Ultraman: The Complete Series Reviews

• It's Like Being 8-Years-Old All Over Again

  
  By ADMN27CRJQKKY on 2009-10-05
  First things first...I've seen some of the audio comments (English dubbing intercut with Japanese subtitles) made for this release and the one back in 2006. Think of your favorite syndicated show. You know having watched the original that some scenes get cut in syndication. Now, think of Ultraman in that same vein, only it was already in "syndication" when it reached our shores way back. So, when the complete, original episodes are released on DVD, they include original, Japanese-only scenes which WERE NEVER DUBBED IN ENGLISH. However, to be a complete episode, they are still inlcuded.
  
  Now, on with the review. After occasionally catching a Power Ranger show a few years back, I knew that I would need to steer my young son clear of this influence (the kids are always fighting and sarcastic with each other.) Anyway, my comment in seeing the "power" rangers would be, "Ultraman could defeat these guys." My boy became curious as to who I was talking about, and when the Ultraman DVDs were released back in 2006, I was able to show him.
  
  Talk about the memories that this show rekindles. The first time the show's theme song began to play, I got chills. I was immediately taken back to my grandmother's house in rural Pennsylvania (we didn't get Ultraman in Texas in the '70s.) I watched a few episodes with my son and I could still recall some of the details in the story line that I hadn't seen for thirty years. Over time, I have managed to find Ultraman action figures that my son loves, and even a beta capsule that makes the familiar sound.
  
  I bought this latest release because over the three years, nephews have managed to scratch the older DVDs. Now, each one will have their own set for Christmas (hard to beat at this price.)
  
  If you remember Ultraman as he was, your memory will probably be stirred by this set. If you are new to the original Ultraman, you'll have to dial back your current expectation level of special effects and sound quality, but hopefully you will still be able to appreciate the presentation of how things were in the almost forty years ago.
  
  I used this series to springboard my son's exposure to the Godzilla movies of the '60s and '70s. Enjoy.
  
  

• Great price but the sacrifice is the DVD packaging.

  
  By A5BUHITI8ZJ0O on 2009-10-07
  This review is for the Complete Series 4 DVD set released in 2009, not the 6 DVD set released in 2008. Since this is my first Ultraman DVD set, I am not sure if the quality suffers be squeezing all episodes from 6 DVDs to 4 DVDs.
  
  The DVD case is a double-wide DVD case, but there are no spindles/holders. The 4 DVDs are each put in a black paper sleeve and are stacked on top of each other. The sleeves don't move around because they are "held" in place by a square shaped molding on the inside of the DVD case.
  
  I was very surprised by this packaging because I have dozens of DVD television sets and have never seen a set packaged like this. For the price (I paid $10.99 free shipping), I am okay with it, but just be prepared that is a bare-bones budget set.
  
  5 stars for the show, 3 stars for the packaging.
  
  

• Ultraman: The Complete Series

  
  By A1GYTNOWU086UP on 2009-11-19
  If you were a kid in the early '70s and you remember being glued to the TV watching Ultraman then you certainly can't go wrong buying this DVD release. If you have children this is the perfect opportunity to show them a series with substance that inspires thought and creativity instead of the nonsense that is aired these days.
  
  However, having said that, I am a little disappointed in these last two DVD releases (this one and the 2006 release) for a couple of key reasons:
  
  First off, not all of the dubbed English is present. It is not because it doesn't exist anymore; in 1996 a video tape was released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the show. It was labeled Vol. 1 and contained the first four episodes.
  
  When I first watched the DVDs I realized that dialogue spoken in Japanese was definitely aired with an English dub. I compared a couple of scenes with the videotape and those scenes were definitely aired in English.
  
  I think what has happened with these DVD releases is that they reflect copyright and distribution battles between companies. This is why it took so long to release the series in the first place. The research was sloppy and hurried. With more time and care invested I think they could have incorporated most of the missing English. It is definitely available since various versions of the series have existed in one form or another throughout the years.
  
  The other thing that bothers me is that they used the Japanese opening credits instead of the English version. This is an American release intended to be purchased and viewed by Americans. The show has always been available in Japan but here in the United States children saw English titles.
  
  For me personally, the credits and theme songs are just as important as the contents of the show in order to recreate the original experience of having watched these shows as a kid back in the early '70s.
  
