Ultraman - Why is there no reboot?

Post by **Vince** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 7:46 pm

In this world of reboots, even of things less than 10 years old... why is there no reboot of Ultraman? People in Hollywood should be in jail for not doing this.

Post by **GORDON** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 8:06 pm

You mean the Japanese show I watched in the 70's?

Post by **Vince** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:04 pm

Yes, that one. Giant Japanese monsters and the giant robot guy. Lesa recorded a repeat on an oldies station. So much potential there.

Post by **TheCatt** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:08 pm

I loved that as a kid.

Post by **GORDON** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:57 pm

I watched it all the time, but I always preferred Johnny Soko and his Flying Robot.

I always thought Ultraman's chest light thing blinked way too much. I seem to remember that meant he was almost out of power, or something.

Post by **Vince** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 10:17 pm

From watching the episode last night, I got the impression the chest light thing is like a Spidey sense.

So are we in agreement that someone should be jailed for this not being rebooted?

Post by **GORDON** » Sat Apr 05, 2014 10:32 pm

How much of a kid show was it? I remember it being a kid show, but I was 7 and perhaps my memory has been tricked by some spell.

Post by **Vince** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 8:18 am

I'd say on par with the Power Rangers crossed with a Godzilla movie. The humor was corny. It reminded me of watching Kung Fu theater, and I suspect they had a rough English synopsis of the plot and made up the dialog to match the mouth movements. So it's hard to tell how much of it was targeted at kids and how much was poor translation.

Post by **GORDON** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 11:49 am

Sure, why not a reboot. They gotta make Pacific Rim 2 first though.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 1:53 pm

Vince wrote:I'd say on par with the Power Rangers crossed with a Godzilla movie. The humor was corny. It reminded me of watching Kung Fu theater, and I suspect they had a rough English synopsis of the plot and made up the dialog to match the mouth movements. So it's hard to tell how much of it was targeted at kids and how much was poor translation.

It belongs to a specialized genre of Japanese media that's about giant things -- mainly robots and monsters. The thing Ultraman spun from was decidedly not a children's show. Back in the '60s, Ultraman wasn't a kid's show nor was it advertised exclusively as such.

The imported early '90s versions of this genre (Power Rangers and the like) and their Japanese originals very much are aimed at children. That's because between the 1960 and 1990, some Japanese biz execs figured out parents will buy their kids lots of toys if it shuts them the hell up for five minutes. I suspect they, like most biz execs, all discovered this sometime between summer and Christmas of 1977. The shows are little more than lengthy adverts with plot filled in from madlib sessions.

Post by **Leisher** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 3:24 pm

I don't think I ever cared about Ultraman.

Although, didn't he team up with Godzilla once?

Post by **Vince** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:26 pm

Malcolm wrote:It belongs to a specialized genre of Japanese media that's about giant things -- mainly robots and monsters. The thing Ultraman spun from was decidedly not a children's show. Back in the '60s, Ultraman wasn't a kid's show nor was it advertised exclusively as such.

I figure it could very much be a Transformer or even Pacific Rim type movie.

Post by **Vince** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:27 pm

Leisher wrote:I don't think I ever cared about Ultraman.

Although, didn't he team up with Godzilla once?

Not that I'm aware of, but the guy that created the show was the same one that did the Godzilla special effects.

Malcolm · Post by **Malcolm** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 6:58 pm

Vince wrote:
Malcolm wrote:It belongs to a specialized genre of Japanese media that's about giant things -- mainly robots and monsters. The thing Ultraman spun from was decidedly not a children's show. Back in the '60s, Ultraman wasn't a kid's show nor was it advertised exclusively as such.
I figure it could very much be a Transformer or even Pacific Rim type movie.

That's quite the range. One was entertaining. The other is a franchise that has sucked ass and a half every fucking movie.

Post by **Vince** » Sun Apr 06, 2014 7:15 pm

Malcolm wrote:
Vince wrote:
Malcolm wrote:It belongs to a specialized genre of Japanese media that's about giant things -- mainly robots and monsters. The thing Ultraman spun from was decidedly not a children's show. Back in the '60s, Ultraman wasn't a kid's show nor was it advertised exclusively as such.
I figure it could very much be a Transformer or even Pacific Rim type movie.
That's quite the range. One was entertaining. The other is a franchise that has sucked ass and a half every fucking movie.

Eh... I haven't seen Pacific Rim yet. Mostly the stupid ass way they decide to design a robot has caused it to slide down my "want to see" list. I can suspend my reasoning for a while, but that's one of those things that every time it becomes a plot issue will just piss me off. So I on;y have the Transformer movies to go off of. Mindless entertainment.