Ultraman: Series One, Vol. 1
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Corinne Orr, Earl Hammond, Peggy Lobbin, Peter Fernandez, William KiehlBrand: BCI ECLIPSE LLC
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language); English (Original Language); English (Dubbed)
Format: Box set, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 450 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-07-18
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: BCI Eclipse
Movie Reviews of Ultraman: Series One, Vol. 1
Movie Review: This Is The One To Get!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read all of the other reviews & I can assure you that of all the "versions" of the series you can buy, this is by far the best quality. And it's a legitimate release, not a bootleg.
I have never been clear on whether a real Japanese DVD set has ever been made availible prior to this, just the laser discs & VHS tapes. I am going to guess that now there is, the Japanese versions on this collection are superb, I doubt you will find any better quality considering the age of the show. They are broadcast quality. I highly recommend viewing the Japanese versions on this set as you will see that the translations into English remained very faithful to the story & character names (except some monster names were translated phonetically). This is not "Gatchaman/Battle Of The Planets" where the translations & edits resulted in two completely different stories.
I grew up on "Ultraman" in the 70's & early 80's. I was too young to remember whether or not anything was edited when "uncut" episodes surfaced on the trading market in the early 90's. I bought the entire series on VHS from 16mm prints for like $100 in 1995. NONE of the episodes had the title sequences at all. Here on DVD, you get the Japanese intro on both the Japanese & English versions for some reason. That is all the more reason to watch in Japanese as they also translate the theme song AND the credit details which reveal, by default, why so many alternate episode titles have existed in English. Prior bootleg DVD sets have generally used on title sequence per disc & it was just pulled from one of the four episodes on the anniversary VHS from about 10 years ago (referenced in other reviews). Watching the Japanese version with English subtitles will also eliminate the audio glitches.
The original English dubs originally omitted Ultraman's vocal exclamations for the first 12-or-so episodes, the anniversary VHS attempted to restore this to the English dubs, hence a lot of inconsistencies. I remember getting a copy of several "restored" epsiodes after my initial series purchase in 1995 to find that the first couple minutes often were in Japanese before English. In those cases, missing footage had been restored & this appears to be the case with this DVD set. It is possible these restored episodes have been "in limbo" with copyrights for years, they seem to be working backwards when it comes to which version of Ultraman is released commercially (was floored when the Tiga series was released here in its entirety not too long ago).
This set contains the legendary "Monster Dinosaur Base" episode (have heard a variety of alternate titles over the years) which features a creature called Jirass. It's simply the mid-1960's Godzilla costume with a frill ("Godzilla in drag" as the ad for the VHS tapes stated in 1993!) resembling a frilled water dragon. This is also one of the episodes that features a full "beta capsule" transformation that includes the swirling ray of light surrounding Ultraman's human host. Only a handful of episodes have this. Ultraman also laughs for the only time in the series when fighting Jirass (have heard this was edited in some markets when in syndication). Monsters from the series have been marketed as toys & kits throughout the years & Jirass is just about the rarest, having only been modeled faithfully a few times.
The future franchise of Ultraman appears in "Brother From Another Planet" where an evil being assumes the form of the superhero & Ultraman is forced to fight himself. The most popular creature in the franchise, the Baltan, debuts in "Shoot The Invader". As the series progresses, you will notice that many creature costumes were recycled into other creatures, but the Baltan remains as is.
The only inconsistency I didn't like was the episode numbering on the individual discs. While the packaging is correct, the discs number each episode per disc, not per the series.
In conclusion, you will not find more "bang for your buck" anywhere in the US market. Period. This set is well worth the purchase. The menus are nice & you are guided by a Science Patrol logo when making your selections. The interview segments are edited poorly, VERY poorly, but if you can manage to sit thru them, you will hear the actors reinact some of their Ultraman dialogue & reflect on the series.
The next DVD set will include the only two-part episode in the series & you will get to see Ultraman return his human host to his human form in that one. You will also see the only episode where Ultraman appears in human size. But most of you reading already know this...just can't wait to see the original Japanese versions. Even tho' the technology of today has made the more recent Ultraman series shine & sparke for TV, this original "where it all began" series remains my favourite of all. Will be interesting to see if they attempt to release "Ultraman Seven", the first "spin off", next.
Summary of Ultraman: Series One, Vol. 1
Created by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya (GODZILLA MOTHRA) the 1960s television series ULTRAMAN remains one of Japan's most beloved science-fiction exports. Airing between 1966 and 1967 with a total of 39 episodes the live-action series followed a high-tech police force and their robot superhero Ultraman as they battled to save Earth from invading monsters and aliens. This collection presents the first 20 episodes in original uncut and remastered editions.System Requirements:TRT: 450 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: NR UPC: 787364702497Similar DVD Movies
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