Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
Theatrical film poster
Directed by	Bryan Spicer
Produced by	Haim Saban Shuki Levy Suzanne Todd
Written by	John Kamps Arne Olsen
Starring	Jason David Frank Johnny Yong Bosch Steve Cardenas Karan Ashley Amy Jo Johnson David Yost Jason Narvy Paul Schrier Paul Freeman Nicholas Bell
Music by	Graeme Revell Conductor/Orchestrator: Tim Simonec
Cinematography	Paul Murphy
Editing by	Wayne Wahrman
Studio	Saban Entertainment Toei Company
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	June 30, 1995 (1995-06-30)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$66,433,194

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (also known as Power Rangers: The Movie) is a 1995 American superhero action fantasy based on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers on Fox Kids. It featured the characters and actors from the series itself, and used the zords from Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. The film stars the regular television cast of Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, David Yost, Johnny Yong Bosch, Karan Ashley and Steve Cardenas. The allies and villains are Australian and English actors. It was produced by Saban Entertainment and Toei Company, and released by 20th Century Fox on June 30, 1995. Filming took place in Sydney, Australia, which was used to portray the series' setting of Angel Grove, California. It ultimately grossed $38,187,431 theatrically in the U.S. and $66,433,194 worldwide, making it a financial success.^[1]

Despite a strong box office performance, the movie received a mixed reaction by critics.

Plot

The Power Rangers, Adam (Johnny Yong Bosch), Kimberly (Amy Jo Johnson), Billy (David Yost), Aisha (Karan Ashley), Rocky (Steve Cardenas) and Tommy (Jason David Frank) participate with Bulk and Skull in a charity sky dive for Angel Grove in anticipation of Ryan's Comet which will be passing near the planet in two days. After the rangers jump, Bulk and Skull finally work up the nerve to dive as well, landing in the middle of a construction site in midtown. Before they are reprimanded the construction workers are distracted by an egg that had been uncovered where they were digging. The unearthing of this egg alerts Zordon who contacts the Rangers; he explains that 6,000 years ago a shapeshifting being known as Ivan Ooze had been tricked into a trap and buried to prevent him from taking over the universe. He sends them to recover the egg before it is opened, but Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Goldar, and Mordant find the egg and release Ivan before the rangers arrive. Leaving the Command Center defenseless, Ivan sicks several subordinate oozlings on the rangers and departs to destroy it, leaving Alpha incapacitated and Zordon outside of the timewarp that keeps him alive. The destruction disabling the Rangers' morphing powers, leaving them unable to defend the Earth, Alpha sends them to the planet Phaedos in search of a greater power to defeat Ivan and save Zordon. After they leave, Ivan traps Rita and Zedd in a snowglobe, not wanting to meet the same fate, Goldar and Mordant submit to him.

Ivan decides to recruit the parents of Angel Grove to dig up his Ectomorphicon machines, massive zord-like machines that were buried long ago, in order to do this, he takes the disguise of a carnival wizard and gives out jars of ooze to the children of Angel Grove, one of which is a young friend of the rangers Fred Kelman (Jamie Croft) whose father discovers the ooze and is hypnotized along with the rest of the parents into working for Ivan. Fred discovers this and follows the parents to uncover Ivan's true colors. Meanwhile, the Rangers arrive on Phaedos and after facing an attack from Ivan's minions, the Tengoo they meet Dulcea (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick) a warrior who wants to help Zordon by leading the Rangers to the great power. She teaches them to harness their animal spirits, and sends them off the plateau to find the power, she cannot accompany them as it is similar to Zordon's timewarp and she will start rapidly aging if she leaves it. The Rangers overcome many deadly obstacles and uncover the power along with new zords that match their same animal spirits. With their power restored, they return to Earth to face Ivan.

Having restored his Ectomorphicon machines, Ivan orders the parents to leap to their deaths at the construction site; Fred recruits the now-parentless kids to help him save them. The Rangers arrive and summon their zords to stop the Ectomorphicons, saving the kids who are nearly killed in a monorail derailment allowing them to continue their mission as the Rangers form the Ninja Megazord to battle. When they destroy one of his two machines, Ivan merges with the other becoming a massive robotic version of himself. The Rangers are heavily outmatched in the fight, Billy suggests they drag Ivan into the path of Ryan's Comet to destroy him. They manage to trick Ivan into space and with a trick maneuver from Aisha, they are able to safely avoid the explosion when the comet destroys Ivan. His destruction reverses the hypnosis on the parents who were just barely kept at bay from jumping by the kids and Fred, Bulk and Skull. The Rangers return to the Command Center where they learn Zordon had died of old age. But Tommy suggests using their powers to revive him, and they are able to do so, restoring the command center and his time tube all at the same time. In a celebratory festival, Bulk and Skull are offended that the Power Rangers are given credit for saving the city yet again even though they legitimately had a part in helping to save lives, but their embellished tales only lead to laughter from the teens.

