Alpha, Rita's escaped!
Recruit a team of teenagers with
attitude!
Power Rangers? Really?
Yes, really. During my middle-school years, many of my peers admitted to watching the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers during its premiere run, but then claimed to have "outgrown it" during its peak of popularity. Because when something's real popular and mainstream, it's customary to hate it. This is teen law.
Not me, though. Even now I'm not afraid to admit I enjoy the Power Rangers. Whenever you're looking for something that's entertaining that doesn't require any heavy thinking, martial arts shows and movies are always the way to go. The writers behind MMPR knew this, and always focused on making the show as fun and comic-bookish as possible. You had martial arts, giant robots, monsters exploding in improbably large fireballs, hot teenage girls in miniskirts and half-shirts, and some awesome '90's butt-rock music that was less about staying in school and more about seeing your enemies driven before you, with an added bit of lamentation to boot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KVg9B-UyLMI wasn't around during the Power Rangers craze. Was it really that popular?
I was there, man.
I was there.
Forget about Pokemon, MMPR was the ultimate portrayal of the kind of chaos caused by mass market commercialism. Power Ranger toys, particularly the Zords, were practically impossible to find in stores, and in the christmas rush the rampage of parents flooding a store that stocked up on limited supplies was worse than any Florida hurricane panic.
What made this show such a hit?
The simple answer is that it was something new. Haim Saban, who spotted some footage from the original Japanese series, had the brilliant foresight to bring the sentai phenomenon to America. Having only enough cash to buy a couple of episodes for distribution, one pitch to Fox later and the dude became a billionaire almost overnight.
During a period where the most gritty teen drama at the time was Saved by the Bell, Power Rangers ignored conventional teen wangst and focused on the guys and girls having fun, performing some impressive martial arts, and saving the world in-between community fundraisers.
But in reality, the series officially became a blockbuster hit thanks to this guy:
Just as viewers were settling in to the show's established formula, a 5 part storyline completely trounced expectations with the introduction of Tommy, the Green Ranger.
Suddenly we have this badass Ranger who completely floors the initial five, destroys their robots, makes advances toward Kimberly (which we all expected Jason to do, but apparently the dude had cold feet), then joins the group to serve as their last resort whenever they got their asses kicked by the monster of the week (which was often).
He also had, to this day, the coolest Zord that ever existed.
The only thing cooler would be if the real Godzilla was clad in Shogun armor
Tommy was far and away the most popular character in the show, displaying the most impressive martial arts skills, getting the hot girl, and not taking part in any of the after-school community crap that the other Rangers obsessed over (well, not at first anyway).
Then, as another whammy to the audience, he lost his powers and left the show.
Only to return several episodes later with the fury of Coca Cola Classic, gaining a bitchin' 90's ponytail, a more active role among the team (like singlehandedly taking down a monster who just beat the holy shit out of Jason by
throwing a car at him), and even sporting his own theme song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCdIW4iLpGM
By the next season, Power Rangers broke the staus quo yet again with the introduction of a new villain who looked like the horrific offspring of Freddy Krueger and The Shredder, brand new Zords, and a rather gripping plot-point where Tommy slowly but surely would lose his powers for good. By his final swansong episode, everyone watching the series up to that point was practically glued to the screen.
Then came the rumors that a new White Ranger would soon be making his debut. Before dial-up internet began to circulate, fans were glued to Wizard, EGM, and other magazines trying to find info on this brand new Ranger. Toys and posters began to circulate, which only fanned the fanboy flames even further.
Everyone I knew was obsessed, wondering who the hell the new Ranger was going to be. Even the show began to cleverly tease us, with the introduction of Mcguffin characters like new kid Richie or Zack's cousin, all conveniently versed in martial arts, making them instant candidates.
Too bad the VHS tapes containing old episodes gave away the surprise early, but the official reveal was still really damn epic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f72vPFI9c8&feature=related
Whatever you felt about Tommy or the PR series in general, there's no denying that the way Fox and Saban marketed things was utterly brilliant, if not the most successful 90's property of all time.
