Shin Ultraman

This movie is great! It's an epic love letter to not just the old classic Ultraman series, but also to showa era monster films in general. It was directed by Anno Hideaki, the same guy who also directed "Shin Godzilla" and it has all the same great cinematography and script writing of that film but is also a lot more light-hearted and faster paced than shin godzilla. If you didn't like "Shin Godzilla" for being too dark or boring, then this film is sort of the opposite of that, having several full scale monster battles scattered throughout. The story itself features a special task force in japan whose sole purpose is to track giant monsters attacking the country and figure out how to stop them using science. Along the way though, our lead character almost gets killed and ends up merging with a mysterious "Guardian of light" which gives him the power to transform into Ultraman who can fight toe to toe with these giant Monsters. It's your classic japanese giant monster movie set up. The monster designs and the battles themselves are campy and a little ridiculous but they are very creative and the special effects and cinematography are so well done that they work. It really feels like the original series but with modern special effects and a big budget. The script also does a good job of embracing the inherent cheesiness of it's source material while also being well written enough to still make sense and get you invested in the characters. It's a very fun ride and definitely worth watching if your a fan of either the old school Giant monster films like godzilla or the original Ultraman series, or if your a fan of Anno Hideaki's directing in general. The only down side is that while the blu-ray release does have an english dub and subtitles, there are several parts of the film where japanese texts is shown on screen and there isn't any english translation presented. Like there is this whole text exposition at the beginning of the film that isn't translated in any way for english audiences. It's not too bad; you can still figure out what is happening, but it is very annoying and it is a shame that this didn't get a better north american release. Don't let that stop you from buying this though, because this is till a great movie and highly worth checking out.

UPDATE: I reached out to the company and, after providing a photo of disc and a copy of my Amazon order, they offered to replace the disc. The company replied quickly and was very responsive. The new copy has NONE of the subtitle errors and the Japanese text was translated as well. I am happy to update my rating to 5 stars.It took a couple of tries for my PS5 to recognize the Blu-Ray. I kept getting messages that it was incompatible. None of the Japanese headlines in the beginning are translated. It's a shame because they list the monsters - which were from Ultra Q - and set up the story. Subtitling "Roar" isn't terribly useful. The volume of the blu-ray was also low and we had to pump the volume.

UPDATE: September 19, 2023: After contacting Cleopatra Entertainment, I finally received my replacement Blu-ray Disc directly from them and the language issues have been resolved. We now have translated English subtitles for the Japanese track as well as the English Dubtitle option. Also, translations for all Japanese text have been added through the beginning intros! I will update on any other issues, but if this is the disc that you receive (make sure to check and email Cleopatra with any issues - [email protected] ,) then the purchase is now justified and recommended.The movie itself is a gem. Compressing what amounts to an entire Season of Ultraman into a modern retelling movie complete with excellent kaiju fights and crazy characters is a reality thanks to the direction of Higuichi Shinji and the writing of Hideaki Anno. The brisk feeling 112 minutes never gets old from the first alien threat to the extinction level conclusion. For anyone just looking to re-live their childhood of Ultraman or a fan, it is a no brainer. For anyone slightly interested in Ultraman, you may not get all the references but I still recommend it. You will still be engrossed by the witty dialogue and direction, battles, sound design, as well as some heartfelt moments that work only because of Shinji and Anno's mastery of the genre. Picture quality of the film is excellent and the Dub is perfect to sit and watch.Now, onto the issues. The Dub is the preferred way to see this (I truly loved the Dub). However, I mean so because it is not worth getting if you want the original Japanese release. The Subtitles are Dubtitles - meaning, they are text of the English track, not the original Japanese! I love movies that include this but not for when the proper text is missing from an original Japanese language track. Also, the subtitles themselves have layout issues where certain punctuation and spaces are jumbled together and there was this weird graphic error that appeared in the top left corner of the letterboxed bars when playing for a few seconds (picture enclosed).Also, a huge issue is that none of the Japanese text is translated onscreen! There is a whole beginning montage of the Ultra Q back story that shows humans fighting monsters before Ultraman makes his appearance in the present. Much Japanese text is used and none of it is translated, not even in the subtitles. Throughout the movie, Japanese text on papers and documents are also left untranslated - something that would be standard in any Japanese release outside of its borders.I didn't know who Cleopatra Entertainment was, but after seeing the trailers on disc, they come across as a distributor of very low budgeted indie projects, some with a raunchy angle. I am very surprised that they got the rights to do this film and equally disappointed with how they handled this release.Summary:Excellent movie and Dub is excellent if you want to just sit back and watch. Untranslated Japanese text which is a sin and terrible release if you want to enjoy the original Japanese since the subtitles are dubtitles with graphical/layout issues. Trailers included are indie/raunchy and would not be welcomed by most Ultraman fans.I preordered this Blu-ray movie for approx. $17.00 and am ok with the purchase but at $24.99 I cannot recommend because you are losing more than half of a movie experience. I have heard rumors that the VUDU digital release has proper translation and subtitles but I cannot confirm this. I hope that Cleopatra Entertainment would do a re-release and offer an exchange to those who have already purchased so they can get a complete movie experience. I am leaving 4 stars because the movie was excellent but stating in the description and here that this release is not recommended at Current Price.

I have been collecting the Ultraman series' for a couple years now. I recently found out about this movie and purchased it. I watched it and loved every minute of it! It pays homage to the original Ultra Q series and finds a nice blend between modern special effects and the classic look of the original practical effects. A must-own for any fan of Ultraman, tokusatsu, or monster movies!

Loved this movie. Hit a bunch of the beats from the original TV series and had better special effects to boot.Don’t know why they felt the need to change to different characters instead of keeping the original SSSP lineup, but that’s a minor complaint.If you don’t like Ultraman this won’t change your mind, but if you have fond memories of the show you grew up with, it’s a nice nostalgic trip.