Ultraman Flies into American Theaters in 2017!

[lhb412]

[Specium Ray]

The Kaiju Kingdom podcast also had an interview with Winckler this week. The short version is Tsubaraya considered the theatrical screenings a success and Winckler hinted that more is on the way. I have to give another listen to get the exact quote, basically Tsubaraya is really pushing to expand in other markets.

The highlight for me, is that Winckler had previously tried to produce an English language version of Ultraman 80 back in the early 80's. In order to make the show more palatable for the US market, it would have starred Adam West as some kind of UGM commander who would have been inserted into the show like Raymond Burr in Godzilla. And now I can never look at 80 the same way!

[lhb412]

^ Good lord!

And if you think about it; the original Ultraman was still being syndicated in the US in the early '80s, so there was brand recognition.

Glad to here there's more coming, but I want to know about potential home video releases.

--- edit ---

Listening to the episode.

Winckler says they've created high quality subtitles for the films. The theatrical releases were Winckler's idea, but it's just a supplement to what Tsuburaya has these planned for another release that's "in the bag." Winckler says not to panic if you missed the double feature in theaters and if you prefer subs you'll get your wish.

They're already in preproduction for something else.

Wild hearing about the proposed Adam West version of Ultraman 80: Adam would help sell the show in the US, but his part would be rather minimal to preserve the original show as much as possible, but if there was something objectionable for American kids' TV (like monster violence) Adam's part would be bigger to pad the runtime. When Adam West ran into Winckler in '95 Power Rangers was a huge hit and Adam said "They stole our idea!"

[Specium Ray]

Holy cats, Toy Fair is right around the corner. If there really is a big push from Tsubaraya this year, we'll know pretty soon.

[sentaison]

Saw them yesterday. While the dubbing wasn't the worst I'd ever heard, I'll stick with the subtitled versions on the video releases. The awkward gaps and pauses were painful to listen to at times. The voice actors themselves weren't bad, but the dialog came across as so stilted that William Shatner would groan! That's the bad part, the rest was very good. The action and effects were great, and it was nice to see in these latest films that someone remembered that most of the newer heroes have more than one form. Overall it was great to see these films on the big screen. And any exposure the Ultraman series gets over here will be a good thing.

[Dr Kain]

So tonight we went to see the double feature despite my earlier woes.



First, the positives:

Both movies were highly enjoyable and have re-ignited my interest in Ultraman. In fact, I wish I could go back in time and stop mysel from getting rid of my Tiga DVDs I sold to a second hand shop for $1.50 a piece. Secondly, Ultraman Zero was pretty cool looking (and he looks quite reminiscent of Seven), so I really want to check out his respective series. Of course, I'm curious to see X and Ginga as well, epecially since I would be able to enjoy the characters a lot better.

Now the thing I found interesting is that X had a much better plot while Ginga had better action. The plot for X was enjoyable and the dude in the Indiana Jones get up looks quite familar (as does the archeologist lady). I couldn't help but laugh at the card game system though, which made me expect to hear the computer shout, "Ultraman Dededededecade." It was awesome getting to see Tiga and Nexus on screen again and there were some pretty wicked shots. However, the evacuation scene was quite pathetic. People would just leisurely walking instead of running.

Ginga's plot was pretty generic and by the book of what we have seen from Japanese stories hundreds of times, but the movie really excelled in its action. The camera work and miniature were utterly spectacular and I loved the different backgrounds used for the castle levels. The villain, albeit also generic, was quite awesome and he looked bad ass. Loved the scarf. Oh, and wow, I did not expect to see Yellow Buster in this, so that was cool. The other aspect I liked more in this is that each of the Ultramen really got a moment to shine compared to X.

Now the negatives:

I won't take any points off for character development because come on, let's face it, these movies are made specifically for the people who have watched the shows. However, OH... MY.. GOD.. THAT.. DUB. Did William Shatner direct the dub? The only one that seemed to actually be putting emotion into his dialog was the commander dude in X. Everyone else was more wooden than a forest. The worst goes to the scientist lady in X who paused like every three words (not that anyone was better, but she was the worst). I knew they were going to be bad, but not THAT bad! Hell, the Toho dubs from the Godzilla Heisei movies were better than the dubs to this duo. Oh, and the male scietiest in X sounded like Krillin from Dragon Ball Abridged. Anyway, they show exactly why you can not dub live action. UGH!! I hope these are released on BD with their Japanese tracks intact because I will most certainly buy them if so.

