Mill Creek releasing ULTRA SERIES on Bluray!!

[o.supreme]

DVD is reliable, inexpensive to produce, and accessible to the majority of the world market. DVD still by far outsells Blu Ray, 4K etc combined.

Sure streaming is huge, but for reliability, nothing beats a physical copy. Sure as a collector, I prefer higher quality formats, but I'll take what I can get.

Just go to any Walmart or Target Black Friday sale in electronics. You'll see far more inexpensive DVDs than any other format.

Oh, and I just got my Nexus DVD set. I'm only half way through Cosmos, but I'll get there eventually.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Why can’t they just let DVD die already?

Because if they let DVDs die, then I would ban those who let it die.

[o.supreme]

So with only 2 releases left under the old contract:

Ultraman Kids (12/6/22) & Ultraman Max (01/24/23). Many of us were wondering, what the Future of MC releases with Ultraman would be.

Then a little over a week ago, this showed up on Amazon (was shared on Blu-Ray.com)

https://smile.amazon.com/Battle-Kaiju-U ... ayforum-20

This appears to be a compilation set scheduled for release on 2/21/23. Of course, some of the stats are wonky. It claimes to be a single Blu Ray disc release, but with a run time of 7 hours and 5 minutes, it seems at the very least this would be a 2-disc set.

Additionally, if you average 25 minutes per episode, that breaks down to exactly 17 episodes. An individual on the forums went through all MC content released and discovered there are in fact 17 episodes across all the material MC will have released by that time that include Red King:

Ultraman (episodes 8 and 25) (1,2)
The Ultraman (episode 27) (3)
Ultraman 80 (episode 46) (4)
Ultraman Max (episodes 5, 6, and 36) (5-7)
Ultraman Mebius (episode 42) (8)
Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle (episodes 1 and 7)(9,10)
Ultra Galaxy Mega Monster Battle: Never Ending Odyssey (episodes 10, 12, and 13) (11-13)
Ultraman Ginga (theater special 1/episode 7 on the Ginga US release) (14)
Ultraman Ginga S (episode 1) (15)
Ultraman X (episode 18) (16)
Ultraman R'B (episode 4) (17)

However - The Ultraman, 80, Max, & Mebius episodes are currently, as far as we know, only available in SD (via DVD release), could MC have acquired new HD materials for this BRD release? Or... Could it be that additional series such as Powered (episodes 3 &12), Z (episode 11), and Trigger (episode 9) have been picked up? Or could it be that the episodes in SD before will still just be presented as SD, even though they are on a Blu Ray? Only time will tell. But I hope this release offers something new to encourage a purchase, otherwise it will just be a repeat of what already exists.

[Bluebaron]

I still hope all available English dubs are released.

[mikelcho]

I take it Mill Creek has released most, if not all, of both the Showa era and Heisei era TV series and films of the Ultra Series, am I right? If not, what's left for both eras?

[o.supreme]

Wow, how many more Ultra TV series and films are there left to go before we've caught up?

MC has 6 items left to release:

1. Ultraman Zearth (Movies 1&2) October 11th 2022
2. Ultraman Neos October 11th 2022
3. Ultraman Cosmos November 1st 2022
4. Ultraman Next/Nexus Novermber 15th 2022
5. Ultraman Max November 15th 2022
6. Ultraman Kids 3000 December 6th 2022


Items not part of MC current deal with TPC:

The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army
Andro Melos TV series
The Ultraman Story (Movie 1984)
Ultraman Zoffy
Ultraman the Adventure Begins
Ultraman Great
Ultraman Powered
Ultra Q the Movie
Ultra Q Dark Fantasy
Heisei Ultraseven
Ultraman Tiga Final Odyssey
Ultraman Taiga + Movie
Ultraman Z
Ultraman Trigger + Movie
Ultraman Decker
Ultra Galaxy Fight (all 3 series so far)
(These are the main series/films, there are a bunch of older compilation films as well)

I've already put all the contents of the first three releases in this list on Wikizilla's Mill Creek Entertainment thread because I saw a ad for them on SciFi Japan. Does anyone here think I should put in the contents of the other three releases on their list as well, or should I wait for another ad to come out in order to confirm them and then put them in?

[mikelcho]

MC has 6 items left to release:

1. Ultraman Zearth (Movies 1&2) October 11th 2022
2. Ultraman Neos October 11th 2022
3. Ultraman Cosmos November 1st 2022
4. Ultraman Next/Nexus Novermber 15th 2022
5. Ultraman Max November 15th 2022
6. Ultraman Kids 3000 December 6th 2022


Items not part of MC current deal with TPC:

The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army
Andro Melos TV series
The Ultraman Story (Movie 1984)
Ultraman Zoffy
Ultraman the Adventure Begins
Ultraman Great
Ultraman Powered
Ultra Q the Movie
Ultra Q Dark Fantasy
Heisei Ultraseven
Ultraman Tiga Final Odyssey
Ultraman Taiga + Movie
Ultraman Z
Ultraman Trigger + Movie
Ultraman Decker
Ultra Galaxy Fight (all 3 series so far)
(These are the main series/films, there are a bunch of older compilation films as well)

I've already put all the contents of the first three releases in this list on Wikizilla's Mill Creek Entertainment thread because I saw a ad for them on SciFi Japan. Does anyone here think I should put in the contents of the other three releases on their list as well, or should I wait for another ad to come out in order to confirm them and then put them in?

