Space Battleship Yamato International Teaser

One of the most significant pieces of anime to come out of the '70s was the Space Battleship Yamato series, broadcast in the States as Star Blazers. The US broadcast paved the way for animated series that existed as connected story arcs, and the original three seasons spawned a set of animated films in Japan.  A live-action version of Space Battleship Yamato has been in the works for quite a while, and the film began shooting in October. Now there's a trailer that actually captures the look of the original anime. Dare we hope that the feature might actually be good?

Based on what we know so far, the feature seems to be following the basic trajectory of the original series, in which a refugee band of humans crafts a starship out of the scuttled Japanese battleship Yamato. The ship travels to the Large Magellanic Cloud to score some alien tech that can cleanse Earth of radiation and help humans gain the upper hand over an aggressive interstellar antagonist.

Some changes have been made to the story, however. The Anime News Network reported a while ago that a couple of male characters from the original are now female, and suggested slight changes for at least one major character. But looking at this teaser it seems like the $22m production has got the look of the show down pat, especially when it comes to the Yamato itself and the battles in which it takes part. Way to tease the firing of the ship's devastating Wave Motion Gun, too. In this brief clip I love the so-accurate look of the ship's captain, but I do wonder if he'll just be ridiculous when seen in full.

Incidentally, Space Battleship Yamato: The Movie, the feature which cut together episodes of the show's first season, is available to stream on Netflix. Considering that it cuts about eight hours of story down to two, it isn't necessarily the best way to start, but it's a primer at least. What does that edit bode for this new live-action film? [via Quiet Earth]