I can't wait for the fansubbers to get ahold of this one!
Live Action Yamato On The Way!
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Live Action Yamato On The Way!
For all the anime fans here, I wanted to let you know (if you didn't already) that a new, big budget Space Battleship Yamato movie will be coming out in December. Check out the trailer:
I can't wait for the fansubbers to get ahold of this one!
I can't wait for the fansubbers to get ahold of this one!
The Official Lugofilm Ltd Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bartsimpson83
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Re: Live Action Yamato On The Way!
As a kid who grew up in Japan during the 1970's (when the original Yamato was in its 'hey-day'), I'm most definitely looking forward to this! It does look incredibly 'spot-on', as a live-action adaptation. Kodai and Okita appear to be perfectly cast .. and that launch sequence looks incredible. 
The movie hits japanese theaters around November .. which means the DVD / Blu-ray will likely be released in the spring of 2011 (also in Japan).
There's a slim chance the movie will get an official 'dub/sub' North American video release .. after all, Star Blazers remains somewhat well-known, here .. and its rights issues are nowhere near as crippled as those of Macross / Robotech.
The movie hits japanese theaters around November .. which means the DVD / Blu-ray will likely be released in the spring of 2011 (also in Japan).
There's a slim chance the movie will get an official 'dub/sub' North American video release .. after all, Star Blazers remains somewhat well-known, here .. and its rights issues are nowhere near as crippled as those of Macross / Robotech.
I dunno...
My impression is that Macross is still far better known in the States.
It's not just Harmony Gold holding up the Macross spin-offs even though they don't seem to be making any headway on getting more Robotech movies produced.... 3 years later and NOT one peep about progress on a follow-up to Shadow Chronicles! At the rate they're going they'll lose the rights to the Macross footage (from Tatsunoko) before they ever finish the Shadow story arc. I'm frankly pessimistic about HG's chances of ever concluding Robotech properly. They just don't have the money and inclination to finish the series in a timely manner. Blu ray will be dead by the time the second film gets finished if it ever gets into production!
Yamato is a romantic series but it's sillier in many ways than "transforming F-14s". A resurrected iconic battleship may play well in Japan but even Disney couldn't sell intergalactic pirate ships to teenage American boys!
My impression is that Macross is still far better known in the States.
It's not just Harmony Gold holding up the Macross spin-offs even though they don't seem to be making any headway on getting more Robotech movies produced.... 3 years later and NOT one peep about progress on a follow-up to Shadow Chronicles! At the rate they're going they'll lose the rights to the Macross footage (from Tatsunoko) before they ever finish the Shadow story arc. I'm frankly pessimistic about HG's chances of ever concluding Robotech properly. They just don't have the money and inclination to finish the series in a timely manner. Blu ray will be dead by the time the second film gets finished if it ever gets into production!
Yamato is a romantic series but it's sillier in many ways than "transforming F-14s". A resurrected iconic battleship may play well in Japan but even Disney couldn't sell intergalactic pirate ships to teenage American boys!
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Re: Live Action Yamato On The Way!
New trailer!! 
.. with subtitles, even!
.. and a pop ballad.
.. with subtitles, even!
.. and a pop ballad.
Re: Live Action Yamato On The Way!
Did you hear that they got Steven Tyler (yeah, THAT Steven Tyler of Aerosmith) to sing a song for the movie soundtrack?
UPDATE: He's apparently singing the theme song!
UPDATE: He's apparently singing the theme song!
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Re:
Actually, the Japanese are a little less reserved about live-action versions of their own culturally-iconic anime franchises, given the success of the Cutie Honey and Death Note movies.Randall wrote:nteresting that the "TV cartoon to live action feature" craze isn't restricted to the US. But I'd rather watch this than the new Yogi Bear movie!
What they lack in A-level Hollywood budgets, they make up for in spirit, even for the GeGeGe no Kitaro movie that will probably never see American shores.
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Wow...heavy VFX!
I have to say with all that carnage played to the Tyler song it did kind of make it look like Armageddon II...
This could well get a US disc release...maybe even a dub if it does well enough in Japan. Shame we don't get to see more international releases more easily, there's a lot of good stuff out there.
I have to say with all that carnage played to the Tyler song it did kind of make it look like Armageddon II...
This could well get a US disc release...maybe even a dub if it does well enough in Japan. Shame we don't get to see more international releases more easily, there's a lot of good stuff out there.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/ ... ction-2010
Good news on reviews of the Space Battleship Yamato film...
Mostly positive reviews.
CG is 'eh' in areas but what do you expect? The Japanese don't have the budget the American studios do and make do with what they have.