  Overall, it is wonderful that the series has finally been released in the United States. If you loved this show you will love watching these discs.
  
  I just wish that someone would release Ultraman, Space Giants and Johnny Sokko as they were presented on American TV with all English dubbing intact and all opening/closing credits (and themes) intact.
  
  If you are fortunate enough to speak and understand Japanese you could have bought imports of the show all along in their native environments but the opening credits and theme songs that we have come to know are different and should have been preserved for an American release.
  
  

• this is what you're looking for

  
  By A2HDJG8D4JU7EB on 2009-11-22
  It has all the episodes. I'm watching it on an old CRT so I can't say how great the quality is...I assume it has a low bit rate to squeeze the entire series onto 4 discs. But it seems to be good enough quality for the source material. Only giving it 4 stars because of the switching between English/Japanese (the English dubs are not the full episodes, so where they added back the Japanese-only scenes, it switches to Japanese audio with English subtitles). Not ideal but it works.
  
  For the price, getting this set is a no-brainer.
  
  

• OK but audio issues

  
  By ABMIWJQPQ45SB on 2009-09-28
  I used to watch the Science Patrol and Ultraman when I was a kid. When I saw this DVD set I had to order it for a walk down memory lane. Of course this is 1960's special effects and it's really cheesy but it was nice to "go back" and see TV from my youth. There are technical issues with the soundtrack on at least some of the DVD's. At the main DVD menu you can go to the audio menu and choose the language, either Japanese, Japanese with English subtitles or the original English dub over. I chose the original English dub over but there are times when watching the DVD's when the audio suddenly changes to Japanese with English subtitles then goes back to the original English dub over after a few minutes. Not sure what's up with that but it's a distraction. As I mentioned I have not watched all the DVD's yet but the audio problem has been on two DVD's (so far). There is also some popping noises on some of the episodes I've watched that are slightly annoying but hey it is 45 year old audio.
  
  
• Killer price for a piece of nostalgia
  By A11VJID0TODN82 on 2009-12-08
  Being a huge fan of the early Godzilla movies, I thought I'd check this out. I was a little worried as I'd seen comments regarding the image quality, though from what I've watched so far it's really what you'd expect: A show from the 60s put to DVD. The show itself is lots of fun, with cheesy laser special effects, budget monsters-of-the-week and lots and lots of models being blown to pieces.
  
  Honestly, you already know if you like this sort of stuff. And I love it. And for this price, it's hard to say no.
  
  
• ultraman: the review
  By A3JHV08I1275G5 on 2009-12-19
  I really liked the shows, it brought back a lot of memories of when I was a kid and I couldn't wait for each episode to come on. Looking back, I didn't realize how cheesy the costumes were and how phony looking the boats in the water are, but thats the fun of this show and I still LOVE it. I was a little surprised though, because I would be looking at an episode and then the audio would change to japanese and I would have to stop the dvd and then choose english subtitles to be able to read the dialoge to understand what was going on, other than that everything thing was great! I would still purchase the dvd even knowing that would happpen.
  
  
• Nostalgic and a lot of fun!
  By A1T6J88R7OE19G on 2009-11-12
  I used to watch Ultraman religiously as a kid, and was thrilled to see the complete collection release, at such an unbelievably low price too! I have two kids, 13 and 10 and was so excited to show them this. They loved it! It's campy fun, with the most insane collection of giant Japanese monsters. You know, sometimes things I remember as a kid either didn't age well or are just not as good as I remember. Not with Ultraman. It's fun, fun, fun and as good as I remember. Well worth a lot more than it cost, and not just for the fond memories!
  
  
• Family Movie Night!
  By A23Q06F4CN3ZHS on 2009-10-25
  My family has an Ultraman movie night every saturday night! When my wife and I were children we never missed an episode of Ultraman. I often wished that I could share that rush of excitement watching my favorite superhero with my little girl. I found Ultraman here and anxiously awaited its arrival. My daughter loved it as much as my wife and I did! Now we can't wait for the weekend! We gather our snacks, load up the dvd and watch another episode of our favorite superhero save the day! We have a blast! I recommend this dvd to all. There are only two small problem, some moments that the dubbing reverts to japanese,and the english dub dosen't always match the subtitles. But, if you don't mind these problems, and you miss all the campy effects of old, then you will love this as much as my family does.
  