Oh, I already know about the list, I'd just like to know which of these entries are in which era.

[Legion1979]

Well, the list IS in chronological order....

Personally, all I really want are the two 80s movies (Zoffy and The Ultraman Story), Great and Powered. But I'm not expecting any of them.

[mikelcho]

Well, I checked it out on the Wikipedia article on the Ultra Series. AFAICT, everything on the above list that needs to be released so far from Ultraman Taiga to Ultraman Decker is from the Reiwa era, the rest of them are, I think, all from the Heisei era.

Strangely enough, though, no Ultra Series releases were made for the Millennium era. I wonder why?

Summing it all up, for the Ultra Series and as far as Mill Creek is concerned, the Showa era is finished, the Heisei era is still unfinished, nothing happened in the Millennium era, and the Reiwa era is currently unavailable.

[o.supreme]

Ummm... I may be mistaken, but you really cant compare the Ultraman Era's to Godzilla.

But, anyway Showa era unreleased content:

The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army
Andro Melos TV series
The Ultraman Story (Movie 1984)
Ultraman Zoffy
(several clip show compilation films)

Heisei Era Unreleased Content:
Ultraman the Adventure Begins
Ultraman Great
Ultraman Powered
Ultra Q the Movie
Ultra Q Dark Fantasy
Heisei Ultraseven
Ultraman Tiga Final Odyssey

*Keep in Mind, Ultraman TV Series and films were pretty consistent from 1996-2008 so what you would call "Heisei and Millennium" era's just kind of blend into each other, and *most* of that content Mill Creek has released.

Starting in 2009 there was a trilogy of Films often called the "Zero Trilogy" (Ultra Galaxy in 2009, Revenge of Belial in 2010, and Ultraman Saga in 2012), there were also connecting OVA series in between each of these films. The Ultraman Zero Blu Ray Collection from MC contains most of it.

Then in 2013 the "New Generation" era Began with Ultraman Ginga, and supposedly concluded with Ultraman Taiga in 2019

I'm not sure of there is consensus among fans where Z falls (probably still New Gen ?)

Trigger and Decker are 25th Anniversary tributes to the TDG trilogy, but not sure if ultimately they will be lumped in with "New Gen", or called something different

[Saturndusk]

Trigger was referred to as New Generation Tiga a lot in material, Decker has avoided that (and the meh-ness of Trigger). It is still taking away any impact left from calling the Taiga movie New Generation Climax when they’re still digging in with that branding.

[o.supreme]

Yeah that was my biggest point of confusion. The Taiga film was titled "New Generation Climax", but they are still using that branding....so .

Although a "climax" by definition is not technically an end, but a high point. . Maybe the Taiga Movie was supposed to represent a major turning point (which it kind of does), and everything else is all downhill from there.... . Perhaps New Gen will truly end if in 2023 we get a Gaia 25th anniversary tribute series, and in 2024 we get a 4th and "final" Ultra Galaxy Fight series that wraps everything up.

[mikelcho]

Thanks for the info, everyone. As to the eras, I was going by what the Wikipedia article titled Ultraman used; namely, only three of the four that we all know.

I really hope MC gets around to doing all of it. That would mean one U.S. company would do this, instead of several as with Godzilla.

[canofhumdingers]

Heads up, DeepDiscount is running an 80% off sale on Millcreek products. Many of the Ultraman complete series sets can be had for as low as $7 or $8!!

[spookymizu]

Heads up, DeepDiscount is running an 80% off sale on Millcreek products. Many of the Ultraman complete series sets can be had for as low as $7 or $8!!

And use the code CHEER to get an additional 15% off, and free shipping depending on amount of order.

I re-ordered the first seven Ultra series because I can't stand trying to get the discs out of the Steelbooks. For an average of $10 each, I've got no problem purchasing them a second time!

[o.supreme]

I actually did the opposite. I liked the standard shows Blu Rays, but bought the steel books a couple months ago when they got super cheap. I keep them in packaging just in case they ever become valuable,but I have the standard BRD to watch. Too bad the sales only apply to older items.

Ultraman Max DVD comes.out on January 24th.

I hope we get mor details on the battle Kaiju Series Ultraman vs Red King release. (February 21) Other than it is 2 Blu Rays and will have 16 episodes. I'm likely to skip this,. unless it offers something new that hasn't been released yet.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

Got the Superior 8 Ultra Brothers for Christmas, it looks stellar. It's my fav Ultraman film besides The Next so I'm grateful the box art is truly solid and stands out among my collection.

[mikelcho]

I've looked up Mill Creek's Ultraman page on their web site and they've got 35 home video releases in all! Not bad for one company! Dare we hope for more?

[o.supreme]

Everything that was part of Mill Creeks original deal with TPC back in 2019 has been released. So far, there is one compilation release in development that has been pushed back a couple of times, now to June 27th:

Battle Kaiju Series#1: Ultraman Vs. Red King



I am curious to see what the episodes that were not previously released on Blu Ray (such as the "The Ultraman, Ultraman 80, Max, & Mebius) episodes look like on Blu Ray. Hopefully in time Mill Creek, or another distributor will announce something regarding older shows and movies missing from the original contract in 2019 due to licensing issues, as well as newer series that had come out since then (Taiga, Z, Trigger & Decker)

[Angilasman]

Wow, that's a really cool cover! It apes some common tropes of Japanese book cover and box art formatting. Neat!