Bad news -- the acting is 'meh.' That's what you get when you cast idol singers!
Someone in the talkback for this film had a suggestion for this and other future adaptations --
"Hire Korean actors instead of Japanese idol singers! They're better actors!"
I don't think that would go over well with the Japanese in general, or Japanese actors/performers specifically!
Good news on reviews of the Space Battleship Yamato film...
Mostly positive reviews.
CG is 'eh' in areas but what do you expect? The Japanese don't have the budget the American studios do and make do with what they have.
Bad news -- the acting is 'meh.' That's what you get when you cast idol singers!
Someone in the talkback for this film had a suggestion for this and other future adaptations --
"Hire Korean actors instead of Japanese idol singers! They're better actors!"
I don't think that would go over well with the Japanese in general, or Japanese actors/performers specifically!
Re: Live Action Yamato On The Way!
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... -show-film
More Yamato news...
The Yamato producer's son, Shoji Nishizaki, wants to do a new TV series based on the classic anime as well as a remastered, re-edited version of one of the last Yamato projects his father worked on, the film(?) Yamato: Resurrection.
The late Yoshinobu Nishizaki was a controversial figure... mainly because of a long-running dispute with manga artist legend and Captain Harlock creator Leiji Matsumoto over who created Space Battleship Yamato in the first place! Matsumoto has often featured cameo appearances of the Yamato in his works and it's been implied at times that Harlock and Yamato exist in a common universe.
In addition to the feud with Matsumoto -- which resulted in copyright lawsuits and delays in production of new Yamato OVA's and films --, Yoshinobu Nishizaki was involved in a drug bust case and was jailed for a while.
Yoshinobu Nishizaki died this past year after falling from a boat when he was on a diving expedition. The name of that boat was ironically Yamato!
More Yamato news...
The Yamato producer's son, Shoji Nishizaki, wants to do a new TV series based on the classic anime as well as a remastered, re-edited version of one of the last Yamato projects his father worked on, the film(?) Yamato: Resurrection.
The late Yoshinobu Nishizaki was a controversial figure... mainly because of a long-running dispute with manga artist legend and Captain Harlock creator Leiji Matsumoto over who created Space Battleship Yamato in the first place! Matsumoto has often featured cameo appearances of the Yamato in his works and it's been implied at times that Harlock and Yamato exist in a common universe.
In addition to the feud with Matsumoto -- which resulted in copyright lawsuits and delays in production of new Yamato OVA's and films --, Yoshinobu Nishizaki was involved in a drug bust case and was jailed for a while.
Yoshinobu Nishizaki died this past year after falling from a boat when he was on a diving expedition. The name of that boat was ironically Yamato!
Oddly enough,
The English dub of Space Battleship Yamato, Starblazers, is now being shown on SyFy!
Just caught it this past Thursday late night.
Anime's been pushed from Tuesday to Thursday (no real explanation) and the first two episodes of Starblazers aired right after Chrono Crusade (yet another anime series I bought when first released but have to sit down and watch).
Interesting.
This is the first time in nearly 30 years I've seen Starblazers on television and about twenty years since I've seen any of it... I did borrow tapes of the first two seasons dubbed. What little I saw of the third season was enough for me to swear off of it even though I'd really like to go ahead and buy the first two seasons. Have all the films the DVD set released by Voyager Communications years ago.
The condition of the video I saw on SyFy was rough in places. The animation was beyond mediocre. Even the original Gundam looks better than this! The charm of a resurrected World War II ship hasn't left even if the premise is ludicrous beyond words. At least a pirate ship isn't being sailed between galaxies....
The English dub of Space Battleship Yamato, Starblazers, is now being shown on SyFy!
Just caught it this past Thursday late night.
Anime's been pushed from Tuesday to Thursday (no real explanation) and the first two episodes of Starblazers aired right after Chrono Crusade (yet another anime series I bought when first released but have to sit down and watch).
Interesting.
This is the first time in nearly 30 years I've seen Starblazers on television and about twenty years since I've seen any of it... I did borrow tapes of the first two seasons dubbed. What little I saw of the third season was enough for me to swear off of it even though I'd really like to go ahead and buy the first two seasons. Have all the films the DVD set released by Voyager Communications years ago.
The condition of the video I saw on SyFy was rough in places. The animation was beyond mediocre. Even the original Gundam looks better than this! The charm of a resurrected World War II ship hasn't left even if the premise is ludicrous beyond words. At least a pirate ship isn't being sailed between galaxies....
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Re: Live Action Yamato On The Way!
I have both of the first two english-dubbed TV series on DVD from Voyager Entertainment -- The Quest for Iscandar and The Comet Empire. Their A/V quality varies, but is still far better than the VHS tapes they'd released in the late-1980's.
