Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie Review

So much latex, so little time.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 5, 2012

It’s funny what memories various media can conjure up in audiences’ minds. I’m old enough to have grown up when LPs were still the music listening medium of choice, and several long playing albums from my earliest childhood are so firmly implanted on my memory that listening to them now (in their shiny new digital formats, of course) immediately brings back a flood of memories of when I first listened to them, with, perhaps strangely, the season of my introduction to them seeming to be at the forefront of my synapses. There are therefore tons of albums in my collection that I kind of categorize as “winters” or “springs” and the like. In a different way, some television shows and movies bring back specific timeframes of my own life, but perhaps on a larger scale than a “mere” season. My eldest son, who is about to fly the coop and begin my wife’s and my “empty nest” syndrome (after we ditch one more child—yes, that’s a joke, kind of), was a huge fan of both Star Wars and Power Rangers when he was a tot. He had a coterie of accoutrements to play with from both of these franchises and my wife and I still joke about the day he was playing with a certain Star Wars action figure and blurted out the immortal line: “Oh, hi, Evil Emperor, do you want to have some lunch?” My personal memories about my son and Power Rangers have to do with his inability to properly pronounce “r”’s at a young age (something my wife, who has a degree in Speech Pathology among her battery of other Bachelors’ Degrees, assured me was normal, which it turned out to be). Therefore every time he would mention the show or one of his action figures, it would come out sounding like “Powah Wainjah”. So I was kind of nostalgically misty eyed as I trundled through the hyperbolically ridiculous Power Rangers Super Samurai, the latest installment in the long running Power Ranger saga, and the second season of the show to have been filmed and broadcast in high definition. The image may be sharper, but the writing and acting of this show is still largely clueless, which is in fact one of the series’ greatest charms, at least for armchair cynics like this reviewer.

Having just witnessed some ersatz Rangers in the anime series Level E: Complete Series, I can now state with some certainty that there’s no replacement for the real (or perhaps more appropriately surreal) thing. The lunatic intensity and whimsical weirdness of the franchise is on tap from virtually the first moment of this season, when our fearless heroes approach what appears to be a giant amalgamation of red Jell-O lying congealed in the street. As might be expected, it’s not the leftovers from some party gone horribly, horribly wrong, but is instead the viscious remnants of the Sanzu River, an evil bestowing water that is the first sign that those nefarious Nighloks may well be able to succeed in their villainous plot to flood the Earth. Meanwhile an hysterically funny creature named Arachnitor is wreaking havoc in an otherwise pleasant suburb, where the denizens (mostly teenagers) don’t seem to be able to run (and/or bike) away from the jumping, latex suited beast without tripping over themselves and falling. As with so much of Power Rangers’s cartoonish sensibility, though, there’s really no sense of impending danger since Arachnitor seems to be having quite a bit of trouble himself moving in such a bulky outfit.

While there’s about as much of a through line in Power Rangers Super Samurai as there ever has been in any iteration of this series, this is episodic, almost anecdotal, fare at best. We know we’re going to see some sort of hilariously overweening villain, maybe a Nighlok, maybe some other vicious species that appear now and then, and then the Power Rangers will morph to lay some whoop-you-know-what down on the bad guys. That’s it<, period, finito, end of story. And that’s part of the loveable lunacy of this show. It’s perfect for the attention deficit disorder younger tot crowd, who will be wowed by the pretty (and outlandish) costumes but not have the intellectual wherewithal to really wonder about the finer points of why the Nighloks’ mouths only move after approximately every fifth word.

For those unacquainted with the Power Rangers universe, we have a rainbow coalition of sorts of multicolored superheroes. Team leader is Jayden (Alex Heartman), a kind of taciturn type who morphs into the Red Samurai Ranger. Kevin (Najee De-Tiege) becomes the Blue Samurai Ranger and is one of the standout athletes of this group. Mike (Hector David, Jr.) is the alter ego of the Green Samurai Ranger (or is that the other way around?) and is perhaps the most typical teenager of the assemblage, almost as devoted to his videogames as he is to battling the Nighloks (not that there’s a whale of a lot of difference between the two activities, frankly). Antonio (Steven Skyler) is the Gold Samurai Ranger and likes to split his time between fishing and working on some of the high tech gizmos that help out his buddies in their battles against evil. The distaff side of the Rangers include Mia (Erika Fong), also known as the Pink Samurai Ranger, a nurturing type whose domestic skills aren’t quite what she thinks they are; and Emily (Brittany Anne Pirtle), the Yellow Samurai Ranger, who is probably the least prepared for the arduous task of defeating the Nighloks. As silly as the series undeniably is, the camaraderie of the Rangers probably makes a significant impression on younger viewers, helping to espouse the virtues of team work and looking out for others.

In terms of the so-called “super” in Super Samurai, what we get are somewhat “upgraded” costumes, along with nifty add ons like a “black box” that attaches to various Ranger weapons and makes them more dangerous. There are shiny discs that click into other items and a virtual universe of options for the lucky toymaker who has licensed the Power Rangers and can now cash in on what is no doubt going to be a very lucrative money making gambit. Power Rangers Super Samurai is silly, outrageous, and really pretty much lacking in any redeeming artistic values. The acting is wooden (at best), the production values are often laughable, and the writing is about as lame as you can possibly get in kid-centric entertainment (which is saying a lot). And yet the series is undeniably charming and even lovable in its own peculiar way. Memories are made of this.

Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is a generally okay looking high definition presentation that is hobbled by fairly soft looking special effects and a somewhat peculiarly anemic color palette, especially considering the fact that the Rangers themselves are so identified by their various hues. Reds tend to pop fairly well here, and some of the Nighloks look fun, with their heavy latex literally revealing its seams in some close-ups. But the overall look of this series is often kind of surprisingly drab, something that's especially hard to fathom since much was made of Power Rangers erupting into high definition last season. There's nothing egregiously bad about this transfer or the ultimate look of the series, but longtime Power Ranger fans who might be hoping for a really eye popping experience may be just a tad let down by the general appearance of Power Rangers Super Samurai.

Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is a good deal more impressive than the general image quality, though here too the "kiddie entertainment" approach of the series perhaps reveals itself in a surprisingly narrow soundfield in all but the action sequences. The good news is there are many action sequences in every episode, and those offer some fine immersion and excellently placed sound effects. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is rather wide for series television, especially one aimed at the younger set.

Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Everyday Fun Music Video (HD; 3:03)


• Swarm Flash Mob Video (HD; 2:12)


• Train Like a Ranger Video (HD; 3:25) is actually an assortment of brief snippets, each devoted to one of the different "colors" of Power Rangers.

Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Power Rangers Super Samurai: The Complete Season is just flat out goofy nonsense, and it's hard to take any of it very seriously since it's so obviously geared toward wide eyed tots who will be excited by the "epic" battles between spandex suited good guys (and gals) and latex suited baddies. The show is often hilariously funny, though one suspects it isn't always intentional. This group of Power Rangers (or Samurai Rangers) takes wooden acting to new, heretofore unexplored level, an aspect somewhat ameliorated by the absolute scenery chewing of the Nighloks and other "guest villains". Kids will be entertained by the silly goings on here, though parents trying to relive their own childhoods may wonder what they saw in this franchise to begin with.