Ultraman TV and Movie Licensed to Mill Creek for North Ameri

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I've watched the first disc of Ultra Q myself with the exception of the second episode. Not a fan of that when I had an official R2 DVD and had the Shout Factory set.

My favorite episode from the first disc is probably Defeat Gomess or Peguila Is Here!, Peguila is just a unique monster. Going to watch a few episodes from disc 2 tonight and probably finish that off tomorrow. So far I've been thoroughly impressed with the transfer of Ultra Q and I'm curious to see if Mill Creek will down the line release the 4K releases that should start popping up in Japan. Ultra Q is slated for a 4K release next month I want to say.

I'm just curious does anyone know how many episodes where put on each disc for the Japanese BD release?

[kiryugoji04]

[lhb412]

Watched two favorite episodes from both series: 1/8th Project and Mammoth Flower from Ultra Q and My Home is Earth and Passport to Infinity for Ultraman.

I'm going to get back into traditional Halloween viewing for the rest of this month, but I can't wait dive into these sets in earnest on November 1st.

... man, My Home is Earth is maybe my favorite episode of anything ever. That last shot? Man.

[Dr Kain]

[Benjamin Haines]

I am excited to finally check out Ultra Q and to watch Ultraman past the second episode.

[Jinzo Ningen]

Stayed up and finished the first disc of UM. In a word: Meh. Video quality IS better than the previous legit DVD release, but it's certainly nothing to go gonzo about. A handful of shots (not episodes nor scenes, but individual SHOTS) look great. Most are strictly average, akin to the usual lowball BR fodder you'd find in a bargain bin. Sound is OK, but again, felt weak and kinda hollow. The sound effects that TPC shoehorned into their remasters - and so are in this release as well - seemed completely pointless; adding nothing and standing out annoyingly because they were so obviously of differing quality and 'fullness' (for lack of a better word) than the original mix. That booklet I griped about yesterday, while of nice quality, is woefully thin and underwhelming in it's glossed over worthlessness. Some material that may be of interest to the passing, casual fan, but there's nothing in it that you couldn't learn (in fact, far less) by skimming over the show's Wikipedia page. Many of the subs are not much better than fan stuff; awkwardly transliterated dialogue and multiple misspelled words. Overall this release felt rushed and slipshod. And the fact that the Titan dubs were omitted equals a poo-poo release for me. Certainly not worth the money I shelled out for it. A $12-$15 release, at best.

[Dr Kain]

It was only $22. That's hardly a big investment, especially when that is less than $1 per episode.

Also, the book is awesome. What the hell are you going on about? It has episode descriptions, screen shots for each episode, and images of each monster that appears in the show. It also talks about the main characters and some of the gear used. What more do you want? Do you want it to provide free blowjobs? God damn "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" me dude. It sounds like you just wanted to hate this release for the sake of it.

[O.Supreme]

The release isn't perfect. however I try to put things in perspective:

mid-90's More than $100 for garbage-quality VHS tapes of the entire series (usually 8 or 9 tapes depending on what bootlegger you bought from)

2006 -BCI Eclipse DVD Sets -These I want to say, were between $35-40 each when they first came out so most people probably spent between $70-80. The packaging on these I have to say was pretty awesome, standard slim cases for the time, but definitely secure, and the English dub was included, quality was pretty good all things considered. This was also my first opportunity to see the series in its entirety in Japanese, as opposed to a handful of episodes I had seen at conventions etc...

I never got Mill Creeks first release from 2009. I did gift it to a couple of friends actually . At $10, you cant beat that. These were casual fans that hadn't seen the show in approximately 25 years, so they were thrilled. I did hear of some serious QC issues from fans online, but I cant specify to them since I've never actually watched anything form that set.

Now we are getting the entire series, on BRD for roughly $20 (Like I said I got mine for $18 and its arriving today!) The lack of English dubs is a bit disappointing, but I'm keeping BCI's release for just that purpose. I'm kind of surprised Mill Creek just didn't throw in their previous el-cheapo dvd release as a *free bonus* or something

But considering in Japan, a similar release would go for more than 10x what we are paying, and NOT include subs, or access to the series on a digital streaming platform, I'd say it was a pretty good deal. I mean, let's be honest. I'm just as down on the Criterion Godzilla BRD set as some are, but if that thing was half the price (around $80), there would be fewer complaints. I'm sure that's why several of us are waiting for the B&N sale for that one.

[kiryugoji04]

Also, these releases are from Tsuburaya directly this time and not the same material ripped off by Chaiyo as in the case of the previous DVD releases. I think that's nice.

[lhb412]

There's also the legit reason of wanting to support the most significant domestic kaiju distribution deal from the beginning.

[Shokara]

My standard edition Ultra Q set arrived in the mail today, and I can concur with others on here in saying that the HD picture quality in this set is wonderful. It's definitely far sharper than that of Ultraman's thanks largely to the show being filmed on 35 mm rather than on 16 mm like Ultraman was. And yes, I'm aware that the overall softness of Ultraman's picture is also likely due to digital noise reduction or other work on the part of Tsuburaya. It should also be noted that if Mill Creek's picture quality on Ultraman looks a tiny bit softer than the Tsuburaya Blu-rays, it's only because Tsuburaya spread the show across ten discs on their release while Mill Creek packed it into six.

