Upcoming BCI Ultraman DVD is pretty suspicious . . . (1 Viewer)

[Mark Talmadge]

There's a potential backlash here that no one is thinking of. If Tsuburaya happens to get Chaiyo's claim dismissed or overturned and they get the rights back they could force BCI to remove those Ultraman sets they released under their agreement with Chaiyo from store shelves, costing them a great deal of money.

This would also mean that Chaiyo could find themselves in a U.S. Court forcing them to return the licensing money that BCI paid to them as well as the lost money that BCI suffers from having to pull those DVD's from the shelves.

I just hope that Tsuburaya gets the Chaiyo claim thrown out.

 

[John Cassidy]

That's what I'm hoping happens. Chaiyo's taking BCI for a ride, so I hope that Tsuburaya intervenes soon, and that BCI hasn't made those discs yet. Because this can be damaging to BCI, especially with all the other cool things they're planning. (Everything else they have is legit but the Ultraman DVD set.)

And Chaiyo's landing in a US court is most likely to happen. This is where Tsuburaya may have a chance.

 

[Michael Alden]

My only interest in Ultraman is in the original 1966 series. I will buy the release and be done with it. I don't really care about any of these issues. If something happens and BCI doesn't put it out, I'll pick up a bootleg copy.

 

[John Cassidy]

Sorry to say this, and I respect your opinion, but as a fan of the shows, I personally think that's rather closed-minded. What's wrong with the other shows? I love the first show also, but that doesn't mean I have to shut all the others out. There's more to Ultraman and other tokusatsu than what's seen in the US.

If I had to recommend any of the other Ultra Series, if just a few, Ultraman is part of the "big three" first shows. The other two being Ultra Q (the predecessor to Ultraman) and Ultra Seven (my favorite, by far, and considered the best of the Ultra Series by fans in Japan). All three shows were created by Eiji Tsuburaya (before his death in 1970), so they are the ones I recommend the most.

Interestingly, Ultra Seven was intended by Eiji to be the final Ultra Series! But he and his company changed their minds upon seeing how incredibly popular the first three shows were. The show that that was planned would result in Return of Ultraman (which is actually a pretty good show, but I wouldn't recommend it to you if you're in a hurry; You could say that the Ultra Series sort of "jumps the shark" there), but Eiji never lived to see the series go into production.

BTW, Tsuburaya originally offered Ultra Q to the US distributors back in the late 60s, but since the show was in B&W, they passed. That's a shame, because it's a great SF/monster show, almost like a half-hour Toho monster movie! Think The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, but with continuing main characters, much like The X-Files.

If you have money to burn, I highly recommend the Japanese Region 2 DVDs of the series, which have mind-blowing picture quality. But those are the prints that should be used for a US release. None of the current bootlegs with the English dubbing come close (some of these bootlegs are from Chaiyo). Plus, Tsuburaya holds on to the audio masters for the US English dub (for a possible English track). So as long as they hang in there, there's hope!

If Tsuburaya intervenes, foils Chaiyo and comes to terms with BCI (maybe), then we'll start seeing a quality release with plenty of extras. From Tsuburaya, I guarantee the best.

I dunno, maybe I'm just more patient.

 

[Bryan^H]

John,
Thanks for pointing out the different Ultrman series. I didn't even know they existed. Is Ultraman Tiga any good? It is currently the only ultra title available on dvd in the U.S, and I thought about getting it.
Also, do you know who owns the rights for Spectreman, Space Giants, or Johnny Sokko? More than anything, I would love to own those on dvd one day.

 

[John Cassidy]

Ah, it's these kinds of posts that brighten my day.

Before I do a list of the Ultra Series, let me say that Ultraman Tiga is indeed a great series! It is the first of the new-generation shows that have set the pace for the newer ones. Also, Tiga is not the only legit release; Image released two of the Heisei Ultraman movies: Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna and Ultraman Gaia: Battle in Hyperspace. The prints used are in stellar condition! Look them up on Amazon!

