Avengers: A Day Unlike Any Other

the title of this final episode of the first season should be very familiar to long time Avengers readers, since it appears in the front of almost every issue.  this episode wraps up the Loki creates the Avengers accidentally storyline in a very satisfying way.  and lots of cool visuals, like the Hulk and Hogun the Grim in a chariot.

Megalo- ON!

there's already a lot of Megaloman on this blog, go search for it, it's easy! this is a clip from the Italian version, which I haven't seen in years. trust me, it was NOT this clear when I first viewed it, though I loved seeing it back then in ANY form.

the Tenth Doctor

now this is closer to what the Doctor should be. David Tennant is a lot lighter than Christopher Eccleston (who did grow on me, but only had one season, so we'll never know what he'd be like later on).  the whole series still seems a lot more ponderous than the original run, but at least there's a lot of humor abounding all over.  which is part of the charm of the show, it was never quite serious in the first run.

Zaborger vs robot monster

this is at the end of an episode, but it's a pretty good measure of the series overall. you get to see good human action and the robots fight as well. Yutaka Daimon has no problem beating on the female villain, Miss Borg. but then she's not quite human, is she?

Avengers: The Fall of Asgard

after the shattering of the Norn Stones, our heroes end up in the various realms of Norse mythology.  since not all of them are up on such studies, more than one has to wonder where they are while trying to stay alive.

Mirror Man vsシャドウモンス

one of Tsuburaya's more obscure heroes, yet this one ran longer than the original Ultraman series. I never liked it as much as say, Fireman or Jumborg Ace, but it's pretty decent in it's own right. here we get to see about ten minutes- almost half an episode- of him fighting a nifty weird monster.

Destroy All Monsters blu-ray

Yes, just got that today.

due to the hoopla and hype surrounding Media Blasters and the rumors, I decided I better get one of these before they go OOP, or get re-released with no extras on them.  best to get my favorite Godzilla movie the way it deserves to be see, and with tons of cool things to watch as well.  usually I don't care much for extras, especially commentaries, but for this movie, well, yeah, the more the better.

Ultraman Great and monsters

even though it's rather lackluster compared to the Japanese Ultras, he's a whirlwind of activity compared to the US Ultra. this is the Japanese theme song to the show. I've got an English version of a theme song on a DVD somewhere, but danged if I remember where. I've never heard it anywhere else.

Slash performance art

 that's Johny Slash, played by the late Merritt Butrick.  he was "new wave, not punk. totally different head. totally."  I'm not even sure what episode this is from, just that he was one of the fun parts of the show Square Pegs.  it's noted more today as the first starring vehicle for whatsername, but I remember it for showing several different bands like the Waitresses and Devo.

Battle Fever J!

the first Super Sentai, which is also the last time the five heroes wore different costumes. naturally, Battle Robo is the first sentai robot, and it's really one of the most impressive one that Toei has ever done.

s-s-s-s-strange change!

this is one of my favorite toys of all time.  I had one growing up, though it was acquired second hand, and I only had about four or five of the cubes.  I didn't know there were supposed to be 16 cubes of creatures.

Black and RX... together!

since I'm one of the few people who like RX more than Black, and really enjoyed Decade, I love this. It's Minami Kotaro teaming up with himself. how cool is that? sure, it sort of happened in a movie, but this time... well, just watch.

Ultraman 80 vs monsters

a nice compilation of clips. the monsters in Ultraman 80 were a definite upgrade in quality and looks from the latter 70s shows, and 80 himself was a great fighter, very athletic. it looks like actual martial arts were involved.

5. The Ghost Fleet From Hell

 Galactor wants to conquer the seven seas before it conquers the planet.  to do this they use the old "ghost ship" routine in the Graveyard of Ships.

Akumaizer 3 sword battle!

this is one cool show, with a twist- our heroes are demons, and they use a lot of sword play to battle their foes. they also have a really cool ship to fly about in. I can't describe it as well as it deserves.

Ultraman ukelele style

this was so much fun I had to find the album it came from. I am glad that I did, as it's a lot of fun. it covers several Ultra songs from the first six series, and then a few from Booska as well, which are also really good. I thought I had written about this before, but it appears I have not.

The Man from Button Willow (1965)

I'd never heard of this movie before, but as it's an animated western, and also a story about the first "secret agent", Justin Eagle (voiced by Dale Robertson).  this is a true to life story... sort of.  apparently Button Willow isn't in the mountains at all, but not many people in the rest of the country would know that.  I can't tell who did the animation, though it reminds me of the Hanna-Barbera style.  it's got a charm to it though, clean and bright, even if not fully animated.  there are some interesting shots sprinkled though out the movie. the animation for the horses is quite good, and that's not easy to pull off, since we all know how horses are supposed to look and move.

