Ultraman TV and Movie Licensed to Mill Creek for North Ameri

[kidnicky]

^ The worst Ultraman series are still fun

[lhb412]

I have a sneaky suspicion that the first modern release will be the Ultraman Zero movie trilogy. It ushers in the era of the current TV shows, a full English dub exists for them. Just seems like the most likely candidate.

[Dr Kain]

[kiryugoji04]

I enjoyed Seven X. I also got to visit one of the sets so maybe I have a little bias, haha.

[lhb412]

^ Whoa! Neat.

[kidnicky]

I admit Seven X tested my patience.

[Jinzo Ningen]

Maybe it's just me, but I find it extremely amusing that I was told to chill out about my negative attitude and angry posts lamenting the fact that - at the time of the official announcement at least - the Ultra Blu-rays arriving Stateside would not include the English dubs. And now here we are just a few days later and some of these self-same folks who suggested that I calm down and just be happy that we're even getting these officially TPS licensed hi-def Utra series releases are now going absolutely frothing-at-the mouth thermonuclear about the lack of any English dubs for the upcoming U.S. Criterion Godzilla hi-def mega-release. Hypocrites much?

And no, I will NOT be buying these dub-less Criterion BDs either. Oh probably later on, when a glut of re-sale units hit Amazon and elsewhere ...and asking prices have dropped down out of the upper stratosphere. Until then - if ever - no way. If you're going to release something for a specific market, then do your damn homework, spend the money and do RIGHT by the primary purchasers for the market you're catering to. Or else just don't bother.

[kiryugoji04]

Real spicy take you got there, friendo.

[lhb412]

^ What's cool is all the folks I'm seeing around the internet who are totally pumped about these new kaiju releases who've become fans of the genre after Pacific Rim or through anime or some other means and have, luckily on their part, never set a digital foot inside a Godzilla message board!

[XvGojira]

I said I was on the fence on this release because of the lack of dubs, but between their release, the Criterion Showa Collection, and watching Johnny Sokko on my friend's Plex account, I'm very much not on the fence.

[Baltan II]

[canofhumdingers]

[Jinzo Ningen]

[canofhumdingers]

And there’s more of that hyperbole I mentioned. No one’s telling you to shut up and be happy that you’re getting anything at all. But you’re making a LOT of assumptions about the decisions behind these products. For one, we’ve been told by people working on these ultra releases that they WANT to include the dubs and are actively trying to. But the negotiations aren’t done and so they didn’t include it in the spec sheet because they didn’t want to mislead anyone in the event they are unable to make it happen. And the most recent info we have on the criterion set is that they did in fact try to make new transfers and include all the dubs but Toho stopped them. So I guess your anger towards Toho is justified. Heck, I think a lot of us are pretty mad at Toho about that right now.

All current info indicates the U.S. companies putting this stuff out are NOT treating it like trash at all but are doing their best to treat it with respect and putout quality products that appeal the as many as possible. Unfortunately sometimes they want to do something but their hands are tied and it is out of their control.

[Dr Kain]

Just like with the Godzilla set, to me, the dubs are bonus features. If they're there, cool, if not, oh well.

[Jinzo Ningen]

I understand (much more now than when the original announcement(s) were made) that people behind the scenes are working diligently to include the dubs to both of these upcoming exhaustive series of releases. My anger stems from the realization that they may not be, and I still feel that to not have them is a tremendous blow to the overall product that borders on criminal! Whoops, there I go making with the hyperbole!

I don't have an issue with subtitles. I completely understand and support the point of view that these allow the closest form in which to present these films/shows as they were originally released in their homeland. I bemoan the possible loss of the dubs because, over here in the States where these sets of releases are being specifically geared for, those audio supplements are every bit as important (and integral) as the visuals. It's how these movies & TV shows were known, for multiple generations - for anywhere from 60 to 30 years! - long before the advent of home video and, later on, streaming and fan access via the internet.

