Seen this also last night. I only got the SD version so the experience is kinda lacking. Currently downloading the HD version for better experience. Nevertheless., it's a great movie. Lots of toku actors in it.
BTW, here's a good site with character comparisons:
http://www.starblazers.com/html.php?page_id=465 Anyways, I have only seen the Revival movie which is a sequel to the original series. In that movie, it shows how the series ended.
[hide]Captain Okita sacrificed himself with Yamato to prevent a space ocean on flooding Earth after they got the anti-radiation device. Okita calls for abandon ship. It's kinda similar to the ending scene with the movie but with Susumu and Yuki together.
Both ended up with each other and had a daughter.
Another difference I saw is the mechanic of the Wave Motion Gun. The guy didn't die in the series and ended up created a new version of the Wave Motion Gun for an upgraded Yamato.
And supposedly, there's a limitation of how many rounds can the Wave Motion Gun do. And it seems it was disregarded in the movie with the only limitation is it can't fire after a warp.[/hide]