Kikaida 01 and Bijinda

a nice set of action clips set to the opening theme song for Kikaida 01. we also get to see the lovely Etsuko Shihomi showing off her moves as well. it's not quite as good as the original series, but it's a lot of fun.

Red Baron

here's a nice action clip from the great show "Super Robot Red Baron". this show is available on DVD here in the states, complete with English subtitles. it's available rather cheaply, so there's no excuse for you not having it in your collection to enjoy.

Spectreman vs space apes

I do have an affinity for Spectreman. I played a mind-controlled slave in a stage show battling him way back in the year 2000. someday I will watch the entire series. someday.

this little clip makes it seem so exciting. I think I'd like the show more now than I did before. if you look closely, you will see the stop-motion monster he fights. there's a few quick shots.

Ultraman Taro vs monsters

ah, Ultraman Taro. there's just no describing this series properly, as it's very seriously presented, but the monsters tend to be rather silly. there are a few really cool monsters, but for the most part even the revived monster, like Mephilas don't quite look as impressive as the first time around. Taro was ostensibly the most powerful Ultra for many years, as seen in "The Ultraman Story".

Happy Birthday Ted DiBiase

who knew Rachel Maddow was a wrasslin' fan? since she's from the northeast, she probably only knew Ted as the truly evil "Million Dollar Man" but those of us really in the know are way more familiar with his earlier stuff. Ted turns 58 today.

Green Lantern... the end

as we last left Hal, he had been defeated by Hector Hammond and had run away, being scared and all.  the obligatory pep talk takes place, and he goes back and has a confrontation with Hector. 

Garmin vs Mapasaurus

from 2007. I would buy one of these GPS systems just because of this commercial. there's several different versions out there, including a full length song version but I liked this one the most.  the song got a bit too annoying after a minute.

Demon Hunter Mitsurgi

this is a cool show. it only lasted only 12 episodes, but used stop-motion for a lot of the monsters. it's not great animation, more like a Rankin-Bass type than even "Land of the Lost" but it's still really cool they tried something different.

Ultraman Leo fights monsters!

here's a nice montage of battle set to Leo's theme music. just by watching this much you can tell Leo is the most violent of Ultra shows. it's also very dramatic, with some terrible things happening to the MAC towards the end. this is a great theme song.

"Bold Beginnings"

this really is the best part of the cartoon.  there's just no way anything that follows could be nearly as great.

Ironman Tiger 7 vs mud monster

OK, so that's probably not it's name, but that's sort of what he looks like. I've written about Tiger 7 before, but the video has been removed. so here's a new one for your viewing pleasure!

Green Lantern (continued)

or the part in which we see all sorts of training, various villains, powers, duels and otherwise.  in other words, a lot of padding.  here we meet Amanda Waller, looking far better than I've ever seen her, but acting pretty much the same.  that skinny guy is Hector Hammond.  why can't anyone ever be clean cut?  Hector is a decent villain, but definitely not first tier.  and why do all superhero movies want to have more than one villain per episode?

Amazon Rider vs Sea Anemone

my favorite Rider, and the bloodiest! all subtitled for your viewing pleasure! here he takes on a weird and wonderful kaijin from Gedon. we also get a nice long version of the end theme song, and it's a musical treat as well. the opening and end credits are included in this nice little clip.

JLA- The Brave and The Bold

we are introduced to Gorilla City in the preview.  anyone who has read old Green Lantern or Flash comics knows who is going to be the villain.  it's Gorilla Grodd, or just Grodd these days.  he has escaped and Solovar is after him.

Ultraman vs Antlar

this is one great monster that took forever to be revived. a good story as well, and a great battle. Ultraman's spacium beam doesn't have any effect on Antlar, which is kind of cool. the Science Patrol helps defeat the monster.

Monsters on the Prowl

fun!

I used to have a bigger copy of this set- this one, plus two more for the rest of the week.  how about a lot of Gamera in one week?  this would still be must watch TV in my house, despite all the DVDs out now.  there's just something about the anticipation of watching a movie, something that's lost these days.

I wish I knew exactly when this was airing.  we didn't get a Gamera week when I was growing up.  It had to be in the 80s, since Gamera: Super Monster (1980) wasn't released in this country til 2 or 3 years after it's Japanese theatrical run.  it was at least '84 when it aired in Colorado.

