1967 Ultraman movie?

[Benjamin Haines]

I'm only somewhat familiar with the Ultra series as a whole, but this is something that I've never heard of at all:

http://www.tohokingdom.com/movies/ultraman.htm

I know that the original Ultraman series aired in 1966 and then Ultra Seven followed in 1967... so what the hell is this? I thought maybe this was some kind of Chaiyo ripoff, but according to that page TPC were indeed the producers of the film. It also looks like it starred Akihiko Hirata.

So, can anybody just fill me in on this? Why exactly hasn't this film been caught up in the current legal dispute with Chaiyo like the other original Ultra series titles?

[MouthForWar]

I'm pretty sure its just a "Best of" type clipshow made up of clips of episodes and was thrown together to be part of Toho's Champion Film Festival, which specialized in kids movies.

[ryuuseipro]

[August]

The title actually translates as ULTRAMAN: THE FEATURE-LENGTH MONSTER MOVIE. This is considered official as it is the translation that appears in Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters, and was accepted by Tsuburaya Productions. There have been a number of such compilation films produced since then, which are all available on DVD.

BTW, this first compilation film was originally intended to be an all-original feature film entitled Ultraman: Operation Giant. While a complete screenplay was written, the funding for the proposed film didn't materialize. Too bad it wasn't produced, the Baltans were the main villains.

[Destroysall]

[August]