New Japanese DVD Featuring Heisei Ultraman Retrospective Author: James Ballard

The modern wave of Ultramen are the focus of the new Japanese DVD ULTRAMAN HISTORY: THE SILVER CHAPTER. © 2007 Tsuburaya Productions / Bandai Visual

ULTRAMAN HISTORY: THE SILVER CHAPTER (Urutoraman Hisutorii Gin-no Shou) is a new made-for-DVD compilation of action footage from the Ultraman television series and theatrical films produced in the 10-year period from 1996 to 2006. Along with the CLIMAX STORIES which will be released from December 2007 to February 2008, ULTRAMAN HISTORY: THE SILVER CHAPTER helps introduce new and/or very young fans to the Ultraman characters of the post-1990s, in preperation for 2008`s feature film DECISIVE BATTLE! THE SUPER 8 ULTRA BROTHERS (Daikessen! Chou Hachi Urutora Kyoudai) which will bring together the classic heroes of the 1960/70s and the modern heroes of the 1990s for the first time. Beginning with ULTRAMAN TIGA (Urutoraman Tiga, 1996), the disc follows through the various TV series and films in order of production year, ending with ULTRAMAN MEBIUS (Urutoraman Mebiusu, 2006) and it`s feature film ULTRAMAN MEBIUS & ULTRAMAN BROTHERS (Urutoraman Mebiusu Ando Urutora Kyoudai, 2006). All the footage is set to music produced for the respective film or series, while a narrator discusses certain abilities of the different Ultra heroes. For fans who have already seen the films and shows, this disc doesn`t offer anything new or particularly exciting. However, for those who have seen very little of the post-90s Ultraman, it offers a fairly comprehensive overview. With the relatively cheap retail price and, quite honestly, the lack of English subtitles not diminishing one`s ability to enjoy the clip show, it can be easily recommended to foreign fans -- just keep in mind the disc is Region 2 coded (North America is Region 1.) Also available in this series is ULTRAMAN HISTORY: THE RED CHAPTER (Urutoraman Hisutorii Aka-no Shou), which covers the films and television shows produced between the original ULTRAMAN (Urutoraman, 1966) and ULTRAMAN ZEARTH (Urutoraman Zeasu, 1996).

Technical Information

Disc Distributor: Bandai Visual Catalogue Code: BCBK-3079 UPC Code: 4 934569 630797 Retail Price: 1,800 JPY (approx. $15 USD) Discs: 1 Region Code: 2 (Japan, Europe) Color System: NTSC Disc Format: Single Sided Single Layered Video Ratio: 4:3/Letterboxed Runtime: 30 minutes Chapter Stops: 20 Audio Tracks: Japanese (2.0) Subtitles: None

©1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd / ©2004, 2005, 2006 Tsuburaya Productions Co., Ltd / CBC

ULTRAMAN HISTORY: THE SILVER CHAPTER features clips from:

• ULTRAMAN TIGA (Urutoraman Tiga, 1996)
• ULTRAMAN DYNA (Urutoraman Daina, 1997)
• ULTRAMAN TIGA & ULTRAMAN DYNA (Urutoraman Tiga Ando Urutoraman Daina Hikari-no Hoshi-no Senshi-tachi, 1998)
• ULTRAMAN GAIA (Urutoraman Gaia, 1998)
• ULTRAMAN GAIA: THE BATTLE IN HYPERSPACE (Urutoraman Tiga Urutoraman Daina Ando Urutoraman Gaia Choujikuu-no Daikessen, 1999)
• ULTRAMAN NICE (Urutoraman Naisu, 1999)
• ULTRAMAN TIGA THE FINAL ODYSSEY (Urutoraman Tiga Za Fainaru Odessei, 2000)
• ULTRAMAN NEOS (Urutoraman Neosu, 2000)
• ULTRAMAN COSMOS (Urutoraman Kosumosu, 2001)
• ULTRAMAN COSMOS: THE FIRST CONTACT (Urutoraman Kosumosu Za Faasuto Kontakuto, 2001)
• ULTRAMAN COSMOS 2: THE BLUE PLANET (Urutoraman Kosumosu 2 Za Buruu Puranetto, 2002)
• ULTRAMAN COSMOS VS. ULTRAMAN JUSTICE: THE FINAL BATTLE (Urutoraman Kosumosu VS Urutoraman Jyasutisu Za Fainaru Batoru, 2003)
• ULTRAMAN NEXUS (Urutoraman Nekusasu, 2004)
• ULTRAMAN: THE NEXT (Ultraman, 2004)
• ULTRAMAN MAX (Urutoraman Makkusu, 2005)
• ULTRAMAN MEBIUS (Urutoraman Mebiusu, 2006)
• ULTRAMAN MEBIUS & ULTRAMAN BROTHERS (Urutoraman Mebiusu Ando Urutora Kyoudai, 2006)