Photo © Jay Hackett. Jay Hackett is an Australian actor whose path crossed with Ultraman in the early 1990s. In Ultraman: Towards the Future (1992), Mr. Hackett appears in three episodes of the series ( "Signs of Life," "The Hibernator," and "Blast from the Past") as astronaut Stanley Haggard, who gets taken over by the … Continue reading A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH ULTRAMAN IN THE OUTBACK! Jay Hackett on Acting in ‘Ultraman: Towards the Future’!
Ultraman
THE MASTERFUL MAKER OF MONSTER BEAMS! Sadao Iizuka on His Early Life and Career at Toho!
Sadao Iizuka in December 2020. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on December 26, 1934, Sadao Iizuka joined Toho Studios in 1954 during the production of the original Godzilla, working as an assistant in the tokusatsu art department. Mr. Iizuka stayed at Toho for many years thereafter, eventually pioneering Toho's trademark optical effects that would become … Continue reading THE MASTERFUL MAKER OF MONSTER BEAMS! Sadao Iizuka on His Early Life and Career at Toho!
ULTRAMAN OUT WEST! Terry Larsen on Scripting the Groundbreaking Tokusatsu Series ‘Ultraman: Towards the Future’!
Terry Larsen poses with actress Grace Parr, who played Kim Shaomin on Ultraman: Towards the Future. Photo © Terry Larsen. Terry Larsen, a native of Sydney, Australia, wrote all 13 episodes of Tsuburaya Productions’ first English-language Ultra-series, Ultraman: Towards the Future (1992). Prior to his work on Ultraman, Mr. Larsen wrote “Tarflowers,” an hour-long TV … Continue reading ULTRAMAN OUT WEST! Terry Larsen on Scripting the Groundbreaking Tokusatsu Series ‘Ultraman: Towards the Future’!
RUMINATIONS ON DIRECTING HEROES FROM THE STARS! Eizo Yamagiwa Looks Back on a Varied Career That Took Him from Starman to Ultraman!
Eizo Yamagiwa in November 2020. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on July 22, 1932, Eizo Yamagiwa began his career in the film industry at Shintoho in the mid-1950s as an assistant director. During his time at the studio, he worked on the seventh entry in the Starman film series, Super Giant: The Space Mutant Appears … Continue reading RUMINATIONS ON DIRECTING HEROES FROM THE STARS! Eizo Yamagiwa Looks Back on a Varied Career That Took Him from Starman to Ultraman!
THROUGH THE LENS OF TOKUSATSU! Cinematographer Masao Nakabori Goes Behind the Scenes of the Ultra-Series!
Masao Nakabori in September 2019. Photo © Brett Homenick. Born on February 12, 1943, in Nippori, Arakawa City, Tokyo, Masao Nakabori joined Tsuburaya Productions in the mid-1960s and became a cinematographer on some of Japanese television's best special effects series. Among his tokusatsu credits are Ultraman (1966-67), Ultra Seven (1967-68), Operation: Mystery! (1968-69), Silver Kamen … Continue reading THROUGH THE LENS OF TOKUSATSU! Cinematographer Masao Nakabori Goes Behind the Scenes of the Ultra-Series!
ULTRAMAN DOWN UNDER! A Candid Conversation with Steve Rosewell about ‘Ultraman: Towards the Future’!
Steve Rosewell operates the Gigasaurus puppet on Ultraman: Towards the Future. Photo © Corrie Ancone. Ultraman: Towards the Future (1992) made history as the first Western production of an Ultra-series. Steve Rosewell was there, and he helped make some of the series’ most memorable kaiju come to life. A few years after completing his work on … Continue reading ULTRAMAN DOWN UNDER! A Candid Conversation with Steve Rosewell about ‘Ultraman: Towards the Future’!
ULTRAMAN RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA! Lewis Morley on His SFX Contributions to ‘Ultraman Zearth’!
Lewis Morley poses with his robot collection and a prototype soft vinyl toy he is working on, based on his own comic book character. Photo © Lewis Morley. While most fans of Tsuburaya Productions are well aware of the made-in-Australia Ultra-series Ultraman: Towards the Future (1992), few know that, just a few years after that … Continue reading ULTRAMAN RETURNS TO AUSTRALIA! Lewis Morley on His SFX Contributions to ‘Ultraman Zearth’!
AGE OF DAMON! ‘Oriental Cinema’ Editor Damon Foster on His Fascinating Journey from Film Critic to Filmmaker!
Damon Foster poses with the remnants of Ryosaku Takayama's original Ragon mask used in the TV series Ultraman in 1985. Photo © Damon Foster. Damon Foster, the outspoken editor of Oriental Cinema magazine, has never been at a loss for words, and this Q&A with tokusatsu fandom's resident independent-filmmaking iconoclast is certainly no exception. In … Continue reading AGE OF DAMON! ‘Oriental Cinema’ Editor Damon Foster on His Fascinating Journey from Film Critic to Filmmaker!
FROM MONSTER KID TO MONSTER MAKER! Model Maker Norman Yeend on Living the Dream on the Set of ‘Ultraman’!
Photo © Norman Yeend. In 1992, Ultraman flew back into American homes when the series Ultraman: Towards the Future debuted on syndicated television in January of that year. For many years, Ultraman: Towards the Future would become the Ultra-series that a generation of American tokusatsu fans would know best. Model maker Norman Yeend was there, breathing life … Continue reading FROM MONSTER KID TO MONSTER MAKER! Model Maker Norman Yeend on Living the Dream on the Set of ‘Ultraman’!
GOING TO SEE GODZILLA! Yoshinobu Kaneko Recounts His Experiences as a Young Actor in the Showa Era!
Yoshinobu Kaneko in May 2013. Photo © Brett Homenick. Former child actor Yoshinobu Kaneko is best known to Western monster movie fans as the young boy in King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962) who begs his mother to go see Godzilla, only to be told that they're not going to the zoo. In Japan, however, Mr. … Continue reading GOING TO SEE GODZILLA! Yoshinobu Kaneko Recounts His Experiences as a Young Actor in the Showa Era!
Vantage Point Interviews 