My only real complaint about the VE DVD sets is that (when using the 'play all' feature) the opening/closing narration of 'the story thus far' and -- more importantly -- the reminder at the end of each episode that "there are only X days left!" .. and the individual op/end titles are all excised, in favor of letting the episodes flow together as though they are one long movie. That narration is a crucial part of the show's 'serial' nature, IMO.
(those individual op/end titles and narrated segments are on the VE DVDs, btw .. but playing them involves navigating a couple of folders deep into the DVD menu system for each episode. The discs' default play mode is the 'movie-style' process outlined above. Just klunky presentation, really)
--------------------------
Just a few years ago, the first Uchuu Senkan Yamato TV series underwent a complete restoration, working from a 35mm telecine print. I have a japanese DVD boxed set made from this source, and it is absolutely gorgeous
-- the imagery is super-crisp and bright, with a minimum of the dirt & scratches noticeable in the imported version of the show (it is also, of course, available only in Region-2 with japanese-language dialogue). Supposedly, this restoration could be used to master a future Blu-ray of the first TV series, as well. 
--------------------------
Speaking of which, the new live-action Space Battleship Yamato movie finally has a home-video release date in Japan:
June 24th, 2011
There will be 'standard' and 'deluxe' editions available, on both DVD and Blu-ray.
STANDARD EDITION: pretty much just the movie, with a couple of trailers.
DELUXE COLLECTOR'S EDITION: two bonus discs with multiple making-of documentaries, interview with the director, footage from a Yamato press conference event, 100-page 'storyboard' book, Susumu Kodai dogtag replica, Cosmo Cleaner cell phone strap, 3D photo cards, and more(!)
Still no word yet on any plans to release the movie in markets outside of Japan.
My only real complaint about the VE DVD sets is that (when using the 'play all' feature) the opening/closing narration of 'the story thus far' and -- more importantly -- the reminder at the end of each episode that "there are only X days left!" .. and the individual op/end titles are all excised, in favor of letting the episodes flow together as though they are one long movie. That narration is a crucial part of the show's 'serial' nature, IMO.
(those individual op/end titles and narrated segments are on the VE DVDs, btw .. but playing them involves navigating a couple of folders deep into the DVD menu system for each episode. The discs' default play mode is the 'movie-style' process outlined above. Just klunky presentation, really)--------------------------
Just a few years ago, the first Uchuu Senkan Yamato TV series underwent a complete restoration, working from a 35mm telecine print. I have a japanese DVD boxed set made from this source, and it is absolutely gorgeous
-- the imagery is super-crisp and bright, with a minimum of the dirt & scratches noticeable in the imported version of the show (it is also, of course, available only in Region-2 with japanese-language dialogue). Supposedly, this restoration could be used to master a future Blu-ray of the first TV series, as well. --------------------------
Speaking of which, the new live-action Space Battleship Yamato movie finally has a home-video release date in Japan:
June 24th, 2011
There will be 'standard' and 'deluxe' editions available, on both DVD and Blu-ray.
STANDARD EDITION: pretty much just the movie, with a couple of trailers.
DELUXE COLLECTOR'S EDITION: two bonus discs with multiple making-of documentaries, interview with the director, footage from a Yamato press conference event, 100-page 'storyboard' book, Susumu Kodai dogtag replica, Cosmo Cleaner cell phone strap, 3D photo cards, and more(!)
Still no word yet on any plans to release the movie in markets outside of Japan.
Re: Live Action Yamato On The Way!
Beautiful looking release boxes.
I'd argue that the film-only box looks better.
Advertising doesn't get more direct than showing the Ship on the packaging!
I was looking at imagery of the real Yamato and the fictional revived ship really only resembles the original ship plans broadly. The original Yamato had a gold "plaque"/starburst in the upper middle of the bow that the fictional ship lacks. Its real-life sister ship, Musashi, also had a similar starburst (I've seen pictures of both battleships and the Yamato seems to have had a cleaner profile. The Musashi superstructure looks busier as if mods were grafted onto it haphazardly during the course of the War.) A second sistership, Shinano, which was finished as an aircraft carrier, also had a similar starburst crest. It's partly obscured by the superstructure modifications which altered that battleship into a carrier. The wrecks of the Musashi and Shinano have never been located.
This starburst was one of the features used to ID the Yamato wreck when it was discovered in 1984. The pronounced curving and holes on the space battleship's bows were never there on the real thing. (No mounts/architecture for a "Wave Motion Gun," either.... ) However, from 3/4-4/5 view, the parentage is unmistakeable when you compare the gun turrets, bridge/general superstructure, and and the below surface bow bulge...
