Related Posts with Thumbnails

Thursday, January 2, 2014

From Beyond Television: The Return of Ultraman Episode #6


 

EPISODE 6: BATTLE! MONSTERS VS. MAT (KESSEN! KAIJU TAI MATU) ****


Continuing from the previous episode, Ultraman briefly battles Gudon and Twin Tail before he is forced out of the fight after his color timer indicator expires. Thankfully, the two creatures -- one the natural predator of the other -- begin fighting one another, and end up taking their differences out to sea. The trapped civilians are rescued, but Aki is seriously injured. Goh, angering his teammates once more, decides to stay at her side till she's well again. Meanwhile Gudon and Twin Tail surface once more and Tokyo is ordered to be evacuated.



With U-Jack having been put in danger already, it's only natural that one of the human characters is, too. Aki is badly wounded, and with the monsters resurfacing for an encore of Tokyo devastation, a nice cliffhanger is set-up on getting out of the city in time. Goh is distracted, and refuses to leave Aki's side reaffirming a possible romance blooming. The drama actually feels real this time as opposed to padding till the monster shows up. It's very well done for this sort of thing; especially when there's very little time to expand beyond monster action.


Furthering the drama is the proposed use of a powerful laser weapon. This causes a bit of tension between the MAT members and their superior officers (one of them played by giant monster movie favorite Kenji Sahara). We never do get to see it, but the amount of potential damage from this laser is vaguely compared to that of the Atomic Bomb.



Action levels are high again in this continuation from episode five, and more so than before. The in-fighting between the MAT team is here. It's a staple for this series up to this point. But while the group are rarely on the same page, they do work very well with U-Jack in combating the monsters in this episode. The "tag team" offense between MAT and U-Jack, and the lengthy monster duel at the end is well edited and moves the action along in a kinetic fashion. It's a showcase for humans working cogently with their savior from M-78 as opposed to just monsters fighting. The big battle is more intricately choreographed than normal, too. There's martial arts maneuvers, wrestling, and some sweeping kicks. 




Like the preceding show, 'Monsters vs. MAT' is an exciting episode that juggles humans and monsters extremely well within the tight 30 minute time-frame. It's also unique in that the two kaiju, Gudon and Twin Tail, are mortal enemies. They not only attack U-Jack, but also each other. This episode also benefits from a plethora of composite shots. This two-parter is very busy with lots going on, as well as being a lot of fun for giant monster fans.

MONSTERS: Gudon, Twin Tail
WEAPONS: MAT Jeep with bazooka mount

To be continued in Episode 7: OPERATION RAINBOW MONSTER!!!

No comments:

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis

copyright 2013. All text is the property of coolasscinema.com and should not be reproduced in whole, or in part, without permission from the author. All images, unless otherwise noted, are the property of their respective copyright owners.