Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

This article is about the 1995 film. For the TV series that this is based on, see Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. For the 2017 film, see Power Rangers (film). For other franchise films, see Power Rangers.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bryan Spicer
Produced by
Screenplay by Arne Olsen
Story by
  • John Kamps
  • Arne Olsen
Starring
Music by Graeme Revell
Cinematography Paul Murphy
Edited by Wayne Wahrman
Production
company
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release dates
  • June 30, 1995 (1995-06-30)
Running time
 95 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $15 million
Box office $66.4 million[2]

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (also known as Power Rangers: The Movie) is a 1995 American superhero film based on the television series of the same name. It stars the ensemble cast of Karan Ashley, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steve Cardenas, Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, and David Yost.

Much like the television season that followed the release, it used concepts from the Japanese Super Sentai series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. It is the first Power Rangers production from Saban Entertainment not to feature any archived footage from Super Sentai.

It was released by 20th Century Fox on 30 June 1995. The film grossed $66.43 million worldwide, but received middling and polarizing reviews from critics.[2]

Plot

The Rangers (Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, Billy Cranston, Aisha Campbell, Kimberly Hart, and Tommy Oliver) participate with Bulk and Skull in a charity skydive for the Angel Grove observatory, in anticipation of Ryan's Comet which will pass by in two days. Bulk and Skull miss the target landing zone and accidentally land on a construction site where a giant egg has been unearthed. Lord Zedd, Rita Repulsa, Goldar, and Mordant arrive at the construction site and crack open the egg, releasing Ivan Ooze, a morphological being who ruled Earth with an iron fist six thousand years earlier, before he was overthrown by Zordon and a group of young warriors under his charge. Ivan lays siege to the Rangers' Command Center and incapacitates Zordon, robbing the Rangers of their powers. As the Rangers return to the Command Center, they find it destroyed and Zordon dying.

Zordon's assistant Alpha 5 sends the Rangers to the distant planet Phaedos to obtain the Great Power and save Zordon. Ivan usurps Rita and Zedd, trapping them in a snow globe. Ivan sends his Tengu warriors to Phaedos and begins building an army. He uses his ooze to hypnotize the adults, forcing them to be his workforce to dig up his Ecto-Morphicon Titans, twin war machines built during his reign. When Fred Kelman, a friend of the Rangers', discovers his father missing, he finds him working at the construction site and discovers Ivan's plans.

On Phaedos, the Rangers are almost killed by the Tengu, but are rescued by Dulcea, Phaedos' Master Warrior. After hearing of Zordon's plight, she agrees to help them and takes them to an ancient ruined temple, where the Rangers will have to overcome obstacles to acquire the power of the Ninjetti. Dulcea gives each Ranger an animal spirit: Aisha is the bear, Billy is the wolf, Rocky is the ape, Kimberly is the crane, Tommy is the falcon, and Adam is the frog. The Rangers make their way to the Monolith housing the Great Power, defeat its four guardians, and retrieve the Great Power.

On Earth, Ivan's Ecto-Morphicons are completely unearthed, and he unleashes them on Angel Grove; he orders the parents to commit suicide at the construction site. Fred, Bulk, Skull and other students head to the construction site to save their parents. The Rangers return with their new animal-themed Ninja Zords and destroy one of Ivan's Ecto-Morphicons; Ivan takes control of the other and battles the Rangers himself. Coming up with a way to defeat him, the Rangers lead Ivan into space, right into the path of Ryan's Comet, which destroys him. His destruction breaks the hypnosis and the parents are reunited with their children. The Rangers then use the Great Power to restore the Command Center and resurrect Zordon.

In a mid-credits scene, Goldar briefly lounges in Zedd's throne being served by Mordant only to panic when Zedd and Rita appear having been released after Ivan was destroyed.

Cast

Voices

Music

Adaptations in other media

Release

In its opening weekend, the film earned $13,104,788, coming in fourth behind Apollo 13 and holdovers Pocahontas and Batman Forever.[4] It ultimately grossed $66,433,194 against a $15 million budget, making it a financial success.[2]

Critical reception

The film holds a 50% "Rotten" rating based on 22 reviews on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, though there is no summarized consensus given for it.[5] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times thought it was characterized by "a barrage of spectacular special effects, a slew of fantastic monsters, a ferociously funny villain — and, most important, a refreshing lack of pretentiousness." Thomas lauded director Bryan Spicer for raising the quality of production values for a feature film adaptation of the TV series while maintaining a likable "comic-book look and sense of wonder" and wholesome high school characters parents would approve of.[6]

Caryn James of The New York Times thought that story-wise, it resembles multiple episodes of the television series stringed together with slightly better special effects, and that the result was loud, headache-inducing and boring for adults but that children would enjoy it. James further stated that too much of its running time is spent showing the Rangers without their powers.[7] Roger Ebert gave it only half a star out of a possible four stars, saying that it is "as close as you can get to absolute nothing and still have a product to project on the screen," comparing it to synthetic foods in brightly marketed packaging with no nutritional content. He felt that the characters, with the exception of Ivan Ooze, lacked personalities, and that the scenes of monsters rampaging through the city hearkened back to the worst Japanese monster films.[8] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle found the fights "only adequately choreographed," called the battle in the climax "a complete disaster" and stating that it made no sense in timing, that protagonists were not very intelligent, and the actors playing them unremarkable.[9]

Home media

The film was released on VHS and LaserDisc in late 1995 and then on DVD in 2003 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Bonus features included a theatrical trailer and a "Making Of" featurette. It is sometimes bundled with 1997's Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie as a double feature.

The film, along with Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, was re-released with different packaging on DVD in 2011.

References

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