ULTRAMAN (2005) Review
Author: Bob Johnson
Source: Henshin Online

A shadowy creature moves through the dark halls of a research facility, security guards in pursuit. His silhouetted form crosses a sign that reads, “Bio Hazard - Caution!” Guards open fire, but their bullets have no effect.

The beast turns down another hallway to see a beautiful woman in a lab coat. In her hands is a weapon, loaded with a lethal poison. She fires at the hideous monster, hitting it in the shoulder. The large form turns towards her and stares straight into her eyes, saliva dripping from its razor-sharp teeth. As the woman looks on in shock, the creature’s shoulder starts to pulse and forms itself into a human face. A slight expression of recognition shows on the woman’s face as the monster turns and crashes through a wall, into the night air where it runs to the end of a tall cliff and leaps into the churning ocean below.

Is this a new horror film? A sequel to ALIEN? A science fiction shocker crafted in the US? The intro to a new video game? No, it is the opening to the newest feature from Tsuburaya Productions, simply titled ULTRAMAN. As with Toho’s Godzilla, Ultraman is a long-running franchise that is seeking a new direction to garner more of an audience. However, unlike GODZILLA FINAL WARS, which targets the youth market and lacks a meaningful story or sense of cinematic direction, ULTRAMAN is a serious, adult film that makes no excuses for superhero and monster action. It is a new and serious approach to a character that has been an icon on Japanese TV and in films for close to 40 years. The film had its premier at the Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan (TIFF) and is currently being marketed to world-wide distributors as ULTRAMAN: THE NEXT.

Shunichi Maki (Tetsuya Bessho) is a fighter pilot at the Air Self Defense Forces’ Hiyakuri Base. All his life he has wanted to fly fighter jets. As a child, he saw a jet overhead and dreamed of being a “silver meteor", streaking through the heavens. However, that dream is now winding down. The 35-year-old Maki has a wife and a 5-year-old son, who suffers from a congenital blood disease which, threatens to take his life before he can reach his 7th birthday. He tells his friend and fellow pilot, Kurashima, that he must quit the Self-Defense Force so he can spend more time with his family at this time of crisis.

Their discussion is interrupted by an alert. They scramble their F15 Eagles and take off to investigate a strange object sited in the night sky. In the midst of the search, Maki’s jet crashes into a large, red, glowing sphere. He finds himself inside the sphere, careening through a sea of light. The last image he sees is an enormous incandescent figure. He later appears back on the ground, at the entrance of a diner. He enters and asks to use the phone as his body, in a tattered uniform, falls to the floor.

He awakens in a hospital with his wife, Yoko and their son, Tsugumu. The doctors tell him he is in perfect health, no injuries, although his jet was found crumpled in a heap in the nearby mountains.

A month later, Maki is involved in his new job, training students to fly Cessna aircraft. One student he takes up with him pulls a gun and with a helicopter escort, orders him to fly the plane to Cape Ryu, which hides the base of the international BCST, an anti-bioterrorism organization. The “student", Sara Mizuhara (Kyoko Toyama), is the same woman who confronted the creature earlier.

Once there, Maki is told of a ship captain that encountered a glowing, blue sphere under the ocean. His ship was destroyed, his crew killed, but he survived. Similar to what happened to Maki in the sky. However, Udo, the ship’s captain, has mutated into a creature, code-named “The One", that absorbs animals to take on their characteristics and abilities as needed. They believe the same fate awaits Maki. He tells them he is human and sarcastically asks what his code name would be. Sara responds “The Next, maybe” and locks him up in a re-enforced cell.

Maki forms rudimentary psychic abilities that allow him to see things as or before they happen. This connects him mentally to Udo (Kenya Osumi), who follows his brain waves back to the base. He returns, intent on killing Maki, who he has seen as someone who will become a threat to him.

As guards attack The One, he suddenly mutates again, growing to a height of fifteen feet. With the guards in retreat, Udo corners Sara, moving in for the kill. An eruption of light precedes Maki’s prison door exploding open as Maki appears. Udo turns his attention towards Maki, chasing him and finally slamming him against a wall with his tail. Maki’s body begins to glow and he painfully transforms into a silver giant, equal in height with The One. Udo’s tail whips towards Sara, but is stopped as Maki crouches over her, taking the brunt of the attack. The two fight to a draw as Udo escapes.

Maki changes back into his human form. Sara determines that unlike Udo, Maki retains his human conscience when he mutates. She asks him to use his powers to kill The One. However, Maki has a vision and sees his son, collapsing in a schoolyard. Stealing a jeep, he escapes to be with his son.

Doctors at the hospital determine that Tsugumu’s fainting was due to psychological fatigue and not the disease in his blood. Maki comforts him as Tsugumu tells his father that he will get better and that his father should go to “do his job".

Maki leaves again, to return to Sara and confront The One, setting up the final, climactic battle of giants amongst the streets and in the skies of Japan!

Veteran Ultra-movie director Kazuya Konaka, addressing the crowd at the Tokyo International Film Festival, stated that, “This is my fourth ULTRAMAN and I aimed to amuse not only children, but also adults and couples.” Tetsuya Bessho, who plays Maki added, “I belong to the generation of Ultraman. I have perceived what justice is from Ultraman. It was an honor to be able to act in this film.”

