Customer Reviews

Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: In the Name of Love

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A few years ago I decided to watch Starblazers: Quest for Iscandar on account of simple nostalgia. Watching all of the episodes took quite a bit of time, however, so I decided that rather than sit through the entire Comet Empire series, I would just watch the condensed version, the original movie CE was derived from.

There are major story differences between the movie and the series. Essentially, this movie doesn't exist in the overall Yamato/Starblazers continuity. Since the series could not have possibly continued with the movie ending, it was disclaimed shortly after release by the powers that be, serialized, and given a much more upbeat ending as the Comet Empire season we all remember here in the US.

The movie ending is not only a surprise, it also has serious problems for an American audience. Namely, after watching for over 2 hours, I expected an ending that would at least make some sense. Apparently, the japanese characters that appear let you know exactly what happened, but all I saw was the Argo floating away into the distance and a small flash of light. This is a major letdown, particularly after several previous false endings.

On the plus side, the music and animation are a startling improvement on Iscandar, and the Andromeda was really cool, with its double barrelled Wave Motion, errrm, Undulation Gun. Although I am not a big fan of Japanimation and this is probably considered some sort of heresy among its crowd, I'll take the Comet Empire series over the movie.

The mixed reviews are a fair representation of this movie. I, like many of the reviewers, grew up watching Starblazers on US television. When I got a bit older I bought the available VHS and later DVD's. The stand alone products were a surprise as they were the Japanese original concepts. Does this make them bad? No. Of course not. Does this make them different? Absolutely.

The Japanese animation is traditionally targeted towards adults as much or more then children so what made the US adaptation successful will and is missing from the Japanese original. What is in its place is an animated Soap Opera. This is appropriate and exciting in its own way. I really enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it but beware. Watching foreign films with subtitles is an acquired taste and one that not everyone cares to acquire.

When this film was originally made, it was meant to put an end to the Space Battleship Yamato franchise. However, when it was released to theaters, it was extremely popular, and the fanbase wanted more. So, the story presented in the film had to be rewritten in order to make a 26 episode series possible, as well as to make it possible for the franchise to continue. Beccause of this situation, the film has to be looked at as an "alternate timeline" story for the franchise; otherwise, the movies and episodes that came later would make no sense.

This DVD also includes the originial theatrical trailer (which is subtitled), the original program book (which is translated), a gallery of promotional art, and the making of the movie and cast interview