Alright, I've got my pair of nostalgia glasses on. Are we only discussing the original series, or...?
Nope, you can discuss any and all of the PR shows, even though I suspect that many of you stopped watching after the abomination that was Power Rangers: Turbo.
For me, the series peaked at Power Rangers: Zeo, although there are a few post-Turbo episodes that are worth watching, including the shocking final episode of Power Rangers in Space
in which Zordon dies and takes every single villain up to that point in the series with him. Even the comic relief ones.
as well as Forever Red, a decent crossover of all the Red Rangers, including the OG himself, Jason.
I also give a recommendation to Power Rangers: Dino Thunder, which features a trio of characters who are portrayed a bit more realistically, not engaging in touchy-feely community service events. The Red Ranger is also amusingly portrayed as a dumb-ass jock who often facepalms at the absurd premise of colored superheroes fighting evil dinosaurs.
It also features the return of Tommy, who assumes a new Ranger identity as well as serving as the team's mentor/leader. It's well worth watching if you're a fan.
Sounds neat, but I'm a weeaboo who demands authenticity. Are we allowed to talk about the original Japanese series?
You certainly can. I've recently watched a couple of the original Sentai shows, and they're quite enjoyable, managing to be both darker and sillier than the NA adaptions. Put simply, the Japanese Power Rangers are like watching a live action anime, although that's not a bad thing in my book.
If anything, they're better written, as you're watching the battles and monsters of the week within the correct context; it's easier to accept a monster as being a demon from the underworld instead of being created from Kimberly's purse or something.
Battles are also more epic in that Shonen Jump kind of way, with heroic speeches, characters pushed to their limits (they bleed), and victory through the power of hot-blooded guts (HUGE guts!).
Observe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvcSYR6sDwk&playnext_from=TL&videos=6IZ6fBC6ZMA
Of course there are also the typical silly moments only Japan could conceive:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPjB9sdgPN4&playnext_from=TL&videos=MDe1RB2IVDU
As well as stuff you will never, EVER see in an American PR show.
At 3:33
Of what I've seen, I recommend Boukenger, which is sort of a tribute to previous Sentai shows (and offers retrospectives at the end of each episode), and features the largest cast of villains and robots ever seen.
But my
biggest recommendation goes to Samurai Sentai Shinkenger, a Samurai-themed series featuring some superb Ranger and monster designs, strongly resembling Onimusha (the 4th one). It also has a surprising twist in its later half, the kind you didn't expect to see in a PR show.
It also features the most bad-ass Red Ranger ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBw2Mbgk1Ks
I'm also open to recommendations for other Sentai shows to watch. The current series, Goseiger, doesn't look particularly impressive, especially after Shinkenger.
There's also Zyuranger, the series MMPR took its footage from, if you're curious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lux5h8_tCAo&feature=related
And yes, Yellow Ranger was a guy in the Japanese version. For those who checked out "her" nipples poking through the spandex, sorry to utterly crush your childhood fantasies.
Where can I grab these episodes?
I don't think I'm allowed to say, but since there's a fansub group that translates the majority of Sentai shows (including Transformers. Yes, there are Japanese Transformers shows. No, they are not like the Kiss manga), you shouldn't have trouble finding them through Google.
Anything else I should check out?
Linkara, of That Guy With The Glasses,
is doing a weekly retrospective of the NA PR shows.
Even though I find his nasal-induced voice and unintentional fanboy persona a little grating, it's well worth watching and features a few factoids you may not have known about.
For instance, there was a pilot episode made before the official series. It featured a different (non-Asian) actress for Trini.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srxWh2W0S2Y&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0IeN-gfHiAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5bbCRwmmOo&feature=relatedRolling Bomber (PR Parody)
Hedgie's Toku Terminology List
* Toku/Tokusatsu: Japanese live-action sci-fi shows. Basically, shows where guys and/or girls in spandex beat on guys in rubber suits.
* Henshin: Large subcategory of toku, where the protagonists transform (henshin) into their spandex-clad forms.
* Gattai: Transformation sequence. A staple of any henshin toku series. Newer series may eschew the stock gattai sequence for a CG gattai effect.
