Be Forever Yamato

"Although it was a huge hit in Japan, Toshio Masuda's Be Forever Yamato (1980) never opened in theaters in America or played on television, and for years it was circulated underground in unauthorized tape copies. The Voyager Company DVD is, thus, a major revelation in quality, as the first fully authorized and properly mastered edition of the feature to be released in the U.S. The disc is superbly transferred, with bright colors all the way through and riveting detail and resolution. The 149-minute movie, which appears in full-frame (1.33:1) with English subtitles, has been given a mere 12 chapters, which, surprisingly, work well in delineating the plot of this very martial film (which comes complete with a montage of stills set to the end-title theme after the end credits have rolled, complete with an English-language translation of the lyrics over the stills of the hero and heroine). The bonus features include the original theatrical trailer, reproductions of the program book that went to audiences attending the original run of the film, and onscreen accounts of various aspects of the production, design, writing, and editing of the film, as well as the personalities involved, and even a look at the personalities of the characters. The disc opens automatically on a multi-layered menu that cleverly utilizes images from the movie and is very simple (and great fun) to maneuver around."