Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."
Practical Effects
Full-scale Yamato replica built for filming—no CGI nonsense.
Production
143 minutes of 'we know they're doomed' tension engineering.
Acting
Takashi Sorimachi's stoic spiral into the inevitable.
Director
Junya Satō
Takashi Sorimachi
Shohachi Moriwaki
Shido Nakamura
Mamoru Uchida
Yu Aoi
Taeko
Noboru Takachi
Kawazoe
Jun'ichi Haruta
Hisao Koike
Ryô Hashizume
Yoshiharu Kojima
Ryūzō Hayashi
Ryunosuke Kusaka
Hiroyuki Hirayama
Tamaki
Hirotaro Honda
Tetsuzo Furumura
Sosuke Ikematsu
Atsushi
Chavetaro Ishizaki
Tetsuya Watari
Tatsuya Nakadai
Kyoka Suzuki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The 1:1 scale Yamato replica built for filming remains one of the largest practical ship sets ever constructed.
Released as Japan debated constitutional pacifism; the film's ambiguous patriotism sparked domestic controversy about whether it mourned soldiers or militarism itself.
JP
