DVD & Blu-ray Review: SUPERIOR ULTRAMAN 8 BROTHERS

The latest Ultraman feature arrives on DVD and Blu-ray Author: James Ballard Official Website: http://ultra2008.jp Released to theatres on September 13th last year, director Takeshi Yagi`s motion picture debut SUPERIOR ULTRAMAN 8 BROTHERS (Daikessen! Chou Urutora Hachi Kyoudai, lit. Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers) has gone on to become the most successful entry in the Ultraman movie series, with a box office take of over 800 million yen. Now, the hit film also has the distinction of being the first Japanese kaiju production to be released on the new Blu-ray Disc format. Three different editions were released on home video on January 23rd; a single disc DVD edition, a limited edition 2-disc "Memorial Box" DVD collection, and a single disc Blu-ray edition.

DVD Memorial Box

Memorial Box Overview

The contents of the set is very similar to the ULTRAMAN MEBIUS & ULTRAMAN BROTHERS Memorial Box. The set includes two DVD discs, a 16-page booklet insert, a replica of the screenplay, a book containing the original storyboards, and a pair of 3D glasses. The first disc in the Memorial Box set is identical to that released in the standard 1-disc edition. All of this is housed in a sturdy cardboard box coated in plastic. The box design features a large number "8" on both sides, with the silhouette of the 8 Ultramen on one side and their human alter-egos on the other side. The box doesn`t feature the Japanese title, but rather the official English title SUPERIOR ULTRAMAN 8 BROTHERS. The box is wrapped with a typical Japanese obi-strip; a strip of paper typically found on books, CDs and other merchandising providing additional information about the product.

The two discs are stored in a standard Amaray DVD case, which has a flip tray in the middle for the second disc. Also inside the case in a 16-page booklet which includes: an introduction to the Showa and Heisei series; the story synopsis; a photo map of all the film`s characters and their relationship to each other; character/actor profiles of the film`s eight stars; biographies of the Ultra heroes and the film`s monsters and aliens; information on the special effects, miniatures and CGI filming; music and soundtrack notes; location shooting in Yokohama; comments from chief producer Kiyoshi Suzuki, writer Keiichi Hasegawa and director/FX director Takeshi Yagi; biographies of all the principal staff. The screenplay that came with the ULTRAMAN MEBIUS & ULTRAMAN BROTHERS DVD set was a copy of director Kazuya Konaka`s which included all of his annotations, so it`s somewhat dissapointing that the screenplay in this set doesn`t feature any of Yagi`s notes. Nevertheless, it can make an interesting comparison to what appeared on screen. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this booklet isn`t the screenplay itself, but the introduction from writer Keiichi Hasegawa and his treatment for the vastly different unmade feature ULTRAMAN MEBIUS & ULTRAMAN BROTHERS 2. The storyboard booklet features 216 pages of sketches by Yasushi Torisawa, who previously served as the storyboard artist for the movie ULTRAMAN COSMOS VS. ULTRAMAN JUSTICE: THE FINAL BATTLE (Urutoraman Kosumosu vs Urutoraman Jyasutisu Za Fainaru Batoru, 2003). Torisawa has also created storyboards and monster designs for TV series such as ULTRAMAN NEXUS (Urutoraman Nekusasu, 2004), ULTRAMAN MAX (Urutoraman Makkusu, 2005) and ULTRASEVEN X (Urutorasebun Ekkusu, 2007). The storyboards provide an interesting insight into the early visualization of the film, including comments and annotations.

Disc 1: Film Presentation The film is presented in its original 16:9 ratio, with anamorphic enhancement for widescreen televisions. SUPERIOR ULTRAMAN 8 BROTHERS is the first Ultraman feature to have been shot completely in High Definition (HD). While there are varying views on the transition from film to digital within the industry, shooting in HD does result in getting DVD transfers straight from the source, allowing the viewer to see the movie almost exactly as the director had intended, free from print damage, incorrect color timing, and other common problems that arrise from converting film to digital.

Bandai Visual have always had a reputation for producing high quality DVD transfers, and this is certainly no exception. The image looks clear and vibrant throughout. The lack of compression artifacts was actually quite surprising; even in heavy effects scenes with lots of flying debris and rays there is very little loss of detail. On very close inspection there appears to be a little edge enhancement (a halo effect around the edges of objects caused by sharpening the image), but this is so minor that it barely seems worth mentioning at all. Overall, it`s one of the better discs I`ve seen in general, and really shows what can still be accomplished with the DVD format.

There are three different audio options for the feature; Japanese Language (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese Language (Dolby Surround 2.0), Audio Commentary (2.0). The default audio selection is the original 5.1 theatre track. I`ve never been much of an aficionado when it comes to surround sound, but this is perhaps one of the most immersive surround tracks I`ve heard for a kaiju movie. The film has some really terrific sound design and makes great use of all the available channels. The 2.0 track also sounds good, but is obviously more limited. The final track is an audio commentary with director Takeshi Yagi, writer Keiichi Hasegawa, CGI director Kenji Watanabe, chief producer Kiyoshi Suzuki, and assistant director Taikan Higurashi. The disc also features Japanese subtitles for the hard of hearing. Unfortunately - but as expected - the disc does not contain English subtitles. To date, the only Ultraman DVD released in Japan to feature English subtitles is the movie ULTRAMAN: THE NEXT (Ultraman, 2004). Disc 1: Special Features

