Kimura Takuya stars in a gleaming ¥2 billion live-action/CGI spectacular, the culmination of an internationally influential franchise that’s been generating television and animated movies in Japan since 1974.
The action is orchestrated with a classical poise that recalls the poetic aesthetics of the early Star Wars trilogy.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2011
Space Battleship Yamato 2010
Supesu Batorushippu Yamato
Earth is a radioactive wasteland, surrounded by fleets of humanity’s sworn enemy, the iron-plated Gamilons. The key to Earth’s resurrection may lie on Iscandar, a planet 148,000 light years away. Charismatic Kodai (actor, rock star, heartthrob Kimura Takuya) emerges from the shadows of an earlier fray to pilot the massive Yamato, a spaceship outfitted with a time-warping, wave-motion engine. Militaristic nostalgia (the actual Yamato was a massive WWII battleship), goofy corporate solemnity (dig that salute) and try-hard social relevance (lippy female officers! eco-awareness!): it all adds up to a mega-mix of old-school interplanetary thrills, tailor-made for kids from seven to 77. — BG