Power/Rangers

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Power/Rangers
Power-rangersadishankar.jpeg
Promotional release poster
Directed by Joseph Kahn
Written by
Based on
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyChristopher Probst
Edited byJoseph Kahn
Music by Brain and Melissa
Production
company
Adi Shankar Productions
Release date
  • February 23, 2015 (2015-02-23)
Running time
14 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Power/Rangers, or Power Rangers: Unauthorized, is an American superhero fan short film based on the Power Rangers franchise, and was directed and co-written by Joseph Kahn, produced by Adi Shankar and Jil Hardin, and co-written by James Van Der Beek and Dutch Southern. The short film featured an ensemble cast starring Katee Sackhoff, Van Der Beek, Russ Bain, Will Yun Lee, and Gichi Gamba. It was released on YouTube and Vimeo on February 23, 2015.

Contents

Plot

After the Machine Empire defeats the Power Rangers and destroys the Megazord in battle, Earth's governments negotiate a truce with the Machine Empire and the Power Rangers are disbanded.

Years later, Rocky DeSantos, the second Red Ranger has defected to the Machine Empire, critical of Zordon's use of the Power Rangers as child soldiers, and now sports a prosthetic leg. While interrogating a restrained Kimberly Hart, the former Pink Ranger, about the location of Tommy Oliver, the former Green Ranger, he details the fates of the other Rangers in flashback:

Rejecting Rocky's claim that Tommy is hunting down the Rangers, Kimberly tells Rocky that she has not seen him since the funeral of Trini Kwan, the former Yellow Ranger, who died during the treaty negotiations. Rocky acknowledges that he already knew that; she is really being held as bait to lure out Tommy. Tommy arrives and kills the guards, entering into single combat against Rocky in a sword duel. When Rocky gains the upper hand, Kimberly shoots and kills him, but Tommy demands to know who she is, revealing that the real Kimberly died during the final battle years earlier. The fake Kimberly's façade crumbles to reveal Rita Repulsa, who killed all the others: she distracted Jason during the shootout and executed Zack and Billy with gunshots. Rita attempts to lure Tommy into her plan of world domination (noting that she created him) but he denies her, attacking her as the film ends.

Several of the plot points make references to real-life incidents in the original Power Rangers actors' lives:

Cast

Power Rangers

Others

Perez had previously played Rita Repulsa in the original series. She was the only cast member to reprise her role.

Release

The film was released on February 23, 2015. Two versions of the film were released; the version hosted on Vimeo included brief nudity not present in the YouTube version.[ original research? ]

Reception by original cast

Members of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers praised it, such as Austin St. John, [1] Amy Jo Johnson [2] and Steve Cardenas. [3] Jason David Frank, the original Green Ranger, criticized the short film, thinking it was too violent and the fact the Power Rangers franchise is still being produced for children. However, he appreciated it on an "inner geek level". [4]

Carla Perez, who played Rita Repulsa in Saban's American-filmed footage for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and other television iterations (when the character was not portrayed through repurposed Japanese Super Sentai footage in which the character was played by Machiko Soga), made a brief appearance in this film as Rita. [5] [6]

Removal by Saban and restoration

On February 24, 2015, Vimeo chose Power/Rangers as a "Staff Pick". [7] However, a few hours later Vimeo removed the film from its site entirely. On February 25, Vimeo released a statement that the film was removed due to a copyright claim from Saban, the original copyright holders of the Power Rangers franchise. [8] On February 26, Saban had the film removed from YouTube, once again citing copyright claim. On February 27, Power/Rangers was restored to both Vimeo and YouTube.

Possible television follow-up

Adi Shankar has shown interest in making a re-imagining television series of the original television show, that would be rated R due to its graphic nature. [9] [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Mighty Morphin Power Rangers</i> American live action childrens television series

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (MMPR) is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the Power Rangers franchise, and became a 1990s pop culture phenomenon along with a large line of toys, action figures, and other merchandise. The show adapted stock footage from the Japanese TV series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (1992–1993), which was the 16th installment of Toei's Super Sentai franchise. The second and third seasons of the show drew elements and stock footage from Gosei Sentai Dairanger and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, respectively, though the Zyuranger costumes were still used for the lead cast in these two seasons. Only the mecha and the Kiba Ranger costume from Dairanger were featured in the second season while only the Kakuranger mecha was featured in the third season, though the Kakuranger costumes were later used for the mini-series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. The series was produced by MMPR Productions and distributed by Saban Entertainment, while the show's merchandise was produced and distributed by Bandai Entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rita Repulsa</span> Fictional character

Rita Repulsa is a fictional character from the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and the principal nemesis and archenemy of the main superhero protagonists in the show's first season. She is portrayed in the first season by Machiko Soga and by Carla Perez in the remaining seasons, while voiced by Barbara Goodson in the series. Soga reprised her role as Rita, now the Mystic Mother, while Susan Brady provided her voice in the TV series Power Rangers Mystic Force. In the films, she is portrayed by Julia Cortez in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, and by Elizabeth Banks in the 2017 reboot film. Rita Repulsa is based on the Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger villain Witch Bandora.

