Uchû Senkan Yamato III
Taiyôkei no Hametsu

“Uchû Senkan Yamato III Sôshûhen Taiyôkei no Hametsu” (The Destruction of the Solar System) was a TV special broadcast on December 28, 1983, in the “Suiyô Road Show” time slot on the Yomiuri TV network. This compilation re-edited all 25 episodes of the TV series “Uchû Senkan Yamato III” (Space Battleship Yamato III) into approximately 90 minutes. The title at the time of broadcast was “Uchû Senkan Yamato III Taiyôkei no Hametsu,” but to clearly identify it as a compilation of the TV series “Uchû Senkan Yamato III,” it was renamed to “Uchû Senkan Yamato III Sôshûhen” (compilation).

This special program was broadcast after the 35mm version of “Uchû Senkan Yamato Kanketsuhen” (Final Yamato) was released on March 19, 1983 and the 70mm version was re-released in Tokyo on November 5, and was planned as a special winter holiday present by Yomiuri TV. Currently, it is the last work in the original Yamato series.

During the production, Eiichi Yamamoto, director of the TV series “Uchû Senkan Yamato III”, was responsible for editing the film down to 1 hour and 33 minutes and 30 seconds. For this work, excerpts of candidate scenes from copies of scripts from all 25 episodes were used to create a first draft script of 176 B4-sized pages. After confirming the timing of these cuts using storyboards and film, the final script was completed by cutting and pasting copies of the first draft into 91 B4-sized pages. Following this completed script, the film was edited from prints made from each episode's negatives, dialogue tape audio was dubbed, and some narration was newly recorded. Additionally, BGM was remixed for approximately 30 sections.

While the compilation “Uchû Senkan Yamato II Sôshûhen” made significant changes to the original material, “Uchû Senkan Yamato III Sôshûhen” basically connects footage from the TV series. The scenes with replaced BGM are few, resulting in content that is like the TV version's footage pieced together.

For the original broadcast on “Suiyô Road Show,” film commentator Kin’ya Aikawa appeared at the beginning and end, passionately presenting Yamato while displaying a completed wooden kit in 1/350 scale of Yamato from Imai Kagaku. The main feature was supposed to be 93 minutes and 30 seconds, but the final cut of the Earth with the staff roll was shortened by about 8 seconds to allow more time for Aikawa's post-commentary and the next week's preview. The audience rating of this program was 10.7%.

On the evening of December 26, 1984, “Uchû Senkan Yamato III Sôshûhen” was rebroadcast on the Fuji TV network, but it was cut by about 3 minutes and 5 seconds, and like the “Uchû Senkan Yamato II Sôshûhen” broadcast the previous day, had an audience rating of 5.5%.

The “Uchû Senkan Yamato III Sôshûhen” included as a special feature on the “Uchû Senkan Yamato III DVD Memorial Box” is based on the videotape version released by Nippon Columbia in January 1985 and the LaserDisc version released by Sohbi in 1994, which were re-edited with reference to the film and script. Therefore, it differs from the original TV broadcast version in that the staff roll is different, and the final Earth cut is 7 seconds longer.