Ultraman: Towards the Future
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Ultraman: Towards the Future is a tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series produced in 1990 in Australia by the South Australian Film Corporation and Japan's Tsuburaya Productions (the creators of the Ultraman character). There were 13 episodes filmed (the first 6 episodes were the "Goudes Threat" story arc). Titled Ultraman Great (ウルトラマングレート or ウルトラマンG - Urutoraman Gurêto) for its Japanese release, the 13-episode show was originally featured on home video there later that year, and was later broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System from July 8 to September 30, 1995. This was the 10th Ultra Series and the first produced in the Heisei era.
Distributed in the United States by Sachs Family Entertainment, the show was broadcast Saturday mornings at 7:00 am on the Fox Network from January 4 to March 28, 1992.
Although simply called "Ultraman" in the original Australian version, he is called "Ultraman Great" in Japan to differentiate him from the established original Ultraman.
At the time, eco-awareness was at a high, and many episodes included environmental themes. Ultraman's three minute time limit is also attributed to "Earth's polluted atmosphere" in this version. This was deemed one of the earlier dark toned live action children shows (as they were place into Saturday and Sunday morning time slots). Series like Power Rangers would create mostly a comedic atmosphere for their stories with little or no drama, with the exception of VR Troopers and later Power Ranger series starting with Power Rangers in Space.
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[edit] Story
Jack Shindo and Stanely Haggard are members of the first manned expedition to Mars, and on the red planet find a giant slug-like monster, Goudes/Gudis. Shindo is pinned by a rockslide and Haggard tries to escape in their ship but is blown up by Gudis. Suddenly a giant warrior, Ultraman Great, arrives and fights Goudes, but when Ultraman is on the verge of victory Goudes changes into a virus and travels to Earth where it mutates other creatures into monsters and awakens existing ones. Needing a human host to survive on Earth, Ultraman joins with Jack, allowing him to become the mighty alien when all seems lost. He joins UMA in order to help them battle the monsters.
Halfway through the series a new Goudes, more powerful than the first, appears. It imprisons Ultraman, but Jack ultimately shows it the futility of its mission. Even if it does manage to corrupt all life, eventually there will be nothing else to corrupt, and Goudes is destroyed once and for all. For the rest of the series the environmental themes are stronger and the monsters usually arise from human pollution.
In the series finale a doomsday scenario begins with the appearance of three powerful monsters; Kilazee, Kodalar, and the Earth itself, which tries to wipe out the human race for abusing it. Ultraman is defeated by Kodalar, but Jack survives. Ultimately the humans use an ancient disc to destroy Kodalar by reflecting its own power at it and Ultraman defeats Kilazee and carries it into space. The victory is seen as another chance for the human race.
[edit] Characters
[edit] UMA (Universal Multipuropose Agency)
Pronounced "Yuma" (or sometimes just "Uma", as in actress Uma Thurman), the Universal Multipurpose Agency is a high-tech defense force with a huge base situated on an island off the coast of Australia.
- Colonel Arthur Grant - The head of UMA.
- Played by Ralph Cotterill
- Jean Echo - One of the two female members of UMA and a love interest for Jack Shindo.
- Played by Gia Carides
- Lloyd Wilder - The toughest member of UMA. Also the most skeptical member of the team, especially when it comes to Shindo's behavior.
- Played by Rick Adams
- Charles Morgan - UMA's scientific/technical expert and the team's comedy relief. Has a thing for Jean.
- Played by Lloyd Morris
- Kim Shaomin - An Asian girl, one of the two female members of UMA. An excellent pilot.
- Played by Grace Parr
- Jack Shindo/Ultraman (Great) - An astronaut who, on his expedition to Mars, lost his partner Stanley Haggard in a fight between Goudes and Ultraman Great, who, after defeating the monster (who escapes to Earth), combines with Shindo to save him from being stranded on Mars. After mysteriously returning to Earth, Shindo joins UMA as a member (although his astronaut work was related to UMA somehow) to help the team with the Goudes threat, among other monster/alien-related calamities (since he shares Great's psyche). Although somewhat reluctant to be combined with Great (as he doesn't like being constantly under his teammates' suspicion), he nonetheless takes this responsibility. Shindo transforms into Ultraman Great by activating the Delta Plasma Pendant, which is shaped like Great's Colortimer.
