Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie (1995)

On August 28, 1993, the hit superhero show Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers hit our television sets and was very popular with kids back in the day, resulting in one of the biggest merchandising phenomenons of the 90's and it still continues to this day. What few people realized at that time is that Power Rangers is actually an adaptation of the long running Japanese superhero show, Super Sentai. Shortly after the success, Saban, the company responsible for the franchise, joined forces with 20th Century Fox to make a movie, hoping it would make summer dollars in 1995. The film however, was doomed from the start.

Director Brian Spicer did very little research on the show and insisted that the Ranger helmets would have no visors and mouthpieces to show emotion. Realizing that the Power Rangers weren't supposed to show emotion, Spicer decided to put the visors and mouthpieces back in the helmets. And there's a major casting change during shooting.

Mariska Hargitay, known for her work on the Law and Order series, was hired for a key supporting role named Dulcea. The filmmakers decided that she was miscast and they fired her, resulting a lot of deleted material, including Dulcea's backstory and a training montage. Hargitay is later replaced by Gabrielle Fitzpatrick.

The show was also being worked on while the movie was being filmed, which is why we had episodes of the Rangers taking a vacation in Australia while the evil Rita Repulsa marries Lord Zedd. All in all, the film had a troubled shoot. But what are the results? Let's find out!

An evil alien creature named Ivan Ooze (Paul Freeman) has been freed by Rita and Lord Zedd and plans to destroyed Zordon, the Rangers' mentor, and rule the universe. As Ivan takes over the city of Angel Grove, Zordon and his robotic assistant Alpha 5 send the Rangers to a distant planet called Phaedos. Led by the scantly clad warrior named Dulcea (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), the Rangers get new powers to save the world and defeat Ivan.

While the movie is not canon with the show, the film feels like an extended episode of the show. In fact, after the film was released, season 3 started with the 4 parter, "Ninja Quest" when the Rangers had to get new powers and Zords, machines the Rangers use to stop the monsters from attacking Angel Grove. It's the Rangers first trip to the big screen and it's a feature length version of an adventure they're about to embark on the show. That's pretty lazy writing.

Speaking of the writing, the Rangers barely have personalities in the film. While the show was formulaic, the Rangers at least had personalities like the nerd (Blue Ranger), the valley girl (Pink Ranger), the goofball (the original Black Ranger), and the leader (White Ranger). But ever since 3 members of the original cast left the show due to contractual disputes, the Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers were replaced by three blank slates. In the movie, we know very little of them and it's hard for the casual viewer to distinguish one Ranger to another apart from the colors of the costumes.

The special effects are atrocious. The show took footage from Super Sentai for most of the action scenes, which consists of cheap robot and monster costumes. But these action scenes have charm. Not in this film because the Zords and monsters were made of terrible CGI. They look like video game graphics and they look very cheap.

The only positive I could say about the film is Paul Freeman's performance of Ivan Ooze. He's clearly having fun with the role and appreciate him for this achievement. But that's about it.

In conclusion, this film is an example of Hollywood cashing in to what's popular and making a corporate sell out. The plot is a non canon extended episode of the show, the characters are one dimensional, and the special effects are just wretched. But of all the Hollywood sell outs of the 90's, the film is at least watchable, mainly because of Paul Freeman. Otherwise, you're better off watching the show, which had much better seasons after the Mighty Morphin' era.

RATING: 2/4

Christmas in July Special - Alpha's Magical Christmas (1994)

Ever since i was a kid, I thought it was odd that people sometimes celebrate Christmas in July. I know December is a summer month in Australia but that's because of the climate. I'm talking about other countries like America, in which we watch Christmas specials and sometimes listen to Christmas songs in the summer. I figured if some people review holiday specials in December, why not July. For this Christmas in July special, the subject is the 1994 Power Rangers Christmas special, Alpha's Magical Christmas.

Before I begin, here's a little history. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers was based on a long running Japanese superhero show called Super Sentai and some of the action scenes were actually taken from that show. The show focuses on six teenagers chosen by a wise wizard named Zordon, to be his superheros so they can save the world from the evil sorceress Rita Repulsa and her husband Lord Zedd. The show is crap. The heroes are goodie-goods, the special effects are cheap, the story-lines are thin and preachy, yet somehow, it's entertaining for what it is. A goofy, dumb, fun TV show. Now how and why do they make a Christmas special out of that?

To solve the problem, they focused on Alpha 5, Zordon's robotic assistant who sometimes feels lonely when the Power Rangers were off fighting evil. This was an idea from co creator Haim Saban's wife, Cheryl Saban, who seeks a desire to sell Alpha 5 toys to increase the character's popularity with very young children. Alpha 5's voice actor, Richard Steven Horvitz, believed that the special was a smart marketing idea. However, Alpha 5 toys were never manufactured until 16 years after the special. Is the special worth watching, or was it made because the show was so successful? Let's take a look!

It's Christmas time and Alpha feels lonely and friendless when the Rangers are at work. This time of year, the Rangers are helping Santa Claus deliver toys to children throughout the world instead of fighting monsters from Rita and Lord Zedd, who for some reason decided that ruining Christmas isn't worth the cost. (There is an episode in the show which they tried to ruin Christmas but i'l discuss that when i review more Christmas specials.) Realizing Alpha is bored, Zordon decides to have children from around the world to celebrate Christmas at The Command Center, Zordon's secret base for The Power Rangers.

There are so many things wrong with this plot, I don't know where to begin or end. First of all, if you seen the show, you should know that no one has access to The Command Center without a Power Coin, the source for the Ranger's powers. How is it possible that Zordon and Alpha let these kids in without power coins? Second, they took these kids without their parent knowledge. The parents would freak if their kids went missing and there would be a worldwide search for them. Third, how do these kids know Zordon and Alpha, considering the fact that this is their first time in The Command Center and yet they know them by name? And lastly, The Command Center is not the place to celebrate Christmas. It's a very secret base for the Rangers to have meetings on what Rita or Zedd were up to and Zordon told them to keep their identity a secret. These kids would already know who the Power Rangers are and they could easily tell their parents on who they are and where they work. Nice job blowing your own cover Zordon.

Anyways, there isn't really much of a story, just Alpha and the kids singing classic Christmas songs, baking cookies, decorating The Command Center etc. This special is just filler and padding and the constant singing and overly happy and cutesy tone panders to young kids, young kids who enjoy the show for all the action, adventure, and creativity that made the show popular in the first place. It's also very ironic that the special acknowledges that love for one another is the true meaning of Christmas yet the special's main purpose is to sell Alpha 5 toys.

The special ends with Alpha 5 and the kids singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and we get to see a clip show of previous and future episodes of the show featuring the Rangers, the kids went home through a vortex, Tommy (The Green Ranger, which makes no sense because in the clip show we saw footage of Tommy as the White Ranger and replacements of the Red, Black, and Yellow Rangers in the second half of Season 2) Kimberly (The Pink Ranger) and Billy (The Blue Ranger) visiting the Command Center to wish us a Merry Christmas, and they lived happily ever after.

So this is Alpha's Magical Christmas. This is an example of when you make a holiday special just for marketing reasons, it ended up being a corporate product that falls flat in it's face. The plot is ridiculous and makes no sense, the tone is too cutesy and saccharine, and it doesn't do the Power Rangers justice thanks to the constant singing and padding. The special may have it's fans, but if you think that making a Christmas special about The Power Rangers is a bad idea, it's better if you don't see it and watch the show instead.