Anyways, here are the Ultra Series. This is the list of basic shows up to the present:

-Ultra Q (1966)
-Ultraman (1966-1967)
-Ultra Seven (1967-1968)
-Return of Ultraman (1971-1972)
-Ultraman Ace (1972-1973)
-Ultraman Taro (1973-1974)
-Ultraman Leo (1974-1975)
-The Ultraman (1979-1980) Anime
-Ultraman 80 (1980-1981)
-Ultraman: Towards the Future (1990) Australian co-production (one of the few to air in the US); Known as "Ultraman Great" in Japan.
-Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero (1993) US co-production (never aired in the US); Known as "Ultraman Powered" in Japan.
-Ultraman Tiga (1996-1997)
-Ultraman Dyna (1997-1998)
-Ultraman Gaia (1998-1999)
-Ultraman Neos (2000) Direct to DVD series
-Ultraman Cosmos (2001-2002)
-Ultraman Nexus (2004-2005)
-Ultraman Max (2005-2006 nearing end)
-Ultraman Moebius (2006; premiering in April)

Of the many coinciding Ultraman movies made, the most recent one, Ultraman the Next (2004), is considered by fans to be the best incarnation of Ultraman in a while! The movie is currently playing at art theaters in certain parts of the country (Google it!). It's going to play in New York at some sort of "B-movie" festival soon.

Ultraman isn't the only Japanese superhero to look out for; The other famous superhero in Japan is Kamen (Masked) Rider! Created by the late manga master Shotaro Ishinomori, he's the one who started the "Henshin Hero" craze that has resulted in hundreds of other shows including the Super Sentai Series (which has been hacked into Power Rangers since the 16th series Zyuranger from 1992) and the Metal Hero Series (few of which were hacked into VR Troopers and Big Bad Beetleborgs). There are still Kamen Rider shows being made in Japan, the newest show that just started is Kamen Rider Kabuto.

Another favorite superhero show of mine is Android Kikaider (also created by Ishinomori), which is a huge success in Hawaii (where it is titled by its Japanese name, Jinzo Ningen Kikaida). There are great subtitled Kikaida DVDs available there in Region 1! You can order them on Amazon, or find them at stores like Tower Records. Or, you can order them at GenerationKikaida.com.

As for the other shows you mentioned,

-The Space Giants (based on Osamu Tezuka's Ambassador Magma, produced by P Productions), at least the US version, is still owned by the US distributor, Bernard Schulman of Lakeside Productions. He recently thought of getting a DVD release for them, but is also suing a label called Powerslam Productions for the video rights (Powerslam was selling bootlegs and labelling them as official).

-Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot (based on Mitsuteru Yokoyama's Giant Robo, produced by Toei Company Ltd.), I heard, is owned by Sony/MGM.

-I'm not sure who owns Spectreman (based on the show of the same name, produced in 1971 by P Productions), but I'm sure it's up for grabs. I do know that Wonderland Video came out with them in the early-to-mid 80s (around 1984) and are hard to find now, although Suncoast actually sold a bunch of them in the early 90s!

BTW, the Japanese version DVDs of Spectreman must be seen! From the screenshots I saw, the picture quality is beautiful! They have tons of great extras, including the textless opening and the rare pilot episode (where Spectreman, then called "Elementman", had a different costume, and his alter-ego was played by Jiro Dan, who left after its completion to star in Return of Ultraman)! The original DVD collectors' set was all of the discs fitted inside a 1/1 scale Spectreman head!

 

[Michael Alden]

What about Eighth Man?

 

[John Cassidy]

8th Man is based on 8-Man (1963), created by Kazumasa Hirai and Jiro Kuwata (my favorite manga artist), and was produced by TCJ and Eiken. He is, in fact, Japan's earliest cyborg superhero, many years before Kamen Rider!

I'm not sure myself about who owns the rights to the US version of the anime, but I do know for certain that the Japanese version is available on DVD! So I wouldn't be surprised if, say, some company like ADV picks up the rights. That would be great!

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Looks like this may actually be a go!

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5552

The extras sound absolutely divine. You betcha I'll be picking this one up, if it actually hits the shelves. And if it's released later down the line in a considerably improved version, I'll by that one too.

 

[Michael Alden]

Split season set for a half hour show? Is that really necessary?

 

[Gary Seven]

This is great news. Exactly what I wanted.... original Japanese sound track with the option of English. I look forward to this one.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Can't wait to see Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr's interviews! I wish BCI had the rights to Speed Racer and Marine Boy...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Judging from the news item at TV Shows on DVD I'm quite excited about this. With newly created English subtitles? I think it's going to be very interesting to see how this is going to sell when it hits. Looks like I'll be picking up this one when it hits.

Does this also mean that we're going to see the original English dub that was captured during the original broadcast in the United States?

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Yep, the original dub, done by Peter, Corinne and Co. It's gonna be good!

 

[Mark Talmadge]

I'm wondering how BCI convinced Tsuburaya Productions to release the original English dubbing track to BCI because the whole point of Chaiyo continuing to negotiate the release with BCI would depend on the success of sales of this release and if they didn't acquire the rights to the original dubbing track and if Tsuburaya held onto them, the company could doom the release of this initial title. ... ahahahah ....

