by August » Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:56 pm
Armand,
Your blog has the incorrect plot synopsis — you just carried over IMDb's error — it's for last year's animated film SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: RESURRECTION! Here's the real plot of the film (which was everywhere on the internets):
The year is 2199, and the Earth has been under radioactive siege from extraterrestrials known as the Gamilas for five years. The Earth's surviving population has moved underground to escape the bombardment, but the contamination is slowly penetrating to reach them. The last space battleship of the exhausted Earth Defense Forces, Yamato, sets out on a journey to Iscandar, a planet located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, to acquire a device that can heal the ravaged Earth before it is too late.
You could have very easily gone to the of the live action movie — the one you meant to talk about — which has an , complete with correct cast listing, credits and the plot synopsis. You could have also checked the Wikipedia page for the live action film, which I edited, for correct info.
"Some critics have panned the movie"
"Panned"? That's hardly true. One critic gave it a "meh" — it wasn't panned — he thought it was a rip-off of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. The other review, Mark Schilling, who isn't a big SF guy, gave it a very positive review (I posted the links above). Meanwhile, like the original GODZILLA, audiences are flocking to see this film, and in ONE DAY, it pushed HARRY POTTER out of the #1 slot at the Japanese box office.
The movie is rating between 3-4 Stars out of 5 in the professional reviews out so far.
"some purists of the anime series are peeved over some character changes"
The only griping I heard was from a handful of American fans, and even less Japanese fans, and that was before the film was released!
"Still, the movie seems to be doing well"
"Doing well"? That's quite and understatement, Armand. Tickets for opening day were sold out in July, Armand. Audiences are flocking to see this film, and in one day (a mid-week day, mind you), it pushed HARRY POTTER out of the #1 slot at the Japanese box office.
Most of my Japanese friends who have seen the film have rated it "Great", and the same goes for my American pals now in Japan, who are flipping out.
YAMATO is to the Japanese what STAR TREK and STAR WARS is to Americans — it is ingrained in the Japanese pop culture, and has a legion of fans. I think you might want to do a little more reading up on the film — and YAMATO in general — before going to see the film.
I recommend: — the English language repository for all things YAMATO and STAR BLAZERS (the US adaptation) — kind of like a Library of Alexandria for Yamatoania (find the reference in that statement!)!
August Ragone
Showa GAMERA Special Features Producer
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