Man, that’s a mouthful! Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy is a rather forgotten entry in the Ultraman series. It’s one of those series that has very little to do with actual Ultraman stuff. Ultramen only make slight cameo appearances in the show here or there, with most of the focus being on Ray and the crew of ZAP Spacy dealing with crazy Kaiju on another planet. Ray would often summon his own Kaiju to do battle with ZAP Spacy helping out in their own way.
The series could be best described as a live-action version of “Godzilla: The Series”, due to its focus on Kaiju fighting each other. The show proved popular enough to get its own movie, which also happened to be a massive crossover that featured all of the established Ultramen from across the franchise in it. Mega Monster Battle: The Movie takes place after both the Mega Monster Battle series and the Ultraman Mebius specials.
The plot is that an ancient evil named “Ultraman Belial” is freed from his eternal prison and wants revenge on the Ultras. The first 20 minutes of the film is him UTTERLY wrecking the Land of Light, the homeland of the Ultras. He steals their power source and freezes the planet solid, forcing Ultraman Mebius to travel to another universe and request the aid of Ray, who happens to be a “Reionics Warrior”.
Belial is possessed by the alien Reiblood, making him a Reionics as well. Ray joins Mebius as they venture to another world and team up with other Ultramen and heroes, all of whom join up for the big battle with Belial at the end.
Mega Monster Battle feels like the Japanese equivalent to Infinity War, despite predating that film by nearly a decade. MMB is a film that was ahead of its time, one that celebrates half a century’s worth of amazing superhero stories. I think the best part of the film comes down to the fact that you don’t even have to watch a lot of Ultraman to properly enjoy it.
To prove this point, I showed this film to a friend who only had minor exposure to Ultraman at the time. Despite not knowing 90% of the characters, he was able to follow the film quite well. There were a couple parts he had to ask questions on, but other than that he was able to easily piece together what was going on and get behind these characters.
Also, the movie has surprisingly good effects wise for a 2009 film. Watching the film in HD is a real trip, since it shows off how amazing the CG and effects were for the time. It’s a shame that more people don’t know about this film, considering how good it is. I won’t lie though, it does have some problems.
For one thing, the fight scenes don’t really match up with classic Ultraman most of the time. Most Ultraman shows and movies often had wrestling-like combat, while this film focuses on more flashy and energetic fights. The fights are still good, but they do lack that level of uniqueness that the series often brings to the table.
I also feel like the stuff revolving around Ultraman Zero felt tacked on, like he could’ve used some more screen-time and development. Regardless, the film is fantastic. It’s one of those films that takes the concept of a “massive superhero crossover” and goes nuts with it, while also doing it in a way that pays homage to over 50 years worth of stories and characters.
Every Ultraman that had been made at that point in time was in this film, even from more obscure films and foreign collaborations. This film knew what it was trying to do and did it. I think that’s extremely commendable and I’m glad the film turned out as great as it did.
Syrup With A Side Of Writing 