My son has become a fan of naval battleships. While browsing through a history of World War II naval warfare we came across the story of the Japanese battleship Yamato. That triggered a wave of nostalgia. I remembered watching a cartoon that featured a resurrected Yamato, converted into a spaceship. I could remember that the ship had a quirky way of traveling through space. I could remember that it was epic story about the survival of Earth and a battle against evil aliens. But I couldn't remember the name of the show.
The Onion's A.V. Club ran a story that Star Blazers was headed for big-screen adaptation. I saw the picture and I knew that was the show I used to watch after school.
As a GeekDad, the next step was trying to find out if my geeklet would like Star Blazers. Fortunately, Netflix has Star Blazers on DVD so I moved it to the top of my queue and when the red envelope arrived, we sat down to watch it together.
Would my seven-year old like Star Blazers? Would I still like it?
Yes and Yes.
My seven-year old son couldn't get enough of the show. Sure, it's quirky. He was rapt watching the opening battle of the Earth space missile ships against the Gamilon battle cruisers in the Battle of Pluto. He really perked up when Wildstar and Venture encountered the wreck of the Yamato embedded in the dried up ocean bed.
For me, the animation held up and the the story held up. They are not great, but they are still fun and grandiose at the same time. The ship is wonderful and ridiculous. Converting a World War II battleship into a spaceship? Silly, but it looks great. There is the crusty old Captain Avatar, with his oversized chair descending down from his quarters, giving his voice-over narration on their journey of 148,000 light years to Iscandar for a secret ingredient that will save the planet.
The biggest letdown was the music. The classic 1970s disco-ish soundtrack does not hold up. The warp of the wave motion is over the top. Visuals get distorted, they split into different colors and see dinosaurs, then fall unconscious. On the other end, the wave motion gun is still great fun. The first shot shot of the gun at Gamilon base on Jupiter's floating continent is a great scene.
I have concerns about turning it all into a movie. Or at least I had concerns. I found the trailer for Space Battleship Yamato, a Japanese live action adaptation of Star Blazers. It looks really great. The movie was good enough to debut as the top movie in Japan, knocking Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 to second place.
Will the American movie version of Star Blazers be any good?