* Kaiju: The other big subset of toku. Guys in rubber suits stomping on miniature cities.
* Tsuburaya: One of the big toku houses. Famous for the Ultraman franchise.
* Toei: Major entertainment firm in Japan. On the toku front, they own the Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, and Metal Heroes franchises, among others.
* Saban: American entertainment firm famous for importing Japanese series and Americanizing them (with various degrees of success). Created American versions of Super Sentai(very successful), as well as Kamen Rider and Metal Heroes(less so).
* Super Sentai: Five man band against the big bad. Became Power Rangers in the West.
* Kamen Rider: Rider in grasshopper-themed armor fights against evil. Usually has a darker bent than sentai. Brought over twice in the US - an abortive attempt by Saban in the 90's (the less said about it, the better), and Dragon Knight, a Western reinvention of Ryuki (which was much better handled and thus better received.)
* Metal Heroes: Sort of a hybrid between the previous two series. A smaller team (usually 3 people) in armor fight evil. Two American ports were done by Saban in the 90's - VR Troopers and Beetleborgs.
* Ultraman: Major toku franchise not owned by Toei. Hybrid of henshin and kaiju.
So whatever happened to the original team? Where are they now?
Austin St John (Jason) is currently working as a paramedic, having quit acting.
Hey, I heard he was in a gay porno. That true?
I've heard that too, and honestly.....I have no idea.
According to a Yahoo Answers entry:
THE ANSWER IS YES, HE DID, under the name Jason Cutler.
http://www.classictvhits.com/cast.php?id…
Austin St. John
Birth Date: September 17, 1975 / Age: 31
Birth Place: Roswell, New Mexico, USA
Biography: Austin St John is an American actor best known for his role in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers as Jason Lee Scott. St. John left the show after one season, and was replaced by Steve Cardenas(Thuy Trang and Walter Emmanuel Jones left the show along with him).He later returned for a while as the Gold Ranger in Power Rangers Zeo for a short time, and also in Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (along with Amy Jo Johnson). It was Cardenas, not St. John, that played the role of the Red Ranger in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie. Austin St. John returned to the Power Rangers several years later to reprise his role in the episode "Forever Red". He also appeared in the 1998 film Expose, which flopped at the box office.
St. John also appeared in the gay pornography "Laguna Beach: A Love Affair", under the porno name "Jason Cutler" after he left Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1995.
St. John is of German, Native American, Irish, Japanese, Italian, and Spanish descent.
Biography Credit: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_St._…
Source(s):
Brock "aka" Jason Cutler "aka" Austin St. John (NUDE pictures)
http://seancody.com/page.php?frame=movie…
Austin St. John vs. Brock
http://community.livejournal.com/ohnothe…
However, other sites still dispute that the porn actor is merely a look-alike. I haven't been able to get a straight answer, and I am curious which way the story swings (ha cha cha cha).
Thuy Trang (Trini) sadly died in a car accident in 2001. To dispel this particular rumor, she wasn't the driver, nor was the driver drunk. It was merely an out-of-control situation that ended in tragedy.
Amy Jo Johnson (Kimberly) is currently starring in a Canadian police drama called Flashpoint. Supposedly when approached in person about her Power Ranger stint, she disowns her decision to star in the series and is generally a real bitch about it. This isn't confirmed.
She also posed nude in a magazine. She isn't quite as hot as you might have imagined.
Walter Jones (Zack) is here and there, not in any particularly major projects. He might start doing videogame voiceovers.
David Yost (Billy) is slated to appear in an upcoming film this year called Degenerate. This was after a hiatus where he mostly worked as a producer, but is now planning to get back into the acting scene.
Reports say that contrary to his role in the show, David was a grade-A asshole on the set, frequently arguing with his co-workers and producers. Not being a Ranger in Zeo particularly infuriated him, causing threats that he would leave the show for good. During one day of filming, he never showed up, thus causing his immediate termination and hasty write-off from the show.