That aside, I'm going to give the X movie an 8/10 and the Ginga movie a 7/10. Like I said, they're got me wanting to get back into Ultraman again (which is kind of bad since I don't have the time for it) so this summer I am definitely going to finally watch my DVDs of the original series.

[klen7]

^ i think you'll like Ultraman X (and Ultraman Orb, i liked Orb a lot due to a decent character arc which is absent from most Ultra series) - I'm not so sure about Ginga...

[Dr Kain]

[Specium Ray]

[O.Supreme]

The reason why I skipped Ginga and X was

1. No "Science patrol" like team and
2. toy tie-ins (spark dolls) -I hated the fact that every show in Japan was using cards, or toys, or some blatant thing. Now I'm not naïve, I know this has been going on in Japan, and in the U.S., for a long time but its usually more subtle.

But watching Orb (even with the cards) was not too bad. I am looking forward to *hopefuly* a home media release of these more recent films as well so I can finally see them. Trying to fill in the 3-year (or so) gap between The Ultraman Saga movie & Orb when I basically didn't watch anything related to Ultraman.

[lhb412]

^Give X a chance. Orb is good, but X is better. It's toyetic as hell, and it gets a bit too Sentai-esque in the middle, but its positives overcomes that and it has a ton of classic Ultraman... er, stuff: from the great Nexus and Max team-up episodes, the Gomess episode (with quite a bit of Godzilla references) and even a surprise return of an Ultra Q character in one episode.

(also, both Ginga S and X have Science Patrol-type teams. Wasn't sure if you were saying they didn't or were just referring to Ginga)

[RichCo]

I think the original 66 dub is great. Granted, dubbing Asians with faux Asian accents is a wee bit troublesome in 2017, but it's pretty solid. Live action can be tricky to dub, but I am glad someone is trying it. Can't wait to see these and I am excited there's more stuff on the horizon!

[Dr Kain]

So I decided to start watching the original show tonight and I have to say that I am quite impressed so far. The four episodes I've watched have been highly entertaining. In fact, if I didn't have to work tomorrow I would still be watching it. Anyway, what is up with the Science Divisions's uniforms? They can afford to have these advanced weapons and vehicles, but they can't afford more than one pair of clothing? Or did the zippered uniforms that go over their regular uniforms take up their entire budget? Hell, Fuji went "on vacation" but was still wearing her uniform. What the hell man? They're also pretty ugly as hell. Oh, and I already don't like Hoshino. Why is there a kid hanging out with the group?

I do have to laugh because the commander is the same guy who plays Tachibana in the original Kamen Rider series and I'm pretty sure he has the exact same pipe in both series.

The effects a good, like really good. Way better than they should be for a 1966 TV show. I mean, yes, I know this was done by Eiji Tsuburaya, but come on, this is a TV show from the 60s. Then again, the effects in Ultraseven were spectacular from what I recall, so I guess that shouldn't be a surprise. Of the four episodes though, my favorite monster is easily Baltan. I think that has to with him being intelligent, but I also thought that episode was phenomenally written, so it could be that. I did get a laugh out of the reused Baragon suit in the third episode and the Not-Gill Man was cool looking. By the way, is it just me, or does it seem like Ultraman is trying to rape those monsters rather than fight them? o_O

Right now my only complaint is that there hasn't been a shred of character development. I know it's only been four episodes, but usually by now in a Toku series someone would have learned a lesson or something. Anyway, good stuff so far regardless of the negatives.

[sentaison]

Akiji Kobayashi is probably best known in Japan for his role as Tobei Tachibana in the Kamen Rider series, but he has a lot of credits in other toku series and films. He did guest appearances in Ultraseven, Return of Ultraman, and Ultraman Ace. He was a regular in Operation Mystery. He also played the Defense Minister in the Hesei Godzilla vs Mothra, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, and Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II. He was a prolific actor, doing many genre's of tv and film. But he's best remembered by fans here in the U.S. for his Commander Murai in Ultraman.

[Specium Ray]

http://www.ticketfly.com/event/1427779- ... lehighton/

Playing at a drive-in in Pennsylvania! That would have been a fun way to watch.