- Played by Dore Krause; Ultraman Great is played by Robert Simper and Steve Apps.
[edit] UMA Mecha
There are two main vehicles, which are mass-produced.
- Hummer - The red-colored jet vehicle. Fires laser beams.
- Saltop - The tech-equipped jeep. Has an energy cannon.
[edit] Episodes
- 1.) "Signs of Life"
- Monsters: Goudes (AKA: Gudis), Brodz (AKA: Bogun)
- 2.) "The Hibernator"
- Monster: Gigasaurus
- 3.) "The Child's Dream"
- Monsters: Gerugadon, Clone Jimmy-not killed by Ultraman Great, Jimmy took control and flew away together as it bid farewell to Ultraman Great.
- 4.) "The Storm Hunter"
- Monster: Deganja (AKA: Degola)
- 5.) "Blast from the Past"
- Monster: Barrangas
- 6.) "The Showdown"
- Monster: Goudes (Final Form)
- 7.) "The Forest Guardian"
- Monster: Gazebo (AKA: Zebokon)-not killed by Ultraman Great, it was put to rest.
- 8.) "Bitter Harvest"
- Monster: Majaba (Various Phases)-some were killed by the UMA.
- 9.) "The Biospherians"
- Monsters: Bios, The Vegoids
- 10.) "Tourists from the Stars"
- Monsters: Ryugulo, Veronica-not killed by Ultraman Great, Ryugulo reverted back to his human form after Veronica convinced him to stop fighting.
- 11.) "The Survivalists"
- Monster: UF0 (UF-Zero)-not killed by Ultraman Great, flew into space after being hit by Ultraman Great's attack.
- 12.) "The Age of Plagues"
- Monsters: Kodalar (AKA: Kudara)-only monster to defeat Ultraman Great, Shiralee (AKA: Shilagi, Kilazee)
- 13.) "Nemesis"
- Monsters: Kodalar-not killed by Ultraman Great the UMA used an artifact they reflected his attack back at it, Shiralee-unknown, Ultraman Great carried him off into space after separating himself from Jack.
[edit] Soundtrack
The music was composed by Sinsuke Kazato and released by Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd (COCC-9745) in 1992. The soundtrack is very rare, it went quickly out of print and can now only be found used. The music was performed by The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. A review of the CD written by Joseph Bat can be found at Movie Music UK
[edit] Toy Line
The series also recieved an equally short-lived toyline from Dreamworks toys. The figures were 10" tall and included Ultraman, who came with a mini Jack Shindo, as well as his enemies Bogun, Barrangas, Majaba, Gerrukadon and Killazee. Also released was a toy of the Hummer vehicle which included a mini figure of Charlie Morgan, a toy of the Saltop was advertised on the box of the Hummer, though if it saw release is unconfirmed. Despite their unique size, the toys weren't without their problems, like Jack, Charlie and the Hummer being well out of scale with the other toys and Ultraman lacking articulation. It's also strange that despite being the main villain for the first story arc, neither version of Gudis was released as a toy in the Dreamworks line (one did appear in Bandai's Japanese Ultraman line).
[edit] Video Game
A video game based on the series was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is thought to have awkward controls and an unfairly high level of difficutly by many. It was based around the same engine as a Japanese Ultraman game based on the original series.
In the game Ultraman fights:
-Gudis -Bogun -Degola -Barrangas -Gudis II -Zebokon -Majaba -Kodalar -Killazee
[edit] Trivia
- Ultraman Great is the only Ultraman whose costume is made of spandex (such as the suits used for Super Sentai/Power Rangers) as opposed to traditional rubber-based suits of all other Ultramen.
- A comic book sequel to the series was printed in the United States. It treats Ultraman Great as the same Ultraman from the original l966 series.
| Ultra Series | |
| Showa era series: Ultraman | Seven | Return of | Ace | Taro | Leo | 80 | |
| Heisei era series: Tiga | Dyna | Gaia | Cosmos | Nexus | Max | Mebius | |
| Ultra Q: Ultra Q | Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy | |
| Specials: The Ultraman (anime) | Ultraman Neos (Direct-to-DVD) | |
| Movies: Zearth | ULTRAMAN | |
| Co-productions: The Adventure Begins (with USA) | Towards the Future (with Australia) | The Ultimate Hero (with USA) | |