Allegedly he was also doing drugs (unconfirmed), but the death of Thuy Trang (of which he did attend the funeral along with Amy) caused him to turn things around. He now attends PR conventions and is supposedly a nice guy now.
Jason David Frank (Tommy) is...
Alright, let's get this thread going. Keep it civil, don't bring up non-PR shows into the discussion (we all know Batman TAS was awesome, no need to bring it up) and may the power protect you!
Posts
With all these other franchise reboots being made into films, Power Rangers seems like a no-brainer.
Sure, much of the choreography would probably be CG'd like in Spider-Man....but I'd still watch it.
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I think I stopped watching the show after they all became ninjas, but it may have been a little while longer before the absurditiy got to be too much. By that time the show had jumped so many sharks, what with a 10 year old boy becoming a blue ranger - somehow he transforms into a grown adult when he uses his powers. I was seriously expecting Bulk and Skull to become Rangers at some point after that, but instead I think they went off into space.
I also remember there being some kind of brief cross-over with another Fox show that had to do with an alien super hero that had an insect theme and a bitchin' motorcycle.
And no, the guns were in. I remember them being whipped out a couple of times. I also remember the first gen Power Rangers forming some kind of giant crossbow with all of their weapons they'd use to take out monsters that were too wimpy to wake the droids up over.
Green Ranger was a bad ass but that theme was awful. I could only get through the first few bars until they start going on about how GOLDAAR GONNA GIT YA! I wonder how St. Jones felt about his character and role as leader being overtaken by David Frank.
That's actually rather...odd, considering that Haim Saban is probably one of the bigger pockets behind AIPAC...
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One of the cast members is played by Jason David Frank, who they capture on the set of a gay porno.
Isn't that what Power Rangers the movie was?
This thread pales by comparison.
Wait. Are there even any PR porno parodies out there? I mean, there'd have to be, right?
I was also surprise to stumble across the Pink ranger nude. Sadly...90's hot wasn't very hot....
If there's Smurf porn, you bet your ass there's a PR porno out there somewhere.
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I don't know how I feel about that, to be honest. On one hand, it's good to see that the franchise isn't going to be left to rot. On the other hand...I really dislike Haim Saban, for a number of reasons.
I think that eventually Hollywood will scape the bottom of the barrel low enough to where some studio will approach Saban with a big budget Power Rangers film reboot. Done right...I don't know, it could be kinda cool. It'd be neat to see what they could do with modern CGI instead of dudes in robot suits beating each other up admist a scale model cityscape.
I'd see it, if not for nostalgia's sake. I went to see the new Nightmare on Elm Street and was not disappointed.
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Ivan Ooze was one of the greatest villains in early Power Rangers. I think he was Rita's old flame? Anyway, he makes Zedd look like a pussy with giant braces.
Dude, there's an actual Smurf porn put together by people with an actual budget. Blue body paint, giant mushroom, and everything.
Actually, they got better in later series, thanks to improved CG.
They could really make some absolutely terrifying monsters to go up against the 'zords. Imagine a monster on the scale of Cloverfield going up against the Megazord. That'd be bad ass... so long as that shakey-cam shit is left out.
I accepted it and moved on with my life. Cut to about 8 years later and I see not one, but many other PR series had come and gone. All I remember thinking is, "Who the fuck dropped the ball? The universe was clean of evil!"
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqXen7mC1So
I also recall debating on the playground who got to be which ranger. I don't remember exactly what we did when we played power rangers - judging by what I remember of the show, I guess just beat the shit out of each other? - but choosing who was which ranger was an important ritual.
I can also remember being vaguely annoyed that, when the green ranger showed up in his dinosaur, he destroyed the same dock or warehouse every single day.
What a weird show this was.
Nope, but that just immediately shot to the top of my "must watch" list. Assuming the rest of the movie is just as funny.
As awesome as the novelty was at the time, the first movie is a bit of a letdown. Sucker was made in a shoestring budget (which is why it turned such a huge profit), and they only have ONE fight while in the PR outfits. Anything else was ninja suits or the Zord finale.
There are tons....at least in Japan.