I'd argue that the film-only box looks better.
Advertising doesn't get more direct than showing the Ship on the packaging!
I was looking at imagery of the real Yamato and the fictional revived ship really only resembles the original ship plans broadly. The original Yamato had a gold "plaque"/starburst in the upper middle of the bow that the fictional ship lacks. Its real-life sister ship, Musashi, also had a similar starburst (I've seen pictures of both battleships and the Yamato seems to have had a cleaner profile. The Musashi superstructure looks busier as if mods were grafted onto it haphazardly during the course of the War.) A second sistership, Shinano, which was finished as an aircraft carrier, also had a similar starburst crest. It's partly obscured by the superstructure modifications which altered that battleship into a carrier. The wrecks of the Musashi and Shinano have never been located.
This starburst was one of the features used to ID the Yamato wreck when it was discovered in 1984. The pronounced curving and holes on the space battleship's bows were never there on the real thing. (No mounts/architecture for a "Wave Motion Gun," either....
) However, from 3/4-4/5 view, the parentage is unmistakeable when you compare the gun turrets, bridge/general superstructure, and and the below surface bow bulge...Re: Live Action Yamato On The Way!
Sorry to resurrect a Necro-thread,
But I just took time to watch part of the live-action (2010) Yamato feature on YT.
Even if you're not familiar with the basic Yamato story, it's a very good film!
IF you've seen any part of the original Yamato or the first season of Star Blazers, I think you're in for a treat.
It's a slightly different take on the main story but thankfully it is NOT a beat-for-beat remake of the original anime despite some familiar music and costume designs.
I saw an hour of the film before the sound gave out(!) but what I saw was pretty darn good space opera. It's been a while since I've seen any decent sci fi in animation or live-action...
(CGI wasn't bad, either, but I still say the days of model making/pre-digital effects in the 1980s produced superior space battles. I'm sorry but nothing in CG has equalled the space battle in Return of the Jedi; most CG ship models are "too clean" and unfortunately look video-gamey... and don't even get me started on ship design... The Space Battleship Yamato design, as impractical as it is, is still a majestic and romantic symbol of a bygone era.)
There is some good news for English-speaking Yamato fans...
I believe legitimate Blu ray editions have been released for Region A (US/Japan/Canada) that have English and Cantonese (re: Chinese) subtitles. The cost of these Blu rays is very reasonable -- generally around $30-$32. Can't vouch for the subtitles but expect "Engrish." The Asian releases generally don't have the best subtitling.
I'm going to double-check on these Blu rays but I do believe the bulk of them are legitimate releases. Generally speaking, pirates go after the part of the market that's most profitable to them and Hi-def definitely ain't it...
Much as I'd LIKE to be able to afford the Japanese edition of the Blu ray, A) it's out of the price range I'm willing to pay for it; and B) it's insanely expensive for a feature film release that doesn't even have English subs that I'm aware of!
But I just took time to watch part of the live-action (2010) Yamato feature on YT.
Even if you're not familiar with the basic Yamato story, it's a very good film!
IF you've seen any part of the original Yamato or the first season of Star Blazers, I think you're in for a treat.
It's a slightly different take on the main story but thankfully it is NOT a beat-for-beat remake of the original anime despite some familiar music and costume designs.
I saw an hour of the film before the sound gave out(!) but what I saw was pretty darn good space opera. It's been a while since I've seen any decent sci fi in animation or live-action...
(CGI wasn't bad, either, but I still say the days of model making/pre-digital effects in the 1980s produced superior space battles. I'm sorry but nothing in CG has equalled the space battle in Return of the Jedi; most CG ship models are "too clean" and unfortunately look video-gamey... and don't even get me started on ship design... The Space Battleship Yamato design, as impractical as it is, is still a majestic and romantic symbol of a bygone era.)
There is some good news for English-speaking Yamato fans...
I believe legitimate Blu ray editions have been released for Region A (US/Japan/Canada) that have English and Cantonese (re: Chinese) subtitles. The cost of these Blu rays is very reasonable -- generally around $30-$32. Can't vouch for the subtitles but expect "Engrish." The Asian releases generally don't have the best subtitling.
I'm going to double-check on these Blu rays but I do believe the bulk of them are legitimate releases. Generally speaking, pirates go after the part of the market that's most profitable to them and Hi-def definitely ain't it...
Much as I'd LIKE to be able to afford the Japanese edition of the Blu ray, A) it's out of the price range I'm willing to pay for it; and B) it's insanely expensive for a feature film release that doesn't even have English subs that I'm aware of!