The movie begins with Ultraman Dyna and the Guts (Global Unlimited Task Force) Squad using all their high-tech equipment to battle the alien monster Garanda in space. Ultraman Dyna nearly kills the beast, but the sudden appearance of an Earth battleship called the Prometheus results in Garanda getting away. The Prometheus destroys Garanda itself with it’s powerful weaponry. Later on Earth, Asuka (Ultraman Dyna’s human host) and the G.U.T.S. team find themselves in awe at the new Earth spaceship which will make their jobs obsolete. Unknown to everyone, a race of aliens called Monerans have taken control of Dr. Kisaragi, the lead scientist involved in the creation of the Prometheus. This giant battleship morphs into a monstrous robot creation the aliens call Deathfacer. Asuka sneaks away and changes into Ultra Man Dyna to combat this new enemy of peace. Deathfacer has been constructed to defeat Ultraman and after a protracted battle, nearly does so. After destroying the G.U.T.S. base, the Monerans use Dr. Kisaragi to deliver a message of conquest to the Earth. The G.U.T.S. team are able to help free her from the aliens control. After his defeat as Ultraman Dyna. Asuka faces his own identity and self-assurance crisis. On their next encounter, Ultraman Dyna and the G.U.T.S. team are able to disable Deathfacer. Just when Ultraman Dyna celebrates his victory, the alien mothership concentrates it’s firepower on him. The aliens evolve into a gigantic alien squid that proceeds to wreck the city. Next it captures Ultraman Dyna, and imprisons the hero within it’s expansive body. The citizens of Earth are shattered that their hero is vanquished, and most give up hope. Suddenly, a young boy approaches Dr. Kisaragi with a plan to save Ultraman Dyna and the world—by reviving the long-thought-dead warrior, Ultraman Tiga!

ULTRAMAN TIGA AND ULTRAMAN DYNA delivers on the premise of the Ultraman Dyna TV show that inspired it. The movie also wraps up the mythology from the Ultraman Tiga show, and bides farewell to those cast members. The problem is that first time viewers will be terribly confused with the story and characters unfolding before them. So unlike say, X-FILES: FIGHT THE FUTURE which holds its own as a standalone TV show turned movie, ULTRAMAN TIGA AND ULTRAMAN DYNA offers little to the uninitiated other than the eye-candy aspect of the production. One good thing about the plot is that it taps into the ancient Japanese Samurai codes of honor, and details the characters keeping face in front of impossible odds. At one point, the G.U.T.S. teams fights on, against what first appears to be a no-win situation, while the Captain spouts lines against fighting against all hope. The movie does include most of the expected Ultraman mayhem that fans have come to expect—giant monsters on the loose, attacking alien spacecraft, transforming giants and robots, and assorted science fiction weaponry courtesy of the Ultra heroes alien technology. The special effects are a mixture of classic Japanese techniques called suitmation, with digital and optical effects for weapons and explosions. Overall, the effects are enjoyable and believable with a couple key exceptions. First of all, the transformer-like creation Deathfacer is poorly designed looking like a reject from a bad POWER RANGERS episode. The final evolution of the alien beastie is much more convincing. But the creature is so big that the effects technicians could not make it move. It merely sits there and shoots out tentacles to do it’s dirty work. So even though the design is cool, it’s execution is kind of a let-down. The narrative itself is well-paced and the drama does not weigh down the story (except for all the stuff about "become the light"). The only other flaw with ULTRAMAN TIGA AND ULTRAMAN DYNA is the climatic fight which is too quick and lacks tension.

Image Entertainment presents ULTRAMAN TIGA AND ULTRAMAN DYNA in the original widescreen ratio of 1.78.1, with 16x9 enhancement. Image got hold of a flawless source print as there is little to no damage evident. Delineation, depth, and sharpness are perfectly presented allowing the details of the miniature effects work to shine through. The CGI imagery used to supplement the analog special effects mesh together very well, and looks great in the transfer (just don’t expect Industrial Light & Magic quality). The colors are fully robust, and the silver and reds never bleed together. Black level is perfectly calibrated, anchoring the color schemes. No DVD authoring errors and only minimal grain was detected. The truly great thing about this DVD is all the audio options available for all tastes. For purists there is the Japanese language version in Dolby Digital 5.1 (and 2.0) with easy-to-read English subtitles. There is also an English dubbed Dolby Digital 5.1 (and 2.0) track. Both languages offer dialog which is crisp and undistorted, except the English dialog version sounds rather canned. Both soundtracks share the same stereo effects (including explosions, engine sounds, and monster roars) and rousing score. From the Audio Options menu, you can select the Isolated Musical Score in DD 2.0, which is very heroic though a bit repetitive. A nice extra to have if you are a fan (you won’t have to shell out $$$ for the CD soundtrack). The only other extras on the disc are three trailers. An English trailer for ULTRAMAN TIGA AND ULTRAMAN DYNA, and the superior Japanese release trailer. There is also a Japanese trailer for Image’s companion release, ULTRAMAN GAIA: BATTLE IN HYPERSPACE. All trailers are widescreen and the Japanese ones have English subtitles.