Ultraman (2004 film)

Infobox Film
name = Ultraman: The Next


caption = Theatrical Poster A
director = Kazuya Konaka
producer = Kiyoshi Suzuki
eproducer =
aproducer =
writer = Keiichi Hasegawa
starring = Tetsuya Bessho
Kyoko Toyama
Nae Yuuki
music = Tak Matsumoto
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Shochiku
released = December 18, 2004
runtime = 97 minutes
country = Japan
awards =
language = Japanese
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by = Ultraman Nexus
amg_id = 1:328582
imdb_id = 0471414

"Ultraman: The Next", released in Japan simply titled nihongo|ULTRAMAN|ウルトラマン|Urutoraman, is a 2004 tokusatsu superhero film. It is part of the Ultra Series' experimental Ultra N Project, and features an Ultraman character codenamed "The Next". The movie, produced by Tsuburaya Productions, received it's theatrical release in Japan on December 18 2004, distributed by Shochiku.

Ultra N Project

Tsuburaya Productions started the "Ultra N Project" in 2004, in an attempt to revitalize the Ultra franchise. The project consisted of three parts. The first part involved the unveiling of Ultraman Noa, the second part involved this movie, and the last part involved the airing of the then-new Ultra Series, "Ultraman Nexus". Ultraman the Next resembled a life-like insectoid version of Nexus (with insect-like body armor and organic tissue-like skin underneath). This was the first Ultraman ever to possess this sort of characteristic, a departure from the traditional "clean and shiny" look. BEING GIZA artists provided the theme songs for Ultraman the Next and Ultraman Nexus.

ummary

First Lieutenant Shun'ichi Maki of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force is a prestigious F-15 Eagle jet pilot (or "driver" as he is called in the film). A lifelong fan of flying since he was a child, being a pilot is his ultimate dream. Unfortunately, his duties distance himself from his wife, Yoko, who always ends up being neglected, and his son, Tsugumu, who has a congenital blood disease and has a high risk of dying at a young age.

Maki decides to quit the Air Force to devote more time to his family and to spend whatever is left for his son. He takes a part-time job as a commercial tour guide run by a kindly group of people who allow him time to work and to also take care of his family.

However, prior to quitting, Maki and his flight partner Yamashima are alerted to a strange red light streaking towards Japan, and Maki's plane collides with the red light. However, he has suffered no ill effects other than brief flashes of scenes playing out in his mind. He later discovers that the images in his mind are due to telepathic messages from the strange being in the light.

Maki is then kidnapped by a covert government group, known as the BCST, which locks him up, codenaming Maki as "The Next" and stating that he is a threat to humanity. It is through BCST Scientist Sara Mizuhara that he learns that an incident similar to the one which befell Maki happened to one of their soldiers, Udo, that was investigating a blue light in the ocean floor. The light struck and destroyed an underwater vessel, killing everyone except for Udo. After colliding with the blue light, Udo began to mutate into a lizard-like humanoid, slowly losing his sanity and developing a homicidal streak. Dubbed "The One", the now-mutated Udo absorbs the capabilities of any animal in by calling together swarms of certain animals and absorbing them into himself. The One, absorbing the powers of lizards, escapes from his laboratory cell, in which Sara was attempting to study and interrogate him. It was during one of these interrogations that Udo warns that a being similar to him shall come to defeat him, but that he will be unable to win.

Believing that Maki is "The Next" and will turn into another lizard being, Sara learns that The One is predicted to kill The Next, as they are sworn enemies. Using Maki as bait, the government group lures The One to seek Maki and they attempt to stop him with special bullets filled with a toxin made to kill The One, but they fail once learning that The One has become immune to the bullets.

Maki, no longer willing to be bait or be executed for something he had no control over, escapes but stays to protect Sara, who is now also on The One's target list. Instead of becoming another monster-like creature, Maki transforms into a silver 10-meter tall giant with a rocky, exoskeleton-like armored body and glowing eyes. As "The Next", he successfully defends Sara from being a victim of The One, who runs away wounded. Maki is weakened from his battle and reverts back to human form, due to his merger with "The Next" not being a complete one, allowing Sara to recapture him.

Although Maki protected her, Sara is still determined to kill him, as she thinks that he will eventually become like The One. Tired of being a guinea pig, as well as getting flashes of ESP that tell him that his son, Tsugumu, has yet another encounter with his failing health, Maki breaks out and heads toward his family. Sara tries to stop him, but Maki's old flight partner, Yamashima, who is also involved in this situation, covers for Maki, giving him time to comfort his sick child. As Tsugumu recovers, Maki vows to stay by his family's side until Tsugumu tells him to follow his dreams and continue flying, despite Tsugumu still being ill. His son feels guilty that his father abandoned his dreams of flight just to take care of him.

