Recently, with great help from ebay, I obtained a copy of the 2004 Japanese Ultraman theatrical film Ultraman The Next. We watched it last night and it was awesome. As in, really awesome. Here’s a pictorial review for anyone interested.
Fighter Pilot Maki, just prior to quitting his job to spend more time with his family, is involved in an airborne collision with a red meteor-like light in the sky. He seems to pass into another dimension and is face to face with a giant humanoid (Ultraman, to those in the audience that recognize him).
He mysteriously survives the crash and leaves the air force. But he is soon afterwards kidnapped by a mysterious government organization under the instruction of scientist Sara.
Turns out he wasn’t the only person to have had a mysterious interaction with a light from space. Some months earlier Sara’s fiancee had been turned into a monster after his submarine had encountered a blue light in the ocean. Maki had been kidnapped not only because she suspected he would turn into a monster as well, but as bait to lure back the first monster that had recently escaped.
It works, and not long after Maki is imprisoned the first beast (known as The One) appears:
Sara’s plan to kill it backfires and it grows large by absorbing nearby lizards. Many soldiers die, and Sara herself is about to get done in when Maki transforms into (not a lizard, but) Ultraman The Next. The two fight but it is a stalemate and The One escapes:
After this Maki realizes he is destined to battle this creature, and Sara realizes Maki ain’t so bad after all. Tender scenes of Maki reuniting with his family before the final showdown follow. Maki and Sara then rush to the subways of Shinjuku, where the beast has been discovered. A tense standoff occurs, and the The One gets much, much bigger:
It bursts out of the ground and begins to rampage through Shinjuku:
(By the way, from this point onwards I remained on the edge of my seat)
Ultraman soon follows, and he has grown to gigantic proportions by this point as well. After a brief (but wonderful) moment to save a mother and child from a falling building (establishing Ultraman as the christ-archetype)…
…classic Kaiju wrestling/asskicking action follows:
The One appears to have the upper hand, but when Ultraman jumps to avoid a beam attack he discovered he can fly!
The One then absorbs thousands of crows to make itself wings, and aerial asskicking follows (great special effects in this sequence):
But Ultra is in trouble! His color timer is close to expiring (Ultraman can only function on earth for a few minutes before running out of energy). The One grabs him, ready to deliver the final blow, but at that moment the air force arrives and distracts The One enough for Ultra to break free:
With new energy and an heroic sense of purpose, the end is near for The One. First, Ultraman shoots off it’s wings, and it falls down to Tokyo:
Then (what we’ve all been waiting for), the final attack. Ultra powers up and unleases the unstoppable SPECIUM BEAM!
Earth is saved!
Yes this is a Kaiju film. Yes it features guys in rubber suits. And yes the wrestling sometimes looks silly. But this also features a great story, a fantastic hero and some dazzling special effects. I easily recommend this fine, fine film to anyone even remotely interested in the genre.
Now to get myself a copy of the 2005 Ultra film: Ultraman Mebius And The Ultra Brothers