I'm....not too pleased by this. As far as Dino Thunder was concerned, Disney's adaptions actually lowered the cheese factor of the shows, and hired better actors to boot.
I didn't even know Saban was still around, so maybe they'll have the foresight to make a slightly edgier, PG-centric series.
It'll be interesting if they adapt Shinkenger, which is fairly serious business as far as the fights go.
Bullcrap. There were some terrific robot fights.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvGFkM7_6j0
*Thunk* HA HA HA
The original series it took the footage from was way, way shorter than MMPR. So a lot of stock footage was recycled over and over and over.
Although it wouldn't surprise me if the original re-used its own footage as well. Regardless, that warehouse had it coming.
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Shinkenger also had a great opening theme song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpbexJZQcR8
Seriously, you guys should give it a look. It's even HD.
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I used to love Alpha and all that shit, but now it just bugs me so bad.
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Wasn't there a point in the series where Alpha's voice changed and he started to talk like some sort of greaser, throwing out "Yo!" every other word?
Or...maybe I'm thinking of something else. Weren't there alien rangers at some point that had their own Alpha robot, and that was the one that talked completely different?
I can't even...
That would either be awesome or just waaay too ridiculous.
It was Alpha 6.
And yes, Turbo tried very hard to ruin the series forever. They actually came close to canceling the franchise for good as a result.
Nah, it should be closer to Spider-Man.
I could see Sam Raimi directing. That would be epic.
And hey, the idea isn't too far off after all:
Here I thought Disney would be the ones to do it, using their infinite Disney Dollars to finance it, but they instead just sat on the series like the tools they are.
I don't think a Saban/Nick budget would be nearly as good, unless they license it to Fox.
Who were so clueless about the series that they almost had the actors wear helmets that showed their eyes AND mouths in the first movie.
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Astronema was hot and had a cool story arc(and was really the first big bad to have a real developmental arc), the Psycho Rangers were badass, seeing all the villains team up was epic along with the rest of the finale. The only thing I didn't like about it was how it was basically a complete newbie team. It didn't feel right that the grand finale of the Zordon era didn't involve anyone from the MMPR days. For example, Tommy being the one who has to smash Zordon's tube would have hit even harder.
Still, out of the Zordon era, I think In Space is easily one of the best seasons.
Oh, and Lord Zedd is awesome. It's too bad they kind of wussified him a bit because of parents complaining he was too scary, cause his overall look and his voice were just perfect.
I watched the show whenever I could back in it's first season. I never got to see season 2 until much, MUCH later on the internet, because at the time in Canada a lot of people didn't get Fox(season 1 aired on YTV). Around the time I could finally watch Fox, season 3 had just finished and was starting repeats, so I got to see it from the beginning. I loved the crap out of that season, and then Zeo after it. Then Turbo came, and despite being a kid I HATED it. I pretty much dropped the show completely, desite being a huge fan of the show up until then. When In Space started, I figured it ould be just as lame but I caught a early episode and was like "whoa, this seems pretty good actually" and I kept watching. I'm really glad I gave the series another chance.
I never really watched much of the post-Zordon stuff. I saw maybe the last 1/3 of Lost Galaxy, and it seemed pretty decent. Interesting how Astronema is the only PR big bad to become an actual ranger later on. And the Psycho Rangers came back, that was cool. And they killed off one of the rangers! That was pretty surprising. I should go back and watch the whole series sometime. After LG I think I've only seen Forever Red and that's about it. I've been debating working through the post-Zordon series once I catch up on One Piece.
Yeah, Lord Zedd's whole visual design is the one thing that Saban definitely knocked out of the park. I could easily see him as the main villain of an original Super Sentai series.
Dino Thunder's main baddie Mesogog had a pretty cool design and voice, too.
Kind of like a mix between Bowser and Agent Smith.
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I'd love to see Zedd again one day, though. The fact that he's technically alive means it could even be possible. I won't get my hopes up, though.
Ironically, marrying Rita may have made Zedd a sillier character, but he also became a more entertaining one as a result.
He pretty much turned into an intergalactic Al Bundy. Who wouldn't love that?
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