I just finished the last of 15 segments on You-Tube, with English subtitles. I thought it was an excellent picture and was rather moved by it.
The sets were amazing, as were the CGI scenes of the ship. The aircraft weren't quite up to the same standard, both in their shapes and motion, but it's easy to overlook that. Less easy to overlook was that some of the CGI U.S. Navy carrier based planes attacking Yamato were P-47s in dark sea blue!
It's difficult for a westerner like me to evaluate the acting, as the WWII culture of Japan is so different from my own, and from my experiences dealing with Asians professionally some 65 years later. Yet, despite the penchant for melodrama in Japanese films, something rings true about this one, transcending my limited grasp of how it must have been to live in that time and place.
I invite the viewer's attention to a particular scene on the eve of Yamato's final battle, in which an officer declares that the sacrifice of the ship and her crew, and all the other Japanese who lost their lives in the war, was necessary for Japan to progress as a nation. What a tragic concept.
The battle effects were hair-raising, and the story line about the three sailors kept my interest throughout.
I don't know how technically accurate it is, but now I'm interested in finding out. Were the AA guns really that inefficient to serve? Also, not being a student of the IJN, I'm curious about the khaki uniforms worn by most of the ship's company when they were at sea.
I recommend this picture to anyone remotely interested in naval warfare movies. I might try to find it to rent and view it on the big screen down the hall, probably some day when my spousal unit is out shopping.
Regards,
Bruce
"You can't have everything--where would you put it?"