New generations of fans are spoiled rotten because nowadays you can find almost ANY movie or TV show that either some legitimate company or homefan has taken upon themselves to translate & subtitle. My frustration is not knowing one way or the other (possibly for months! Ack!) whether or not they'll be packed in. That sucks!!! It's like pacing back and forth on pins and needles. I swear I wish I'd win the lottery. I'd pay for the rights to (and best possible clean up of the source materials for) the damn things myself - just to have them physically preserved for the next generation so that they aren't lost, and of course to once again hear and (fully/guiltily) enjoy them as they deserve to be. Either of these sets WITHOUT the beloved dubs is akin to buying a gorgeously restored Corvette - with no engine. Looks awfully pretty but... something's missing... ya know?? Sorry. There I go hyperbolizing again.......

[klen7]

[canofhumdingers]

[The Shadow]

The digital copies for the Ultra releases haven't really been discussed yet, so just in case. The Sci-Fi Japan announcement notes that the digital copies will be handled by MillCreek's new digital service called MovieSpree. After quick look at the MovieSpree website, it appears to be a service set up similarly to Vudu (no subscription, buy what you want or redeem codes from MillCreek releases).

Currently, MovieSpree is not a retailer participating in MoviesAnywhere. But as MoviesAnywhere is not cross linking television content yet, that may not be a big deal. (UltraViolet did handle digital television content, and with Ultraviolet now defunct hopefully MoviesAnywhere will start handling T.V. content as well).

So why am I mentioning MovieSpree? MillCreek launched the service in the last couple of months and are offering a free 100 movie bundle with the code MOVIESPREE100FREE. Might as well create an account now and take advantage of the free offer and be ready to redeem the digital copies whenever you pick up the Ultra releases.

Here's the list of the 100 movies, couldn't find one online for some reason (even though plenty of places wrote about MovieSpree and the 100 free movies). Who knows what the quality of the individual movies may be, I expect it'll be along the lines of MillCreek's 50/100 movie DVD bundles. The genre breakdowns are all MillCreek's, I just copied what they used.

[O.Supreme]

Yeah I was saddened as I just got some Gundam BRD via rightstuf sale. They came with free digital copies via Funimation I was not aware of. Funimation did link to ultraviolet which just recently went offline. I could have had these imported via moviesanywhere from Funimation, to ultraviolet, then to my Vudu account if only I had gotten them earlier. Hopefully there will be a way to link the Ultraman digital copies later. But the BRD are the most important thing

[XvGojira]

[Dr Kain]

[tbeasley]

I’d just like to reiterate/expand upon my excitement for this amid the sea of contention.

I’ve only ever seen original 1966-67 series, and that was close to a decade ago. I bought one of the complete Mill Creek sets on a whim at Best Buy for like $5 without knowing anything about the Chaiyo ordeal. Later when the Shout! Factory DVDs were revealed I stayed away from those, deciding to wait for a big official announcement like this. So I’m glad I saved my money!

The overwhelming amount of material (shows, movies, etc.) and lack of official, comprehensive releases always put me off from getting into series like Ultraman, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai growing up. Obviously I love Godzilla and Gamera, so Ultraman stood out the most to me with the added emphasis on monsters and aliens, not to mention the Tsuburaya connection.

I’m largely looking forward to the Showa era shows that were held up by Chaiyo: Ultra Q, Ultraman, Ultra Seven, Return of Ultraman, Ultraman Ace and Ultraman Taro. And we can already mark the first two off the list, so that’s great! (We’d just need Ultraman Leo, The Ultraman and Ultraman 80 for a complete Showa collection).

Here's an official English title list the main site updates time to time:
http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2014 ... itle-list/

What are you most excited to see? As I mentioned above, for me it's largely the 1960s-70s output, but I'm open to anything.

[Dr Kain]

[lhb412]

I'm most excited to see Ultraman Jack, Heisei Ultraseven, and Dyna for the first time, as well as owning quality versions of (as opposed to poor quality versions or just watching via streaming) Ultra Q, Ultraman, Ultraseven, Gaia, Nexus, Max, and X!