Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson June 2, 2019

As a young teen in the early '90s, I recall with fondness coming home from school every day and tuning into a new superhero series titled Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on the Fox Kids Network. Based on series from the Super Sentai franchise, MMPR was a cool action series featuring five (and later six) teens from the fictional town of Angel Grove in California who do battle with evil sorceress Rita Repulsa and her minions. I remember becoming intrigued by the show when I saw the menagerie of monsters created by Rita's old scientist Finster, who sculpted them in clay and cranked them out through his Monster-Matic machine. I also developed a crush on Kimberly Hart (aka the Pink Ranger), who was played by Amy Jo Johnson. (After I told my peers about her, they often asked me about my "dream girl" in school.) When creators Haim Saban and Shuki Levy announced they were adapting the series into a feature film, I couldn't wait for 20th Century Fox to release it into theaters.

Watching the movie's opening again where the six Rangers skydive for the charity-based Angel Grove observatory brought back a lot of memories from my theatrical experience in the summer of '95. Also skydiving from the plane are Bulk (Paul Schrier) and Skull (Jason Narvy), the two bullies from Angel Grove High I always regarded as nudniks. Fortunately, they don't have large roles in the film and are merely there for comic relief. At a construction site, a humongous purple egg is discovered by the miners and workers. Rita Repulsa (Julia Cortez), Lord Zedd (Mark Ginther), and Goldar (Kerry Casey) arrive to crack it open and unleash its power. A shape-shifting creature named Ivan Ooze (Paul Freeman) emerges from the egg and immediately heads to the Command Center, which is home to the Rangers' allies, the automaton Alpha 5 and Zordon, an inter-dimensional being akin to the disembodied Wizard of Oz. Zordon was an archenemy of Ivan's 6,000 years ago when he vanquished the purple creature. Out for revenge, Ivan wreaks havoc in the Center and deliberately short-circuits Zordon, robbing the Rangers of their prime energy source and morphing powers.

Zordon has an assignment for you, Rangers.

Alpha 5 sends the Rangers to the remote planet of Phaedos where they hope to find the Great Power, which is the key to rejuvenating Zordon. There they meet the earthly goddess and Master Warrior Dulcea (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), who aids them in their fight against large birds of prey known as the Tengu. Dulcea guides the Rangers to an ancient temple where animal-like guardians protect the Monolith which stores the Great Power. The Rangers work at earning the power of the Ninjetti so they're endowed with the necessary strength to defeat them. Meanwhile, Ivan has tricked Angel Groove's youth into buying his poisonous ooze in mass-produced quantities. When the kids' parents touch it, they transform into zombies. Ivan orders them to the construction site where they'll dig up his towering war machines know as the Ecto-Morphicons. Will the Rangers arrive in time before it's too late?

Three of the original Rangers from the series reprise their roles in the film: David Yost as the geeky Billy Cranston (but without glasses)/the Blue Ranger; Jason David Frank as martial artist and likely black belt Tommy Oliver/the White Ranger; and my favorite, Amy Jo Johnson as Kim Hart/the Pink Ranger. Notably absent are series regulars Austin St. John (as Jason Lee Scott/the Red Ranger), Walter Jones (as Zack Taylor/the Black Ranger), and Thuy Trang (as Trini Kwan/the Yellow Ranger). Reportedly, the three actors had a contract dispute with the producers and Fox over low pay and the fact they were part of a non-union production. I remember reading at the time that St. John wouldn't be returning as the Red Ranger and was disappointed because Steve Cardenas, his replacement, doesn't bring the same level of masculinity and leadership qualities. Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park/the Black Ranger and Karan Ashley as Aisha Campbell/the Yellow Ranger fill Walter Jones and Thuy Trang's shoes ably.

