In addition to releasing Ultra Q, Mill Creek Entertainment has tackled arguably the biggest and most influential kaiju series to ever hit the screen, Ultraman. After Ultra Q ran its course in July of 1966, a new hero was introduced in the guise of Ultraman, a giant, red-and-silver superhero who would protect the Earth from giant monsters and aliens and would moonlight as his human host, Shin Hayata. The show was to be broadcast when Ultra Q broadcast their final episode. That final episode was pulled from the schedule and didn’t air until a year and a half later.
The first episode of Ultraman wasn’t ready to air then so Tsuburaya Productions came to an agreement with the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) to produce a black and white live show to introduce audiences to the characters and concept. When the show did premiere the following week on July 17, 1966, it was an instant success and ran for 39 episodes and completing its run on April 9, 1967 as it had always been planned. The new Blu-ray set from Mill Creek comes in a standard edition as well as a limited edition steelbook.
The fate of the Earth is in question when giant monsters from the deep and aliens from outer space begin to destroy it. The Science Patrol is formed in order to figure out what can be done and how to stop these insane creatures. There is an alien who is trying to stop the attack on Earth, a member of Inter Galactic Defense Force, and he accidently crashes with Science Patrol member Shin Hayata (Susumu Kurobe). In order to save Hayata’s life, the alien merges his life force with the human and the two become one. Hayata can now transform into Ultraman, the giant hero with intergalactic powers and will battle it out and save the planet. The only trouble is that the hero can only manifest for three minutes before depleting his energy. It’s a tricky situation but with Ultraman on their side, the human race will have a fighting chance.
Ultraman and Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot were staples of my childhood. I remember going to friends’ houses and we would stop everything when one of these shows was on. Ultraman is the show that has carried on the longest and in various incarnations, continuing on until this very day with a new series. The original series though will never be replicated, it not only has continued to be a global phenomenon, it’s inspired countless imitators, including stuff like The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It’s easy to point out shortcomings but watching these episodes took me back to my childhood. It was strange how certain moments or the introduction of certain monsters would trigger a memory I didn’t realize I even still had. When watching the episode “Breach the Wall of Smoke”, the monster Kemular was introduced and I instantly had this flashback of being at my friend John’s house, sitting in his living room in front of this big, wooden television that was to the right of the sliding glass doors which led out to his back yard. When the episode was over, we took off out those doors and pretended to be giant monsters and stomping on our little army men.
The show still has that power over me so I’m terribly excited to see the release of the other series’ that Mill Creek plans to unload for us all. The only other series I spent time watching was Ultraman Max. The series ran in 2005 and I had to find it in order to watch two episodes in particular because they were directed by the brilliant and prolific director Takashi Miike. The episodes look pretty good but didn’t feel the episodes weren’t as crisp looking as they were on the Ultra Q discs. The colors (Ultraman was the first color series produced by Tsuburaya Productions) pop enough but there’s a bit more grain in the image than I was expecting. Regardless, the show is a gem and this set should be added to the collection shelf as soon as possible. Preferably an empty shelf for the rest of the sets being released over the next year.
Find out more at the official website for Mill Creek Entertainment!
Related Article: ‘Ultra Q: The Complete Series’ Blu-ray Review
