I saw the sub-titled version of the film in a large screen theater. Frankly I am not sure what to make of it.
First it is a Japanese film and is designed for Japanese audiences. As such we see some definite WWII Japanese trends in it - self sacrifice for example, when the main character does a suicide run on an enemy ship to destroy it. Ditto early in the film when one character sacrifices himself and his ship/crew to allow the Capitan to return to earth.
Along these same lines - there is a speech in the movie where the Acting Captain exhorts the crew by saying that WWII Yamato's last mission was a symbol of hope for the Japanese people. This was operation Ten-Go, which was deliberate suicide mission for Yamato to try and slow the Allied advance from Okinawa. This is when the ship was sunk - but somehow taking the imperialistic intentions of WWII Japan and twisting it around like this is odd, although not unusual for Japan - American audiences will find it disturbing.
Beyond that - the movie itself is not bad, although the last 20 minutes gets a little too melodramatic for American tastes I am sure. For most of the film, we get some good, anime style acting - along with an occasional burst of humor to keep things from getting too serious and keep the film up-beat.
The film also bows nicely to the original - IQ9, for example, starts out as an Smartphone sized piece of gear but assumes the characteristics of IQ9 towards the end. Also there is a nod to Robotech with the introduction of a Veritech fighter. The sets model the anime series pretty faithfully.
And they don't waste much time before using the wave motion gun - always a favorite. Still, I like the anime series build-up better.
Still, it was an enjoyable experience, but not particularly up-beat at the end.
First it is a Japanese film and is designed for Japanese audiences. As such we see some definite WWII Japanese trends in it - self sacrifice for example, when the main character does a suicide run on an enemy ship to destroy it. Ditto early in the film when one character sacrifices himself and his ship/crew to allow the Capitan to return to earth.
Along these same lines - there is a speech in the movie where the Acting Captain exhorts the crew by saying that WWII Yamato's last mission was a symbol of hope for the Japanese people. This was operation Ten-Go, which was deliberate suicide mission for Yamato to try and slow the Allied advance from Okinawa. This is when the ship was sunk - but somehow taking the imperialistic intentions of WWII Japan and twisting it around like this is odd, although not unusual for Japan - American audiences will find it disturbing.
Beyond that - the movie itself is not bad, although the last 20 minutes gets a little too melodramatic for American tastes I am sure. For most of the film, we get some good, anime style acting - along with an occasional burst of humor to keep things from getting too serious and keep the film up-beat.
The film also bows nicely to the original - IQ9, for example, starts out as an Smartphone sized piece of gear but assumes the characteristics of IQ9 towards the end. Also there is a nod to Robotech with the introduction of a Veritech fighter. The sets model the anime series pretty faithfully.
And they don't waste much time before using the wave motion gun - always a favorite. Still, I like the anime series build-up better.
Still, it was an enjoyable experience, but not particularly up-beat at the end.