Farewell Space Battleship Yamato | |
---|---|
Directed by | Leiji Matsumoto |
Produced by | Yoshinobu Nishizaki |
Written by | Eiichi Yamamoto |
Story by | Leiji Matsumoto |
Starring |
Kei Tomiyama Yoko Asagami Shusei Nakamura |
Music by | Hiroshi Miyagawa |
Production
company |
Academy Productions
Group TAC |
Distributed by | Toei Company |
Release date
|
July 14, 1978 |
Running time
|
151 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Box office | ¥ 640,000,000 |
Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato (さらば宇宙戦艦ヤマト 愛の戦士たち Saraba Uchū Senkan Yamato Ai no Senshitachi?, literally "Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato: Warriors of Love"), also called Arrivederci Yamato, is the second film based on the classic anime series Space Battleship Yamato (known as Star Blazers in the United States). The same storyline was reused and expanded on later in the year on TV in Space Battleship Yamato II, albeit with a more upbeat ending.
The Yamato and her crew face the onslaught of the Comet Empire, a civilization from the Andromeda Galaxy that seeks to conquer Earth, led by Zwordar the Great (Prince Zordar in the English dub). The Earth ship is aided by an antimatter woman, Teresa of Telezart (known as Trelaina in the English dub), while the Comet Empire has revived Earth's greatest enemy, the Gamilas' leader Desslar, who is eager for revenge. After an immense battle destroys the forces of both Earth and the Comet Empire, the Yamato destroys the White Comet's cover, revealing the Empire City that hid inside it. After a long battle, Susumu Kodai orders everyone else off the Yamato before ramming her into the Emperor's ship head-on, sacrificing his life and the ship to defeat Zwordar and save humanity.
In 1977 the first film of the series, Space Battleship Yamato, outperformed Star Wars at the Japanese box office. This led to the production of Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato, which was released in 1978. It was originally intended to conclude the story, but a third film, Be Forever Yamato, was released two years later.