As a kid growing up in the 70's, I would rush home from school to watch Ultraman. My family cared not for this show and would frequently undermine my attempts to watch it. Sometimes through sheer force, I would get the television to myself and would revel in the exploits of the Science Patrol and Shin Hayata's alter ego/superhero Ultraman. Every episode featured the same scenario. Alien invaders and or a giant monster would arrive and threaten Earths survival. It was up to the Science Patrol to counter this threat with their scientific knowhow. In most cases, this knowhow was not enough and Hayata/Ultraman would save the day. By todays standards, this 'special effects fantasy series' will come off as cheap and primitive. It must be noted this was made in 1966 by Eiji Tsuburaya Productions. Tsuburaya was the special effects master behind the Godzilla movies and his expertise is in full swing. For the kids who watched this show, this was not some cheap entertainment. Ultraman was very real. Hayata was very real. The Science Patrol was a team worth rooting for. Some of the episodes are very advanced in terms of theme and story content. There are two sets that can be purchased on DVD. Series One, Volume 1 and 2 is the set I own. The picture and sound quality are superb. The viewer has the option of watching this classic series dubbed in English or in Japanese with English subtitles. All episode are full length and uncut. The English dubs will have some scenes with Japanese language and subtitles. This is unavoidable and should not be too bothersome for the viewer. Better to watch Ultraman in it's original Japanese language. Ultraman ran for one season with 39 episodes. Over the years, this show has garnered cult status. There is the Ultra Q series which came before and a slew of series spin-offs that followed. There are a number of Ultraman movies as well. In all, Ultraman has become a cultural pop phenomenon. If you remember this from childhood and wish to relive that childhood, or are looking for great entertainment for you own children, Ultraman comes highly recommended. They simply do not make televisions shows like this anymore.

Years ago, a local New York channel showed episodes of this science fiction super hero vs. monster series made in Japan, leaving my brother and I riveted (and temporarily out of trouble) for weeks. But all of a sudden, it was lifted from the T.V. schedule, and efforts to find it again were in vain. For decades, it was a distant memory embedded in the back of my memory, only resurfacing when I would happen to catch a "Godzilla" movie or one of the many science fiction monster movies made around the same time as this T.V. series. That is, until now. Researching 1950's and 60's science fiction and horror movies, I discovered it was available, fortunately both subtitled and dubbed, and immediately purchased it with great joy. What I found is perhaps not the childhood thrill of my memory but a long-lost cult T.V. series that has many admirers, but in retrospect with today's computer generated effect, looks rather cheap and is often silly, but certainly no better or worse than any of the movies I've come across in my research.Watching this brought memories of how my brother and I reacted to this at the time. We had simple names for each of the creatures, describing how they looked to us with names like "the lettuce monster" and "the lobster monster". Certainly, one monster did look like a giant head of lettuce, complete with legs, while another did indeed look like a giant Maine lobster. Other creatures were based on various forms of lizards or monsters audiences had already seen on screen, and in a few, there were giant insects as well. Ultraman is a Japanese Batman/Superman hero, turned into this super creature thanks to a falling object from outer-space. With the help of the chained crystal around his neck, this Japanese hero could turn from mild-mannered scientist to superhero just by the press of a button, even able to rip off the scaly mane around a monster's neck, leaving bloody open flesh visible to the audience to squirm about.Each of the episodes is pretty much set up the same way. Rumors of tremors or other potential natural disasters lead to the discovery of some other worldly creature. The same local children are usually spotted near the sight where the monster turns up, although the audience doesn't get a glimpse of the creature until almost halfway through the episode. Ultraman appears, a battle ensues (often comic looking), and guess who comes out the winner. In one episode, the battle made it appear that Ultraman and the monster were dancing together. This makes it difficult to watch more than one or two episodes in a row, but lazy viewers might find it more interesting to simply fast-forward to the way the monster is discovered, the first full view it has, and finally, the battle between creature and hero, combo outer-space visitor and mild-mannered human. Either way, it's a lot of fun even if it does seem like every time these producers filmed an episode, the Japanese rubber plant's stock would jump up 20 percent.

The first giant robot Japanese Sci-Fi TV show has something that all the others (Ultraman sequels included) never achieved. It's set in a world of bizarre logic and weird film making that is hard to describe. Unlike American television shows, Ultraman seemed to be played for laughs, very strange laughs, but laughs none the less. Don't expect the self-conscious humor of Batman but a world where people say and do odd things, the plot lines take goofy turns and characters will suddenly turn to the camera and talk to you as if nothing strange is happening at all. In one episode, the main characters (members of the "Science Patrol" in the Amrican translation) are sent out to find nuclear bombs that fell off a wayward space mission (!) and sank to the bottom of the sea. Unfortunately a sea creature found one of the bombs first and mutates into a giant monster (resembling the Creature from the Black Lagoon) that sinks boats and attacks ocean resorts. All the time a nuclear bomb is stuck on the monster's shoulder. The Science Patrol has the brilliant idea to sooth the enraged beast with music so they get the Japanese Coast Guard to play classical music from a destroyer! This has the opposite effect as the monster rips up and hurls trees around. One member of the Science Patrol make the incredible observation, "The monster doesn't like music, turn it off!". The show stops as the main characters try to figure out why their plan didn't work since "all wild beasts are soothed by music"! It's decided that radiation is the cause of the monster's inability to appreciate fine music!If you are looking for "rational" entertainment, run far as you can from Ultraman. For the rest of us who enjoy goofy fun, you can't get better then this. The new DVD set has the original Japanese track which has increased my admiration for this show.

This was one of my favorite shows that from when I was a kid. Being a fan of the "kaiju eiga" genre, I really loved the fact that they had a super hero fighting all sorts of giant monsters. The only thing that I didn't like about the show was the fact that Ultra Man never talked to any of the other cast members. Too bad this show isn't on television anymore to thrill a new generation of viewers.