Some of the broader casting problems have to do with greatly diminishing Rita and Zedd to diminutives (literally). When I saw print ads for the movie, I noticed the Rangers' chief foes standing on Earth with their scepters. I thought Rita and Zedd would be working together with a new villain to form a practically unbeatable triumvirate. How wrong was I! Additionally, actors Dave Mallow and Michael Sorich were said to be upset that they weren't offered their usual roles as Rita's henchmen, Baboo and Squatt. Instead, the writers tried to amalgamate them into Mordant (Jean Paul Bell) but he's basically non-existent. So is Finster.

As the Rangers' new adversary, Ivan Ooze lacks the creativity of many of Rita and Zedd's monsters. This is more of a knock at the screenplay than it is on Paul Freeman, who admits in a new interview that Ivan's shape-shifting powers were curtailed, owing probably to budgetary constrictions. Freeman tries to make Ivan funny but the ooze just melts away. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is formulaic, predictable, and not worthy of the many fine episodes that preceded it. Director Bryan Spicer thought with a $20 million budget he could do things "bigger and better" than the TV production but the story and action quickly sputters into the crater that should have left Ivan Ooze's egg unhatched.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout! Factory has brought Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) to Blu-ray for the first time on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. Appearing in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the twenty-four-year-old film looks much like I remember it. There is a relatively thin but visible layer of grain on this print, which looks clean, smooth, and film-like. There's some dirt and tiny print anomalies but this mostly looks like a pristine, undamaged interpositive. Compression could have been better. Fox reportedly performed a new 4K scan of one of the interpositives, which appears to be the source for this transfer. Skin complexions on the humans look natural and authentic. Colors are pretty rich and well-defined. There is no telecine wobble or image stability problems. The main feature sports an average video bitrate of 33434 kbps while the full disc boasts a mean total bitrate of 39.97 Mbps.

The 95-minute film comes with a dozen chapter markers.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround track (2531 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo downmix (1765 kbps, 24-bit). Dialogue as delivered by the heroes and villains sounds intelligible and comprehensible. The best part of the 5.1 track is the discrete separation it creates from the front channels. For example, I could really hear the Rangers swoosh through the atmosphere as they skydive to their destination. The sounds of them rollerblading through the streets and karate-chopping their foes are also amplified. The explosions don't have great range and sound similar to the way they're mixed in the series. Composer Graeme Revell's music sounds like a mishmash of Alan Silvestri and John Williams action/sci-fi scores but it's nonetheless serviceable to the onscreen action. I was disappointed that the "Go Go Power Rangers Theme" was re-orchestrated for the big screen as I prefer the TV series version more. There are eleven other pop songs that go well with the film.

Optional English SDH are accessible through the animated menu or via remote control.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Mighty Leap to the Silver Screen (44:04, 1080p) - Also titled "A Look Back atMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" this new 44-minute documentary covers the script's origins, casting, the Australian locations, Ivan Ooze's makeup, stunts, the Rangers' armored suits, and reception at the movie's premiere. It includes interviews with director Bryan Spicer as well as stars Jason David Frank, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steve Cardenas, Karan Ashley, Paul Freeman, Jason Narvy, and some of the stunt performers. In English, not subtitled.

• Original Featurette (4:30, upscaled to 1080i) - a promotional piece produced by Fox that presents brief interview snippets with the Power Rangers and Spicer. Shown in 1.33:1 and upconverted from 480i. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:13, upscaled to 1080i) - Fox's official trailer that's presented in 1.33:1.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was highly disappointed with the big-screen adaptation of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and even more so revisiting it here. As a loyal fan of the series, I was disgruntled that Saban and Levy didn't bring back several of the series regulars and also significantly reduced Rita and Zedd's import to the plot. Paul Freeman does everything he can to inject Ivan Ooze with malevolent vitality but the script frivolously splatters him to the Rangers. If you are a fan of the film, you'll be pleased with Shout! Factory's very good transfer and a pumped-up sound track that sounds great on this disc. The retrospective doc is an informative program that covers several topics pretty sufficiently. Because I have so many reservations about the movie, I'd advise series fans to rent it first if you didn't catch it in the cinema, on cable, or on VHS/DVD.