Ultraman

I recently attended the Ultramania Film Festival here in San Francisco, CA, where the Bay Area premiere of Ultraman (a.k.a Ultraman: The Next) took place. Quite simply, this is an extremely entertaining movie for hardcore and casual fans of the character or anyone looking to spend 90 minutes witnessing pure, albeit silly, celluloid joy. The new movie is certainly more "mature" in it's telling compared to the original series and such beloved updates as Ultraman Tiga. There is a good amount of character development and some actual drama to be found. The action sequences are handled remarkably well and the final confrontation between Ultraman and his nemesis is a wonder to behold. The CG is quite good and blends real well with the more practical visual effects. The only real nitpick I had with the film is the theme sounded a bit too much like the "Top Gun" theme and "Top Gun" is not one of my favorite films. I heartily recommend Ultraman! Seek it out at all costs!

This movie blew me away! I know this is based on an old series! But somehow they managed to keep it fresh and new for viewers who are not familiar with this series! The pace is fast and the story is quite good! The story about a loving father and husband who turns in to Ultraman is done in a proper manner! He gradually accepts his fate in becoming a superhero! You will care for this man and his family! And the most important thing is that this movie delivers on the action front! The giant lizard like monster is out to destruct everything in his path and you will see that he does! Buildings blown away by his fire breath! Crushing,pounding men! You will see Ultraman fighting this giant monster in the ultimate battle! Even when you know that they still are men in suits it doesn't look cheesy! In combination with CGI it looks better than ever! For me all kaiju movies should be like this. Ultraman is a classic!

ULTRAMAN THE NEXT [2004] was created as part of Tsuburaya Production's "Ultra N Project", which also consisted of the TV series ULTRAMAN NEXUS [2004-2005] and live stage shows involving the character "Noa".

The film follows the middle-aged Shinichi Maki - a father and pilot with an increasingly ill son. During a drill one evening to track an unidentified object over Japanese air space, Maki's jet crashes into a large glowing meteor, where he meets a mysterious figure. Unlike the more recent Heisei era Ultraman shows - such as the amazingly childish ULTRAMAN COSMOS [2001] - the film takes a more serious family-entertainment tone, as with Tsuburaya's classic shows such as ULTRA SEVEN (1967).

The special effects lead by Yuichi Kikuchi (GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA [2002]) are well polished, looking far better than GODZILLA FINAL WARS [2004], yet ironically costing about a third less to produce. The same goes for the soundtrack - composed by Japanese rock artist Tak Matsumoto - which is far nicer to the ear than the "rock n' roll" music Keith Emerson produced for Godzilla. The storyline is quite simple, yet touching and meaningful at the same time.

It's an overall solid production, and one I would certainly recommend.

This movie is amazing it has decent writing, awesome soundtrack, and awesome redesign the only downside of this movie is the CG i know this movie is a 2004 movie but still it could have been handled better

with all of its flaws it still a great toku movie for me, it's kinda sad that this movie didn't do well because of it's darker tone and serious story.

This is a darker Ultraman that's set in a parallel universe. The movie is targeted for more mature audience, and it was made in the same time period as the Ultraman Nexus that also featured a darker mood.

The movie closely follows the story featured in the first episode of the original Ultraman. Defense force F15 pilot Shunichi Maki (Tetsuya Bessho) encounters a red sphere from outer space. Prior to this event, another defense force pilot Udo (Kenya Oosumi) encountered a similar ball of light (this time blue in color) and transformed into a monster. From Udo's transformation, Maki is also suspected to turn into a monster and gets arrested. But his alter ego was Ultraman who came to capture the monster that took over Udo's body. Some homage to the original Ultra Q is also paid in this movie where Maki becomes a pilot of Cessna for a private corporation.

The movie was part of the Ultraman N Project that was supposed to create a new appeal to the Ultraman series. Ultraman Noa, this movie, and Ultraman Nexus shares a common connection that became clear towards the end of Ultraman Nexus. But ultimately, this new darker vision of Ultraman series was unpopular with the audience, and the project was canceled.

This Ultraman is really not Ultraman in my opinion. It lacks the style worthy of a super hero. Other may like the more realistic depiction of Ultraman, and opinions may vary depending on the viewer.