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.
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