This demonstrates some of the deep-rooted feelings many Japanese have for the character of Ultraman and with this film, Tsuburaya presents a movie that is aimed at all ages and not just the children that make up a large percentage of the current audience.

The core story of a father, trying to be with his son, but being pulled away by other responsibilities is one that hits home with almost every father today. Though Maki is doing everything he can to change his life and spend more time with his family, his destiny of being Ultraman and the forces that oppose him and also the ones who want to use him, pull him away and cause conflicting emotions to build up inside him. He must find time for his son, but he is also the Earth’s only hope against a creature that could destroy the planet. This is a new dynamic and one that has never been explored in an Ultraman story.

The script for ULTRAMAN was penned by Keiichi Hasegawa. No stranger to the Ultra universe, Hasegawa worked on episodes of the ULTRAMAN TIGA television series and the movie ULTRAMAN GAIA: BATTLE IN HYPERSPACE. He also co-wrote GODZILLA, MOTHRA, KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK and episodes of the new animated ASTROBOY.

Ultraman himself still stays within the framework of his predecessors, but is also handled with a new, fresh approach. Maki’s original transformation into the semi-giant hero begins as a painful mutation, rather than the flashy transformations of the past. Starting out as a 15’ figure with simple, almost primitive detailing, it is not until the final battle when he changes into an Ultraman-size hero, towering against the city’s buildings. The progression may also be interpreted as an explanation of the original Ultraman’s change in design from the Type A to Type B to Type C suits in the 1966 ULTRAMAN series.

Although referred to as “Ultraman The Next” in publicity materials, he is never called Ultraman in the movie until reporters dub him as such at the end of the film. The only reference to The Next is when he asks Sara what he would be called since Udo was “The One” and she replies, “The Next, maybe".

During the final battle, as he avoids the monster’s requisite oral ray, Ultraman realizes that he can fly and what a flight it is! As Ultraman soars into the sky, we get a camera angle looking down on the rooftops of tall skyscrapers as Ultraman flies around them, avoiding the ray and finally turns to fly directly at the camera. This is by far the most impressive flying effect in any of the Ultraman films or TV series.

To pursue Ultraman, The One absorbs nearby crows and sprouts crow-like wings leading to an exciting aerial battle. It is during the battle that we are actually provided with an explanation of why Ultraman, or this Ultraman anyway, has a warning light. It is because the union between Ultraman and his human host is not quite perfect, causing this weakness of limited power. The warning light itself is actually the large red crest on Ultraman’s chest, definitely the biggest warning light in Ultra-history.

The One is a multi-stage creature as he absorbs different animals to take on their abilities as needed for battle or killing. The more he absorbs the larger and more powerful he gets. In a nod to Ultraman’s origins, the creature’s second stage, as he confronts Ultraman for the first time bares a slight resemblance to the monster Bemler, seen in the first episode of the original ULTRAMAN (1966). Later mutations get more and more detailed as the final form, complete with huge wings, is a very impressive design.

The impressive visual effects, both CGI and traditional, that are used to bring the action to life are helmed by Yuichi Kikuchi, who also handled the visual effects for Toho’s GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA (2002). As Kikuchi has mentioned, “There was a lot of involvement of CGI and main live action and I gave care to match them.” And match them he does. For the most part, the CGI and live action are blended seamlessly as Ultraman and The One do battle in and above actual city scenes mixed with traditional miniatures.

This film, unlike other Japanese effects movies, does not use model jets or other vehicles. All are either actual live versions or CGI recreations. The flying scenes are also CGI and look great. Some of these are the most realistic CGI effects to date in a Japanese film. They are definitely a big step over the CGI effects used in its competitor, GODZILLA FINAL WARS.

The cast, led by Bessho is well chosen and add to the believability of the characters in the story. Rather than rely on recent J-Pop stars, the casting of Bessho as an older, more grounded hero was an excellent choice and a move that reinforces the more mature themes and audiences this film aspires to. Bessho’s previous genre roles were in the films SOLAR CRISIS (1990) and GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (1992). Kenya Osumi, who plays Udo, Maki’s antagonist in the film, is delightfully evil. He seemed to relish the role as he told the TIFF audience, “I also grew up with Ultraman. When I got the offer [for this film] I first thought I would be Ultraman, but to my relief, I played his enemy!”

Kyoko Toyama, who plays the heroine, Sara Mizuhara, has a wider range of emotions to play in comparison to her Ultra-heroine predecessors, as the fiancé of someone she must now kill. She must find it within herself to overcome her past emotions and find a way to destroy what was once her future husband. As an actress, Toyama found in tough playing in a special effects film, saying, “It was a challenge for me to act in special effects (blue back shooting for CGI composition) and at the base of the Self-Defense Forces. Each scene is memorable for me.”

Audiences seeing this film will come away with the same feeling, that each scene is memorable. ULTRAMAN is a film that takes the character in a new and exciting direction and Tsuburaya’s dedication to keeping the image of Ultraman in the dreams of young and old alike, puts the character in good standing for the new millennium. Many companies try to do this, but few succeed. With this film, we may have one of those rare successes!

Visit the official ULTRAMAN movie website at for additional photos, information, downloadable screen savers, and a look at the theatrical trailers and TV commercials. Tell them Henshin! Online (and also Ultraman Lah! sent you!)