  
• Old days remembered!
  By AE97RG7DXAHZ4 on 2009-12-27
  Sound quality is terrible, however it's really old so, what did I expect for 1966? Fantastic memories brought back. When that swirly paint effect came on Saturday mornings, that's when I knew Ultraman was about to start! I had no idea it was such a cheesy show. It makes sense, though. A kids show put together by Japanese men who thought like kids, especially, Eiji Subaraya. He's the same guy who did the special effects for Godzilla. A big shocker came in one of the episodes where a special appearance is made by an old famous monster who got prepped to look like a different creature when in fact there's no mistaking who it is! I'm not giving it away! You just have to watch for yourself. Oh, yeah! It's easy to see that monster suits were recycled to look like different monsters in other episodes. Isn't it crazy all the stuff that just flew over my head as a kid? It's cheesy, special effects weren't that great, and story lines made no sense every week. When their not on duty, they still wear the exact same suit to go on vacation, shopping, the gas station or anywhere. How weird! And yet......... I LOVE IT! I must be weird! to all you weirdos who used to pretend to be Silvery Red himself...... ULTRAMAN!
  
  
• Hokey and cheap but wonderful!
  By A1E9R06OUKT7Q4 on 2009-11-04
  Rock bottom production values, rubber suits and lots of cheap special effects. But for pure silliness and escapism, I'd have to recommend it highly. And the price is rockbottom for it.
  
  
• A legendary import - finally available.
  By A1SV83OE6NYCLD on 2009-10-30
  ULTRAMAN was a 1960s TV series produced in Japan, and then syndicated for re-run in America in the 1970s. (With voices dubbed into English). The creative combination of live action and scaled-down model special effects, and the cuteness of the big rubber suit monsters makes this show perfect for ages 5-10 to enjoy. And still enjoyable for those of us who were that age when ULTRAMAN was airing on some US stations in the '70s.
  
  "The Science Patrol" are a uniformed group of men and women in Tokyo who stay vigilant about any monsters appearing (happens a lot o'er there) and when the threat is something gigantic, and the military tanks and jets can't defeat it, one of the officers secretly uses a hand-held "beta capsule" to transform himself into ULTRAMAN, becoming giant sized himself, costumed in silver and red, and then he wrestles the monster(s).
  
  Episode One explains how he received that device and special power.
  
  One of the best episodes is about children who draw monsters with chalk on concrete and the monsters magically come to life overnight, whereby prompting the Science Patrol to monitor what the school children are drawing.
  
  Another memorable episode is about a cavern where a sleeping monster awakens, causing earthquakes, and the Science Patrol's kid mascot gets lost underground.
  
  
  
  
• Basic but good enough
  By A3528GQZ330U7 on 2010-03-11
  Very basic packaging but good enough, at least until the series are remastered and upgraded. All episodes are included, but audio and video are not exactly HD quality. However, these 5 DVDs present the series in the same tech standards as those of broadcast TV 40-plus years ago, when it first aired.
  In these days of feature-length CGI movies and billion dollar SFX, it's refreshing (and somewhat campy) to watch
  the production 'value' in these series. Enjoy!
  
  
• For the price, you really can't complain...
  By A1DLO5LA5XNGH9 on 2010-02-04
  I have no complaints for this DVD set, other than this...the description said the DVDs were region free. I ordered this hoping to play them on my region 2 DVD player, but it said "disc error."
  OK, wasn't so happy about that, but I can always watch these on my computer, so no worries. That being said, I don't have a fancy home theater or anything, so picture quality and aspect ratios and all that other stuff didn't matter to me. So if you're just a fan of this series or Japanese TV series in general, I hafta recommend this.
  
  
• Great set.
  By A2NIIUUWF0F0XP on 2010-02-03
  I am a fan of Japanese movies and monster movies. i have had the snes ultra man game for years and only a couple toys. and i used to watch this on you tube cause i could not find it any where. this is a great value. the episodes are great, and it looks realy cool with the non updated look. They didnt clean up the picture. the sound is good, but on my copy i noticed that when im watching it dubed some parts are still in japanese. not on all the episodes but some, i dont know if this is because the parts that are in japanese were not here in america when it aired or what. but its cool. its just fun kaiju at its best, fans of godzilla will love this cause on episode ten he makes an aperance with a red fuzzy around his neck and a difforent name, but come on its him. guess they wanted to try to fool every one. no this is a realy good set for the money, if it was still the two volumes i would pass but i got this a couple days ago and this is awsome.
  
