Almost twenty years on from its arrival, Luke Owen revisits the television phenomenon Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers…
If you’re a UK resident with American friends, you’ll have probably heard of this service they have over there called Netflix where they can stream TV shows and movies to their laptops and TVs. If you’re a UK resident who doesn’t have an American friend, you’ll have probably seen or heard the adverts about Netflix, a service where you can stream TV shows and movies to your laptop and TV. If you are none of the above, Netflix is a service where you can stream TV shows and movies to your laptops and TVs. It’s a pretty big deal.
So, last weekend, I signed up for it.
The selection was not all that good to be fair because the service is still new and they’re working to get it to the level of our American brethren. However, while browsing the selection, I did notice that they had all 3 seasons of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – a show that I have very fond childhood memories of.
If you’ve never seen or hear of the show before, let me give you a brief history, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was an American “re-imagining” of Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, a Japanese tokusatsu show from the long running Super Sentai franchise. Producer Haim Saban struck a deal with Toei Co. to take the action sequences from the show and shoot brand new footage with American actors, dub some of the Japanese actors and re-write the story to fill in the blanks – thus was the birth of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
FUN FACT – This is why Kimberley (the Pink Ranger) is the only Power Ranger to have a different helmet despite not being the only girl. In Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, the Yellow Ranger was portrayed by a man, which is why Trini (the American Yellow Ranger) has the same helmet design as the boys.
Being born in 1985, I was the perfect age and gender for Power Rangers when it first aired on our shores because I was their target market. I remember when the show came out and the overnight success it became among me, my friends and the rest of the UK, as well as the controversy it brought. A lot of kids acted out Power Rangers and its high octane action sequences and would get themselves hurt. I remember hearing many reports that some kids actually died playing Power Rangers. My school banned us from playing Power Rangers in the playground and detention was given to those who broke this rule. Kids loved it, parents hated it.
For us kids, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was the greatest TV show ever made and the high point of our TV watching week. So when I saw the original series was available to watch for free on Netflix, I was ecstatic and almost giddy with excitement. I haven’t watched Power Rangers since it first aired nearly 20 years ago. I was 7 then and I’m 27 now. How will the show hold up? Will it bring back fond memories? Or will it be a really bad show that I have painted with the wonderbrush of nostalgia?
Let’s find out.
Season 1, Episode 1 – ‘Day of the Dumpster’
So with most TV shows, the pilot episode’s purpose is to introduce us to characters, set up the plot and give us enough that we’ll want to come back for more. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on the other hand opens with the same title sequence they would use for every episode, which essentially explains the whole plot in 20 seconds without actually ever really explaining it (along with some kick-ass music). It’s so confusing! If I was a first time watcher of this show, I’d have thought I’d missed 2 seasons of backstory and am now trying to catch up!
Luckily when the show actually starts, we see two astronauts on an unnamed planet who stumble upon a crater with a lid on it. They open up the lid and accidentally release the dastardly Rita Repulsa (portrayed by Machiko Soga and dubbed by Barbara Goodson) and her minions Goldar, Squatt, Baboo and Finster. She announces that she is finally free and plans to destroy Earth because it is the closest planet to her.
On Earth, we visit Angel Grove High School where we are introduced to all five of our main characters – Jason (Karate tough guy), Zack (cool dancer guy), Billy (nerdy glasses guy), Trini (Non-descript Asian girl) and Kimberly (hot gymnast girl). We are also introduced to the “comedy relief” of the series, Bulk and Skull – two bumbling bully types who always end up being made fools of, but do have their own theme song.
Elsewhere, Zordon (a giant head in a glass with true 90s computer generated graphics) and his assistant Alpha 5 (a robot that makes C-3PO look like Chuck Norris) learn that Rita has escaped and teleport our five heroes, where he gives a brief bit of exposition before explaining that they have been chosen to become the Power Rangers and have the power to call upon dinosaur-like ‘Zords’. Despite Zordon and Alpha’s pleas, the teenagers (Zack and Kimberly especially) decline and they leave his temple.
Back on Rita’s… moonbase I guess… she discovers that Zordon has recruited these teenagers to be his new rangers and commands her creative minion Finster to send down Putty Patrol monsters to Earth. Finster does this by taking lumps of Play-Doh and putting them in a machine which produces blokes in tight Lycra… I wish I was making this up.
Back on Earth, the Putty Patrol (along with Goldar) attack the teens, who fight back valiantly but lose. They decide to give these powers a go and morph into the Power Rangers, fighting back in spectacular fashion. Unhappy with the proceedings, Rita throws her staff down to Earth which makes Goldar grow to the size of a tall building. Not to be beaten, the Power Rangers call upon their Zords – giant robots that represent the dinosaurs Zordon talked of earlier; Jason gets the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Zack gets the Mastodon, Billy gets the Triceratops, Trini gets the Sabre-toothed Tiger and Kimberley gets the Pterodactyl, which form together to create a humanoid robot called the Megazord. Goldar and the Megazord battle, but they are no match for Goldar’s sword. Fortunately, Jason calls for the Megazord Sword which they use to force Goldar to retreat leaving Rita very unhappy.
Zordon congratulates the teens on their win and makes them promise that they will keep their identities secret. Which brings us to the end of Episode One.
Sounds like a madcap report that didn’t make a lot of sense? Well, this is quite the madcap show that doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Okay, so the acting is bad, the dialogue is hokey and the whole thing feels a little bit stupid. However, the soundtrack is awesome, the fight scenes are cool and the giant robots are fantastic. As someone who loves Japanese Monster Movies, this is right up my alley and the show put a huge smile on my face.
My main (and only real) criticism of the show is the pacing – it moves so damn fast and nothing is ever given room to breathe. Each scene seems to last around 40 seconds and a lot of it doesn’t really make any sense. To really set this plot up, the show would have benefited from being split into two parts so we as an audience can get to know who everyone is, why they were chosen, what they are doing and why they are doing it. Instead we get an hour long story crammed into 15 minutes with no room to stretch out just so they can get to the fight scenes.
And it’s not like they didn’t have enough episodes. The first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ran for 60 episodes! Over the 3 seasons that the original show ran for, they produced a whopping 155 episodes – one fewer than The Twilight Zone and around 20 fewer than Star Trek: The Next Generation. That’s a lot of Morphin.
So far, the show hasn’t lived up to the high standards my nostalgic memory holds it in, but we have a long road ahead of us. I’m sure that now the plot has been somewhat set up, the show should be easier to digest. 1 down, 154 to go…
Luke Owen is a freelance copywriter working for Europe’s biggest golf holiday provider as their web content executive.
