Space Battleship Yamato Blu-Ray (Region A) (English Subtitled) (2011)

This DVD lives up to it's expectations. For American fans of Space Battleship Yamato, adapted into Star Blazers at the height of the Star Wars craze circa 1979, there will be no disappointment whatsoever. Being one of those fans that saw the toned down dubbed English version I have been following the series ever since. My background with the series may be more extensive as I have no problem watching the original with sub-titles so take that as you may.

It was with mixed reservations that I finally got to see the December 2010 movie adaptation of my childhood favorite cartoon. Having seen it twice now I can tell you two truisms:

1. It has been worth the wait.

2. The movie was made by fans of the original show.

If you have been a close follower of the show, the first 30 minutes plays such a homage to the original I am almost naming my goosebumps. The story-line, characters, ship, soundtrack, action flow, practically the entire first episode including camera angles, has been beautifully recreated. At around 2 hours to cover the original 26 "Quest To Iscandar" episodes I think this has been a beautiful homage to fans of the original series or it's American counterpart. Wildstar (US) or Shima (JA) still has his growth period but is the central character. The only really changed character is IQ9 whose transformation to the big screen couldn't have been better done. Sane (US) or Sato (JA) even still has his cat and famous "spring water."

The Good: As mentioned above and special effects. IMDB reports 15 million spent on the movie, primarily on special effects. Quite frankly I find that impossible. What I saw, rivaled Avatar.

The Bad: Storyline, is radically departed by the end of the movie (sequel possibilities would only involve Andromeda if you take my meaning).

The Interesting:

1. Import only so sub-title English and Chinese only.

2. Product was ordered through Amazon (Asian Entertainment (DVD))on a Monday and arrived Wednesday with standard delivery options.

3. Product is stated as being all region DVD. Tried on Region 1 with no problem whatsoever.

4. Regular DVD came with no special features.

Final word: Absolutely loved it.

I've been a fan of the "Space Battleship Yamato" TV series called "Star Blazers" here in the United States back in 1978. I've always said that it should be made into a live action movie and in 2010 they finally did it. When I saw the theatrical trailer online, I said I've got ot see it. I was hoping that it would be released to theaters here in the United States but that never happened. That left seeing it on DVD as my last option. When it finally came out in June of this year, the manufacturer produced DVDs without English subtitles. That left me out in the cold.

Then I saw this copy called "Space Battleship Yamato The final battle." I was suspicious but I ordered it anyway because it said it had English subtitles.

When I received it and played it, my suspicions were confirmed. This copy is a bootleg version. Here's what's wrong with it. The movie was shot at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio but on this DVD it's streached to a 1.85:1 ratio. The movie was recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1 but this disc only has Dolby Surround. Some of the subtitles are either wrong or came across as silly.

On the other hand, it was the best I could get at the time.

However, another company is making copies of this movie on DVD that are superior. The movie is presented in its full 2.35:1 aspect ratio, it has Dolby Digital 5.1 sound along with the Japanese dialogue and the English subtitles are more accurate.

I bought the new copy and am very happy. That makes this first copy obsolete and unnecessary.

Buy Space Battleship Yamato Blu-Ray (Region A) (English Subtitled) (2011) Now

Being a BIG fan for years of the english dubbed cartoon (StarBlazers aka Yamato ) shown in the

USA year ago, I couldn't wait to see this movie when I heard that a live action version was

being made.

The script sticks mostly to the original story plot from the cartoon.

And the actor in the movie are pretty spot on as well to there cartoon counterparts.

Even the CGI effect are better then I thought they would be. Based on American

movie production budgets that would have cost 3 or 4 times as much to have made a movie like this.

Definitely worth buying this DVD.

Read Best Reviews of Space Battleship Yamato Blu-Ray (Region A) (English Subtitled) (2011) Here

I've been a fan of the "Space Battleship Yamato" animated series known as "Star Blazers" in the United States back in 1978. I've wanted to see a live action version of it and in 2010 they finally made one. The quality and technology of special effects necessary to pull it off has been achieved and it shows on the screen. This movie was shot at a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and they fill it with action from end to end.

The story is based on the original one seen in the TV series of Earth vs the Gamilons. The original characters are there more or less. With that in mind, this is not your father's or grandfather's "Space Battleship Yamato." Some of the differences are interesting, some are shocking. The way it's crafted, this movie can be enjoyed by those who don't know anything about the TV series as well as long time fans.

This copy produced by Sarawak Media Corporation of Malaysia is near perfect. The movie is presented in its full 2.35:1 aspect ratio with its original Japanese dialogue and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. It has English subtitles and they are almost complete. There are 2 or 3 scenes that are missing the caption but it's minor.

This version is far superior to another on being produced on DVD by another company.

My thanks to Sarawak Media Corporation for producing this DVD and LOTO-SURPLUS for selling it at an affordable price.