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Well, all I know is I'm picking this up the exact second it hits the shelves, just in case it disappears the next second.

In another thread, I asked Cliff what materials they were using for the Ultraman release, and he replied:


Now, I think he meant to put a "not" between "I'm" and "sure", but at least he says the masters look beautiful. I hope I think so too.

 

[August Ragone]

As far as I know, neither BCI or Tsuburaya Productions (TPC) have spoken to each other about this project. I don't know where BCI obtained their English-language tracks, but to the best of my knowledge, they did not obtain them from TPC (who also have the Spanish and French tracks that were prepared at Titra Studios in NYC).

Once again, to the best of my knowledge, BCI would also not have obtained any film or video masters from Tsuburaya Productions or Panasonic (who was partner in producing the amazing digital restoration of the series in 2001).

I wish both companies the best of luck in the future, and hope that any problems that may result concerning this release will be resolved to their mutual satisfaction.

 

[Chris JJ]

Doesn't this prove that Tsuburaya is the copyright holder? They made Ultraman tv shows outside of japan. How could they do this without being the legal copyright holder?

To Gord... Tsuburaya created Ultraman, Tsuburaya owns Ultraman. I don't understand how you can believe a forged document.

BUT, in defense of BCI... They are licensing Ultraman from the company who claims to hold the copyright outside of japan. Tsuburaya will either do something to stop them or not. If they don't do anything, then I will buy the discs from BCI. If the real copyright holder does nothing to protect their interests, then they are doing as much as condoning it.

I think if Tsuburaya brought this to court in the U.S., they would win hands down. I don't understand why they aren't... or maybe they are, and come July, we'll see a certain dvd set disappear from the pages of Amazon.com.

No American would see those documents for anything but the forgeries they are. (well some americans would...)

And for the record- Chaiyo is a Thai company..

Thai are from Thailand- near Cambodia/Vietnam
Taiwanese are from Taiwan- trying hard not to be part of China

I've seen this get confused on other message boards regarding this topic (and for some reason have disabled registration).

I have 4 of the Region 2 discs from japan, and 3 of the Ultra Q (which I got signed by Hiroko Sakurai at Comic-Con one year

) Anyway they are absolutely great quality... I doubt the CHAIYO DVD will be even close.

I was thinking about how TBP has the "original" english DAT.. well this show was made in '66... there was no such thing as DAT then. So it's always possible that Chaiyo has a copy of a soundtrack before they were transferred to DAT. It might not be so bad.

I'm sure I overlooked some points... your responses please!

 

[Gord Lacey]

So you question how I can believe a "forged document" (I have no idea how you came to that conclusion - have you seen the document?), and then you go on to say that they are licensing it from the company that claims to own the rights to the show, and you'll support the release if Tsuburaya doesn't do anything. Okay....

I honestly could care less about Ultraman. I'm not interested in the show one bit. What I don't like to see is a company attacked when people don't know the whole story (and I'm not claiming I do). What we have is one company saying that they've licensed the show from a company that claims to have the rights, and there are supposed court documents to back it up, and another company that fans claim own the rights, but appears to be doing nothing about it.

Let's look at a similar situation - Man from UNCLE. Anchor Bay issues a press release saying they're going to release the show on DVD, and THREE HOURS LATER they receive a letter from Warner Bros telling them to back down because they own the rights. Tsuburaya has had almost SIX MONTHS and I still don't think they've contacted BCI about it. If Ultraman is the holy grail to this company then why aren't they doing anything to protect it? The UNCLE situation is between two American companies, but surely a company in Japan could get something going within 6 months.

I don't know of anyone in this thread that has seen the original court documents which supposedly grant Chaiyo the home video rights which they licensed to BCI, and I'm not sure anyone here could be considered an expert on the situation, as no one seems to have direct access to the parties involved, along with the court document.

Gord

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Truth to tell, while Chaiyo might have the licensing rights to the series outside of Japan it amazes me that there has been no mention of whether or not Tsuburaya will appeal that judgement. If they did and it came out thhat they were appealing the judgment, BCI would have no choice but to halt production of the sets which could cost the company quite a bit of money if the judgment were overturned.

For the US, I think that Tsuburaya could fight the release here in the United States and actually win. Remember, Tsuburaya lost the case in Japan. If they were to file suit against Chaiyo in the United States where it was being released it would bring a full fledged fight against BCI.

Just think, if they would fight the release against BCI here in the United States. There stands a chance that they could win since US Courts would have to take the side of the original creator who owns the work. Chaiyo is just a company that co-produce some of the shows of the title.