I can also confirm the new sound effects added by Tsuburaya's remastering just as with Ultraman.

Overall I'm mostly pleased with both of these sets, especially with the picture quality of Ultra Q. Yes, just like others here, I'm also a little disappointed that Ultraman doesn't include the English dub, its picture is rather soft by Blu-ray standards, and I'm a little annoyed at the new sound effects added to both Ultra Q and Ultraman so far. Thankfully, I at least have Ultraman's English dub archived.

However, if anyone is going to complain about these flaws, let's be fair and remember that the only thing Mill Creek can be faulted for is not being able to get the English dub. Here's hoping that they might correct that in some re-release down the line as implied by some of us here. All of the video and audio gripes we've had are squarely on Tsuburaya. Evidence has shown so far that the Mill Creek Blu-rays are indeed the same transfers as Tsuburaya's video and audio remaster on their own domestic Japanese Blu-rays. At the very least, whatever gripes we have about these Blu-rays, the Japanese consumers are in the same boat we are. Again, this is indeed Tsuburaya's own HD remastering of these shows, and Mill Creek is simply giving us what Tsuburaya gave them.

That said, I think another positive that should be noted that hasn't been mentioned enough in my opinion is the English subtitles. Not only do they have much better syncing to the audio in comparison to the previous DVD releases from BCI Eclipse, Mill Creek, and Shout! Factory, but the translation has also been revised to be a little more accurate than before.

[Dr Kain]

I guess that is one advantage of having never seen Q before, I don't know what it sounded like before. I loved the audio as I thought it was quite immersive. Dialog was clear, the music really popped, and the sound effects boomed. That's what I want from a Blu-Ray release.

With that said, I just finished the show about an hour ago and those last two episodes were excellent. I don't think the giant random walrus thing was needed at all for the airplane episode as it served no purpose whatsoever.

EDIT:

I watched the first 3 episodes to Ultraman last night and anyone that claims the video quality looks no different than the DVD is "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" blind. There is a HUGE improvement over the DVD. You can even see the texturing in their orange uniforms.

[O.Supreme]

So I got to watch one episode last night, decided to watch episode 2 of UM, since that has always been a favorite of mine. I've definitely had a Mandela Effect Moment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory

Since...the age of 4 when I watched Ultraman on TV back in 1980, and every time since, I always thought the backgrounds of the opening scene were solid colors. With the new BRD, I've seen the *smokey* effect for the first time. But now I cant unsee it. I went back to the BCI DVD, even crappy old VHS tapes in the English dub. It's all there! it's always been there, and I never saw it until last night...

[lhb412]

^ I didn't notice the subtley pulsating, oozing background behind the 'Popeye fist' transformation before this set.

[kiryugoji04]

[kiryugoji04]

Again, I want to stress that I am very happy with the release but to back up Seahawk's point, check out this SUPER 8MM footage that was professionally scanned at 2k. Since it's much more recent footage it might not be a perfect 1:1 comparison but I feel like it really illustrates how much detail is possible when scanning 16mm if 8mm film can look this good.

[Dr Kain]

So what's the difference between the Kemur who appeared in Q to the Zetton in Ultraman? Both look exactly the same.

[kiryugoji04]

[RichCo]

[Dr Kain]

I am not disappointed in the slightest with these releases. There are no mistimed subs (at least on Ultra Q, can't say anything past ep 3 of Man right now), the video quality is clean and vibrant, the audio is clear and immersive, the subtitles also do not blend into the backgrounds, and there are chapter stops. Not to mention the book features descriptions and images from every episode along with information on characters, monsters, and equipment, etc. How anyone can be upset with these BDs is beyond me, and yet, kind of saddening.

I feel like people are purposely going out of their way to dimish a product just because they want to justify fansubs. Now I'm not saying anyone here is guilty of this, but there are A LOT of "Sentai fans" that have been upset that Shout! Factory licensed many shows from the franchise because it meant fansubbers were taking down their releases of those series. Some made excuses like Shout!'s subs not matching those of the fansubber meant they shouldn't have to pay to support the shows legally, others just felt it was unfair for them to have to pay to watch a Sentai show in general. Not to mention those that complained that a $40 price tag was too expensive for a FIFTY episode series.

The only thing I truly find fault with Shout! on are the mistimed subs featured in Carranger, Gingaman, and Gaoranger. DO I wish some of the series, especially the early releases, had better translations? Sure, but the subs were still accurate even if I did not agree with the verbiage used. I do wish they would figure out how to put the song lyrics on screen at the same time as dialog, but again, that is not the most important factor to me as subtitle timing is. Outside of those few Car/Ginga/Gao episodes, they have given us the best releases they could, and that is all I'm asking for.

Mill Creek has done just that with Q and Man.

[H-Man]

[Dr Kain]

[H-Man]

[Jinzo Ningen]

[O.Supreme]

I really enjoy Ultraman, but watching it again brings many things to light. Like seeing the corners of the night time set in episode 6. Seeing the Ultraman actors tongue through his mask in a few scenes. Also I hate to say it, but Ultraman is kind of a jerk in some episodes especially laughing when fighting Jirass ( then showing regret after he's dead) and being mean spirited when fighting Gango, but Gango had the mind of a cruel jokester to begin with, so maybe it was just payback