Hasbro's Power Rangers era and General Tokusatsu discussion
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The Power Rangers 30th anniversary special is out today on Netflix!
That wasn't without it's flaws but overall the special was a fun trip down memory lane.
Rushed at times, could have done with 30 more minutes. I hoped we would get more from Aisha and Adam but sadly it was a glorified cameo
I'm a little surprised that, bar Billy's bit about travelling the universe at the end, it seemed to be in it's own bubble. I was expecting Lord Zedd to be behind it all (we know he's somewhere in the neighbourhood) as a lead-in to Cosmic Fury
However I am glad other seasons were mentioned and Power Rangers since 1996 wasn't ignored, indeed the Zordon/RoboRita/Alpha 8 plot comes from In Space. People are saying the FX were dodgy but I enjoyed them. Seeing updated versions of classic effect such as the morph and in particular the Megazord formation - pretty much a shot-for-shot remake - was mega fun!
They've proved they can make totally new Power Rangers with no reliance on archive material (apart from flashbacks). The fight scenes worked. The ending was lovely and poignant. Thinking as an 8 year old who watched MMPR on GMTV, 30 years is in fact not a long time, and it is so sad two bright young stars are already gone before their time.
I'm a little surprised that, bar Billy's bit about travelling the universe at the end, it seemed to be in it's own bubble. I was expecting Lord Zedd to be behind it all (we know he's somewhere in the neighbourhood) as a lead-in to Cosmic Fury
However I am glad other seasons were mentioned and Power Rangers since 1996 wasn't ignored, indeed the Zordon/RoboRita/Alpha 8 plot comes from In Space. People are saying the FX were dodgy but I enjoyed them. Seeing updated versions of classic effect such as the morph and in particular the Megazord formation - pretty much a shot-for-shot remake - was mega fun!
They've proved they can make totally new Power Rangers with no reliance on archive material (apart from flashbacks). The fight scenes worked. The ending was lovely and poignant. Thinking as an 8 year old who watched MMPR on GMTV, 30 years is in fact not a long time, and it is so sad two bright young stars are already gone before their time.
I wasn't anticipating complete recreations of the Enterprise bridge AND the juice bar in the space of one week.
This was a super fun special. Unexpectedly poignant for a Power Rangers epsiode, even a special one, and leans into not just the nostalgia but also a story on grief and revenge. Power Rangers barely ever deals with death so directly, and for this kind of show it was quite well done IMO.
Mark
This was a super fun special. Unexpectedly poignant for a Power Rangers epsiode, even a special one, and leans into not just the nostalgia but also a story on grief and revenge. Power Rangers barely ever deals with death so directly, and for this kind of show it was quite well done IMO.
Mark
A great 30th Anniversary Special. It had most of what people loved/are nostalgic for about MMPR, but a bit more with the times (letting Rita say "kill", for example).
Overall I had a great time. It would have been nice to have more people back, or to have a longer runtime, but it was still easily the best anniversary/old ranger return type special (which I categorize as being different then a crossover between teams), and a must watch I'd say for anyone with even a little love for Power Rangers.
I also really liked them using archive audio for Jason/Tommy/.Kimberly/Trini. I thought I was going crazy at first, because the grunts sounded correct for those characters, then it became obvious that they were using old audio, which was nice.
Seeing the full morphing sequence, updated with modern effects, was just great. The "flash morphs" also looked cool, but it was nice to get the full MMPR morphing sequence.
I think Trini's fate was handled well. It was a heroic death, but not gratuitous. The tribute to Thuy and JDF at the end of the special was very nice, too.
Seeing the full morphing sequence, updated with modern effects, was just great. The "flash morphs" also looked cool, but it was nice to get the full MMPR morphing sequence.
I think Trini's fate was handled well. It was a heroic death, but not gratuitous. The tribute to Thuy and JDF at the end of the special was very nice, too.
Overall I had a great time. It would have been nice to have more people back, or to have a longer runtime, but it was still easily the best anniversary/old ranger return type special (which I categorize as being different then a crossover between teams), and a must watch I'd say for anyone with even a little love for Power Rangers.
It was pretty good. I like that it paid tribute to Thuy Trang by making the story about the impact of Trini’s loss, and it let the story get deeper and more sincere than the original series ever did, closer to the kind of drama that’s been the bread and butter of Super Sentai since before Power Rangers existed (and that the best PR seasons in the years since MMPR have managed to achieve). But it’s good that it didn’t go too dark, and that it stressed a very Sentai-worthy theme: that the power of a hero cannot come from revenge, only from the selfless desire to protect.
Honestly, I was a little disappointed that Minh was so different from Trini. She was so driven by anger and aggression, while Trini had such gentle, serene strength, such a sense of peace within herself. She was always my favorite aside from Kimberly, played by the incredibly beautiful and incredibly talented Amy Jo Johnson. (I’m so glad they included that clip of her lovely singing in the closing tribute.) Still, Minh’s journey was pretty effective, and she was given the chance to grow and learn from her mother’s spirit. And it’s cool that they let her have a Vietnamese name instead of a Western one.
