During the mid-70s, there was something exciting about after school TV. Kids today have zero clue that their local stations actually cared about them. Nowadays a student gets the school bus, come home and see channels clogged with talkshows, judge shows and five hours of evening news. The students of 2023 might as well stay in school until dinner time. Back in 1976, the local UHF stations were eager to get a younger audience to sit on the sofa and enjoy TV instead of wasting time outside. Between the final bell at school and the six o’clock news, they’d program cartoons, groovy reruns and extra cool shows imported from Japan. The ultimate show to find when you got home and dumped your book bag on the shag carpeting was Ultraman. Not only was the show from Japan, the monsters that arrived on Earth from space looked as amazing as the ones that fought Godzilla on Saturday’s Creature Double Feature. Because there was no internet, we had no idea that the monsters were created by people who worked on Godzilla movies. Ultraman was ultra. Even more shocking was that not only did Ultraman’s first episode explain how Shin Hayata transformed into the alien protector Ultraman, but there was a finale 39th episode. Because there was no internet, we didn’t know that the show was 10 years old or 6 other Ultra series had been broadcast in Japan. The show vanished over the decades as local TV focused on adult viewers. Over the last decade, not only has Ultraman returned via home video, but so have all the other Ultra shows.
There’s something special about the original Ultraman series. Another person who felt there was something special about the show is Shinji Higuchi. The special effects wizard who was part of the Gamera comeback movies created a sensation when he directed Shin Godzilla with Hideaki Anno in 2016. Not only did they revive the radioactive reptile, they created a movie that won Japan’s version of the Oscar. Now Hijuchi and Anno have teamed up to give us Shin Ultraman.
Because of an outbreak of giant monsters that are only attacking Japan, the Ministry creates S-Class Species Suppression Protocol (SSSP) to fight back efficiently. This elite unite use all the technology and weaponry available to fight these hostile species. When Neronga attacks the power grid, a second alien appears in the destruction. This new creature is a sleek silver humanoid that seems intent on fighting the kaiju. During the battle, SSSP agent Shinji Kaminaga (13 Assassins‘ Takumi Saitoh) is out in the woods. After the battle, he emerges a little bit dinged up. The SSSP crew nickname the seems-to-be-friendly alien Ultraman. Before they can get too comfy with Ultraman, another visitor arrives at their headquarters. Zarab promises SSSP that he’s more trustworthy than Ultraman and willing to meet with the head of Japan. Little do many know that Zarab is evil with a plan to wipe out humanity since that’s what he does. While the only hope is Ultraman, Zarab captures Kaminaga in his human form and holds him hostage. He starts his destruction of humanity plan by becoming an evil Ultraman. Will the folks at SSSP notice that there’s something not quite right about the Ultraman that’s now smashing up the city?
There are quite a few differences between the original series and the Shin. They renamed the Space Patrol with the more government agency proper SSSP. In the TV series, the Space Patrol members wore orange uniforms with helmets. Now they are wearing black suits or suit and skirt ensembles. They also don’t have rocket ships at their disposal. The Shin crew are rather Earth born. Ultraman’s biggest difference is the lack of the blinking light on his chest. In the series, the light would blink when he was using up all his energy in the Ultraman form. This was great for a 30-minute TV episode since it explained why the battles didn’t go on for days. None of these changes rub me the wrong way. They do bring back sound effects and musical cues from the original series. They have Ultraman strike familiar poses during battles. This is the perfect mix of the elements that made the show cool all those years ago with a sensibility that brings that action into the 21st Century.
The film is stunning visually. They don’t have guys in monster suits destroying train sets. But the CGI feels a bit like the good old after school battles. They don’t overcomplicate the destruction. The story allows viewers to enjoy the action without it feeling repetitive to old fans or alienating to a newbie. The plot gets into the sort of bureaucracy that would crop up with a government agency dealing with intergalactic monsters. This modernization of the tale also played out so well in Shin Godzilla. Just like Shin Godzilla, Shinji Higuchi and Hideaki Anno created Shin Ultraman for today without disregarding our nostalgic memories for the series. You’ll want to watch Shin Ultraman after you get home from “school.”
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The transfer brings out the beauty of the new telling. The Audio is the original 5.1 DTS-HD Japanese track. There’s also 5.1 DTS-HD English and a 2.0 DTS-HD English dub. The English voice cast sounds serious and not cartoony. The movie is subtitled in English.
Trailer (1:23) has the SSSP dealing with monstrous problems until Ultraman arrives.
Slideshow (2:51) is a montage of press photos.
Cleopatra Entertainment and MVDVisual present Shin Ultraman. Directed by Shinji Higuchi. Screenplay by Hideaki Anno. Starring Takumi Saitoh, Masami Nagasawa, Daiki Arioka, Akari Hayami, Tetsushi Tanaka & Hidetoshi Nishijima. Running Time: 112 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: July 11, 2023.
