Well if sentai 2015's theme is Ninja's or cars then Toqger is sort of screwed https://twitter.com/Odot92/status/503685048193646592 https://twitter.com/Odot92/status/503685831257628672 https://twitter.com/Odot92/status/503686988445147136 https://twitter.com/Odot92/status/503687662952140800 O.92 is an admin over at RangerCrew. He's been reliable in the past It's a toss up on whether Toqger MIGHT be after DinoCharge or skipped
I decided to rewatch Turbo for the first time since it was on the air, and have to say that, despite the logic holes in it, the Turbo movie is still as good now, story-wise, as it was upon its initial release, and does a really nice job of 'setting the table', as it were, for the actual season itself. Two sequences stand out in particular for me as better than I remember them being: 1) the Rangers transitioning to the Turbo powers 2) Justin catching up to them and revealing that he's their new teammate Even without a full explanation as to why a transition is necessary, the way the Rangers take on the Turbo powers isn't as clunky as I remembered it being, and I liked the way Zordon presented them with their new Zords and outlined their mission and the way that the Turbo Keys and Zords would help them succeed in said mission. Justin's enthusiasm is somewhat cheesy, but the way the veteran Rangers react to his arrival and revelation helps offset that cheesiness, and I really liked and can appreciate the conversation he has with Katherine on the Ghost Galleon, which feeds directly into the first chance to showcase why Zordon accepted Justin as a Ranger courtesy of the PutriPod battle. Even though she ultimately wouldn't return to it for a while, Hilary Shepard Turner was clearly having fun with the role of Divatox, who's actually a lot more cunning right from the start than I think she's perceived as being. I really like the first Morphing sequence a lot (it's just flashy enough to look cool, but simplistic enough that it doesn't feel overly drawn out), and kind of wish it hadn't been redesigned later on in the season itself (post-Passing the Torch). Another thing I liked about the team's first group Morph is the way Justin initially does the wrong movement; it's a nice bit of subtle humor and 'lampshading'. I wish a bit more had been made of Jason and Kimberly being turned evil, because the scene where their eyes glow red and the break their shackles is pretty awesome, as is their subsequent fight against the Rangers. Tommy taking his helmet off and tryin to get Kimberly to recognize him is a nice bit of characterization consistency that I don't think I fully appreciated the first time I watched the film, and really adds some nice layers to the whole Temple sequence. Words cannot describe how awesome Divatox using Elgar as her sacrifice is, and I find it hilariously and deliciously ironic that, for all her talk about purity, it's evil that ultimately wakes Maligore up. I really wish they had used the Turbo Megazord transformation sequence later used in the season itself, as well as shot the battle footage of it fighting Maligore the same way they did in the season itself, because the way things happen in the movie is kind of boring. All in all, the movie is pretty awesome, and, as noted before, a really great way to start off the Turbo season and storyline, with my only real complaint being that we don't see Elgar resurface (that's really neither here nor there, though). Shift into Turbo is up next for me, and I should have thoughts on it posted soon.
I don't remember much of the show except that I liked Kimberly (Pink Ranger) the best. They should release the DVDs.
I just finished all 3 parts of Shift into Turbo, and have to say that, story-wise, it really is great and is a really nice follow-up to the Turbo movie. Carol Hoyt does a great job of filling in for Hilary and retaining the character's goofiness and over-the-top mannerisms while simultaneously choosing to emphasize her more menacing qualities, and the character's plans with the detonator and attempting to close the wormhole were actually quite clever even in their failure. Her reaction to Dimitria's pending and eventual arrival was also great. Speaking of Dimitria, I've always really liked her and Turbo-Era Alpha 6, and love the manner in which they were introduced. I touched on this in my comments on the Turbo movie, but I really like the Turbo Megazord transformation sequence introduced in Part 3 of the episode, preferring it greatly over what we saw in the film due to its much faster and exciting pace. I've always thought Bulk and Skull being turned into chimps was a clever idea in and of itself, but the way that it happens really helps to showcase just how formidable and competent Elgar really is while also setting up a chance for some nice goofy humor from him revolving around the size of the Angel Grove Energy Center. Although the 'common wisdom' is that Tommy's interest in car racing 'comes out of nowhere', it really doesn't, being that it's an extension of character interests we saw briefly in MMPR and Zeo. The one clunky thing about Shift into Turbo is the bit where Tommy pulls out a Zord manual, but it's not big enough of a gaffe to ruin what is otherwise a really strong 3-part story that, as noted, serves as a really nice follow-up to the Turbo movie as well as a nice setup for the Turbo season itself.
Hilary Shepherd Turner was a much funnier, sexier Divatox than Carol Hoyt. And Demetria is disappointing because they set up this whole arc about her and Divatox being twins and then drop it after Divatox is recast. (Or retrocast, since they go back to the original actress.) And chimp Bulk & Skull were a terrible idea.
@Christopher and Kelthaz: To each their own. As far as the Dimitria/Divatox thing goes, though, it was dropped due to a 'regime change' behind the scenes, not because Hilary returned to the role of Divatox, but, in spite of that, I've always liked the idea they were setting up enough that I don't hold it against the season that it was never resolved.