Zachary Taylor is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe, appearing in the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He is the first on-screen Black Ranger of Power Rangers. He would be succeeded as the Black Ranger by Adam Park. A reimagined version of Zack, now Chinese-American, would appear in the 2017 reboot film, played by Canadian actor Ludi Lin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Oliver</span> Fictional character from the Power Rangers franchise

Dr. Thomas "Tommy" Oliver is a fictional character and the overarching main protagonist of the American live-action television franchise Power Rangers. He is best known as being the original Green Ranger and the first evil Ranger who fought and nearly defeated the original Power Rangers while under the control of Rita Repulsa. He was eventually freed from Rita’s spell and aligned himself with the other Power Rangers. He is a main character in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series, as well as four of its successive incarnations Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, Power Rangers Turbo, and Power Rangers Dino Thunder. He also appeared in the Power Rangers Wild Force episode "Forever Red", the Power Rangers S.P.D. episode "Wormhole", the Power Rangers Super Megaforce episode "Legendary Battle", and in the Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel episode "Dimensions in Danger". He was portrayed by actor Jason David Frank in all of his appearances from the Zordon era until Saban Brands era's seasons of the franchise prior to his death in November 2022, with the exception of the episode "Wormhole", where he appeared only in Ranger form and was voiced by actor Jeffrey Parazzo. He was also infrequently portrayed by actor Michael Gotto in instances where the story required the character during childhood, such as in the series Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers.

<i>Power Rangers Zeo</i> American television series from 1996

Power Rangers Zeo is a television series and the fourth season of the Power Rangers franchise, based on the 19th Super Sentai series Chouriki Sentai Ohranger. It is the continuation of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which aired in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zordon</span> Fictional character in Power Rangers franchise

Zordon is a fictional character from the Power Rangers franchise who serves as the Rangers' mentor. Zordon first appeared on the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and appeared in subsequent seasons until the conclusion of Power Rangers in Space, where he was the titular major supporting character of his saga.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kimberly Hart</span> One of the Power Rangers

Kimberly Ann Hart is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe. Played by American actress Amy Jo Johnson during the first three seasons of the show, plus on the two feature films of the franchise, Kimberly has the longest tenure of any female ranger in the series' history, and fourth overall. She is best remembered as the first Pink Ranger (pterodactyl) and first Pink Ninja Ranger from the first entry of the franchise Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Kimberly was the Pink Ranger for nearly three years before she was written off the show as having given up her powers for good to Zordon's new pink ranger Katherine Hillard, to participate at the Pan Global Games in Florida. However, she would briefly return as the Pink Ranger on three occasions. She first returned during the Legendary Battle of Power Rangers Super Megaforce alongside former teammates Zack Taylor, Billy Cranston, Trini Kwan, and Jason Lee Scott. The five of them later fought alongside the Dino Thunder Rangers, Dino Charge Rangers, and the Grid Battleforce Rangers against Goldar Maximus in Power Rangers Beast Morphers. She also returned to fight a robotic version of Rita Repulsa with the other four original rangers and Tommy Oliver in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always. Johnson did not reprise her role for any of these appearances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trini Kwan</span> Yellow Power Ranger character

Trini Kwan is a fictional character from the Power Rangers franchise, first appearing in the original series as the Yellow Ranger. She was portrayed by Vietnamese-American actress Thuy Trang.

Jason Lee Scott is a fictional character in the Power Rangers franchise, played by actor Austin St. John. Jason is known as the first on-screen Red Ranger not the original (Tyrannosaurus) from the first entry of the franchise, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, as well as the leader of the first on screen team of Power Rangers. He later becomes the temporary Gold Ranger in Power Rangers Zeo. He once again becomes the Red Ranger by Power Rangers: Beast Morphers, alongside his original team. A reimagined version of Jason appears in the 2017 reboot film, played by Australian actor Dacre Montgomery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Cranston</span> Fictional character in Power Rangers

Billy Cranston is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe. He is the Blue Ranger (triceratops) in the series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and was portrayed by actor David Yost. Billy is the only original Power Ranger to remain for the entire MMPR series, and is the second longest-serving Ranger overall behind Tommy Oliver. Until his departure, he was considered the brains of the Power Rangers team, creating many gadgets with which to solve problems that not even Zordon foresaw, and he even invented the first team's wrist-worn communication devices. A reimagined version of Billy appears in 2017 reboot film, played by actor RJ Cyler.