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There is no greater Starblazers fan than me. By "Starblazers" I mean the Quest for Iscandar and Comet Empire series that played back to back to back in America from the late 70s to the early 80s. This excludes the Bolar Wars and any later releases that were produced with different voice actors. Like many fans I got up early before school to watch Starblazers in the morning, and then sprinted home from the bus stop to watch it in the afternoon. And I dressed up as Wildstar for Halloween one year. Later I bought the entire VHS collection for both series that came out in the early 90s. I then upgraded to the DVD versions when they came out, handing down my VHS collection so my little brother could benefit from it. I even own a shrink-wrapped back-up copy of the 2 series on DVD "just in case". Maybe I'll hand it down to my grandchildren one day. Speaking of children, I named my first son "Avatar" and my second son "Venture", and started them on the series when they were 2 years old, and now they are huge fans, too. One year Avatar had a Starblazers-themed birthday party. If I had had 2 daughters I would have named them Tralaina and Nova. I have models of several spaceships, including a large Argo with moving parts and sound effects, and action figures.

Given my almost sacred devotion to the series, it did not surprise me that this first live-action production was overall a disappointment. As a superfan I felt I had to give it a chance, and I figured it wouldn't be total crap so it was worth owning. I think my kids will enjoy watching it multiple times, but really it's a `B' movie by American standards.

The special effects aren't much better than you'd see in some of the bigger-budget, original movies on the Sci-Fi channel. They're also, in large part, too fast to fully appreciate. By "fast" I don't mean the action sequences were too "short". I mean the planes flew too fast, the missiles and lasers were too fast and messy. They were more like flashes on the screen than engaging, suspenseful action sequences. The ground fighting scenes were better in this regard, though, and overall I'd give the special effects 3 out of 5 stars.

The writing and the acting, however, really brought the movie down. Frankly I think the cartoon is more emotionally engaging and less cheesy/corny. Of course, just like when fans as kids fell in love with the cartoon in spite of its cheesiness and corniness, kids today will likely not think much of the added cheese and corn in this live action production. However, the adult fan who was hoping the live action movie would improve on that aspect of the series will be disappointed. Maybe the writers did this purposely to try to make it more like the cartoon, or maybe this is considered `A' movie scripting in the Japanese industry. Not sure. As for the acting, Captain Avatar was probably the worst with Nova the best. Wildstar seemed to start out poorly but got better as the movie went on. The writing and acting I would give 2 out of 5 stars.

As for the screenplay/story, the writers did more than compress the 26 episodes of the Quest for Iscandar series into a 138-minute movie. They made significant changes to the plot, like changing the nature of the Gamilons, and merged elements of the Comet Empire series into the story, especially the end. The sex changes for Eager and Dr. Sane aren't too big of a deal, as well as the change to Wildstar's and Vetnure's back stories. But Homer was eliminated completely and the Space Marines brought aboard (that reminds me; I take back what I said about Captain Avatar being the worst actor, that distinction should probably go to Sergeant Knox). Major conflicts with the Gamilons such as at Pluto and Balan aren't even given screen time in montage form (which would have lessened the feeling of being "rushed" that other reviewers have complained about). Merging the battle at the Rainbow Galaxy in with the assault on the Gamilon homeland, however, was more forgiveable as a time-saver. As for IQ-9, I don't like what they did with his character for most of the movie, but that scene at Gamilon where he transforms into the form of IQ-9 we know and love, and then starts mowing down dozens of Gamilons with guns in both hands, that was AWESOME! Another thing I didn't like was the relative lack of emphasis on the ship. In the cartoon the ship is almost a character. Not so in this movie. Still the movie does pay homage to several story elements from the cartoon, even using nearly identical camera angles as the cartoon for some scenes.

One good thing I can say about the movie is the soundtrack. Much of the soundtrack is new, which was initially disappointing because the original music from the cartoon is largely what made the cartoon great and where it broke new ground. Never before had a movie-worthy score been written for a cartoon. They could have just re-mastered the old score and used it for the live action movie. However a lot of the new music is really good and has that Starblazers feel, even though some of it seems ill-timed. The cartoon was better about playing music appropriate for the scene. Still, I'd give the soundtrack 4 out of 5 stars, even though the DVD menu is ruined with that horrible pop song they put on there. The animated Starblazers DVDs have way better menus and bonus features, all backed by the original score.

So overall I think this movie is worth seeing once, especially if you are a superfan. But for those fans who have been waiting for Starblazers to be given the heavy, live-action treatment it deserves, you'll have to keep waiting. It's too bad Peter Jackson or someone like that isn't a fan. That's what this series needs: one 3-hour movie for the Quest for Iscandar series and one 3-hour movie for the Comet Empire series; both with top, Hollywood-caliber writing, casting, acting, direction, special effects, and score composition, and a more faithful retelling of the story. I've already got the screenplays in my head. But alas I don't have 100 million dollars to produce them.