Earlier this week the first teaser trailer for the Power Rangers reboot film was released and I was pleasantly surprised by the darker tone they are taking and the sweet visuals.
This is actually the third film in the almost 25 year-old franchise and the trailer got me all nostalgic for the original 1995 flick Power Rangers The Movie; the second film, 1997’s Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, was effectively a big budget pilot for a new iteration of the TV series and is the cinematic equivalent of explosive diarrhea. *shivers*
But I had fond memories of the first film and I rewatched it this week. And you know what? I had a fun time with it and it held up pretty well after more than two decades. So here is my #nostalgiabomb of a review in three easy to chew and digest slices:
#1 Return of the Ooze
The film’s antagonist is the evil tyrant Ivan Ooze who is accidentally set free by some construction workers. His plan is to get children to expose their parents to his mind controlling ooze and have these slaves unearth his giant insect like Ecto-Morphicons. The old “take over Angel Grove and then the Universe” chestnut. It’s a Power Rangers movie, not Citizen Kane people.
Ooze made Watchmojo’s list of worst movie villains but I have to disagree. The baddie, played by Raiders of the Lost Ark’s René Belloq, is over the top, witty and just the right amount of campy. He had some nice zingers and I laughed out loud a couple of times during his convos with appropriated henchmen Goldar and Mordant.
Ooze is also is a movie level threat for the Rangers. Upon his release he traps the TV show big bads Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa, destroys the Power Rangers base, blasts the annoying Alpha 5 (yay!)and injures their mentor Zordon. #respecttheooze
#2 Interstellar adventure
One of the best things about this movie is the scale of the adventure. After the aforementioned destruction of their base the Rangers lose all their powers. They have to travel to the planet Phaedos to uncover the Great Power and get back their morphin’ abilities. There they meet the sexy Dulcea and battle bird men, a skeleton dino monster and some fierce rock dudes.They also get some suh-weet ninja costumes.
Assume battle stance!
It felt like a big quest and one with stakes as well. Sure about half the dialogue is campy, especially the stuff with the kid left back on Earth, and the Rangers are paper thin in the development department but it is not cringe worthy bad. Even comic relief characters Bulk and Skull surprisingly did not get on my nerves.
And the film has a good pace, keeping the action going and never letting you get bored. The battle choreography is a bit stiff but still entertaining. The campy humour was mostly charming too. I will say that the plot does not spend time explaining Zordon or the Rangers though so those unfamiliar with the show could get a bit lost.
#3 Release the Zords
You can’t have a Power Rangers movie without their giant robotic Zords. In this film they get new animal spirit Zords: a frog, a falcon, a crane, a bear, a wolf and an ape. In the series the individual Zords do very little other than form up into the combined Megazord. But in this film we see all the Zords in action battling the two Ecto-Morphicons which was a hoot. The final Megazord battle with the Ooze possessed Ecto-Morphicon was a bit short though.
Overall this movie was a wonderful campy nostalgia blast which will please any Power Rangers fan.
Rating: Power Rangers The Movie gets a respectable 2.5/4 giant flying robots.
So what was your favourite moment from Power Rangers 1995? Feel free to comment below and if you enjoyed this post you can share with your peeps. Sharing is caring.
For more Power Rangers you can check out my look at the reboot trailer here or for more retro Saturday morning action you can check out my look at anime ‘Rurouni Kenshin’ here. And for more back in times movie reviews you can follow me on Twitter @suprememango012 for updates and other cool stuff.
Julien is outie like a navel. l8rs