<i>Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie</i> 1997 film directed by Shuki Levy and David Winning

Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is a 1997 American superhero film directed by David Winning and Shuki Levy and written by Levy and Shell Danielson. It is the second installment in Power Rangers film series after Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and was produced by Saban Entertainment and Toei Company, Ltd., and was distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film stars Johnny Yong Bosch, Nakia Burrise, Steve Cardenas, Jason David Frank, Austin St. John, Catherine Sutherland, Jason Narvy, Paul Schrier, Hilary Shepard Turner, Amy Jo Johnson, and Blake Foster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Day of the Dumpster</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

"Day of the Dumpster" is the first episode of both the American tokusatsu television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and the Power Rangers franchise. It premiered on the Fox network on August 28, 1993 as part of its Fox Kids programming block, and was later released on VHS and DVD. A new re-version of the episode later aired on ABC on January 2, 2010, as part of ABC Kids. As with the first season's episodes, most of the scenes featuring the Rangers in morphed form, the Zords and the villains are taken from the Japanese tokusatsu series, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, the 16th entry of the Power Rangers franchise's Japanese counterpart of origin, Super Sentai.

<i>Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie</i> (video game) 1995 video game

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is the title of four different video game adaptations of the film of the same name which were released for the Super NES, Genesis, Game Boy and Game Gear. While the games were ostensibly based on the film, they also featured characters and plot elements from the second season of the original TV series. Like the previous game versions of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, none of the four versions of the movie game were ports of each other.

<i>Power Rangers</i> (film) 2017 film by Dean Israelite

Power Rangers is a 2017 American superhero film based on the franchise of the same name, and directed by Dean Israelite from a screenplay by John Gatins. It is the third installment in the Power Rangers film series, and is a reboot that loosely adapts "Day of the Dumpster", the pilot episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The film features the main characters of the television series with a new cast, starring Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, RJ Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Bill Hader, Bryan Cranston, and Elizabeth Banks. The film follows a group of teenagers who gain newfound powers, and must use them to protect Earth from an ancient reawakened threat. Franchise creator Haim Saban returned to produce the film under his investment firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shattered Grid</span> 2018 comic book event published by Boom! Studios

"Shattered Grid" is a 2018 crossover comic book event published by Boom! Studios, in collaboration with Saban Brands. Based on the Power Rangers franchise by Haim Saban, it was mostly written by Kyle Higgins and Ryan Parrott through the ongoing comic series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Saban's Go Go Power Rangers to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original television series.

<i>Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle</i> 2017 video game

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle is a beat 'em up video game based on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series, developed by Peruvian studio Bamtang Games. It was first announced in October 2016. It was released on January 17, 2017. The game never received a physical release and is only available via digital download.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Necessary Evil (comics)</span>

"Necessary Evil" is a 2019–2020 crossover comic book event by Boom! Studios and Hasbro, based on the Power Rangers franchise created by Haim Saban. The event is written by Ryan Parrott and Sina Grace through the ongoing comic book series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Go Go Power Rangers, making it the second crossover event in the Power Rangers comics by Boom! after 2018's "Shattered Grid".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unlimited Power (comics)</span> 2020–2022 American two-part crossover comic book storyline

"Unlimited Power" is a 2020–2022 American two-part crossover comic book storyline published by Boom! Studios, based on the Power Rangers franchise by Haim Saban and Hasbro. It is the sequel to "Necessary Evil" and the third crossover event in the Power Rangers comics by Boom!

<i>Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always</i> 2023 American TV series or program

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always is a 2023 American superhero television film serving to commemorate the 30th anniversary of both Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993–1995) and the Power Rangers franchise.

References

  1. "Austin St. John Facebook". Facebook . Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  2. "Amy Jo Johnson Twitter" . Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  3. "Steve Cardenas Instagram". Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  4. "The original Green Ranger didn't love that Power/Rangers short film". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  5. "Comic Con Revolution".
  6. "Carla Perez Interview | Round 1 | Morphin' Monday". YouTube .
  7. "POWER/RANGERS in Vimeo Staff Picks". February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  8. "Power/Rangers video removal" . Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  9. "Adi Shankar Developing an R-Rated Power Rangers Animated Series". Slashfilm. February 13, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  10. "That great Power/Rangers short film is being made into an animated series". AV Club. February 10, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  11. "'Dark' Power Rangers TV Show in the Works From Adi Shankar". Screen Rant. February 9, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2017.