Battle Kaiju Series #2: Ultraman vs. Alien Baltan Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Battle Kaiju Series #2: Ultraman vs. Alien Baltan Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 30, 2023

In this second volume of the 'Battle Kaiju' series (see here for the first volume), 'Ultraman' fans will find two discs spanning the spectrum of franchise history, an eclectic blend of live action and animated content, feature length films and TV episodes, 1.78:1 and 4x3 and 480i and 1080p video. The episodes and films share in common one factor: Alien Baltan. See below for what's included and for coverage of the new video and audio presentations.

Official synopsis: 'Battle Kaiju Series #2: Ultraman vs. Alien Baltan' collects 11 Alien Baltan episodes and 2 movies from across the Ultraman franchise, starting with their first appearance in the original Ultraman series and continuing through to Ultraman X. This new Blu-ray collection devoted to some of the greatest monsters and aliens from Tsuburaya Productions’ Ultraman franchise. This edition looks at Alien Baltan, the Space Ninjas widely recognized as the greatest rivals to Ultraman and his fellow Ultra Brothers.

This is an exhaustive themed set, offering a comprehensive exploration of the place of the Space Ninjas in the entirety of the Ultraman canon, which makes this a well-rounded sampler for newcomers to explore some of the best characters and action the franchise has to offer while also appealing to longtime franchise fans looking for an easy way to once again digest the show, this time as part of a tightly themed collection. However, the question lingers as to when the content that is new to Blu-ray in this set will be available on Blu-ray in its entirety, but as it is this is a fun collection that serves its purpose, and serves it well, at least on the surface. The Blu-ray video presentations, as will be seen in a moment, leave much to be desired -- especially the new-to-Blu-ray content -- but having it as it is here is better than not having it at all.

Below is a list of what is included on each disc and, where applicable, links to where that content previously appeared on Blu-ray. If a link is not provided, the content is new to Blu-ray.

Disc One:

• Ultraman: Episodes include "Shoot the Invader," "Science Patrol Into Space," and "The Forbidden Words."
• Return of Ultraman: "Revenge of Alien Baltan Jr."
• The Ultraman: "The Secret of Hikari."
• Ultraman 80: "Alien Baltan's Terrifying Zoo Operation" and "Alien Baltan's Endless Challenging Spirit."
• Ultraman Kids 3000: "Here's Some Homesickness for You."
• Ultra Q: "Garamon Strikes Back."

Disc Two:

• Ultraman Cosmos: First Contact
• Ultraman Max: "Welcome to Earth! Part 1 - The Science of Planet Baltan" and "Welcome to Earth! Part 2 - Farewell Alien Baltan."
• Ultraman X: The Movie - Here He Comes! Our Ultraman

Battle Kaiju Series #2: Ultraman vs. Alien Baltan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from the content that is new to this set.

Generally speaking, there is no significant difference in the returning material quality across both Blu-ray discs. It appears the same masters have been used for the returning content, but there is potentially some minor variances in compression. Still, there are no radical transformations to core elements and colors. For reviews of all of the carryover content, please click through the appropriate links above and navigate to the review tab.

The new content on disc one contains two animated series (The Ultraman and Ultraman Kids 3000). Both are presented in approximately 4x3 aspect ratio (with vertical "black bars" on either side of the 1.78:1 HD display) and at the 480i resolution, so these are standard definition presentations. With that comes the usual slew of SD video maladies that are much less frequently encountered on HD Blu-ray, but the content generally looks very nice for what it is, with solid enough detail especially upscaled, and nice and full colors, even of the aliasing and jaggies are a distraction. The other content new to Blu-ray are two episodes of Ultraman 80. These live-action episodes are also framed at approximately 4x3 and also presented at 480i. The image also shows some severe aliasing, false colors, print wear, and some compression artifacts, but again the content looks ok for basic detail and color reproduction. At 1080p it would have flourished at least to the point of the other content on the disc, but even with the various issues it's very watchable. Hopefully the full series makes it to Blu-ray at a proper 1080p resolution.

Disc two includes more content new to Blu-ray, beginning with Ultraman Cosmos: First Contact, a feature length film presented at 1.78:1 but again at the 480i resolution. It suffers, again, from severe stair-stepping (even the subtitles look extremely rough), compression, aliasing...the whole nine yards. Fine detail is not very good, and colors are ordinary. It's the same story for the Ultraman Max episodes: 4x3, 480i, and the usual onslaught of SD-related issues, though to be sure this one looks pretty good next to the other 480i content for clarity and color reproduction.

Mill Creek is not exactly rolling out the red carpet for the new-to-Blu-ray content here, but at least it's here. Fans will have to decide if that's good enough or not.

Battle Kaiju Series #2: Ultraman vs. Alien Baltan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As with the video, readers can click through to the links for the returning-to-Blu-ray content to read audio reviews. The new to Blu-ray content uniformly offers DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless tracks. The presentations vary wildly in terms of content clarity and spacing, even in the two-channel configuration. The more modern content features crisper elements, more obvious elemental separation, and better clarity. The older content is more satisfied to push through the basics with limited range and not much sense for a wider engagement. Dialogue does settle well enough to the middle in all instances.

Battle Kaiju Series #2: Ultraman vs. Alien Baltan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No on-disc supplements are included, but Mill Creek has bundled in a booklet with an introductory essay penned by Keith Aiken. Also included is a Kaiju guide as well as episode and film listings and synopses. No DVD or digital copies are included, but Mill Creek has included an alternate artwork slipcover.

Battle Kaiju Series #2: Ultraman vs. Alien Baltan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kudos to Mill Creek for keeping the Ultraman train steaming ahead, but with so much new content here, and at 480i at that, one must wonder if the full series for this new content will ever be made available to Blu-ray. While it's nice to sit down and explore the world of Alien Baltan through the various lenses presented in this collection, I would bet that most fans would rather Mill Creek focus on getting all the various series out first and then moving on to compilations. Regardless, the presentations are fine, but the 480i resolution is disappointing for the new content. Recommended only for hardcore franchise fans.