Inspired by his son's selfless actions and the fact that Tokyo is now being attacked by a giant-sized The One, who is lurking within sewer systems, Maki agrees to go with Sara for a last ditch attempt to stop The One without further bloodshed. The One attempts to lure Sara by playing on her feelings by imitating Udo. When Sara attempts to shoot and kill Udo, she fires blindly at him, recalling all of their time together. Unfortunately, she only shoots him once, the rest of the bullets completely missing their target, and is attacked by Udo, who has now become entirely overtaken by "The One". Maki finally realizes that The One has lost all shreds of humanity & compassion, and vows to destroy it. While inside the sewers, The One absorbs large swarms of rats in order to gain strength and new powers. Transforming into The Next's 'Anphans' form yet again, Maki begins an all-out brawl, causing The One to escape from the sewers and devastate Tokyo.

As The One rampages through Tokyo destroying buildings, a helpless woman and her daughter are about to be crushed by the debris from a skyscraper. Instinctively, Maki, as The Next's Anphans form, races towards the mother and child; as he runs, he changes from a 10-meter tall, insectoid silver giant, to a sleeker, 40-meter tall silver and red form known as 'Junis' mode. When The One attempts to hit The Next, The Next takes off into the sky, swiftly dodging energy blasts being shot from The One's mouth. To follow The Next, The One absorbs huge flocks of crows, causing him to gain wings to continue battle. Soon the tables begin to turn as The One savagely beats The Next to a pulp, causing the emblem on The Next's chest to flash and pulsate. The One fires another attack, causing The Next to plummet helplessly from the sky and into the city. At this point, Ultraman and Maki are able to communicate telepathically, where Ultraman explains that, if Maki dies, he will die as well.

Maki accepts Ultraman's power and knowledge and combats The One with a little help from Yamashima, who realizes that Maki is The Next, and gives him some cover fire from his jet to allow The Next to set up his Stratos Edge final laser attack (see Spacium Shot that all Ultras share), destroying The One forever. As The One's shining blue fragments blow away within the wind, Sara looks up silently...

Maki's body is weakened and near death after expending his power against The One. Arriving in the mysterious "dimension" where he first saw Ultraman, Maki discusses how their meeting had to have been fate. Maki states that he has learned to accept his fate, something he learned when being an Eagle pilot. Because of his heroic efforts, Ultraman revives Maki and relieves him of the Ultra power so that Maki can spend the rest of his life being a good father and husband, and most of all, a normal man. Maki states that he regrets not being able to fulfill his promise of flying with Tsugumu, but Ultraman helps Maki to realize that he can still keep the promise he made. After this, The Next vanishes and leaves Maki, who then awakens amidst the wreckage and debris of Japan.

Many months later, Tokyo is still being rebuilt, but the public still remembers the "Silver Super-Human" who saved them. The children of Japan all begin to refer to him as "Ultraman", and the country wonders if he shall ever return again.

Meanwhile, Maki has finally retired and takes Tsugumu on a plane-trip, just as he promised. While Maki's plane flies by, Sara looks on from the ground, whispering her thanks to Maki, and to Ultraman.

When Tsugumu asks his Father how he was able to make this flight, Maki simply states that he was given the confidence through the help of a "good friend".

Tsugumu then thinks to himself about how he wishes to be a pilot just like his father when he becomes an adult.

From "Next" to "Nexus"

Eventually, this sets the tone for the TV series, Ultraman Nexus as Maki's power is passed on to protect humanity from the darkness. Ultraman Nexus is set 5 years after the events of "Next" with Himeya Jun (Junis Red), Senjyu Ren (Junis Blue), and Komon Kazuki (Noa) taking charge as Maki's successors. Sara also returns near the series finale, serving as an advisor to TLT and Night Raider during the final attack.

Cast

Main Characters

* Maki Shunichi (真木 舜一) / Ultraman the Next (ウルトラマン・ザ・ネクスト): Played by Bessho Tetsuya (別所 哲也).
* Mizuhara Sara (水原 沙羅): Played by Tooyama Kyooko (遠山 景織子).
* Udou Takafumi (有働 貴文) / Beast the One (ビースト・ザ・ワン): Played by Oosumi Kenya (大澄 賢也).

upporting

* Yuuki Nae (裕木 奈江)
* Hirota Ryouhei (広田 亮平)
* Nagasawa Toshiya (永澤 俊矢)
* Ryuu Daisuke (隆 大介)
* Kusakari Masao (草刈 正雄)

Theme Songs

* OP: "Theme from ULTRAMAN" by TAK MATSUMOTO
* ED: "NEVER GOOD-BYE" by TMG

Original Soundtrack

The original soundtrack, known simply as ULTRAMAN ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK, was produced by TAK MATSUMOTO (of B'z), under his VERMILLION RECORDS label (which is in turn, a part of the BEING GIZA group). It was released in Japan on July 20, 2005. The catalogue code for the album is BMCV-8015.

References

External links

* [http://www.ultraman-movie.com/ultraman/ ULTRAMAN THE MOVIE - Official Website]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/godzilla_2000/ultramanthenext.htm Ultraman The Next Stats]