Ultraman

In the late sixties, Japan sent this gem of a series over here, and a lucky few of us got to see it.

Every episode brought a mini-Godzilla movie with the monster of the week squaring off against the giant silver superhero. If you saw the show, you remember that much. Here are some things you might not recall:

The Big U was played by the man who wore the Godzilla suit (in fact, the Godzilla suit, slightly modified, appears as one episode's monster).

It can be sometimes a bit brutal for a kiddie show. Ultraman did not fight to restrain or arrest the monsters-- mostly he killed them. And not always prettily-- in one episode, UM rips the monster's arm off and we get to see it try to fight with its blood-covered stump.

Uman's appearances were generally brief. It's the Science Patrol squad that does most of the work. The writing doesnt develop those characters much, but by virtue of the acting, its the officers that become the most developed character, even above the one guy who is secretly Ultraman (and who may or may not be actually dead).

However-- it's 1967 and the single female character is pretty useless.

The show is cheesy, but it's not lazy. Faced with a fairly simple problem (how do we get a giant monster in Ultraman's way this week), the writers come up with a different solution every week, using everything from space to sea to folklore to the kitchen sink. Monster design is not always awesome (eyes are a big problem) but the show is generally well shot, with a nice use of angles and colors in a day when everything had to be done physically.

Original japanese with subtitles is a fun choice. The theme song is better (mercifully, the episodes don't included the closing credits) and the translations are saltier ("damn" turns up frequently). If you go with English dubbing, some scenes are still in Japanese-- these are the scenes trimmed for the US version.

It's a cheesefest, but a really inexpensive one, and for fans of the style, a real treat. Or just a nostalgiafest. But I believe that Ultraman could kick the Power Rangers' collective kiesters.