ULTRAMAN SERIES 1 VOLUME 1 DVD REVIEW

ULTRAMAN SERIES 1 VOLUME 1 (1960’S) TV: DVD REVIEW

A short blurb from BCI-Eclipse about Ultraman Series 1 Volume 1: Ultraman comes to DVD for the first time. This three DVD set includes the first 20 episodes of the first series, uncut and remastered, of the original Tsuburaya Productions television series created by Eiji Tsuburaya, the special effects genius who created one of the greatest film monsters of all time, GODZILLA.

Ultraman was the show I would watch every weekday mornings on summer break at 8 am on Channel 44 in Tampa Florida in the mid to late 1970’s! I am a huge fan of the Godzilla monster movies and this show showed them in almost every episode! They were dubbed in English and were fun to watch. This set consists of the first 20 episodes. Each episode can be watched in either the original Japanese version or the American dubbed version. Since these episodes are uncut for the first time, the American version was shortened for our TV market and when the full version is shown it sometimes is in Japanese but subtitled in English to link the missing US dubbing, which is great to finally watch the whole episode how it was supposed to be shown. This show spawned several sequels series such as Ultraman Tiga,Ultra 7 and Ultraman 80 to name a few. The special features in this set are an interview with the original American dub team who were the same group that did the Speed Racer series. Also there is the US Version of the opening theme song. Since they show the opening, which is longer than the American version, they don’t have ending music or credits. But that’s ok, considering the episodes are uncut and remastered!

VIDEO

The video quality is absolutely fantastic! Remastered from the original negatives. Episodes are uncut. It’s very nice to watch these compared to the bad film prints they use to have in syndication. There is also a Play All feature.

Audio

Was originally recorded in Mono. Audio is in Mono but very clear!


Disc 1-
1. “Ultra Operation # 1”
2. “Shoot The Invader”
3. “Charge Forth, Science Patrol”
4. “Five Seconds Before the Explosion”
5. “Secret of Miroganda”
6. “Coast Guard Orders”

Disc 2-
1. “The Blue Stone of Baraj”
2. ”Monster Lawless Zone”
3. “Operation Electric Stone Fire”
4. “The Mysterious Dinosaur Base”
5. “The Rambunctious One From Space”
6. “Cry of the Mummy”
7. “Oil SOS”

Disc 3-
1. “Pearl Oyster Defense Order”
2. “The Space Ray Of Terror”
3. “Science Patrol to Space”
4. “Passport To Infinity”
5. “The Brother From Another Planet”
6. “The Demons Once More”
7. “Terror On Route 87”


Extras

Disc 1: Interviews with English Dub team of Peter Fernandez, Corrine Orr and the late Earl Hammond-the team that voiced the original Speed Racer
Kajiu (Monster) encyclopedia
US Opening Credits
8 Page Booklet on the series


Verdict

If you are a fan of the Ultraman series or Japanese rubber suit monster movies, then you will like this! Defiantly the set to get.



Rating: ****!