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

[David Levine]

Super Robot Red Baron is a terrific show. It's full of all kinds of crazy ideas and character. I actually enjoyed it much more than Ultraman and found it a lot less repetitive. The first episode will just suck you in.

 

[Radioman970]

There's something about Spectreman that I just loved. I still don't know what it is. I think I like it the best out of all the good ones. Space Giants would be next in line. Johnny Sokko is also quite fun.

 

[Bryan^H]

Spectreman is my favorite too, and not just because of the catchy theme song(and that awesome bass line whenever he goes into battle) but the whole concept of fighting Dr. Gory the far out planet of the apes reject who is also a mad scientist that loves pollution.

Space Giants is also great. I remember having the biggest crush on Silvarr(apparently two different Japanese actresses portrayed the character) when I used to watch it as a kid! Blow the whistle once for Goldarr, twice for Silvarr, and three times for Gam!

Johnny Sokko I don't remember as well, but I'm sure it's great.

 

[Radioman970]

I love the whole pollution theme they cover in SM. That alone just takes me back to my childhood. I adore that song! Hopefully no one will get mad if I say I blind bought the bootleg version of the show for about $55 the same time I bought Ultraman (back when there was no official in the US), Ultraseven, Johnny Sokko, and Space Giants. I have yet to complete watching all those others once, but I'm ready to start watching Spectre Man through for a second time.

I watched Space giants as well. Im 40 now but I still live near the apartment complex I used to live at age 10+ when Space Giants was airing. I can ride through there and think of my old friends and how we used to talk about the show everyday. The one thing I remembered about it (and it's how I found out what it was called later so I could acquire it) was how the lugo men would turn into what looked like oatmeal when they were killed. The guy Angel who says he's the owner of the english version has some nice sets on his web site. I thought about replacing what I have with it. Mine are compressed too much. If they would work out that copyright problem, an official set would be something I'd buy at the drop of a hat.

I just remembered the robot from Johnny Sokko. I know I watched and loved the show years ago. When I was 5 or so I began watching Ultraman along with Speed racer. Definitely my favorite shows back then. I plan to buy the BCI Ultraman Vols tomorrow. When my bootleg verison arrived (5 or so years ago) I started one up and as soon as the title tune began I was able to sing along even though I hadn't seen it in probably 30+ years. The song alone made me euphoric for the rest of the day.

 

[Bryan^H]

I'm buying everyone of these sets.
John, Is Spectreman, and Space Giants caught in some weird rights issue deal like Ultra was, or are they public domain?

 

[Bryan^H]

SOLD!!

 

[Bryan^H]

Yup, Good times. I just picked up vol. 2 of Ultraman last week. I'm really happy with the series. BCI has done a great job. Although I don't remember too much of it originally(vague memories at best) It's got the same vibe as Spectre, and Space Giants, so I feel like I feel like I'm 6 years old again when watching.
Seriously, I don't know if it's because these shows were so "out there" that they left a huge impression on our young minds, but they certainly drum up the feeling of being young again, and that is priceless.

 

[John Cassidy]

The Space Giants (based on Osamu Tezuka's Ambassador Magma) was held up in a legal entanglement between Lakeside (the US distributor) and a small-time company called Powerslam Entertainment (which distributed illegal DVDs of the show). Sort of like the Tsuburaya vs. Chaiyo struggle. Sci-Fi Japan did an excellent guide, which brings up the subject:

SciFi Japan » THE SPACE GIANTS Series Guide

Apparently, Lakeside seems to be sitting on the show (even though they keep claiming to find a DVD label!). As is Richard Rosenfeld sitting on Spectreman (though I'm not sure about this; I'll have to ask my expert buddies if they know anything). At this rate, if there are no strings attached, bringing the Japanese versions of the shows here may be a major option. I hope SOMETHING happens!

Incidentally, both shows were produced by P Productions in Japan. P Productions did some of my favorite shows!

 

[Radioman970]

Same here. Nicely said. The old Kroffts show have the same effect for me. I picked up Land of the lost and...erm, Bugaloos, heh heh! just the other day. Still waiting for those to arrive.

 

[TonyTone]

Dunno about Spectreman, but I thought that Space Giants may have been (still are?) public domain at one point, since plenty of "bootleg" copies (probably episodes taped from cable or something) can be found on Ebay. I'm sure if it wasn't, then Ebay would have taken down all those Space Giants auctions a long time ago...

Then again, I don't proclaim to know everything about public domain rights of television programs so I could be way off w/ my comments...

