Monster Theater: The Son of Kong (1933)

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack. Written by Ruth Rose. Starring Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher, John Marston.

The Son of Kong is a semi-forgotten film. Nobody writes much about it. People don’t watch King Kong and then immediately think, “Hey, now let’s watch Son of Kong.” Yet it’s a direct sequel, made by most of the same crew, with several returning cast members. It followed fast on the heels of the original, reaching theaters a mere six months later. Why isn’t it better known to the public?

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 29: Memory of a Pale Night

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Masaki Harada. Written by Keiichi Hasegawa. Airdate March 22, 1997.

Shinjoh is going on an important test flight, so Daigo is stuck taking Shinjoh’s sister Mayumi to see a show from current pop sensation, Maya Cruz. (It’s not a date, he insists, making sure Rena hears this.) Daigo admits that he doesn’t even know who this Maya Cruz is, which shocks Horii, a Cruz superfan. Of course Horii is a superfan of the big pop star of the moment. Horii’s basically twelve years old and we love him for that. 

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Ultraseven Ep. 35: Terror on the Moon

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Toshitsugu Suzuki. Written by Shinichi Ichikawa. Airdate June 2, 1968.

Captain Kiriyama’s close friend in the Terran Defense Force, Kurata (Hiroshi Minami), makes his second appearance on Ultraseven after his introduction in “The Man Who Came From V3.” That story put him at odds with Kiriyama in an ethical bind over the best way to handle an alien menace. This episode has the two friends working as a team from the start as they head into space to confront the consequences of one of their past missions. 

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Ultraman Ginga Ep. 9: The Jet Black Ultra Brothers

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Yoshikazu Ishii. Written by Kenichi Araki. Airdate Dec. 4, 2013.

The Ultraman Ginga team, aware they have only a few episodes remaining, goes all-out with an action-crammed half hour. Or as all-out as the budget permits. They also pack in some silly comedy and a few key revelations to set up the finale. It’s a scattershot episode, with six different giant combatants and all the major characters jostling for screen time, but it’s fast-moving and lively. I prefer that to some of the drab earlier outings.

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Ultraman Tiga Ep. 28: One Vanishing Moment

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed and Written by Kyota Kawasaki. Airdate March 15, 1997.

We start big. We start explosive. GUTS and TPC’s ground forces are waging a furious battle against giant monster Jobarieh. The action is pitched on a large scale, with the tanks and GUTS Wings in full assault mode. They manage to drive Jobarieh into a temporary stasis, which is good news, because they have another major operation that’s just about to go into action.

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Ultraseven Ep. 34: The Vanishing City

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate May 26, 1968.

Several Ultraseven episodes have a tricky time balancing the mysterious science-fiction stories of its original premise with the spectacle of kaiju fights and space duels that viewers expect from something titled “Ultra.” Some episodes split the difference and go for mood in the first half, big action in the second. “The Vanishing City” executes one of the better mergers of Ultra Q eerie SF mystery and Ultraman supersized action. The tone of weirdness is consistent, even when the climax is Seven pursuing a roly-poly hedgehog monster through the labyrinthine streets of an empty city stolen by aliens who need real estate.

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Ultraman Ginga Ep. 8: The Stolen Ginga Spark

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Yoshikazu Ishii. Written by Keiichi Hasegawa. Airdate Nov. 27, 2013.

Picking up where the previous episode left off, Misuzu’s father, Seiichiro Isurugi (Hironobu Nomura), shows up on the school grounds, accompanied by two people from Ichinotani Construction. Isurugi-San has plans to demolish the elementary school and build a resort complex.

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Ultraman Ep. 39: Farewell, Ultraman

~ Ryan Harvey

Directed by Hajime Tsuburaya. Written by Tetsuo Kinjo. Airdate April 9, 1967.

Ultra Q didn’t have a conclusion and wasn’t built to have one. Ultraman, however, was designed from the start to reach a finale. It’s since become a tradition for Ultra shows to have a big close-out episode that ends the saga of the current Ultra warrior’s sojourn on Earth. “Farewell, Ultraman” is not the greatest of these finales, but the creative team gets plenty right with an epic story that gives Ultraman and the Science Special Search Party fitting conclusions. The episode also introduces one of the most spectacular continuing adversaries of the franchise, Space Dinosaur Zetton, which in no way resembles a dinosaur.

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