfect. That matters.