The novelization’s account of the opening battle at Mars is accurate in every way but one: the sequence is much more compressed in the film, lasting only three minutes before Okita pulls out and the narrator (Isao Sasaki!) delivers the famous opening monologue:
Space stretches into infinity. Countless stars die as others are born. And thus, space is alive.
The Space Battleship Yamato logo appears over the red, ravaged Earth, and our story begins with the return of Captain Okita’s ship and the ominous flyby of a Gamilas Planet Bomb.
In a tiny, squalid room a man puts on anti-radiation gear as his roommates taunt him for constantly going up to the surface to salvage scrap. When the man (his face now covered by a mask) says he trades the scrap to his brother in the service, the taunting changes to pleading–those in the service have it much better than others–but the man shoves his way out of the room and out onto a balcony looking down over a vast underground city.
On the Earth’s desolate surface, the only structures in sight are the ancient hull of Battleship Yamato and an elevator that lifts the man into harsh sunlight.
A handheld computer hanging from his belt nags him about the local radiation count. This is Analyzer, who has exactly the same voice actor heard in the original anime, Kenichi Ogata. An irritated slap silences him, for a moment, but then he directs the man’s gaze upward to something dropping from above. Suddenly, a falling object slams like a bomb into the ground just a few feet away, throwing the man off his feet.
An unspecified time later, the man wakes up flat on his back. To his horror, he finds that his face mask has been knocked off. He should be dead, but he isn’t. Analyzer indicates that the radiation has retreated to safe levels. A small object thrown off by the “bomb” is giving off a mist that apparently neutralizes the local radiation. The man picks up this football-sized capsule and stares at it in amazement as Captain Okita’ ship rumbles overhead…then he passes out again.
Later, on the bridge of Okita’s ship, science officer Sanada displays an image that was recovered from the capsule. It looks like a schematic for a radical new kind of engine. (Sanada is already a member of Okita’s crew at this point; he and others we know participated in the Mars battle.)
Their concentration is broken when the finder of the capsule storms onto the bridge with medical personnel on his tail. He has escaped Dr. Sado’s quarantine and demands to see the captain who used Yukikaze as cover to run away from the Mars battle. This is Susumu Kodai, full of rage over the loss of his brother.
He takes a run at Okita only to be met dead-on by the fist of Yuki Mori, which knocks him flat on his back. He rises, surprised that he recognizes her. Marines rush in to drag him off and Dr. Sado apologizes for losing control of her patient. But Okita observes the curious fact is that this patient should already be dead.
Time passes. The capsule has been thoroughly examined and has revealed much. Okita and EDF Commander Todo discuss the findings as they walk through a dark corridor toward an underground shipyard. Okita asks for command of the ship being built there, saying that it should be more than just an escape vessel for the elite. It should be a symbol of hope for all of humanity.
The Commander goes before the media to make a momentous statement, first asking for calm. He announces that the capsule contains an engine plan and coordinates to a location in the Large Magellanic Cloud; a planet called Iscandar. It is believed that the sender of the capsule has a device to remove the radiation from Earth. The last battleship will be sent to recover it. The press protests, but he silences them sharply. The time for risk-assessment is long past. Volunteers are encouraged to step forward for one last chance to save the human race.
Susumu Kodai reaches the head of the volunteer line. Recognizing him, Dr. Sado lunges forward to examine him but miraculously still finds no sign of radiation poisoning. Kodai is offered a military uniform, but he has already brought his own; he is, in fact, a combat veteran and ace pilot.
Kodai boards Yamato and instantly runs into Yuki, raising his fists to fend off a potential second round. Now that she knows who he is, her attitude toward him is even harsher. Alarms sound and he heads for the bridge, telling her to prepare the Black Tigers for action. She demands to know how he can issue orders, and he answers, “because I’m your commanding officer, Black Tiger Ace.”
Kodai steps into the bridge for the first time and takes the combat station. Captain Okita orders Shima to ready for launch, and Kodai recognizes his old friend Shima Daisuke. There is only time to exchange smiles before they move into action. A massive Gamilas missile has detected them and is now descending from orbit.
Tokugawa powers up the newly-built Wave-Motion engine and the great ship rumbles to life. Kodai gapes in wonder as Yamato rises and tears free of the Earth. With the missile heading dirtily for them, Okita orders the Wave-Motion Gun powered up. Control of the ship shifts over to Kodai and Tokugawa builds up power from the engine.
Kodai raises the scope, everyone dons their goggles, and the ship lines up with its target.
3…2…1…Wave-Motion Gun, FIRE!
Controllers at EDF headquarters watch in horror as the ship is swallowed up by a mushroom cloud…but then emerges intact to begin its vital mission.
Incidentally, production materials indicate this Yamato is much larger than the anime version, expanding from 265 meters in length all the way to 533!
As Yamato climbs majestically away from Earth, Kodai and Shima meet in the mess hall where Shima is poring over the space-warp procedure. They are interrupted when Kato, Yamamoto, and the rest of the fighter pilots rush in, elated at the sight of their old wing commander. They embarrass him by pointing at the “Team Kodai” patches they still wear proudly on their shoulders.
Yuki, sitting nearby, was also a member of this team for a short time, but has nothing but contempt for the former ace pilot who chose to leave the service rather than do his duty in the Mars battle. When one of the other pilots rushes at her in a rage, her fists do the talking.
The mission moves into its next important phase, a warp test made possible only by the Wave-Motion Engine from the Iscandar schematics. It goes perfectly, jumping Yamato flawlessly to Jupiter.
Gamilas doesn’t let down its guard for one moment, however; ships are detected coming in and launching fighters. Yuki is the first Black Tiger pilot out the door. She dives right into the enemy formation, acquiring targeting data on the capital ships. She feeds it back to Yamato and Kodai orders the main guns to open fire. For the first time, an Earth ship blows away a Gamilas vessel, and the pilots cheer the victory. The exploding capital ship takes out its own escorts and shrapnel flies everywhere–one big piece lodging in the engine of Yuki’s Black Tiger and cutting off her power.
Countdown to the next warp begins, but Yuki is stranded. Cursing, Kodai leaves his post to go after her himself, defying Okita’s orders. The surviving Gamilas fighters attack, one of them ramming intentionally into the ship. Okita observes that with their base ships destroyed, they have nowhere else to go.
In his newly-refurbished Cosmo Zero, Kodai rockets toward Yuki as the clock ticks down. She says for him to forget about her, but he orders her to eject. With split-second timing, the Cosmo Zero folds itself in half across the middle, braking jets firing, as Yuki’s body hurtles toward it. Two mechanical red arms reach out and grab her…and the craft leaps away again toward home.
With almost no time left, every moment counts. The Gamilas fighters have regrouped and are now coming in for mass impact. Seconds from warp, Okita orders Shima to roll the ship. The Gamilas fighters soar past them, missing by inches as the Cosmo Zero flings itself into the open hangar bay. WARP!
Yuki slumps onto the flight deck, not breathing. Kodai shakes and shouts at her, and she finally splutters her way back to consciousness. As medics wheel her away, Okita storms in with a complement of marines and confronts Kodai for disobeying orders. “I don’t believe in leaving my people behind,” Kodai snarls back, and allows himself to be escorted to the brig.