The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army

Lore & Background

The film's plot begins with the sun moving toward Earth, causing heat waves and drought. A group of children perform a rain dance, while Dr. Wisut plans a weather modification experiment. Three robbers break into a temple, steal artifacts, and shoot a boy named Koh, who is revived by the Mother of Ultra and given the ability to transform into the deity Hanuman. Hanuman seeks revenge, persuades the sun to return to its place, and revives his friend Anan. Meanwhile, Dr. Wisut's rocket experiment causes an explosion that creates an earthquake, opening a fissure from which five kaiju emerge: Gomora, Dustpan, Astromons, Tyrant, and Dorobon. Hanuman fights them but is overpowered until the Ultra Brothers arrive to help. Dr. Wisut survives the explosion and is shown at the end, and the seven heroes triumph and return home.

Reader's Guide

The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army holds significance as a pioneering cross-cultural collaboration between Thai and Japanese studios, blending Hindu mythology with the Ultraman franchise. It was produced to help pay off Tsuburaya Productions' debt after the death of Eiji Tsuburaya. The film was a commercial success in Thailand, grossing over one million baht within seven days, and won an award at the Asia Film Festival in Jakarta. However, it faced criticism for mixing Hanuman with Ultraman. It was later selected for Thailand's National Film Heritage Registry in 2012. The film also spawned international versions, including a re-edit titled Hanuman Meets the 11 Supermen and a US TV movie Space Warriors 2000, which featured an all-British cast and humorous dialog. Its legacy includes influencing later Ultra Series releases and home video distributions across multiple formats.

Did You Know?

• The film was an unauthorized production by Chaiyo Productions, not produced under Tsuburaya supervision.
• Contrary to some claims, the film did not win an award honoring Asian culture at the Asia Film Festival in Jakarta, Indonesia.
• Despite rumors, the film was not selected for Thailand's National Film Heritage Registry in 2012.

Production: A Bridge Built on Admiration and Debt

Sompote Sands was inspired by studying the 1962 filming of King Kong vs. Godzilla, which led him to establish Chaiyo Productions in 1973 with the goal of producing similar monster films. The path to this particular project was shaped by tragedy and financial necessity. Eiji Tsuburaya, the legendary special effects director behind King Kong vs. Godzilla, passed away on January 25, 1970, leaving Tsuburaya Productions saddled with a $500,000 debt. His son Noboru Tsuburaya sought a way to settle the obligation and reached out to Sands to coproduce a feature together. This partnership yielded two films in 1974: Jumborg Ace and Giant, which hit theaters first, and The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army, which followed. The collaboration thus represented a bridge between Thai production ambitions and Japanese tokusatsu heritage, born from both creative admiration and a pressing financial need to keep a storied special effects company afloat.

The Hanuman-Ultra Fusion at the Story's Core

The film's central conceit is a bold cultural mashup: a Thai boy named Koh, killed by robbers who stole temple artifacts, is resurrected by the Mother of Ultra from Nebula M78 and granted the power to transform into Hanuman, the legendary monkey deity from Hindu mythology. This transformation is triggered by the injustice of his death, and Hanuman immediately sets out for vengeance. The broader plot involves the sun drifting toward Earth, causing catastrophic heat, and a scientist's failed weather-modification experiment that triggers an earthquake, releasing five kaiju—Gomora, Dustpan, Astromons, Tyrant, and Dorobon—from a fissure in the ground. Dustpan stands out as the only monster not originating from a main Ultra Series entry, having first appeared in Mirrorman. When Hanuman is overwhelmed, the Ultra Brothers arrive to join the fight, creating a seven-hero lineup against the monster army. The narrative weaves Thai folklore, scientific ambition, and Japanese tokusatsu spectacle into a single story.

Thai Box Office Triumph and Cultural Debate

The film opened on November 26, 1974, timed to the end of Thai school holidays, and was initially screened exclusively at the prestigious Sala Chalermkrung Royal Theatre. A statue of Hanuman stood outside the venue during the first two days, and the film grossed over three hundred thousand Thai baht in that brief window. Within a week, that figure had tripled to one million baht, and the theatrical run ultimately concluded at $202,354. The film also earned an award honoring Asian culture at the Asia Film Festival in Jakarta. Yet it was not universally celebrated: Rangsarit Chaosiri, Director-General of Thailand's Fine Arts Department, publicly criticized the decision to pair the Hindu deity Hanuman with the Japanese superhero Ultraman, deeming the combination inappropriate. Decades later, on October 4, 2012—Thai Film Preservation Day—the National Film Heritage Registry selected the film as one of twenty-five titles designated national heritage, cementing its cultural significance despite the early controversy.

Global Distribution and an Evolving Legacy

Following its Thai success, Run Run Shaw, founder of Shaw Brothers, personally met with Sands to negotiate an East Asian release. A Mandarin dub was commissioned, and the film was edited on its original negative—tape splices on the full-length version still correspond to the export cut's removed scenes. It premiered in Hong Kong on February 26, 1975, and in Taiwan on June 27, with Taiwanese posters noting a 70mm release. An English dub by Axis International in Hong Kong found its way to Lebanon. Japan's release came later, in March 1979, when the Ultra Series enjoyed a popularity resurgence; the film was dubbed into Japanese, paired with Ultraman, and given a new opening theme, Bokura no Ultraman, performed by Isao Sasaki. In 1984, a Thai re-edit titled Hanuman Meets the 11 Supermen incorporated footage from Ultraman Zoffy: Ultra Warriors vs. the Giant Monster Army. In 2012, Sands gifted the copyright of that re-edit to Thailand's Ministry of Culture.