Ultraman: A Special Effects Fantasy Series

The sequences of Ultraman battling monsters were so expensive to film, that the producers needed a way to limit the scenes to only a few minutes for each episode. The solution was to give the character the weakness that he can not survive in his true self for more than roughly three minutes before he runs out of energy. This is marked with his warning chest light, called the Colortimer, which begins to blink with increasing speed as his energy runs out.

During the show's opening credits, black silhouettes of the show's various characters (Ultraman, some of the show's monsters, and the Science Patrol logo) are shown against a colorful smoky background. In the US version, most of the silhouettes are featured, sans credits.

Alternate-language version of Ultraman (1966)