タイガージョー 対 ライオン丸 第2回目対決

Kaiketsu Lion Maru vs Tiger Joe, one of the main plots of the series. our hero and his sidekicks battle a vast array of monsters, but Tiger Joe is not quite one of them. this is the first time I've used some Japanese characters in the title of a post for this blog.

Ultraman Ace vs monsters

a lovely montage set to the full length Ultraman Ace theme song. you get to see a wide variety of monsters and aliens, as well as the fighting techniques Ace uses to battle said menaces. some of the monster here are a bit sillier than what has gone before, but there are quite a few well designed ones.

Tiga 5. Day of the Monster

the carcass of a huge monster has washed ashore.  it stinks, so GUTS has been assigned to take it out to sea and destroy it.  the smell has caused some people to be hospitalized, so the locals want the monster gone gone gone from the beach.

there is mention of pollution, but destroying it out in the ocean doesn't seem to bother GUTS.  this being an Ultraman episode, you kind of know what's going to happen when they try to move it.

Kikaida vs Black Rhino

here's a montage of fight scenes set to the great theme song from Kikaida. our hero battles the evil Dark Destructiod with many of his powers on display. it's a close call, but he eventually triumphs over the the robot.

Super Giant Aquaman

thanks to Mr. Owari, I got this comic book again, after many many years of not having it.  I am not sure why I bought it in the first place, as I don't remember being a huge Aquaman fan, but perhaps it was a gift.  it's only fitting now that I received it as a gift again.

anyway, I literally read the thing to pieces.  lost the covers, then several of the front and back pages.  I think eventually it disintegrated and receded from the pages of my mind.  here and there I would remember bits of the Aquagirl story (the purple eyes are very memorable), but most of the stories I forgot completely, much like the book itself.

Giant Robot vs Dragon, Ninja Monster

Johnny Sokko is a great show. it's missing a legit DVD release over here, and MGM could do it up right. they were going to offer it for a burn on demand, but it hasn't happened yet. bootlegs abound though, and you can buy the whole series on itunes, which is cool.

Kamen Rider V3 vs. Machine Gun Snake

here's an excellent battle between Kamen Rider V3 and one deadly snake kaijin. Destron made some great looking monsters for the Riders to battle, that's for sure. there's more action in this two and a half minute clip than in many shows post 1985.

Goldar vs Birdaurus

this comes from episode #7 of the Space Giants. it's the one that had the incomplete English track, so it switches to Japanese for a time. Rodak's minion Birdaurus has injured Goldar, and Silvar is sent to rescue him.

The Amazing Japanese Spider-man

I was going to go with an older superhero, but since I've been watching the show (gotta love Marvel for subtitling Spiderman and making available online) I wanted to see if I could find a montage for it.  and boy did I ever find one.

Ultraseven vs. Alien Metron

this is the final battle from episode 8 of Ultra Seven. it looks amazing, and in recent years a series or two has paid homage to it in a similarly shot manner. sometimes it's a bit much, but mostly it works well. there are a lot of great shots and effects on display here, but the style really is the what you want to watch here. good thing it helps the story instead of making you forget what's going on.

JAKQ Final Battle!

JAKQ is probably my favorite Sentai, as it's so very different from everything that followed for several years. and the suits had a similar look, but they all were different.

Terror on Route 87

this is one of my least favorite episode of Ultraman.  not because it's boring and dull, but because of the story.  strange lights appear at a park in Japan, and of course, the Science Patrol is immediately sent to investigate.

Green Lantern... 30 minutes in...

well, the movie is decent so far, despite the over abundance of CG imagery.  which is to be expected in a movie like this, thought I would like to see something real here and there.  it starts out with narration of the Green Lantern Corp and how it was founded.  why bother?  just have Abin Sur show up with the ring and go from there.  have us find out along with Hal.

Super 6 intro

this is a cartoon I remembered more from having a coloring book more than from seeing it on TV. and I barely remember the coloring book now. when I finally saw it I was not so impressed, though I did enjoy it for what it was. the theme song is right cool.it's by Gary Lewis & the Playboys.

The Avengers: "This Hostage Earth"

Hank quits the Avengers (anyone who knows the comics knows how this will really turn out) and the Masters of Evil) manage to separate the Avengers so they can destroy them.  and set into motion the plans of the Enchantress and/or Zemo.

Riders Stronger, X, Amazon vs Delzer Army

three of the coolest Kamen Riders battle Delzer army officers. this is a really cool battle scene, and a great way to start off the new year, with the defeat of evil! Stronger and Amazon are two of my favorite Riders, and I like X quite a bit as well. this is a really great scene, which shows off some nifty fight choreography, which proves you don't have to have wires or CG to be exciting.