 

[Radioman970]

The set of Space Giants I have definitely wasn't recorded off cable. You could tell. Angel from Powerslam told me he authorized the sale of those sets. I picked it up for about $10 years ago. His sets are about $45. When I'm not so tight for money I'll definitely be picking one up. He talks here about the public domain issue.

I just ordered the 2 Ultraman sets. Vol 1 was only $13 in amazon's marketplace. I bought Ark II and dungeons and dragons animated series along with those and it added up to $5 cheaper than deepdiscount. And deepdiscount didn't have most of those in stock. They keep moving their in stock dates on those BCI releases.

 

[John Cassidy]

But that's just Powerslam's side of the story.

The set that Powerslam did of The Space Giants was used from the Japanese LD release of Ambassador Magma (there's still no DVD release yet). Lakeside still has the original materials for the US version. (Powerslam used audio from TV recordings.)

 

[Radioman970]

Oh, well it seems the fans are suffering the most from this little problem. Still, Im game to upgrade to his versions and upgrade yet again when there's a better version from whoever really owns this thing.

EDIT: Here is an article explaining Powerslam was only given the rights to publish comic books, not the whole series on DVD. Interesting.

 

[Corey3rd]

was Space Giants shot on 35mm? Or was it 16mm like Ultraman?

 

[Radioman970]

I'd guess 16mm, but I have no idea.

 

[John Cassidy]

Yes, Ambassador Magma was indeed shot in 16mm, like Ultraman

Ultra Q (the first of the Ultra Series) was shot in 35mm. The other Ultra Series up to Ultraman 80 were shot in 16mm, and the shows since Ultraman Tiga were shot digitally in D2 Video. (The newer shows are shot in HD widescreen.)

 

[Radioman970]

Terribly sorry about that. When I'm at work my mind is doing several things and posting here. I'm a multi-tasking fool with only one task actual work.

 

[Radioman970]

Just wanted to post here that I got the BCI volumes and I was extremely impressed. A very nice DVD package for this show.

The outer boxes, and slim-case graphics especially, looked superb.

The transfers have a decent image quality but I noticed a little over compression. Not good. The sound was fine, if not a little hissy. I haven't watched a complete episode yet but I imagine I won't have a big problem with anything mentioned here. The original Japanese opening credits is a distraction though. The english version as an extra? I hope if this is released again the english opening credits will be restored for each episode. I've watched it that way since I was 5 years old.

BCI did pretty good with this show. I think I can be happy with what they did for a little while. Certainly my old bootleg has been watched for the final time.

I rate this package a 88%. I'm proud to own it.

 

[John Cassidy]

I love the Japanese credits! Much more than the US opening. The credits from this series and Ultra Seven (which had a similar opening, as did some future Ultra Series) always had a Saul Bass feel to them (so did Ultra Q).

The US version opening sequence (I can't call it a credits sequence) may probably only be included as an extra (or with the option of watching them), because it's the same opening sequence anyway; a truncated version of the Japanese opening, sans credits.

I take it you only watched the show in English, which would be no surprise if you took the sound quality into account. For the first four episodes, BCI used the older quasi-legit VHS release from 1997 (by Expressions In Animation). For the rest, they simply used old VHS tape recordings from the US versions.

Tsuburaya Productions still has ALL of the original US materials, including the English dub (which is complete and uncut, except for a small cut at the end of Episode 36, "Gift from the Sky"), which they obtained from a warehouse in 1997 (the materials included all promo materials as well!), so a much better job can be done than what was done by BCI.

Interestingly, all of the Japanese Region 2 Ultra Series DVD releases have both the original mono soundtrack, as well as a 5.1 stereo mix on most select episodes! (This is in Japanese, BTW.) The 5.1 mix is really cool and well-done.

 

[Radioman970]

Hey John! Thanks for commenting on my little review. I can tell you know a lot about the show.

I've watched about 5 episodes so far and I've had an absolute ball. The over-compression is definitely the biggest distraction. But I've learned to ignore that and enjoy this great show.

I felt when Ultraman lets out a yell it's a little loud. My dog stops whatever she's doing and watches the show for a bit. She's a TV watching dog anyway, but she's definitely interested in Ultraman's yells. I kind of like it too, gets your attention.

I'll have no problem upgrading if the rightful company gives the english release another go. Maybe they will do some branching so you can have the original credits play with no extra scenes inserted, or other combinations. I'll take it exactly as shown when I was little.

Oh, did the show have closing credits? I don't remember if my old boots had it. I'll check next time I think about it.