Meanwhile on the Moon Base, Goldar has proclaimed himself "King Goldar, The Emperor of the Universe" but his and Mordant's celebrations are cut short when a very irritated Rita and Lord Zedd enter the chamber, growling at their turncoat behavior. Goldar and Mordant look at each other and say "Uh-oh" before the screen goes black.

Cast and characters

• Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver, The White Ranger
• Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Hart, The Pink Ranger
• David Yost as Billy Cranston, The Blue Ranger
• Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos, The Red Ranger
• Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park, The Black Ranger
• Karan Ashley as Aisha Campbell, The Yellow Ranger
• Nicholas Bell (Robert L. Manahan, voice) as Zordon
• Peta-Maree Rixon (Richard Wood, voice) as Alpha 5
• Gabrielle Fitzpatrick as Dulcea
• Paul Schrier and Jason Narvy as Bulk and Skull
• Jamie Croft as Fred Kelman
• Paul Goddard as Dave
• Robert Simper as John
• Julia Cortez (Barbara Goodson, voice) as Rita Repulsa
• Mark Ginther (Robert Axelrod, voice) as Lord Zedd
• Kerry Casey (Kerrigan Mahan, voice) as Goldar
• Jean Paul Bell as Mordant
• Paul Freeman as Ivan Ooze^[2]

Music

See also: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie: Original Soundtrack Album

See also: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie: Original Motion Picture Score

Adaptations in other media

• Four different video game titles based on the movie were released for the Super NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, and Game Gear.
• Marvel Comics released a comic book adaptation of the movie which was dated September 1995.

Release

The film opened on June 30, 1995. Its opening rank was #4 with $13,104,788, behind Apollo 13, and Pocahontas and Batman Forever in their third weekend.^[3]

Reception

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie received generally mixed reviews from film critics mostly because it was aimed toward a younger audience, although the fanbase's reaction was generally more positive and it developed into a cult film, receiving 42% on Rotten Tomatoes.^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} In its opening weekend, the film came in fourth with $13,104,788 behind Apollo 13 and holdovers Pocahontas and Batman Forever. This was considered a disappointment by some analysts given the show's popularity, but the film ultimately grossed $66,433,194 against a $15 million dollar budget, making it a financial success.^[10]

References

1. ^ "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (1995)". Boxofficemojo.com. 1995-08-08. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=powerrangers.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-16. 
2. ^ Gritten, David (1995-06-28). "Oberon to Ooze--It's All in a Day's Work". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-06-28/entertainment/ca-17997_1_mighty-morphin-power-rangers. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
3. ^ "The Sky's the Limit at Box Office Movies: A total of about $154 million in receipts sets a five-day record. `Apollo 13' is atop the field with $38.5 million.". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-06/entertainment/ca-20561_1_box-office. Retrieved 2010-10-30. 
4. ^ Thomas, Kevin (1995-06-30). "A Dazzling Leap From TV to Big Screen for 'Rangers'". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1995-06-30/entertainment/ca-18722_1_power-rangers. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
5. ^ James, Caryn (1995-06-30). "FILM REVIEW; For Power Rangers, Bikinis Are Not The Issue". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/30/movies/film-review-for-power-rangers-bikinis-are-not-the-issue.html?scp=2&sq=Mighty%20Morphin%20Power%20Rangers&st=cse. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
6. ^ "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie". rogerebert.suntimes.com. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950630/REVIEWS/506300304/1023. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
7. ^ "NO, NO, 'POWER RANGERS'! IT'S MIGHTY LOUD & DULL". New York Daily News. 1995-06-30. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/1995/06/30/1995-06-30_no__no___power_rangers___it_.html. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
8. ^ Ahern, Frank (1995-06-30). "‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/mightymorphinpowerrangerspgahrens_c01f93.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-25. 
9. ^ Lasalle, Mick (1995-06-30). "Mighty Mindless `Rangers'". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/06/30/DD29506.DTL. Retrieved 2010-08-25. 
10. ^ "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (1995)". Boxofficemojo.com. 1995-08-08. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=powerrangers.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-16. 

External links

• What REALLY happened: the first MMPR Movie - a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the movie, and the various problems encountered.
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie at the Internet Movie Database
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie at AllRovi
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie at Box Office Mojo
• Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie at Rotten Tomatoes