It was definitely a wise choice to center the special largely around Zack, as Walter Jones was the second-best actor in the cast (though David Yost was very much the weakest and hasn’t improved since). I was always very impressed by his amazing physical agility too, and it’s great that he can still pull off some of those Hip Hop Kido moves.
I’m also glad they brought back Barbara Goodson as the voice of Rita, and not only brought Ron Wasserman back as composer but actually gave him credit for the music this time. I also appreciate the continuity-preserving explanation for how she’s back. It wasn’t the original Rita, who went on to become the Mystic Mother (based on another Soga Machiko character from Magiranger), but her evil energy that was purged from her body when Zordon sacrificed himself.
Anyway, nostalgia aside, I’ve been a mostly steady viewer of the franchise over the decades since, so I would’ve liked to see more integration of old Rangers and new, aside from some token glimpses of captured Rangers from later teams. The only actual actor from a later PR series who appeared here was the reporter who covered the Putty attack on Ernie’s, who was a background staff member of BuzzBlast from Dino Fury, the most recent series.
Anyway, according to RangerWiki, the captive Rangers other than Jason, Kim, and Tommy included: Zeo Ranger II Yellow (Zeo); Phantom Ranger (Turbo); Black & Yellow Space Rangers (in Space); Red, Green & Blue Galaxy Rangers (Lost Galaxy); Lunar Wolf Ranger (Wild Force); Red & White Dino Rangers (Dino Thunder); and Grid Battleforce Red, Blue, & Gold Rangers (Beast Morphers). So mostly teams from the Saban era, one team from the early Disney era, nothing from the Neo-Saban era, and one from the current Hasbro era. Also a surprising number of Sixth Rangers (Phantom, Lunar Wolf, White Dino, and technically Battleforce Gold, though he was one of two “Sixth” Rangers on an initially three-person team). I feel it would’ve made more sense if there had been more modern Rangers, since presumably there would’ve been some retirements among the older teams. But it’s a tradition of tokusatsu reunion/crossover movies and specials that all the older heroes are still active, no matter how far back. Even though in the regular series, the current team of heroes is always the only one that can save the world.
There were some nice references to later continuity here and there, though, like Aisha and Adam working for Space Patrol Alpha and investigating the Troobian Empire, the villains in S.P.D., which is set two years from now. There was also a reference to Mirinoi from Lost Galaxy. And we got a billboard advertising Bulk & Skull’s business, though it’s a shame that’s all we saw of them. How can it be MMPR without Bulk & Skull?
Oh, incidentally, the villain Robo-Snizzard? The original Snizzard was voiced by Bryan Cranston when he was still an unknown.
It was definitely a wise choice to center the special largely around Zack, as Walter Jones was the second-best actor in the cast (though David Yost was very much the weakest and hasn’t improved since). I was always very impressed by his amazing physical agility too, and it’s great that he can still pull off some of those Hip Hop Kido moves.
I’m also glad they brought back Barbara Goodson as the voice of Rita, and not only brought Ron Wasserman back as composer but actually gave him credit for the music this time. I also appreciate the continuity-preserving explanation for how she’s back. It wasn’t the original Rita, who went on to become the Mystic Mother (based on another Soga Machiko character from Magiranger), but her evil energy that was purged from her body when Zordon sacrificed himself.
Anyway, nostalgia aside, I’ve been a mostly steady viewer of the franchise over the decades since, so I would’ve liked to see more integration of old Rangers and new, aside from some token glimpses of captured Rangers from later teams. The only actual actor from a later PR series who appeared here was the reporter who covered the Putty attack on Ernie’s, who was a background staff member of BuzzBlast from Dino Fury, the most recent series.
Anyway, according to RangerWiki, the captive Rangers other than Jason, Kim, and Tommy included: Zeo Ranger II Yellow (Zeo); Phantom Ranger (Turbo); Black & Yellow Space Rangers (in Space); Red, Green & Blue Galaxy Rangers (Lost Galaxy); Lunar Wolf Ranger (Wild Force); Red & White Dino Rangers (Dino Thunder); and Grid Battleforce Red, Blue, & Gold Rangers (Beast Morphers). So mostly teams from the Saban era, one team from the early Disney era, nothing from the Neo-Saban era, and one from the current Hasbro era. Also a surprising number of Sixth Rangers (Phantom, Lunar Wolf, White Dino, and technically Battleforce Gold, though he was one of two “Sixth” Rangers on an initially three-person team). I feel it would’ve made more sense if there had been more modern Rangers, since presumably there would’ve been some retirements among the older teams. But it’s a tradition of tokusatsu reunion/crossover movies and specials that all the older heroes are still active, no matter how far back. Even though in the regular series, the current team of heroes is always the only one that can save the world.
