| Power/Rangers | |
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 Promotional release poster | |
| Directed by | Joseph Kahn |
| Written by |
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| Based on | |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Christopher Probst |
| Edited by | Joseph Kahn |
| Music by | Brain andMelissa |
Production company | Adi Shankar Productions |
Release date |
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Running time | 14 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Power/Rangers, orPower Rangers: Unauthorized, is an Americansuperherofanshort film based on thePower Rangers franchise; unlike the kid-friendly franchise, the short depicts an adult-oriented take on the source material. It was directed byJoseph Kahn, who co-wrote withJames Van Der Beek and Dutch Southern, and produced byAdi Shankar and Jil Hardin. The short film featured anensemble cast starringKatee Sackhoff, Van Der Beek, Russ Bain,Will Yun Lee, and Gichi Gamba. It was released onYouTube andVimeo on February 23, 2015.
After theMachine Empire defeats thePower Rangers and destroys the Megazord in battle, Earth's governments negotiate a truce with the Machine Empire and the Power Rangers are disbanded.
Years later,Rocky DeSantos, the second Red Ranger has defected to the Machine Empire, cynical and critical ofZordon's use of the Power Rangers aschild soldiers, and now sports a prosthetic leg. While interrogating a restrainedKimberly Hart, the former Pink Ranger, about the location ofTommy Oliver, the former Green Ranger, he details the fates of the other Rangers inflashback:
Rejecting Rocky's claim that Tommy is hunting down the Rangers, Kimberly tells Rocky that she has not seen him since the funeral ofTrini Kwan, the former Yellow Ranger, who died during the treaty negotiations. Rocky acknowledges that he already knew that; she is really being held as bait to lure out Tommy. Tommy arrives and kills the guards, entering into single combat against Rocky in a sword duel. When Rocky gains the upper hand, Kimberly shoots and kills him, but Tommy demands to know who she is, revealing that the real Kimberly died during the final battle years earlier. The fake Kimberly's façade crumbles to revealRita Repulsa, who killed all the others: she distracted Jason during the shootout and executed Zack and Billy with gunshots. Rita attempts to lure Tommy into her plan of world domination (noting that she created him) but he denies her, attacking her as the film ends.
Several of the plot points make references to real-life incidents in the original Power Rangers actors' lives:
Power/Rangers was released on February 23, 2015. Two versions of the film were released; the version hosted onVimeo included brief nudity not present in theYouTube version.[original research?]
Members of the originalMighty Morphin Power Rangers television series praised it, such asAustin St. John,[1]Amy Jo Johnson[2] andSteve Cardenas.[3]Jason David Frank, the original Green Ranger, criticized the short film, thinking it was too violent and the fact thePower Rangers franchise is still being produced for children. However, he appreciated it on an "inner geek level".[4]
Carla Perez, who playedRita Repulsa in Saban's American-filmed footage forMighty Morphin Power Rangers and other television iterations (when the character was not portrayed through repurposed JapaneseSuper Sentai footage in which the character was played byMachiko Soga), made a brief appearance in this film as Rita.[5][6]
On February 24, 2015, Vimeo chosePower/Rangers as a "Staff Pick".[7] However, a few hours later Vimeo removed the film from its site entirely. On February 25, Vimeo released a statement that the film was removed due to a copyright claim fromSaban, the original copyright holders of thePower Rangers franchise.[8] On February 26, Saban had the film removed from YouTube, once again citing copyright claim. On February 27,Power/Rangers was restored to both Vimeo and YouTube.
In February 2017, producerAdi Shankar had announced development, including writing the first season, of a dark reimagining ofMighty Morphin Power Rangers, although he had yet to sell to a network.[9]
