Sunday, January 29, 2023

ULTRA Q 1966 (MILLCREEK) BLU-RAY

The very first monster show to air on Japanese Television and up until that time it was also the most expensive.

28 episodes were made and they all featured monsters of some kind as well as a few comedic episodes and some that would remind one of the Twilight Zone.

Most of these were very good and a few were exceptional.

DEFEAT GOMESS 1/2/66...The construction of a new tunnel awakens a huge monster called Gomess. This show also introduces us to the three main characters of the show. Jun Majome (Kenji Sahara) a pilot, his friend an co-worker Ippie Togawa (Yasuhiko Saijo) and a young newspaper woman named Yuriko Edogawa (Hiroko Sakurai).

GORO AND GORO 1/9/66...A man feeds a gorilla a growth hormone by accident and the ape grows to gigantic proportions. They used the ape suit from "King Kong Escapes" with a little tuching up.

THE GIFT FROM SPACE 1/16/66...A space rocket that disappeared on Mars suddenly comes back to Earth. But what is on it?

MAMMOTH FLOWER 1/23/66...A huge flower starts growing in Tokyo and the roots threaten to tear the city and surrounding area apart.

PEGUILA IS HERE 1/30/66...A huge monster attacks an Arctic expedition.

GROW UP LITTLE TURTLE 2/6/66...A boy has a turtle that grows to monsterous size. This is a comedy episode and not one of the best, at least in my opinion.

S.O.S.MOUNT FUJI 2/13/66...When Mt. Fuji looks like it's going to erupt a hugh boulder is expelled from a nearby lake. The boulder happens to really be a giant monster.

TERROR OF THE SWEET HONEY 2/20/66...A mole breaks into a greenhouse and eats some super concentrate of Royale Jelly and becomes a giant monster.

BARON SPIDER 2/27/66...One of the best episodes of this show. Our three protagonists and some friends get stranded in a spookey mansion inhabited by giant spiders. The gorgeous Akiko Wakabayashi stars in this one. Creepy as hell.

THE UNDERGROUND SUPER EXPRESS GOES WEST 3/6/66...An experimental life form is accidentally released on a bullet train. The creature and a small child become trapped on the train.

BALLOONGA 3/13/66...A strange blob-like creature returns on a ship from Saturn and continues to grow. Another top notch episode.

I SAW A BIRD 3/20/66...A small brid is befriended by a child and then it begins to grow to colossal proportions.

GARADAMA 3/27/66...A strange monster breaks out of a meteorite and beings a spree of destruction.

TOKYO ICE AGE 4/3/66...A sudden freeze at Tokyo airport brings an Ice monster to life. Strange, but good episode.

KANEGONS COCOON 4/10/66...A boy is turned into a coin eating monster in this very bizarre episode. Very odd indeed.

GARAMON STRIKES BACK 4/17/66...The monster from the episode entitled GARADAMA returns with several of his kind with Tokyo the main target of destruction.

THE 1/8 PROJECT 4/24/66...Overpopulated cities have a cure for this problem, but it may not be for everyone. Very well done show that is no doubt inspired by The Twilight Zone.

THE RAINBOWS EGG 5/1/66...A golden rainbow signals a monster called Pagos is coming to life.

CHALLENGE FROM THE YEAR 2020 5/8/66...People start disappearing and finding themselves in the year 2020.

THE PRIMORDIAL AMPHIBIAN ROGON 5/15/66...After an earthquake fishermen find a strange egg and want to keep it until the monster Ragon shows up to claim it.

SPACE DIRECTIVE M774 5/22/66...An alien arrives on Earth to warn people of an impending invasion from a violent alien race.

METAMORPHOSIS 5/29/66...A man is turned into a giant due to radioactive scales from giant butterflies.

FURY OF THE SOUTH SEA 6/5/66...A giant octopus attack a small island. This episode used a lot of stock footage from "King Kong Vs. Godzilla".

THE STATUE OF GOGA 6/12/66...A monster breaks out of a small statue and goes on a rampage against those who have wronged it.

THE DEVIL CHILD 6/19/66...A father uses his small daughter in a magic act and unleashes a horrifying duplicate of his daughter. Another Twilight Zone inspired episode.

BLAZING GLORY 6/26/66...An undefeated boxer disappears just before his title fight. Very odd show indeed.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF FLIGHT 206 7/3/66...A jet airliner is caught in a bizarre world inhabited by a giant walrus monster. This one is very good.

OPEN UP 12/17/67...The final episode offers us a Twilight Zone style tale about people on a train running in another dimension. Be carefil what you wish for.

These are fun to watch and the Blu-ray quality is beautiful. None of these were dubbed into English of course, but they all have subtitles. The show was so successful that it launched other "Ultra" shows such as "Ultraman" and many more.

If you're a Japanese monster movie fan you really shouldn't miss this excellent set. 28 episodes on 4 discs.

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