Retro Review – Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace

Alright were going do to something a little different this time around. As you can See from the title there will be giant monster involved, so we’re not straying too far from my usual topic. Now normally i’d start at the beginning, in this case the Ultraman TV show, well technically I’d guess I’d should say UltraQ. But I haven’t seen the original ULtraQ…. yet. But it’s a little soon for another TV show review. So instead we’re going with an Ultra movie I’ve had for a few years.

 

So sit back with your favorite henshin device and hit the jump.

http://youtu.be/vddoDV7vVzc

Things start out with Gamu running to a rooftop in search of his target. He finds him but it he looks like him. Saying that he’s been chasing his shadow he disappears than reappears as a giant monster. Okay quick note, I have never seen Ultraman Gaia the series but the subs on my DVD on my research say it’s name is Satan-Biezor. Gamu says he isn’t afraid beause he has the Light of Gaia. Satan-Biezor isn’t impressed and destroys part of the building before he can transform. Hanging from a beam as Biezor walks off to cause more destruction he sees his transformation device at the end of said beam. Grabbing it he jumps off as Biezor attacks again. Transforming into Gaia he faces off against the monster. Then the screen goes blank as the mother of a child named Tsutomu turns off the video he was wathing. Yes folks, it’s that type of movie. She’s upset that her son is paying more attention to Ultraman than more important things like studying and sport. That night Tsutomu sneaks out of bed an takes the tape out of the rice cooker, seriously who hides a VHS tape in a rice cooker? Somehow the tapes got rewound at some point because instead of picking up at the battle it starts with the theme song. While he watching the screen gets really bright and Tsutomu finds himself in a inter dimensional tunnel of some sort and sees a red ball then a young girl around his age, clasping her hands in prayer in the midst of some severe destruction and she says something to him. I assume telepathially cause her lips don’t move.

 

The next day Tsutomu tries to tell his friend about his razy dream buut he says he just Ultraman crazy. And based on his room that’s not that far off of an observation. Their teacher tells the class that they have a new student who introduces herself as Lisa, and she looks a lot like the girl from Tsutomu’s dream. At recess Tsutomu is drawing a piture of Gaia on the ground with chalk. Lisa says he’s a good artist but she doesn’t like Ultraman because of the all the destruction in the show and she hates violence. For some reason he tells her about his dream. Instead of making fun of him she says mabye it was a sign they were supposed to met. Although they do seem to bond over the fact they don’t really have a lot of friends: Tsutomu because he not into the things the other kids are adn Lisa because she’s will be leaving soon. A ball rolls up to them and with Lisa looking on he deides to give playing with the other kids a try, despite the fact he no good at sports. Well he was until the school bully and his cronies get in his way. After making fun of his Ultraman obsession he pretty much forces Tsutomu to give him the ball. The bully tells him to grow up a little, and he has that annoying crony that basically repeats what he says, and they run through the other kids to play with the ball themselves. After school Tsutomu runs into an old warehouse, that doubles as his secret place I’m assuming beause he has a colored drawing of Gaia on the floor. Standing there he wishes he was as brave as Gamu thinking Lisa thinks he’s a coward now. Seeing that some toys got knocked off their shelf he goes to put them back when he see’s a red ball on the shelf that wasn’t there before. In fact it looks a lot like the ball from his dream. Holding it it flashes, startling Tsutomu, and tells him to amke the wish. Our young hero does what anybody would in this situation would do as he freaks out and runs out of there.

 

The next day he tells his friend but again he dismisses it as another Ultra dream. While they’re arguing Lisa suggest that they go check the ball out. The trio head to the warehouse where the ball is right where Tsutomu left it. He and his friend more or less want to leave it alone but Lisa the one who suggests they try it. So Tsutomu takes the ball in hand and makes his wish, to met his hero Gamu. The ball is flashes, Lisa being the only one who wasn’t shocked, nothing happens at first but then there a disturbance outside. Something that looks like the ocean is suddenly hovering in the air. A jet emerges, one that Tsutumo recognizes as Gamu personal fighter jet. They and a bunch of other kids chase after it with one asking if it was the same jet as the one on TV. Tsutomu says yes and that he summoned Gamu here. And the bully and his cronies show back up. Calling him a liar Tsutomu tells him he made a wish on the ball and made Gamu come. The bully makes Tsutomu give him the ball and tells him that if the ball could make wishes come true that he would make a monster appear just to step on him, then the ball flashes again making Satan-Biezor appear. Tsutomu can’t remember what the monster is called but the bully knows it immediately and what it’s capable of. After being confused on where he was Gamu sees the creature, and setting his jet on auto with the instrutions to land safely, he transforms into Gaia. Facing off against the creature Gaia barely moves before his timer starts flashing. Hmm… premature flashing, I’m sure it happens to all the Ultras. After a short fight, and much to the bully’s dismay, Gaia defeats the monster and transforms back into Gamu. The bully vows to bring in an even stronger creature in order to defeat Gaia. A little young to be the sterotypial bad guy, aren’t ya kid?

