Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature

Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature (長篇怪獣映画 ウルトラマン, Chōhen Kaijū Eiga Urutoraman)[lower-alpha 2] is a 1967 Japanese superhero kaiju film directed by Hajime Tsuburaya, with special effects by Koichi Takano. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the first film in the Ultraman franchise, consisting entirely of re-edited material from the original series.[6] In the film, an extraterrestrial defends Earth from giant monsters who pose a threat to humanity.

Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature
Theatrical release poster
Directed byHajime Tsuburaya
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyMasaharu Utsumi[1]
Music byKunio Miyauchi[1]
Production
company
Distributed byToho Co., Ltd.
Release date
  • July 22, 1967 (1967-07-22) (Japan)
Running time
79 minutes[1]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Box office¥200 million (Tokyo)[3][lower-alpha 1]

Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature was released theatrically in Japan on July 22, 1967, where it was distributed by Toho as double feature with their film King Kong Escapes, which was less popular among Japanese children upon its release. During its theatrical run, it grossed ¥200 million[lower-alpha 1] in just three theaters in Tokyo.

Cast
  • Susumu Kurobe as Shin Hayata
  • Akiji Kobayashi as Captain Toshio Muramatsu
  • Sandayū Dokumamushi as Daisuke Arashi
  • Masanari Nihei as Mitsuhiro Ide
  • Hiroko Sakurai as Akiko Fuji
  • Akihiko Hirata as Professor Iwamoto
  • Kōzō Watanabe as Saitama Policeman
  • Asao Matsumoto as Matsui
  • Kōtarō Tomita as Professor Nakatani
  • Rinsaku Ogata as Yoshimura
  • Yukio Kawamata as Policeman
  • Chiharu Inayoshi as Osamu Suzuki
  • Hiroshi Miyata as Mihara Suzuki
  • Yukie Nunoji as Rieko Suzuki
  • Tsutomu Kato as Takeshi
  • Masaaki Umemoto as Tatara Weather Service Employee
  • Shinya Kashima as Central Meteorological Observatory Staff
  • Bin Furuya as Ultraman
  • Teruo Aragaki as Bemular/Red King
  • Yukihiro Seino as Chandlar
  • Umenosuke Izumi as Magular
  • Shuji Fujita as Pigmon
  • Kunio Suzuki as Gomora

Production

Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature was edited from episodes 1, 8, 26, and 27 of the television series Ultraman[6] originally broadcast on the Japanese television station TBS from 1966 to 1967.[1] The episodes were blown up to 35mm from their 16mm original television prints.[1][7]

Release

Marketing

Since the majority of television-owning Japanese households had black-and-white televisions at the time of Ultraman's broadcast on TBS, the film was marketed as a color production to encourage children to watch it.[8][9]

Theatrical

Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature was released theatrically in Japan on July 22, 1967, where it was distributed by Toho as double feature with King Kong Escapes,[1] which was less popular among Japanese children upon its release.[10] During its theatrical run, it grossed ¥200 million[lower-alpha 1] in just three theaters in Tokyo.[3] The film has never been released in the United States.[7]

Home media

In 2006, Avex Trax released the film on DVD.[11] The film was included along with 5 other theatrical Ultraman films on a 9-disc box set released by Tsuburaya Productions on April 7, 2011, in celebration of their 45th anniversary.[12]

Critical response

On review aggregator Filmarks, the film has an average rating of 3.2/5 based on 229 reviews.[13]

Notes
  1. Roughly $550,000 unadjusted for inflation.[4]
  2. Also known as simply Ultraman (ウルトラマン, Urutoraman).[5]

References
Footnotes
  1. Galbraith IV 2008, p. 240.
  2. Ragone 2014, p. 198.
  3. Ragone 1981, p. 30: "All within a span of one year, the company released three Ultraman films: ULTRAMAN (URUTORUMAN). a compilation feature from the old TV series which grossed 2 hundred million yen in just 3 Tokyo cinemas in the period of three weeks, prompted Fuji Eiga, the distributor of ULTRAMAN, to subsequently release an older, yet hitherto unshown coproduction Tsuburaya made with a Thai outfit in 1974. THE SIX ULTRA BROTHERS VS. THE MONSTER ARMY (URUTORA ROKUKYODAI TAI KAIJU GUNDAN).".
  4. Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 244.
  5. Eiga.com.
  6. Multiple sources:
  7. Galbraith IV 1993, p. 380.
  8. Keibunsha 2001, p. 141.
  9. Asahi Sonorama 1982, p. 109.
  10. Iwabatake 1994, p. 67.
  11. Oricon News.
  12. Tsuburaya Productions 2011.
  13. Filmarks.
Bibliography
  • 不滅のヒーロー ウルトラマン白書 [Immortal Hero: Ultraman White Paper] (in Japanese). Asahi Sonorama. December 1982. ASIN B00LYV9N66.
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (1993). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-853-7.
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1-4616-7374-3. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  • Toshiaki Iwabatake (September 1, 1994). テレビマガジン特別編集 誕生40周年記念 ゴジラ大全集 [TV Magazine Special Edition 40th Anniversary of the Birth of Godzilla Complete Works]. Kodansha. ISBN 4-06-178417-X.
  • 円谷英二特撮世界 [Eiji Tsuburaya's World of Tokusatsu] (in Japanese). Keibunsha. August 10, 2001. ISBN 4-7669-3848-8.
  • "ウルトラマンG/ウルトラマンパワード" [Ultraman Great/Ultraman Powered]. Ultra Tokusatsu PERFECT MOOK (mook) (in Japanese). Vol. 18. Kodansha. March 24, 2021. ISBN 978-4-06-520941-7.
  • ULTRAMAN HISTORICA ウルトラQからシン・ウルトラマンまで [ULTRAMAN HISTORICA: From Ultra Q to Shin Ultraman] (mook) (in Japanese). Kodansha. June 28, 2022. ISBN 978-4-06-528129-1.
  • Ragone, August (1981). "Making of Godzilla・Japan's Master of Monsters". The Japanese Fantasy Film Journal. Greg Shoemaker (13).
    • Ragone, August (May 6, 2014). Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters (paperback ed.). Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-1-4521-3539-7.
  • Ryfle, Steve; Godziszewski, Ed (October 3, 2017). Ishiro Honda: A Life in Film, from Godzilla to Kurosawa. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0819570871.
Online references
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