The production of the new movie 「ULTRAMAN」 has been completed.

Produced at a rate of one movie per year, this movie is a break from the traditional “family movie” genre. This movie is a movie that may be enjoyed by both adults and the general audience.

This movie departs from the standard television fare, which theme places ULTRAMAN and characters within the contemporary perspective. This movie is the “realistic” remake of the first episode of the very first Ultraman tv show.

The lead characters and settings had been re-designed so as to make the story realistic. The initial contact between Ultraman and the monster was filmed as it would happen in the real world.

Similar to the original Ultraman, the human host of Ultraman is a pilot that collided with a red sphere in mid-flight. However, unlike the sci-fi Science Patrol, the protagonist is a pilot from the ASDF who had scrambled his jet to meet the unidentified flying object.

The JSDF had provided their full support for the filming. The aerial combat scene was made possible because the airforce made a available a F-15 at a hangar at 百里 Airbase for the shoot. Besides the fighter-jet, the SDF also provided Search and Rescue helicopters and armoured vehicles, which lent more realism to the production.

The protagonist who became Ultraman after miraculously surviving a collision with the red sphere, is a married man who’s in his 30s. This is unlike the tradtional template of the Ultraman protagonists who’re usually young lads aging around 20 something and had the intrepid spirit. This was to add depth to the narrative and characterization, similar to a drama serial.

In my opinion, being able to transform into Ultraman would be a rather traumatic event if it ever happened in the real world. Having your body mutate and then facing a powerful foe in a death match is an experience that is difficult to accept. Thus, I wanted to bring out the drama of this conflict. And this is an opportunity to examine protagonists’ who are saddled by familial responsibilities within the society.

This film is targeted towards fans of the original Ultraman fans. This film is for fans who’d been enthralled by the original Ultraman tv series during their childhood, but who’d fallen out of favour with the Heisei-era Ultraman series. Our production is not an extension of the children tv programmes, but instead is one that utilised cutting edge technology to re-invent a hero, much like the Hollywood production of Spider-Man.

This is my fourth Ultraman movie. The previous movies were each done in different themes: “Ultraman Zearth 2″ (1997) was an action-comedy, “Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna” (1998) was a tele-movie, “Tiga, Dyna and Gaia” (1999) was a kids’ special. With producer Suzuki Kiyoshi (铃木清) and scriptwriter Keiichi Hasegawa (长谷川圭一), we intended to make a mature version of Ultraman. The years placed into the planning and production has finally paid off.

Although I used to be the special effects director, I decided to take the helm of the direction for this production. I wished for Kikuchi Yuichi (菊地雄一) to be the special effects director. Kikuchi is a young director who made his debut as a SFX director in last year’s “GODZILLA vs. MECHA GODZILLA". His rich experience with Godzilla, Gamera and Ultraman and love for the Kaiju genre certainly brings life to the movies he directed.

The design of the monster and Ultraman was conceived with realism in mind.

The size of monster varies according to its level of transformation. Although it grows to a size of 50m, it has to go through intermediate changes of 3m and 10m so as to conform to realistic growth proportions. And part of the excitement comes from the fight scenes during the human sized stage.

Ichiro Itano (板野一郎), the charismatic animator famed for his work on “Super Dimensional Fortress MACROSS", was invited to participate in the production of this film. He did the CG works for the Ultraman vs. Monster vs. SDF fighter-jet scene. “Itano’s Circus” is reputed its eye-dazzling and unique aerial combat scenes. Fusing live action film with the cutting edge of Japanimation techniques, the special effects will give Hollywood a run of its money.

Bessho Satoru (spel?) (別所哲也) fully immersed himself into the character, capturing the fears and anxiety during transformation, and also the turmoil of shouldering the responsibility to protect those whom he loved. Bessho had thoroughly studied the script and had assiduously transferred his emotions and being into his character. His skilled acting had brought reality to fiction.

大澄贤也, who played the Maritime Self Defense Force who eventually became a monster after encountering the Blue Sphere, had to bear the burden of cosmetic makeover. But since he is also a devout fan of Ultraman, he did not mind the inconvenience. He had also invested time and sweat to buff up his physique for the movie.

远山景织子, who acted as the Ground Self Defense Force biologist and lover of 大澄贤也 in the movie, had to play a difficult role of a cold-blooded killer who had to take the life of someone she loved.

The presence of the veteran actors and actresses, 裕树奈江，永泽俊箭，隆大介，草刈正雄 enriched the drama of the movie.

Tak Mastumoto, the musical director of the group B’z provided the ending theme “NEVER GOODBYE” to the sountrack. He is also a big fan of Ultraman, and contributed his talents to scoring the Background Music and lent his guitar skills to the composition. The stylised musical direction consummates the production of the 「ULTRAMAN」 movie.

(source: ULTRAMAN THE MOVE Official site; credits: ■中国特摄联盟■, Google Translate)