"There is so much writing in English on Japanese cinema that can't be accepted at face value — not because the writers are careless, but because the differences in culture and language are just too intricate. When I see August Ragone's name on a piece of writing, it gives me permission to place my faith in it completely. Among Japanese fantasy film historians, he's the best working in English." —Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog

Sunday, May 12, 2013

UPDATE ON "ULTRA Q: THE COMPLETE SERIES"!
Specs for Shout! Factory's Upcoming Release



Iconic opening title animation will remain in beautiful B&W!

With the release of the news of Shout! Factory's impending release of ULTRA Q (see previous blog entry), there has been wild speculation on internet concerning the contents of this forthcoming set — since the series was remastered for HD 1080p and colorized for the domestic Japanese Blu-ray release by US-based Legend Films (who handled the colorization work on Ray Harryhausen's B&W classics) — since Shout! Factory's page for listed this title as being "color."


Ziggy Namegon and the Mollusks from Mars are slimier in B&W!

Now, the the truth can be told; according to Shout! Factory's VP of Acquisitions and Production, who spearheaded licensing the rights to ULTRA Q and ULTRA SEVEN, "I've seen it on (the check) discs; (our release will be) in B&W." So, there you have it; this release of ULTRA Q will be in it's original chiaroscuro color format, which made it so atmospheric — therefore, we can assume that the aforementioned colorized version will not be included in this release.


Yuriko and Jun, can't believe their ears — it's in Japanese!

Also, since there were no other details on neither the Shout! or Amazon listings, rumors began swirling that perhaps the "lost" English language tracks produced back by Film House Inc. in Toronto, back in 1966, might also be included — since they were unearthed as a result of the research on my book a few years ago. Cliff's reply was short and to the point: "(This release) is in Japanese with English subs."


Garamon is a-gog that he's finally going to be discovered in the US!

Containing all 28 B&W episodes on six discs (with a total running time of 690 minutes), the street date for ULTRA Q: THE COMPLETE SERIES is August 13, 2013 with an MSRP of $59.97. Format: NTSC. Region Encoding: Region 1. Includes extensive on-screen liner notes by Yours Truly on the development and production of the series. You can pre-order from Shout! Factory or Amazon, today!

4 comments:

Battra said...

Well maybe if this does well perhaps Shout might consider the colored versions.

Dersu DeLarge said...

I'm glad to hear it's in B&W and Japanese with English subs.

Frankenstein's Robot said...

No interest in this set at all. Seriously should have the English Dub, that would have been its one redeeming quality. They cram as many episodes onto a single disc as possible (6 Disc? when the Japanese DVD set is 10? and the Japanese colorized set is at least 8 discs?) so that means digital artifacts.....Its just bad, Ill stick to my Japanese DVD sets and when someone in the US finally has the sense to release the English DUB of Q, then Ill dip into it.

August Ragone said...

Frankenstein, you cannot comment on something you've never seen — and you seem to think that they woud be able to obtain the English tracks for free. Tsuburaya Productions doesn't have them — and jumping through the legal loops to do so is not going to be worth it for a title that will only sell a couple of thousand copies. There's our dreams as fans, and there's the reality of the current state of the home video business in the US, and how are you going to recoup your investment without bleeding money?