In 1945 the Yamato, largest battleship ever built, was sent on a one way mission to Okinawa. Intercepted by American aircraft, she went down fighting. Forty years later a grizzled, elderly fisherman agrees to take a young woman out to the site and in the process awakens some old memories.
For the largest part of the film "Yamato" is less concerned with the war than with following the men and officers of the crew as they prepare for battle. The war is there in the background, edging closer to the moment the Yamato departs on her final mission. The last few scenes are especially poignant. We know what's going to happen. The young men we've been following all this time know it too, but are trying to make the best of their lot in a way that probably seems baffling to 21st Century Westerners. I honestly cannot picture the Royal Navy giving lectures on "Preparing For Death"
The final battle itself is epic. (We can forgive the odd sneaky reuse of footage.) Even if you know what is going to happen, watching the Yamato and her crew desperately fighting for their lives against an relentless onslaught of bombs and bullets is a heartwrenching experience.
This is a Japanese film, aimed at a Japanese audience so some of it may not come across too well to a Western viewer. Regardless, I'd call it well worth seeing.
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