Review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) by Justin F — 12 Apr 2015

I liked this movie much more when I was a kid. I was 13 when this came out and a big Power Rangers fan. I miss the good old days when summer blockbusters were fun and friendly. Then Roland Emmerich came along with Independence Day and Godzilla and changed cinema in a bad way or a good way, depending on how you look at it. If a Power Rangers movie was made today and it actually got a decent budget, you know it would get the Dark Knight treatment and the result would probably be ugly and mean-spirited and its innocence lost.

Looking at the movie now, it's pretty good for children. The plot isn't good, though. I loved the movie when I first watched it, but for some reason I lost interest in Power Rangers shortly after. Maybe just because I was growing up. But I remember the story to the first couple seasons of Power Rangers, and for what kind of show it is the story isn't bad. In the first season when the Green Ranger shows up with Dragonzord, that was pretty cool, and probably the darkest the show has ever gotten. And then Lord Zedd came along and he was pretty cool, too. In 1995 it seems the show was aimed at children and the movie was aimed at babies. They could have done more, especially since the show was such a hit -- or maybe they couldn't do more. The show was very controversial back then so I don't blame the producers for playing it as safe as possible. I'm sure many in the audience were "concerned parents" hoping for something to complain about. They even changed the colors of the Rangers so they don't get called racist. You can tell the producers were scared.