Ultraman: Season One: Volume One DVD Set Review

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Title: Ultraman: Season One: Volume One

Region: One

Genre: Japanese Retro Television Childrens’ Sci-Fi

Episodes Disc One: Ultraman Operation No. 1, Defeat The Invaders, Sally Forth, Science Patrol!, 5 Seconds Before The Big Explosions, Treasure Of The Miloganda, The Coast Guard Command

Episodes Disc Two: The Blue Stone Of Barachi, The Lawless Monster Zone, Operation: Lightning Speed, The Mysterious Dinosaur Base, The Ruffian From Outer Space, The Cries Of The Mummy, Oil S.O.S.

Episodes Disc Three: The Pearl Oyster Protection Directive, The Terrifying Cosmic Rays, The Science Patrol To Outer Space, Passport To Infinity, The Brother From Another Planet, The Demons Once More, Terror On Route 87

Starring The Voices Of English Dubbed Team Actors: Peter Fernandez, Corinne Orr, and Earl Hammond

Created By: Eiji Tsuburaya

Feature length: 450 minutes

Extras: Interview With English Dub Team Actors Peter Fernandez, Corinne Orr, and Earl Hammond, U.S. Opening Credit Sequence, Kaiju (Monster) Profiles

Languages: Japanese and English Language Dubbed Stereo Sound

Subtitles: English Language Subtitles

Packaging: Three Slimline Cases Within A Foil Slipcase

Sound: Stereo Sound

Year of DVD Release: 2006

Home Video Distributor: BCI

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

I don’t remember Ultraman personally. I wasn’t even born yet when it first aired so I don’t have any fond memories attached to the show though I know some people who watched it growing up. The series has aired in eleven different incarnations in Japan from 1967 to the present and even had a new theatrical film debut in Japan earlier this year. Ultraman was created by Eiji Tsuburaya, a pioneer in special effects responsible for bringing Godzilla to life in 1954 and then went on to direct the special effects for over 100 films. The original Ultraman series aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from July 17, 1966 to April 9, 1967, with a total of 39 episodes. A forerunner to popular Americanized imports originally from Japan such as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the series focuses on the Science Patrol, an ultra-sophisticated police force equipped with high-tech weaponry to protect the Earth from enemy mutants, alien invaders, and giant prehistoric monsters. When the Science Patrol can’t stop a beast, team member Hayata (voiced by Earl Hammond) secretly transforms himself into the giant superhero from Nebula M78, Ultraman.

The show would not be called Ultraman if the Science Patrol didn’t need his help a lot and the series is more or less a somewhat innocent version of the classic Japanese monster pictures. At times the action is very campy and extremely laughable. If they did not already spoof it, this show is perfect for Mystery Science Theater 3000, but regardless of whether or not one watches it for nostalgia, excitement, laughs, or as something to share with one’s children, Ultraman is sure to entertain. The monster costumes for their time are quite elaborate and interesting to look at. The first disc in the set, which contains all of the extra value materials, has an onscreen Kaiju or monster bio list that one can examine for all twenty of the episodes in this three-disc set. One of the monsters named Jirasu from the episode “The Mysterious Dinosaur Base” is a redressed Godzilla complete with a slightly altered roar that sounds distinctly familiar to the class Godzilla.

The average episode runs around 25 minutes each and is presented in a (1.33:1) television broadcast aspect ratio and the source material has been digitally remastered to reveal vibrant colors and a choice of either the original Japanese Language Stereo Soundtrack or the original English Language Dubbed Stereo Soundtrack along with optional English Language Subtitles for the Japanese Language Version. The episodes in this set, some of which have never even aired in the US., are the uncut Japanese versions with the lengthiest opening credits I’ve ever seen for a kids TV show. The American version of the opening credits (1:06), which is more streamlined, is included on the first disc along with a videotaped interview with the American English Version Dubbed Voice Actors Peter Fernandez, Corinne Orr, and Earl Hammond. This team also provided the voice dubbing for Speed Racer. Peter Fernandez and Corrine Orr also worked together on the third series of Star Blazers entitled The Bolar Wars based on the classic Japanese anime space opera Space Battleship Yamato, which for me is something I have great nostalgia for because I grew up watching that as a kid after school. Fernandez makes an interesting point regarding the dubbing of films and television programs, which is the fact that many foreign films he worked on were actually voiced by the native language talent in post production and in some cases the script was actually put together to match the action after the production instead of before it. While there are poorly dubbed films out there, he likens neglecting to see a well dubbed film and only seeing the subtitled version as only seeing half the film since good voice actors can add character and weight to a scene that could be lost in another language. Personally I think he’s correct and I actually prefer to see the dubbed version of a foreign film if possible because sometimes reading the subtitles gets distracting and tiresome. An eight-page booklet containing episode information and an essay is included within the box set. There is supposed to be two collectible baseball-style cards within the box set, but I did not find any within. A second volume is expected to arrive on DVD this fall. The discs are individually packaged in slimline cases within a foil slipcase. The interactive menus are well rendered and easy to navigate.

Ultraman: Season One: Volume One DVD Set is available at retailers on and offline now courtesy of BCI.

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