Ultraman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Ultraman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Mill Creek has released a SteelBook packaging variant for 'Ultraman.' The disc and digital content is identical to that found in the wide release (which includes the high quality booklet). See the 'Special Features and Extras' section of the review below for more on the SteelBook's look and feel.

Ultraman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For a Blu-ray video review, please click here.

Ultraman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For a Blu-ray audio review, please click here.

Ultraman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This is a nicer SteelBook than the Ultra Q variation, which didn't have much in the way of symmetry about it. This one is fairly plain, but effective. Ultraman appears on the front, from the hips up, posed slightly angled to his right, looking off to the SteelBook's left. His right hand is raised and his left hand is back behind, lowered. Behind him is a silvery backdrop with lighter streaks running through it, with a few stars scattered here and there. At the bottom -- comprising about the bottom quarter of the SteelBook -- are several monsters rampaging through a city, all appearing in a gray-blue color. The rear side features the title character firmly to the right. His hands, making the shape of a cross, are center. The left hand side is dominated by a large red swath of color extending from Ultraman's crossed hands. The same background from front above and the gray-blue terrain below remains, the latter a bit more prominent than its companion on the front. The front and rear panels are smooth but not necessarily fingerprint magnets. The spine features the series' title center in black letters against a metallic gray background. A head-on depiction of Ultraman may be seen at the bottom, directly above a Mill Creek logo. At the top is a red banner inside of which is "Series 2" text in white. One of the most interesting points of interest, almost an "Easter egg," is the show's title appearing in Japanese along the side opposite the spine where the set opens.

Inside, the digital copy code floats; there are no tabs to hold it down (the digital code sheet for this and Ultra Q both arrived with a hole in the middle from the hubs that hold the discs). The six discs are presented three to a side, stacked directly on top of one another on a single, extended hub. It was very difficult to get the bottom discs out on first try. The one on the left in particular took delicate force to remove; it didn't seem to want to budge without breaking (subsequent insertions and removals made the process significantly easier). The inner print is a two-panel spread that depicts a close-up of Ultraman's chest with focus on the famous color timer that signals when the hero is running low on power.

Ultraman contains no supplements across any of the six discs. The main menu screens on each disc only offer the opportunity to toggle subtitles on and off in addition to selecting any of the disc's episodes, which are vertically oriented. The set does ship with an impressively assembled booklet that includes glossy pages, numerous black-and-white and color photographs, and plenty of text. It begins with introductory commentary on the show's history and production, a character breakdown, detailed episode synopses, key monster explorations, and character and technology guides. Mill Creek has put together a comprehensive series breakdown in a relatively small space. While it's disappointing that there are no video-biased extras, this compact handbook is a treasure for veterans and a necessity for newcomers just getting their feet wet in the universe.

That plastic outer slip cover features some baked-on text, including the show's title in black on the front (it's actually on there twice, reading, essentially 'Ultraman Ultraman'; looking at the upcoming UltraSeven SteelBook it appears to simply serve as a franchise identifier, but it admittedly looks a little silly in this case). Above and to the right is the text "protector of the universe." In the top left corner is a small vertical banner that says "Series Two" in red letters on white background and the Blu-ray logo plus digital in white on red. The rear side includes the usual information, from a UPC to a synopsis, from tech specs to legalese. The spines are transparent and blank.

Ultraman: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mill Creek is doing right by Ultraman in SteelBook packaging. This one is particularly nice. The colors are just right and the artwork is attractive inside and out. The red color really works, notably around the SteelBook's edges. The discs can be a little hard to remove but it's really the only downside to an otherwise must-own SteelBook that is even priced more than fairly, even considering the iffy video quality.