Power Rangers – The Movie [DVD]

The big-screen version of the TV and licensing phenomenom of the 90’s offers excitement and adventure as the six high school teens turned heroic Power Rangers battle against the unleashed evil morphological being Ivan Ooze. After being accidentally released from a chamber, Ivan Ooze plans, somewhat predictably, to take over the Earth and destroy the Power Rangers, and their mentor Zordon. Zordon is soon weakened and our heroes set out on a quest to the distant planet Thadus to find the ‘Great Power’ which will make them stronger so they can face the battle that awaits them.
They skydive, they kickbox, they travel through space. Is there anything these crayon-coloured teens can’t do? The answer seems a resounding “no” until some construction workers unwittingly open a manhole cover and loose Ivan Ooze upon Angel Grove. Although incarcerated in his egglike tomb for 6,000 years, Ooze gets right to work at that world domination thing. First up: strip those eager teens of their uniforms and associated powers and send their leader Zordon to his crystalline deathbed. There’s nothing to do but head for a distant planet to meet up with a bikini-clad warrior babe who imparts ancient wisdom and power. Meanwhile, Ooze has been turning parents into zombies who craft giant metallic insects–all the better to take over the world with. This 90-minute film features some cast changes from the television series, as well as better special effects and extended fight scenes, which account for the PG rating. Parents must weigh in for themselves on the famous violent-influence-or-not question. Although, like anything else, what seemed violent in 1995 may seem a bit tame today. Ages 5 and up. –Kimberly Heinrichs