 

In his jet, after briefly wondering why he lost power so quickly, realizes he surrounded by a bunch of kids. After being coaxed out of the jet they want to see how he transforms, let’s make that demand, so much he runs away. With the kids running after him he finally finds refuse in a store. The store is a toy store apparently specializing in Ultra merchandise, I’ve heard of product placement but that’s ridicules. Gamu sees the beginning of the Ultraman Gaia intro play on a TV set and realizes that he’s on another world. Tsutumo finds him and tells him he’s the one who brought him there. Back in the warehouse Gamu explains what happened and Gamu wants to see the ball. Tsutumo is relucant to do so because he thinks he’s just going to use it to wish himself back home. But Gamu convinces him he only wants to see it because it might be dangerous and promises not to leave without telling him first, and it somehow got bigger. Summoning his jet to the location, and it wreaking the sides of the door trying to get into the warehouse, yeah I’m sure nobody will notice that, he analyzes the ball, trying to see if he an access the balls memory. Seeing Tsutomu had a copy of Gulliver’s Travels, something he was going to give Lisa to read since she’s travels a lot, Gamu muses that reading the book is what inspired him to get into Quantum Physics, which had the parallel world theory. After a brief explanation of Parallel World theory, who says you can’t learn anything watching one of these. Tsutomu wants Gamu to autograph the book when the police show up, guess somebody did notice the hole the jet made. Gamu goes out to explain the situation to the police but they quickly surround him. Tsutumo and the other try to protest but the polie secure them as well. In the struggle Tsutomu loses the ball and it falls stright into the hands of the bully. Then Gamu and the jet suddenly fade away much to the police confusion.

 

Back in his own world Gamu doesn’t really remember what happened during the two hours he was off the radar but slowly starts to remember bits and pieces. Back in the other world Tsutomu is depressed that Gamu didn’t keep his promise. Lisa wants to get the ball back but Tsutomu is reluctant to do so in fear of the bullies. Lisa says he just like everybody else and that gets Tsutomu to act. In his world Gamu is still in possession of Tsutomu book and remembers everything. Still having the data he collected on the ball his mini computer does what Tsutomu television did and he finds himself in the same mysterious tunnel, but he quickly gets over his shock, because let’s face it this is old hat to him. He encounters the ball and wants to know what it is. The ball says it was created by humans on another Earth but their greed caused their destruction. It somehow made it’s way to another Earth where the pattern repeated itself over and over and soon Tsutomu’s world will follow. Tsutomu and friends find the bully inside the school, the art room to exact where they’re creating monsters to bring to life. The bully decides to combine the better parts of the other’s creation to his in order to make the strongest monster ever. Gamu decides to take the craft he created to journey to parallel worlds, named The Adventure after the ship Gulliver used in the book and makes his way back to Tsutomu world. Back in the school the bully putting the finishing touches on their creature. Before Tsutomu can get the ball it flashes on it’s own and changes again. The bully and his friends seemed to be taken over by the ball and take them to the roof. There the bully tries to get Tsutomu to confess that he really likes the monsters. But saying so would make the other would amke fun of him for it. This apparently happened to the bully as he goes to say that he will destroy this world with his creation the King of Mons, not to be confused with the other King of the Monsters. The ball flashes and changes again and it brings the monster to life.

 

