Television series
UltraForce
UltraForce is a mid-90s superhero series about a team of superpowered beings fighting to protect Earth from cosmic threats and rogue Ultras. It's campy, earnest, and visually inventive in that distinctly pre-CGI way, with practical effects and Saturday-morning energy applied to prime-time storytelling. For anyone who loves that specific flavor of 90s comic-book adaptation.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy comic-book science fiction from the mid-nineties, earnest about its heroics, and happy with a tidy thirty-minute dose of alien-powered derring-do.
Skip it if you need sleek modern production values or a slow-burn mythology, since this is a dated, one-season package that wears its age openly.
What it asks of you: Thirteen half-hour episodes and a single season make for a light, brisk commitment, the kind you can finish over a couple of evenings without much planning.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Tick1994
A live-action superhero comedy with similar earnest absurdity and colorful costume design. Treats ridiculous premises with complete sincerity while being genuinely funny.
But The humor is broad and occasionally grating. If you can't embrace the theatrical silliness, it'll wear on you fast.
Darkwing Duck1991
A live-action adaptation of a superhero property from roughly the same era, with practical effects, camp value, and a genuine love for its material despite modest budgets.
But It's animated, not live-action. Also aired earlier and has a completely different comedic sensibility.
Power Rangers1993
Team-based superhero action with similar practical effects sensibility, cosmic threats, and unironic earnestness about saving the world. Equally of its moment.
But The formula becomes repetitive quickly. Episodes blur together after a while, and the acting is consistently broad.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from UltraForce
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
RoboCop1987
Both use practical effects and prosthetics to create superhuman beings in a grounded visual world, but Robocop weaponizes that same technology as social commentary rather than adventure.
A superhuman origin story wrapped in practical effects spectacle, but with genuine satirical bite about corporate power and identity. Proves 80s/90s practical-effects superheroics could be genuinely smart.
But It's darkly violent in ways UltraForce isn't. The satire is sharp and often bleak, which is a very different register from earnest team heroics.
More like this (7)
Mortal Kombat1995
Released the same year, adapts source material with similarly earnest commitment to spectacle over logic. Practical effects, ensemble action, and unapologetic genre fun.
But The plot is thin and the dialogue ranges from serviceable to cringe. It's more style than substance, though style is most of what it's selling.
The Mask1994
Jim Carrey vehicle that captures 90s practical-effects comedy-action energy. Colorful, kinetic, and genuinely creative with its premise in ways that feel adjacent to UltraForce's approach.
But The humor is very specific to Jim Carrey's sensibility. If that particular brand of manic doesn't land for you, the whole thing falls apart.
Fantastic Four1994
Animated adaptation of another team-based superhero property from the same era, with the same earnest worldbuilding and ensemble dynamics despite obvious budget constraints.
But It's animated, not live-action. The animation quality is notably lower than Spider-Man's, and the pacing sometimes drags.
The Flash2014
John Wesley Shipp in a live-action superhero series that takes its material seriously despite technical limitations. Practical effects, committed performances, real stakes within genre constraints.
But It only lasted one season and cancellation shows in the final episodes. The pacing is uneven across that single run.
The Sentinel1996
Another team superhero show from immediately after UltraForce's run, sharing DNA in ensemble superheroics and earnest tone. Similar visual sensibility and period charm.
But Even dedicated superhero fans find it forgettable. It doesn't distinguish itself enough to justify seeking out specifically.
Harakiri1962
Both construct complete worlds with their own logic and visual rules; UltraForce asks you to buy cosmic superhero mythology through pure commitment to the bit, just as Harakiri demands you feel the weight of an alien honor code.
A masterpiece of visual composition and thematic depth that uses ritual and costume as language. Proves that commitment to a world's rules creates real emotional weight.
But It's a 1960s Japanese film about a samurai choosing ritual suicide. Nothing about that sounds like fun, and watching it is genuinely difficult.
Ultraman1966
UltraForce draws directly from Ultraman's playbook of practical-effects superhero action and cosmic mythology, but transplants it to American Saturday-morning energy rather than tokusatsu's meditative pacing.
The actual source material DNA: a Japanese tokusatsu series about a superhuman alien protector that invented half of what UltraForce borrows. Practical effects, earnest heroism, creature design that still holds up.
But It's in Japanese with subtitles, 50+ years old, and the pacing is glacial by modern standards. Episodes can feel repetitive if you watch too many in succession.
