11B30B4
Well-Known Member
Spoiler Warning….
Who am I? I am a 47 year old guy who grew up watching Japanese live action shows like Ultraman and Japanese Anime (albeit Americanized) Speed Racer, Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato in Japan), and Robotech (Macross in Japan) just to name a few. I saw all the original Star Wars Movies on opening day in a movie theater (and Han most certainly shot first). I watched the original Battlestar Galactica series as it aired. I watched all the re-runs of the original Star Trek series in the early 1980s along with all the current and previously aired Doctor Who. I loved movies like Logan’s Run (and the TV series), 2001 A Space Odyssey, Heavy Metal, and a ton of other films and shows too vast to list here. With this eclectic background I figure I have enough a good grasp of how to relate to others who are fans of such movies and shows.
The live action movie Space Battleship Yamato was released in Japan on December 1st 2010 and it was released on DVD in the US on April 29th 2014. I did not review the movie back in January of 2011 when I actually saw it because there were tons of reviews about it back then; however, several people have since asked me what I thought about it so I am reviewing it now.
Growing up with Star Blazers It took me a few episodes of the actual Japanese Space Battleship Yamato (SBY) to enjoy the subtitles and all the name changes of the characters. In the end I truly loved the series and agree with most critics that it is a paradigm shift for wide reception of Anime.
So I was really excited to learn that they were doing a live action movie. When I sat down and started watching the movie I was amazed at how far Japanese movie production has come. The special effects were very good. I would not say they are on the level with American big budget films but they do run a close second place. Certainly a quantum leap from many other Japanese films. There is a lot of CGI and I think they would have more realism with models (think Star Wars ep 4 vs ep 2). Regardless, the acting was good as well. Considering that the Anime was designed for a younger audience, the sometimes campy and almost over the top emotions of the characters was to be expected. There were several plot changes from the Anime that I do have issue with. The largest being the reduction of the Gamilas (or Gamilons) from an entire race of blue militaristic humanoids hell bent on conquering the galaxy (including earth) who have unique individuals that play various protagonists to a hive minded energy form race that seems to have a split personality. This change alone caused me to really dislike the movie from the onset. Another huge change was the inclusion of Queen Starsha of Iscandar as the other personality of the Gamilas. This caused a huge WTF moment for me. There were other plot changes but these two cause a huge dilemma. First, we lose the motivations of the characters and their actions due to these changes, further we lose the entire back story of the Gamilas and the importance of Queen Starsha. The movie retains much of the cool technology such as the Yamato, the Wave Motion Gun, Cosmo Fighters, etc. but all this is window dressing if we lose the story. With SBY being a cultural icon in Japan (there are theme parks about it), one would think that a huge big budget movie would attempt to stick as close to the original story as possible. Sure there would be changes, heck even the Yamato was physically changes to a degree for the movie but I honestly got the feeling, did the director and writers actually watch the Anime series at all.
When the reimagined Battlestar Galactica came out, fans were shocked that the Cylons looked like humans, this plot twist was (in my opinion) expertly executed and made the series so much better than the original; however, SBY’s plot changes did nothing to further the story and left this film empty. To compare it with BSG, you would have to reduce the Cylons to a single computer that spit out insults to the humans rather than being everything that the Cylons were.
If you have not seen the Anime SBY or Star Blazers, watch the live action movie first and you will most likely be able to appreciate it for what it is. The opening battle sequence was really put together nicely and the sound track (other than the Steven Tyler song) was good as well. The story can be enjoyable if you are oblivious to the original story and it’s worth a viewing. Once you have seen it, go back and watch the Anime and tell me if you agree with my criticisms.
Who am I? I am a 47 year old guy who grew up watching Japanese live action shows like Ultraman and Japanese Anime (albeit Americanized) Speed Racer, Star Blazers (Space Battleship Yamato in Japan), and Robotech (Macross in Japan) just to name a few. I saw all the original Star Wars Movies on opening day in a movie theater (and Han most certainly shot first). I watched the original Battlestar Galactica series as it aired. I watched all the re-runs of the original Star Trek series in the early 1980s along with all the current and previously aired Doctor Who. I loved movies like Logan’s Run (and the TV series), 2001 A Space Odyssey, Heavy Metal, and a ton of other films and shows too vast to list here. With this eclectic background I figure I have enough a good grasp of how to relate to others who are fans of such movies and shows.
The live action movie Space Battleship Yamato was released in Japan on December 1st 2010 and it was released on DVD in the US on April 29th 2014. I did not review the movie back in January of 2011 when I actually saw it because there were tons of reviews about it back then; however, several people have since asked me what I thought about it so I am reviewing it now.
Growing up with Star Blazers It took me a few episodes of the actual Japanese Space Battleship Yamato (SBY) to enjoy the subtitles and all the name changes of the characters. In the end I truly loved the series and agree with most critics that it is a paradigm shift for wide reception of Anime.
So I was really excited to learn that they were doing a live action movie. When I sat down and started watching the movie I was amazed at how far Japanese movie production has come. The special effects were very good. I would not say they are on the level with American big budget films but they do run a close second place. Certainly a quantum leap from many other Japanese films. There is a lot of CGI and I think they would have more realism with models (think Star Wars ep 4 vs ep 2). Regardless, the acting was good as well. Considering that the Anime was designed for a younger audience, the sometimes campy and almost over the top emotions of the characters was to be expected. There were several plot changes from the Anime that I do have issue with. The largest being the reduction of the Gamilas (or Gamilons) from an entire race of blue militaristic humanoids hell bent on conquering the galaxy (including earth) who have unique individuals that play various protagonists to a hive minded energy form race that seems to have a split personality. This change alone caused me to really dislike the movie from the onset. Another huge change was the inclusion of Queen Starsha of Iscandar as the other personality of the Gamilas. This caused a huge WTF moment for me. There were other plot changes but these two cause a huge dilemma. First, we lose the motivations of the characters and their actions due to these changes, further we lose the entire back story of the Gamilas and the importance of Queen Starsha. The movie retains much of the cool technology such as the Yamato, the Wave Motion Gun, Cosmo Fighters, etc. but all this is window dressing if we lose the story. With SBY being a cultural icon in Japan (there are theme parks about it), one would think that a huge big budget movie would attempt to stick as close to the original story as possible. Sure there would be changes, heck even the Yamato was physically changes to a degree for the movie but I honestly got the feeling, did the director and writers actually watch the Anime series at all.
When the reimagined Battlestar Galactica came out, fans were shocked that the Cylons looked like humans, this plot twist was (in my opinion) expertly executed and made the series so much better than the original; however, SBY’s plot changes did nothing to further the story and left this film empty. To compare it with BSG, you would have to reduce the Cylons to a single computer that spit out insults to the humans rather than being everything that the Cylons were.
If you have not seen the Anime SBY or Star Blazers, watch the live action movie first and you will most likely be able to appreciate it for what it is. The opening battle sequence was really put together nicely and the sound track (other than the Steven Tyler song) was good as well. The story can be enjoyable if you are oblivious to the original story and it’s worth a viewing. Once you have seen it, go back and watch the Anime and tell me if you agree with my criticisms.