As it causes massive destruction Gamu breaks through the dimensional barrier and the craft turns into a battle mech, not sure if anybody should be surprised at this or not. The mech is quikly destroyed after a power boost from the ball and Gamu transforms into Gaia. At one point during the fight the monster splits apart reveal the other two monsters the cronies created and Gaia finds himself out numbered. Tsutomu finally get up enough courage to tackle the bully to get the ball out of his hands. He and his cronies don’t seem to remember what happened and Tsutomu says they were under evil’s control. But his friend say they weren’t, guess who’s being seduced by the ball now. He doesn’t like this world either and wants to see it destroyed and that he’ll build a better one where he and others have more freedom. King of Mon’s ray hits the school were it cause the roof to shake and split. Tsutomu saves his friend from a falling tower and sees the ball across the opening. In scene similar to the one he watched on television he has to cross a beam to get to the ball. One he gets it he wishes for the monsters to go away and for Gamu to be saved, but nothing happens. The ball informs him that it is too late and nothing can be wished away. Seeing Lisa in the pose she had in his dream and with her and the bully cheering him on he makes one more wish as the building finally gives away, in a massive explosion might I add. he and the other kids are saved by the appearing Ultramen Tiga and Dyna. Setting them down they help Gaia making the odds even. The monsterss plit up, with the quadrupedal one heading to the sea, granted after Tiga threw in him that direction, and the winged insect looking one heading out into space with Dyna hot on his heals. After a brief battle all three monsters are destroyed. Gamu runs up to Tsutomu, all of them agree that the ball should disappear forever, but Gamu reveals Lisa was the one in control all along as the ball was just an access device. Tsutomu doesn’t want to make the wish now since he doesn’t want to lose Lisa but she convinces him to so any way. He does and the ball becomes a big friendly reset button as everything goes back to the way they were before the ball came into their world. Tsutomu is the only one who seems to remember. And he changed, or grew up a bit if you will, as he tells his mother he loves Ultraman, but not as much as he loves her. She sends him off to school, but seems a bit happier. It’s really the simple thing, like your child saying he loves you more than a fictional character that really, makes your day. At scholl the teaxhers informs the class that they have a new student and it’s Lisa. Tsutomu realizes he did change the future and can now have Lisa as a friend.

 

This one was definitely aimed at the kids. A kid is the star in this one, I know it’s called Ultraman Gaia but he really only has a supporting role in this. But as a whole none of the child actors or characters aren’t that annoying like they usually are in these movies. Okay the one who tends to repeats what the bully says, but name a situation where that character ain’t. Outside of Gamu, adults appearances are few and far between. Tsutomu is a bit of a Ultra nerd, okay more than a bit, and his lack of sport skills kind of alienates him from the rest of his classmates. The bully is your typical older bully, and because of his love of monsters was picked on himself. Although he did say he was going to be a designer when he grew up, of buildings or of monsters for televisions and movie I’m not really sure. Lisa pretty much the plot device, well technically she’s the main part of the plot, she’s the one who convinces Tsutomu to make the wish, she’s the one who convinces him to get the ball away from the bullies and she’s the one who convinces him to wish her and the ball away. Gamu seems to be your typical Ultra, he believes in the best of people, he never gives up or stops fighting. What more can I say that isn’t already known. Well to those who know the character already, this is my first experience with the guy.

 

Satan-Biezor was part of the Gaia series proper as the monster of the week. In fact if somebody could tell me if that opening scene was a part of the show itself I would be much obliged. He has this, and I quote the bully, 1,000 degree heat raw and these massive laws that appear from his forearms. The new monster King of Mons, again quoting the bully who named it, is an interesting creation. It’s a bipedal lizard, dark blue in color with a muted red belly and yellow wings type thing. He has an orb between his eyes that shots a destructive beam, has extendable law type thing that extend from his torso to trap his enemy and his wings an form around him forming an energy shield. Now comes the two monster that split from him. Fortunately these guys have names according to my research because I was calling them “Wings” and “Mouth” in my head. Wings is called Bajiris, an insect type of monster that an fly, has pinchers and can shot an energy ball out of his mouth. Mouth is called Scylla and not only being able to go into the water his upper back splits open to reveal his mouth, hence the nickname I gave him. But despite separating that are still connected as their defeat affect King of Mons enough for Gaia to deliver the final blow. I should point out that the monster were created out of clay, so there was some bright blues, reds and yellows but when brought to life the colors were muted and darker. I think this was a good design choice a giant monster colored bright blue, red and yellow would have been a tad silly. I should also point out that the lay itself didn’t come to life, it was still present in the child’s hand when the monster materialized.

 

This is an Ultra prodution so the miniature effects are top notch. Although the Adventure is purely CGI as far as I an tell, although are some nice practical effect to give it a more solid look, as when it hits the ground there’s a puff of smoke. It’s a small thing but adds to the effect. And there’s some great composite work in this one was well, being made in the late 90s it had better. Although there is an obvious scene were they switch to a shot of Dyna being a guy into a suit to a CGI model but nothing’s perfect

 

Overall it’s a decent movie, as long as you’re aware the titled Ultra isn’t the main part of the story. And the bait and switch at the beginning doesn’t really help. Then again how many people would check this out if they knew that ahead of time. Hopefully this review encouraged you to check it out despite knowing this, because it is a fun adventure once you get down to it. 3.5 out of 5 stars.