Urutoraman: Kûsô tokusatsu shirîzu

This is probably the best Japanese super hero, and it's better than a majority of American superheroes.

Acting is great, lovable characters, decent camerawork, and amazing special effects for a TV budget.

I think why this show is so good and memorable is the monsters. The roster is packed with weirdos and the designs are so memorable. Every single monster has a unique style and theme, except for Greenmon, that's just a giant plant.

This show follows a guy working for the SSSP named Hayata. Hayata is given the power to turn into Ultraman, a being from the land of light, and every week he fights off a unique but dangerous Kaiju.

The biggest problem I have with this show is Hayata, they didn't do the best job picking the protagonist. Hayata is the blandest character of the group and I think Ide should've been the protagonist.

But overall, fantastic show!

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.

This is one of my all time favorite shows, I'm trying to go through as many of the ultraman shows as I can and he is slowly becoming one of my favorite superheroes. This may be an acquired taste, I LOVE things like godzilla or gamera, my whole life I've loved the giant rubber monsters, but I feel like even if you're not into all of that there is still a lot here to enjoy. This shows comedy is gold, my favorite character is Ide and hes the comic relief. Every character in this show is extremely lovable and they all get there time to shine with episodes surrounding each of them. This show gets better the longer you watch it and if you love Japanese monsters, or just science fiction I would recommend this of course.

So, all I can say is, the 1965 Ultraman is indeed worth watching and in my opinion, it's really great and solid. It is silly and goofy as hell at the beginning of the show, and while the execution might get to be a little bit sloppy in few of the episodes, this is still enjoyable to watch. There are also plenty of interesting fights, and if that's what you did want to expect from this kind of show, then this is pretty much for you.

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.