Rank the Ultraman Movies!

[GoKelley86]

Over the last two years or so, I've been doing a bit of an Ultraman deep dive, exposing myself to more and more series under the Ultra-banner (thank you to the posters here for all your recommendations as well!)

I've enjoyed getting caught up on all of this, and that includes watching the Ultra-series films!

I'm creating this topic to rank the Ultraman films I've seen thus far and open up the floor for others to do the same and give me a few more recommendations as well. I haven't seen them all obviously, so I'd like to hear your takes.

So my rankings, of the ones I've seen:

1 - Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey - This was the last Ultraman movie I watched and I actually enjoyed it alot! Other Ultra films I've seen operate as their own standalone things (Shin, Rising, The Next) while others I've seen that continue from the shows I watched feel somewhat empty with disappointing crossovers (more on that later). This is the only Ultraman film I've watched that was a continuation from one of the shows and actually felt like a worthy follow up. I really enjoyed this one, helped in large part by Tiga being my favorite one of the Heisei era shows I've watched. This one had some nice melodrama and build up to the glorious final battle, and its a little darker than I expected, adding a little bit of intensiy to the proceedings. It was a good time all around and a nice conclusion to Tiga for me. [A]

2 - Ultraman: The Next - This was the first Ultraman movie I ever saw and it was done as a recommendation that came to me as I was jumping into the series. I was told it was a great entry point for newcomers and a great showcase for the character and concepts on its own. And...yeah! Its great, complete with governent conspiracies, a more serious tone and presentation, an enemy monster that feels more scary than fantastic and over the top, and some nice family drama to tug at the heart strings. It feels perfectly inline with the move towards "darker" superhero films that were all the rage in the mid-2000s, and I imagine was a nice fresh coat of paint for the franchise when it came out in 2004. Treating Ultraman almost like a werewolf was also interesting, with transformations initiated without control. Now that I've seen a lot more Ultraman, "Next" is not what I would think of when I think of classic Ultraman, but as a fresh take and a unique entry, Next stands as one of the better expressions of the property. [A]

3 - Ultraman: Rising - Ultraman has always had a very disinctive and Japanese flare to it, making him feel more like an icon of his home country's pop culture than say Godzilla, who has a more universal and international appeal. So seeing this film was a bit different for me as it feels very accessible for foreign audiences outside of Japan, and to that end it succeeds. I think this one worked so well for me because I had just become a father right before I saw the film, so alot of it hit home with Ultraman having to raise the young Emi. It was cute, and honestly, I enjoyed it more than alot of other animated films I've seen in the last few years. It delivered the monster fighting goodness while also having a simple and fun story that kids and their parents can enjoy. It was just sweet and charming. [B+]

4 - Shin Ultraman - I'm torn on this one. On one hand, it is a terriffic throwback to the older shows with tons of references and recreations, and is generally fun to watch. However, the story is wildly unfocused, moving from one story beat to the next. I mean you'd think the Ultraman imposter would be the main focus, but its quickly dispatched of to move on to the next thing. It almost feels like they took an entire season of Ultraman and condensed all of the standalone episodes down into one two hour movie. You can probably do that and succeed with a show that has a running storyline (Like Avatar: The Last Airbender, but M Night screwed that up, so bad example) but for a show that largely relies on standalone episodes, it just makes the "story" feel disjointed. This might have been the goal to do it this way, but its a little jerky. That said...its still fun and feels like classic Ultraman for most of it. If you want an Ultraman nostalgic roiller coaster without relying on stock footage, then this is right up your alley. [C+]

5 - Ultraman Tiga and Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light - This was disappointing. When I see "Tiga and Dyna" in the title, I expect a full fledged crossover between the two Ultramen. As is, its really just a sub-par Dyna movie with Tiga tacked on at the end. If It were presented to me as a Dyna movie, I might have been okay with it, but as is, I felt like I was lied to. (D)

6 - Ultraman Tiga, Ultraman Dyna, & Ultraman Gaia: The Decisive Battle in Hyperspace - After the disappointmet of the Tiga/Dyna movie, I tempered my expectations a bit more, and sure enough I was right to do so as this one was just a Gaia movie with Tiga and Dyna tacked on at the end. This is a questionable way to have all the Ultramen together, especially since the story here largely involved children acting weird, when I would have much rather had the three heroes interacting with each other. Its a shame too because Tiga, Dyna, and Gaia were the last shows I binged, so having them all together at the end of that marathon would have been great. And where the heck was Agul?! We could have gotten four Ultraman! Oh well.(D)

[Kaijuking101]

I'll go straight into the recommendations and hit you up with Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman Brothers, Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial and Ultraman Zearth. All three are different flavours of Ultraman movie but I do think they are all good and among the best offerings of most Ultraman movies, which I tend to find inferior to the actual shows themselves to be honest but that's neither here nor there. And once you finish most of the Heisei Era of Ultraman (TV shows), Superior 8 Ultra Brothers is a conclusion to that era and celebrates the last time the Tsuburaya family controlled the company before it migrated more towards toy sales and superhero antics thanks to Bandai. It's been a while since I've watched that particular movie however so I don't have too much to comment about.

[Voyager]

Ultraman Mebius & The Ultra Brothers is a classic, probably one of the best Ultraman films out there. It acts as a perfect love letter to the Showa Ultras, and as a midpoint for the Ultraman Mebius series. Also, it gives me one of my favourite lines in any piece of media.

"Never give up! Achieve the impossible! That's the spirit of Ultraman!" All to the sweetness of Mebius's triumphant theme.

[o.supreme]

1. Ultraman Mebius & The Ultra Brothers
2. Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends - The Movie
3. Superior 8 Ultra Brothers
4. Shin Ultraman
5. Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial
6. Ultraman Saga
7. Ultraman The Adventure Begins
8. Ultraman Story

These are the real stand outs for me. The rest have different ranges. The Tiga Films are solid. The Cosmos films just feel like long episodes of the TV show, as does anything IMHO since 2020. Most of the "New Gen" era from 2013-2019 are ok, but just superficial fun big battles.

Oddities like the Ultra Q film from 1990, & "The Next" I'm not sure where to rank

The Zearth films I'd place near the Bottom, and the "Hanuman" film and Ultra Warriors 2000 Id place dead, DEAD last.....

[GoKelley86]

Thank you for the recommendations!

I keep hearing good things about Mebius.