There were some nice references to later continuity here and there, though, like Aisha and Adam working for Space Patrol Alpha and investigating the Troobian Empire, the villains in S.P.D., which is set two years from now. There was also a reference to Mirinoi from Lost Galaxy. And we got a billboard advertising Bulk & Skull’s business, though it’s a shame that’s all we saw of them. How can it be MMPR without Bulk & Skull?
Oh, incidentally, the villain Robo-Snizzard? The original Snizzard was voiced by Bryan Cranston when he was still an unknown.
I thought it was terrible. I adored Power Rangers but their acting was never this bad! I get that they were trying to emulated the 90s cheesiness but this was just a whole extra level of bad. Rocky especially (who I swear was wearing a girdle).
The worst part though was the music. Throughout so much of this it was a dull, muted remix that provided no hype for the lacklustre fights to the point where I thought they must not have had the rights to the original theme, then they go and use it over the pointless recap montage!
And yes, despite all that I still teared up at the end dedication.
The worst part though was the music. Throughout so much of this it was a dull, muted remix that provided no hype for the lacklustre fights to the point where I thought they must not have had the rights to the original theme, then they go and use it over the pointless recap montage!
And yes, despite all that I still teared up at the end dedication.
I'd say it was about the same -- Walter Jones was excellent, David Yost was terrible, the others were in between. Just be glad we didn't get any of the Power Rangers in Space cast. That was a high point in the writing of the Angel Grove years, but easily the lowest point in terms of acting talent.
They brought back original composer Ron Wasserman to do the score, and it sounded much the same as his work on the original series. As I recall, they hardly ever used the main title theme to score the fights, though they did use a number of insert songs starting, I think, about halfway through season 1. (Personally I was fonder of the orchestral scores they started using in later seasons.)
Definitely agree about Walter Jones, he killed it in this and was easily the best actor.
Poor Power Rangers in Space
The story of that season was great but it was never my favourite cast.I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the music. I was offended at how bad it was
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the music. I was offended at how bad it was
I never said I thought the original music was good, just that the music here sounded just like it.
And that's where I disagree. I think the original music is good and I don't think this sounded like it. You could hear the DNA of the original tracks there but the feeling and hype behind it was all gone.
Well, it was the same composer trying to recapture his style from 30 years ago, so I can see how that could potentially be the case. But since I never liked the original music that much, I can't discern any real difference.
The Once and Always special and Pic finale had the same issue for me. I wanted more cameos from other spin offs, damn it! I certainly wanted more of my boi Adam.
The years are kind to few of us. I give plenty of credit to these guys for coming back, since few of them have been active in the industry for years or even decades. To his credit, Steve Cardenas can still pull off a good tornado kick, and Walter Jones was freaking amazing to do as much stunt work as we saw.
Credit where it’s due to the Zord action as well - it looks like they basically used the original footage as motion capture for the CG models and then a different model for the actual Zord action. I’m sure it was quite the achievement and I’d love to know more. Ditto for the various set recreations, I noted the Juice Bar but the Megazord cockpit and Rita’s lair deserve mention. These guys aren’t much for making-of, alas.
Mark
Credit where it’s due to the Zord action as well - it looks like they basically used the original footage as motion capture for the CG models and then a different model for the actual Zord action. I’m sure it was quite the achievement and I’d love to know more. Ditto for the various set recreations, I noted the Juice Bar but the Megazord cockpit and Rita’s lair deserve mention. These guys aren’t much for making-of, alas.
Mark
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What struck me was how low the film quality was in the MMPR flashback clips they showed. I mean, back then you could always tell the Sentai footage from the new footage because the former was grainier, but here, the American MMPR footage looked terrible. Was that the best it ever looked, or did they not have the original film masters to restore the footage from?
Or maybe they didn't have good methods of converting VHS to Digital?
We probably should never overestimate the budget of any Power Rangers production. Even the “restored” PR episodes on Netflix are pretty bad. At least the “dumpster” clips were obscured with time space effects to hide their quality (plus the clip was used in a smaller part of the screen, closer to its original resolution). I’m guessing for the other clips they cleaned it up as best they could and did a cursory upscale, but anything more complex would be beyond the scope of the special. Gotta choose your battles, and all that.
Amy Jo’s song still sounded great though - we heard several of her songs over her years on “Flashpoint” (another great show to be a fan of) and her voice talent is certainly underrated.
Mark
Amy Jo’s song still sounded great though - we heard several of her songs over her years on “Flashpoint” (another great show to be a fan of) and her voice talent is certainly underrated.
Mark
Exactly my point. The original master footage would be on film, and thus would innately be of far higher quality than the broadcast or home video versions. So if they were stuck with video footage, it suggests they no longer have the original masters.
The basically used the new Hasbro Zord Accension Project(ZAP) megazord. Larger and priciest version of the megazord Hasbro made
https://hasbropulse.com/products/ha...scension-project-mighty-morphin-dino-megazord
