ULTRAMAN

[Drunk Monk]

PSYCHE!!!

Ultraman isn't available yet.  But I did get a press release from one of our DVD vendors, BCI, that it's coming this July.  BCI brought us Shaolin Dolemite.  
Here's the release below:  

NAVARRE CORPORATION’S BCI TO RELEASE ALL 39 ORIGINAL EPISODES OF THE CLASSIC, JAPANESE LIVE-ACTION TV SERIES
“Ultraman”
“Season One, Volume One” Available July, 2006

Los Angeles, CA – BCI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Navarre Corporation (NASDAQ Symbol: NAVR), and publisher of DVDs and CDs, today announced that it will begin releasing, this July, all 39 original episodes of the classic, Japanese live-action television series “Ultraman.”.  The announcement was made by Greg Glass, Senior Vice President, BCI.

“Ultraman represents one of the most popular ‘tokusatsu’—special effects—superhero genre productions ever to come out of Japan,” said Glass.  “This series pre-dated the popular Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and we expect it to garner a tremendous fan base here in the United States.”

Ultraman was originally produced by Tsuburaya Productions, and the 39 original episodes were broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from July 1966 to April 1967.  An additional 11 Ultraman TV series were produced from 1967 to 1998.  Ultraman was syndicated on television in the United States by United Artists in the 1970s.

Ultraman is the story of a series of “Ultra-heros” that arrive on Earth to fight giant, evil monsters set on destroying the world.  Each Ultraman can grow to over 200 feet tall, and uses a variety of energy emission powers, as well as expert, hand-to-hand martial arts fighting styles.

The series was created by Elji Tsuburaya, a special effects pioneer responsible for bringing the classic Godzilla character to life in 1954.  Tsuburaya was the director of special effects on over 100 films throughout his career, including every major monster film produced in Japan.

BCI Eclipse is an independent entertainment video and audio supplier.  BCI has continually redefined the standards and concepts of this industry, often introducing national success categories through its intuitive mass marketing skills.  Its vast collection of titles represents both exclusively licensed titles from around the world, as well as in-house produced CDs and DVDs.  For over 15 years, BCI has brought the finest quality music and movies to homes.

Navarre Corporation (NASDAQ Symbol: NAVR) is a publisher and distributor of a broad range of home entertainment and multimedia products, including PC software, CD audio, DVD video, VHS video, video games and accessories.

[El Dingo]

I have decided not to buy any more DVDs.

With the advent of the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD wars looming on the horizon I can ill afford to buy something twice.

So, unless it's a dirt-cheap $3.99 special I'll wait for the Blu-Ray enhanced special edition.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

I'm sorry did you say you buy DVD's?

[Haggis Killer]

I can't help myself. By the way, anybody need a copy of "Rocky and Bullwinkle, the complete Season Three"? I acidentally bought two of them.

But I'm not an addict. I could stop anytime I wanted to.

Post #100 for HK. I wonder if I'll get an upgrade.

[Drunk Monk]

I hated Rocky and Bullwinkle when I was young because I thought the drawings were ugly. Now I totally dig it. So if that DVD is still up for grabs, I'd love it. I think Tara would love it too.

I'm hoping I can get BCI to comp me Ultraman. They comped me a ton of vintage Kung Fu flicks and Pride MMA fights, plus Shaolin Dolemite of course - they comped me several dozen titles now...

[Haggis Killer]

Now we just need to figure out an exchange locale. We'll probably be heading over to Ardenwood soon; haven't been there in ages...

[Drunk Monk]

Watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat...

Thanks HK! I'm only in DOOm for the swag.

[Drunk Monk]

Guess what our BCI rep just comped me?

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I guess we know what is getting screened at the next DOOM outing. Who are we outing, by the way?

[El Dingo]

I have a Japanese DVD rip of Season 1 but these are straight from video transfers.

Did they do any remastering in this release? On mine the colors are very washed out. All the monsters look gray. The only hint of color are Ultraman's racing stripes and the Science Patrol uniforms.

Sample screenshot:

[Drunk Monk]

I don't think it's worthy of a DOOM viewing tho. It's really dated now - surreal, but not in an overly entertaining way. Maybe I haven't watched the right episode yet. It's more up for borrowing, if any of you want a flashback...

[King Bob]

Maybe you haven't watched it under the right conditions. Or maybe you should invent a drinking game for it....

I was similarly disappointed when I recently saw Majin, Monster of Terror. From childhood, I remembered it as a monster movie, but really that's only about fifteen minutes of it; the rest is a melodrama about a power struggle within a clan. Kind of like Cranefly's experience with ERB.

[Drunk Monk]

I've only watched one episode so far. It was Passport to Infinity, where the Science Patrol gets caught in the 4th dimension and the monster is like something that fell off a Frank Gehry building. I watched it because it was the only one described as psychedelic, but it wasn't. The Japanese didn't get a good hold on what psychedelic meant until Miike, methinks. Think about Attack of the Mushroom People. Some one needs to remake that properly.

[Drunk Monk]

I doubt I'll watch it, but it's really nice to get it as a free sample.

[cranefly]

Edgar Rice Burroughs?
Not recalling what I was babbling about with regard to him. Oh, wait. That I read a lot of him when young, but now he reads like a total awful hack.

Anyway, I've read that the original version of Attack of the Mushroom People (before it was recut for Western consumption) was a masterpiece. I read this in a book about Japanese monster movies that a friend loaned us. Don't recall its title right now.

And I don't know if it's possible to acquire the original version in a subtitled form...