The first disc contains the following features:

Shochiku Lineup Promotional Video (00m:45s)
Teaser Trailer (01m:15s)
Theatrical Trailer (02m:25s)
Theatre Manners Commercial (00m:45s)
TV Spots (04m:20s)
Digital Gallery

All the special features on this disc are presented in anamorphic 16:9. The teaser trailer, theatrical trailer and theatre manners commercials are also available in either Dolby Surround 2.0 or Dolby Digital 5.1, while the Shochiku Lineup video and TV spots are only available with Dolby Surround 2.0. In all there are 14 TV spots, running just over 4 minutes long. This is a considerably larger amount of TV spots than usual, mostly likely a result of the film`s good performance at the box office. The digital gallery contains over 90 still images, including concept artwork, monster and character designs (including unused monsters), and various CGI models. Disc 2: Special Features The second disc includes three featurettes:

Special Making: The Whole Glamor (59m:08s)
From the Production Announcements to the Theatre Greetings (16m:21s)
3D Image (02m:56s)

The primary feature on this disc is the 1-hour documentary entitled "Special Making: The Whole Glamor". The documentary goes behind the scenes on location in Yokohama with the cast and crew, and onto the soundstages with the monsters. We also get a look at some early CGI renderings, the ADR session for the film`s opening narration, and some of the film`s many composite sequences. There is a particularly interesting segment that looks at a piece of motion control camerawork used to create an impressive and seamless effect, in which the camera pans around the main character Diago as he moves between two different dimensions in the film. Next is "From the Production Announcements to the Theatre Greetings", a 16 minute feature that - if you couldn`t guess - compiles from the initial production announcements in April 2008, several PR events throughout the year, and ultimately several of the stage greetings by the cast and crew during the film`s theatrical run in September and October. Having attended one of the stage greetings and been unable to photograph inside the theatre, it`s personally nice to have part of the event on DVD. The third and final feature on the disc, simply titled "3D Image", is a compilation of several full-CGI scenes from the movie that have been re-rendered to create a 3D effect when viewed with the 3D glasses included in the set. I didn`t actually find this very impressive as the 3D effect doesn`t appear to work very well, if at all.

Technical Information (Overview) Distributor: Bandai Visual Label: Emotion Catalogue Code: BCBS-3428 UPC Code: 4 934569 634283 Retail Price: 8,190 JPY Disc(s): 2 Region Code: 2 (Japan, Western/Central Europe) Technical Information (Disc 1) Disc Format: Single Sided & Dual Layered (disc total: 7.02GB / main feature: 6.48GB) Video: NTSC, anamorphic 16:9 (preserves original ratio) Audio: Japanese (Dolby Digital 5.1), Japanese (Dolby Surround 2.0), Audio Commentary (2.0) Subtitles: Japanese (closed captions) Chapter Stops: 14 (main feature) Runtime: 106mins (97mins main feature, 9mins special features) Technical Information (Disc 2) Disc Format: Single Sided & Single Layered (disc total: 4.07GB) Video: NTSC, anamorphic 16:9 Audio: Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0) Subtitles: None Runtime: 77mins

Blu-ray Disc

Film Presentation Ultimately, there is little more that can be said about the Blu-ray release other than it`s obvious advantages over DVD. The film is presented in 1080p and preserves the original 16:9 ratio. The higher resolution naturally brings out many finer details that simply can`t be held on a DVD. One thing that is apparent on the Blu-ray release, as it was on the big screen, is the dramatic difference between the film stock used for ULTRAMAN MEBIUS & ULTRAMAN BROTHERS and the full HD video used for the new film during flashback sequences to the previous movie. This difference wasn`t really obvious on the DVD release.

The immersive Dolby Digital 5.1 track from the DVD is also pushed the extra mile on Blu-ray, with an upgrade to the lossless quality Dolby TrueHD. The disc once again features Japanese subtitles for the hearing impaired, but no English subtitles. Special Features The special features on the Blu-ray release are identical to Disc 1 in the Memorial Box DVD set:

Shochiku Lineup Promotional Video (00m:45s)
Teaser Trailer (01m:15s)
Theatrical Trailer (02m:25s)
Theatre Manners Commercial (00m:45s)
TV Spots (04m:20s)
Digital Gallery

These are all presented in full 1080p resolution, while the teaser trailer, theatrical trailer and theatre manners commercial are once again given the option of both 5.1 and 2.0.

Technical Information Distributor: Bandai Visual Label: Honneamise Catalogue Code: BCXS-0128 UPC Code: 4 934569 351289 Retail Price: 4,800 JPY Disc(s): 1 Region Code: None Disc Format: Single Sided & Dual Layered (disc total: 34.0GB / main feature: 30.9GB) Video: 16:9 HD 1080p Audio: Japanese (Dolby TrueHD 5.1), Japanese (Dolby Surround 2.0), Audio Commentary (2.0) Subtitles: Japanese (closed captions) Chapter Stops: 14 (main feature) Runtime: 106mins (97mins main feature, 9mins special features)

For more photos and information on SUPERIOR ULTRAMAN 8 BROTHERS (aka Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers) please see the earlier coverage here on SciFi Japan: