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Released by: Mill Creek Home Entertainment
Released on: September 29th, 2009.
Director: Various
Cast: Susumu Kurobe, Akiji Kobayashi, Akihiko Hirata, Masanari Nihei, Hiroko Sakurai
Year: 1966-1967
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The Series:
After the success of the earlier live action monster/sci-fi series Ultra Q, Japan's Tsuburaya Productions unleashed Ultraman on a monster/superhero hungry public. The series ran from 1966 through 1967 and was a pretty massive hit in Japan. The series remains a cult phenomenon to this day and it's easy to see why. Though the series is ridiculously formulaic, so too is it ridiculously fun. This writer was first introduced to the show courtesy of a primary school friend of Japanese descent. His parents raised him on Ultraman and all sorts of other Japanese superhero and monster 'stuff' and he was keen to share his interests. A lot of the other kids in the suburban Canadian town we grew up in had absolutely ZERO interest in this stuff but once or twice a week I'd find myself in his living room watching tapes his parents had given him. They weren't subbed or dubbed but it didn't matter. He'd explain to me what was going on and I'd geek out over the costumes and rubber suited monster mashing, a big, goofy grin no doubt spread wide across my face. And yeah, more than three decades later, Ultraman still brings a big, goofy grin to my face.
For those who haven't seen it, the premise is this - in the future of the 1960s when the series was made, Earth is under the constant threat of attack from alien monsters. To keep the planet safe, the Science Special Search Party (or SSSP for short) is formed. Led by Captain "Cap" Toshio Muramatsu (Akiji Kobayashi), these guys are the best of the best and they're equipped with all of the high tech gadgetry, vehicles and weapons you could ask for. Alongside the Captain the SSSP includes a tough guy named Daisuke Arashi (Sandayu Dokumamushi), a nutty professor type named Mitsuhiro Ide (Masanari Nihei), a communications expert named Akiko Fuji (Hiroko Sakurai) and the Captain's right hand man, Shin Hayata (Susumu Kurobe). Along for the ride is a boisterous kid named Isamu Hoshino (Akihide Tsuzawa). When Shin and an alien called Ultraman collide, Shin almost dies until Ultraman heals him by giving him his life force. This allows Shin to transform into Ultraman any time he needs to with, quite literally, the push of a button.
Given that this was a show aimed at a younger audience it makes sense that a lot of the storylines would revolve around Ultraman saving Isamu and yeah, a whole lot of them do, but it doesn't matter. Each episode basically sets up a simple premise and then, somewhere past the half way mark, Ultraman will show up and get into a brawl with whatever monster or alien the writers deemed worthy for that particular story. It isn't deep and the monsters are ever so obviously dudes in rubber suits, but it's such a colorful and screwy show that you can't help but love it. Ultraman himself has a pretty serious array of special powers that he can use to send his foes back from whence they came, be it his Spacium Ray or his patented Ultra Slash, so the fights tend to mix things up enough to keep things interesting.
Yeah, the effects rudimentary and the film's modest budget is obvious in its use of miniatures and wires but the show's influence remains evident in shows like Power Rangers and the like. Good, goofy entertainment, Ultraman is a blast.
The episodes that make up the complete series, spread across four discs in this set, are as follows:
Disc One: Ultra Operation No. 1 / Defeat The Invaders! / Sally Forth, Science Patrol! /
5 Seconds Before The Big Explosion! / Treasure Of The Miloganda / The Coast Guard Command / The Blue Stone Of Baradhi / The Lawless Monster Zone / Operation: Lightning Speed / The Mysterious Dinosaur Base
Disc Two: The Ruffian from Outer Space / The Cries Of The Mummy / Oil S.O.S. / The Pearl Oyster Protection Directive / The Terrifying Cosmic Rays / The Science Patrol to Outer Space / Passport To Infinity / The Brother From Another Planet / The Demons Once More / Terror On Route 87
Disc Three: Break Through The Smoke! / The Underground Destruction Work / My Home Is Earth / The Undersea Science Base / Mystery Comet Tsuifon / Monster Majesty: Part 1 / Monster Majesty: Part 2 / Human Specimens 5 & 6 / A Challenge To The Underground / The Snowy Mountain Of Illusions
Disc Four: Who Has Come? / The Endless Counterattack / The Forbidden Words / Gift From The Sky / The Monster Graveyard / Don't Shoot, Arashi! / The Little Hero / The Spaceship Rescue Command / Farewell, Ultraman!
Video/Audio/Extras:
Each and every episode in this set is presented in its original fullframe aspect ratio, just as it should be. The transfers are interlaced and some compression artifacts are noticeable but outside of that the image is pretty clean and typically quite colorful.
Audio options are provided in the original Japanese with optional English subtitles and in the dubbed US versions, both in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono format. No issues here, the clarity is decent and the levels properly balanced. There are no problems to note with any hiss or distortion and the subtitles are easy to read.
Extras are slim but the set does include the alternate U.S. opening credits sequence and a selection of interviews with the voice actors who did the English dubbing for the series - Peter Fernandez, Corrine Orr, and Earl Hammond.
The Final Word:
Ultraman: The Complete Series is a ridiculous amount of fun and while this may not be a super deluxe completely loaded special edition release, it provides a whole lot of bang for the buck. You really can't beat the price on a set that delivers as much ridiculous action and good old fashioned fun as this one does.