  
• WOW Cheaper and Cheesier than I Remember!!
  By A3IUYAE9HLH2MM on 2010-02-01
  Still, a fun show and a must for beginning your complete ultraman collection. The effect shocked me at how cheap they were, but still love the rubber monster suits. The price is right for a bare-bones complete series line-up though.
  
  
• UltraMan Tv Series
  By A2H4LSY9T9XC8J on 2010-01-24
  Ultraman is still fun to watch even though I am alot older than when it first aired. Now it is campy to me so I enjoy it on another level.
  
  
• It's a classic collection
  By A39BYAUMW035XF on 2010-01-23
  As you know, Ultraman, everyone knows about it. It's a collectable classic, everyone should own one.
  
  
• A Step Back In Time
  By A1RS9HERWW9FYQ on 2010-01-23
  I was so excited when I came across this television series that I watched as a child growing up in a modern medium. I had been telling my son all about the shows that I watched as a child and how different they were from what was available to him on TV today.
  
  Although I have not had time to watch all 4 dvds, the ones I have watched the quality has been excellent.
  
  
• Great 1960s TV And A Must Have for Fans of 1960s Television
  By A2U4FDV840X6XU on 2010-01-14
  Ultraman! Hayata! Beta Capsule! SWATCH!
  
  Not only a good childrens show but also one of the best television science fiction series ever to grace the tube. As with Star Trek the quality of the DVD is just a par below perfect, so in other words I do see where there can be some improvement. Thus I would go with a 4 1/2 stars for this set. (The original Star Trek episodes where cleaned up even further after release.)
  
  Compared to some of the other 1960s dvd television show sets I have seen the copies could use just a little more refining in clarity. Don't get me wrong. The copies look like 1960s television and after all of these years they are in very good shape and well worth the buy. I do not think 'I' would be interested in putting out any further money myself for better quality but the option is there. Maybe a Blue Ray release would sharpen things up some.
  
  I don't have to mention if you are a fan of the Japaense Giant Monster series, as if you are you probably already own this...lol. If not it is a must have. Some of the creatures in this series still give me a shiver or two til this very day.
  
  One nice thing about this set is each disk includes the option to "Play All" so you can just select the button and sit back and let a couple of hours of episodes run. I think it is for us people that like to lay in bed and doze with the tv going. You know who you are. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz...
  
  
  
  
  
• Nostalgia
  By A1SW8TQIBGSE97 on 2010-01-10
  It was great to be able to own the whole collection of Ultraman. As a fan since 1975, it brought me sweet memories.
  Considering that this product targets nostalgic collection fans, I think that the box and the medias should've a higher quality material, content index, and all those simple things that are common on such products.
  I look forward to finding the ultraseven equivalent collection!
  --Rogerio Panigassi
  
  
• superb.............
  By A8NHN9UPML858 on 2009-11-15
  You'd be whack! not to get this awesome compilation!
  
  You love it and you know you want it, plus the price is unbeatable!!
  
  5 stars.... awesome!
  
  
• Ultra Stupid But Funny
  By A2150G2XRW9NVS on 2010-02-03
  This has got to be one of the campiest series ever made, even by the Japanese. The monsters look like they were designed by fourth graders, but never to fear - the science patrol is here.
  
  
• ultraman the complete series
  By A1MAVL26HNHJ21 on 2009-10-26
  This product was very reasonably priced, but the ediiting was not very good. The video would often switch from English language to Japanese and there is no way of changing it. The video was fairly good for footage of that era.
  
  
• be aware of Ultraman Complete Series.
  By A3DK63YFP71282 on 2010-01-01
  I had receive my copy of Ultra-man in the mail today. I was so excited owning a copy of part of my childhood memory, but I was very upset finding out threw out the disc. certain parts of the DVD. English dubbing is turn off or ill get English sub titles, then everything is back to normal with English. BEWARE !
  
  The video quality is excellent on my 42 inch flat screen tv. .
  
  

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