Friday, March 4, 2016

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993)

Creator(s): Haim Saban and Shuki Levy
Air Dates: August 28, 1993 - November 27, 1995
Seasons: 3
Episodes: 145
(source)


Power Rangers was a live-action children's series about "teenagers with attitude" who can transform into heroes with super powers. They change into colorful suits that cover their whole bodies and they fight monsters and other villains trying to take over Earth. It is based off of the Japanese show called Super Sentai, and it shares some of the same footage, but the American version is rewritten with different story lines.  The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was the first installment of the series that ran in the early 90s.
Here is the famous theme song.




The series takes place in Angel Grove, a made-up town in California. The main villain, Rita Repulsa has been released and wants to take over Planet Earth.


So, it falls on five teenagers--Jason, Kimberly, Trini, Zack, and Billy--to stop her and her henchmen. A sixth ranger joins their group later on, which is where the trope "The Sixth Ranger" comes from, which describes when a new character joins the main cast.

A typical episode usually started out with the main cast hanging out (or working out) at the gym, and we would learn about some problem one of them was having. They might have a run in with the two bullies, Bulk and Skull. Later, the kids are called on a mission and they have to go deal with Rita Repulsa's henchmen or "monster of the week." If the battle gets too tough, the Power Rangers will call on their Zords, which are Mechas that look like animals, or in this case prehistoric animals, like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a Pterodactyl, a Sabertooth Tiger, a Mastadon, or a Triceratops. Those Zords could then combine together and become the Megazord, whick looks more human-like.


Since MMPR, Power Rangers has had several more incarnations, all based on Super Sentai. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers will be getting a feature-length movie that will be releasing next March. Variety has a first look of the new cast and some info on the movie. My brother and I a fans of the show, so we are very excited to see this movie. I hope it will live up to the original and won't completely butcher it. I guess we'll find out next year.



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