Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1
Released By: Manga Entertainment
Rating: PG
Running Time: 1500 Mins
Audio: English DD 5.1 Japanese DD 2.0
Release Date: Out Now!
Reviewed By: Sandra Scholes
After an earthquake has ravaged America, five normal teenagers get dragged into a spaceship by Zordon and his robot buddy, Alpha 5. The reason? Rita Repulsa wants to conquer Earth as she has tried with other planets.
Zordon thinks that if the five team up, they can make a difference to thwart Rita's designs on their planet, but they have to believe in themselves and that there are forces outside what they know.Zordon is prepared to give each of them special powers unique to their personality. Around their belts there is a buckle with their own power animal, in this case it's a dinosaur. When they activate their dinosaur, they get amazing super powers to become the Power Rangers.
As expected, this news is too overwhelming for them. Jason, Zach, Kimberley, Billy and Trini are told of the Zords they can also use to battle Rita and her minions, but they still can't grasp what Zordon is trying to tell them, thinking it must be a joke.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of this global phenomenon from the early 90s (yes, this goes back as far as 1993 folks) and lets even the newest viewer an idea of what watching TV in the 90s was like with more natural special effects. It's no wonder Rita is angry (and crazy) she has been imprisoned for 10,000 years and is desperate for revenge, encouraging her minions to ravage the Earth she wants to conquer. For those who like Japanese inspired series based on the US ideals, this also reminded me of Monkey and had similar special effects and slapstick humour. Even the outfits the baddies wear are very reminiscent of the earlier series based on a monkey god and his pals searching for a scroll.
Belief is everything with this series as the five would be heroes have no choice but to use their buckles to activate their powers to fight Rita's minions when they launch a random assault. When they take a chance on Zordon being right, and not insane, they stand a chance of being able to defend themselves, though they can't believe the extent of what they can do. They can use their assault machines, Zords which can also combine into one huge mecha, the Megazord. This has to be seen to be believed and even as it is a 90s series by today's hi-tech standards, it's impressive to look at. Fight scenes are comical, but inventive, while bright Asian-inspired costumes for the baddies add an extra dimension to the visuals as it's a case of East meets West in this series.
It's appeal is the cheesy special effects, the humour and the general nostalgia of Power Rangers as a cultural phenomenon. The series also fits into the Japanese anime series idea of the sentai team in much the same way as Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman in Japan). The series spawned the merchandise from Bandai. For those who want to experience some serious nostalgia or are new to 90s series, this is one to keep a lookout for.
Bonus Material: Menu with Play All and Episode Selection options plus famous Opening Song.
Summary: The 90s was such fun with this series being every kid's staple on a weekday afternoon!