I marathoned 3 episodes of Turbo (Shadow Rangers, Transmission Impossible, and Rally Ranger) yesterday and today, so I'm back with thoughts on all 3. I had never seen Shadow Rangers prior to watching it (it's one of the few Turbo episodes I never saw during the season's initial airing, with Rally Ranger being another), and I really enjoyed it, to the point that I'd say it's one of the better-written episodes in the franchise. There's this perception out there that Divatox was more bumbling than cunning, but this episode cuts against that perception because her scheme with the Chromite and his 'refracto-detonator' was actually rather devious and well-planned. Speaking of the Chromite, I really liked him as an MotW, particularly since he provided the catalyst for one of the episode's cooler moments, which was the Rangers getting manhandled by their Shadow counterparts. Another aspect of the episode I enjoyed was the way that the writers directly addressed the differences between Dimitria and Zordon. In his History of Power Rangers retrospective on Turbo, Linkara complained about Dimitria's quirk of only speaking in questions and not just handing the Rangers straight-up answers, but I personally have always found that to be rather neat, and therefore consequently liked the way that the writers used it to give Tommy a tiny bit of character growth by having him express frustration with it but then realize the value of figuring things out for yourself (it's one of the few traits that Dino Thunder later got right with his character). Transmission Impossible does mark the introduction of the (as mentioned above) unresolved subplot of Dimitria and Divatox possibly being sisters, but it also serves as an early example of the writers trying to embrace the comedic nature of the Carranger source footage and balance it with a more serious story arc, and while they didn't entirely succeed, I do applaud the effort, primarily because of the way the Rangers react when they find out that the rather goofy creature they'd been fighting with for control of a detonator was a mutated Visceron. The episode also gives us a nice, albeit short, look into Tanya's job as a DJ, which is also a plus. Rally Ranger is, as noted above, another Turbo episode that I had missed during its initial run, and it's actually another one of the season's better episodes. Justin got some nice focus that didn't feel clunky, and we also got a rather nice - if comedic - battle between the Rangers and Porto (who was actually rather effective against them). I do have to question why the Rangers didn't bother calling their Zords and instead tried to take on Porto using other means, but it made for a rather refreshing change of pace, and also provided us with our first instance of their sidearms being named and another use of the Turbo R.A.M., which we hadn't seen in a few episodes.
Super Megaforce returned today with "Power of Six," in which Orion (who just got here, because these seasons are ridiculously short) gets his "Gold Mode" power-up that gives him the combined powers of all 15 "Sixth Rangers" -- including some borderline characters like Magna Defender, Solaris Knight, and the still-AWOL Robo Knight, and of course excluding the Titanium Ranger because he didn't exist in the Sentai. Not to mention two different incarnations of Tommy, the Green Ranger and White Ranger. And really, if he can combine all their powers at once, are the other Rangers even necessary? Storywise, Jake's rivalry with Orion was handled okay, but that montage with Orion at the school at the beginning was just strange. In terms of Legendary Modes, we got a couple of minutes of RPM, and Jake briefly became Green Flash from Flashman, a power set we briefly saw on the Pink Ranger in an earlier episode. He even had an in-joke line about the new power being "flashy." Not much else to say, except it suddenly struck me how much Prince Vekar reminds me of King Louis XIII in the BBC's The Musketeers. They're both youthful, self-indulgent monarchs who are the only ones in the room who don't realize how clueless and ineffectual they are. I guess that means Damaras would be his Cardinal Richilieu.
I've now watched up through Weight and See, and I really didn't notice many of the issues that I remember picking up on the first time I watched the episodes. There IS a tiny bit of clunkiness when it comes to Built for Speed's 50s stunt show plot, Kat working with Justin on his homework in Glyph Hanger (and being concerned about him doing his homework in The Whole Lie), and Porto feeling unappreciated and deciding to go on a rampage in Rally Racer (BTW, in case anyone's interested, I hit on a workaround for said clunkiness that I plan on using should I choose to watch the season again in the future, which is to use the following viewing order for the first 13 episodes of the season: Turbo Movie - Shift into Turbo - Shadow Rangers - Bicycle Built for the Blues - Transmission Impossible - Alarmed and Dangerous - The Whole Lie - Glyph Hanger - Built for Speed - Weight and See - Rally Ranger), but, otherwise, I found myself enjoying the first dozen episodes of the season far more than I remembered. Before I move forward with reviews of the remaining episodes in Turbo's first half, I'd like to take a moment to list my favorite episodes so far: Turbo Movie Shift into Turbo Shadow Rangers Bicycle Built for the Blues The Whole Lie (despite the above-mentioned clunkiness) Glyph Hanger Weight and See
This week's Super Megaforce episode, with the team chasing after an amnesiac Tensou, was kind of fun. But they really aren't trying anymore to pass the setting off as America convincingly. The bus had its passenger doors on the left and was driving on the left, making it clear that it wasn't in the US; and the shot of the Q-Rex Megazord launching into space to strike at the asteroid clearly showed it rising up from Japan. Oops! Also, um, Rangers, if there's A) a giant monster of the type you take out with little difficulty on a weekly basis and B) an asteroid within minutes of striking the Earth and wiping out all life, you should tackle the asteroid first. Not to mention that breaking it into a bunch of little pieces wouldn't actually save the Earth, because then you've just got a shotgun blast hitting the Earth rather than a rifle round. It might even do more damage that way.
As soon as Zordon's back is turned (so to speak) the "never escalate a battle" rule goes out the window. First in "Green with Evil" part 02, with calling the Megazord to fight Tommy and again in this episode with the Chromite
Power Rangers the Movie figures - more accurate looking ones http://www.orendsrange.com/2014/09/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-movie.html
^Ugh... the movie costumes were hideous. This week's "Love is in the Air" was silly, and kind of disquieting. The new monster "butler" essentially tries to slip Levira a roofie, and she ends up falling for him. What kind of message does that send to the kids? Although it was fun to see Jake trying to talk the giant monster down by encouraging him to ask out his sweetie, rather than just going straight to the usual fight. I was kinda hoping it would work and we'd bypass the usual battle.
France got the Mega War episode first [YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipMz-v7nmPs[/YT] [YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyM-0NUJH1k[/YT] [YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-BD7OOvs9Q[/YT] As expected. People are feeling let down/dissapointed