| Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bryan Spicer |
| Screenplay by | Arne Olsen |
| Story by |
|
| Based on | Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger Gosei Sentai Dairanger Ninja Sentai Kakuranger byToei Company Power Rangers byHaim Saban Shuki Levy |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Paul Murphy |
| Edited by | Wayne Wahrman |
| Music by | Graeme Revell |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date |
|
Running time | 96 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[citation needed] |
| Box office | $66.4 million[3] |
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie[4] is a 1995 Americansuperhero film. It stars theensemble cast ofKaran Ashley,Johnny Yong Bosch,Steve Cardenas,Jason David Frank,Amy Jo Johnson, andDavid Yost alongside the villains cast from the original series andPaul Freeman as Ivan Ooze. Much like the television season that followed the release, it used concepts from the JapaneseSuper Sentai seriesKyōryū Sentai Zyuranger,Gosei Sentai Dairanger andNinja Sentai Kakuranger. It is the firstPower Rangers production fromSaban Entertainment not to feature any archived footage fromSuper Sentai. The film is not part of the franchise continuity as the movie takes place in an alternate timeline.
The film was released in between thesecond andthird seasons ofMighty Morphin Power Rangers.
The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers participate withBulk and Skull in a charity skydive for the Angel Grove observatory, in anticipation of Ryan's Comet which is scheduled to pass by in two days. Bulk and Skull miss the target landing zone and land at a construction site where a giant purple egg has been unearthed.Zordon then summons the Rangers, and mentionsIvan Ooze, amorphological being who ruled Earth 6,000 years before. He was then lured into a hyper-lock chamber and buried underground by Zordon and a group of young warriors. Zordon sends the Rangers to the construction site to return the egg to its chamber, before it is opened. However,Lord Zedd,Rita Repulsa,Goldar andMordant arrive at the construction site first, and crack open the egg, releasing Ivan Ooze. The Rangers confront Ivan, who unleashes Oozemen on them. While the Rangers defeat the Oozemen, the distraction allows Ivan to escape and he lays siege to the Command Center, incapacitating Zordon, and robbing the Rangers of their powers. They return to the now-destroyed Command Center, where they find Zordon, being outside his time warp, aging and dying, with his only consolation being that the Rangers themselves are unharmed.
Zordon's assistantAlpha 5, suggests using what little power in the Command Center remains, to send the Rangers on a dangerous quest, to the distant planet Phaedos, to seek and obtain the Great Power and save Zordon, which the Rangers accept. On the Moon, Rita rebukes Ivan, for allowing the Rangers to escape, but Ivan usurps Rita and Zedd, shrinking and trapping them in asnow globe, and forces Goldar and Mordant to be his servants. He then sends his Tengu warriors to Phaedos and begins building an army. He uses children to bring hisooze to their parents, and it hypnotizes them into becoming his workforce to dig up his Ecto-Morphicons, twin war machines built during his reign. After finding his father working at the construction site, Fred Kelman, a friend of the Rangers, figures out Ivan's plans.
On Phaedos, the Rangers are almost killed by the Tengu but are rescued by Dulcea, the planet's Master Warrior. Dulcea initially tells the Rangers to leave for their safety, but after hearing of Zordon's plight, she agrees to help and takes them to an ancient temple where they will have to overcome obstacles to acquire the power of the Ninjetti. Dulcea awakens each Rangers' animal spirit; Aisha Campbell is thebear, Rocky DeSantos is theape,Billy Cranston is thewolf,Kimberly Hart is thecrane, Adam Park is thefrog, andTommy Oliver is thefalcon. Upon being asked if she could join them, Dulcea reveals that she would begin to age as rapidly as Zordon is if she leaves the temple. She then shapeshifts into an owl to preserve her age. The Rangers travel to the Monolith housing the Great Power, using their wits and martial arts skills to defeat a live fossilized dinosaur skeleton and the temple's four Stone Gargoyle guardians. They retrieve the Great Power, restoring their Ranger suits and powers.
On Earth, Ivan's Ecto-Morphicons are unearthed, and he unleashes them on Angel Grove, ordering the parents to walk off a cliff at the construction site. Fred recruits Bulk, Skull, and the other kids, who head to the construction site to save their parents. The Rangers return to Earth with their new animal-themed Ninja Zords and, after a difficult struggle, they destroy the first of Ivan's Ecto-Morphicons, Scorpitron. Ivan takes control of Hornitor and battles the Rangers, who combine their Zords to form the Ninja Megazord and later the Ninja Mega Falconzord. Meanwhile, the kids push the parents back while Fred, with help from Bulk and Skull, sprays them with water. The Rangers lure Ivan into space and knock him into the path of Ryan's Comet, which destroys him. Ivan's death breaks his spell on the parents, who are reunited with their children, and frees Zedd and Rita from Ivan's trap. The Rangers return to the Command Center, but are distraught to find Zordon has died. Without giving up hope, they use the Great Power to restore the Command Center and resurrect Zordon, returning him to his time warp. Everything returns to normal as a celebration is held at Angel Grove's Harbor in honor of the Power Rangers.
Voices
Filming took place in and aroundBombo Quarry,Sydney, andQueensland in Australia.[6] This film was released on June 30, 1995, and grossed $66.4 million worldwide,[3] but received mixed reviews from critics. The critics praised its action sequences and performances, but felt that the film was nothing more than a longer episode ofthe series with better special effects, pointing to the plot and screenplay as the main faults.
| Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie: Original Soundtrack Album | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | June 8, 1995 (1995-06-08) |
| Recorded | 1994–1995 |
| Length | 49:53 |
| Label | |
| Producer |
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| Singles from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie: Original Soundtrack Album | |
| |
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie: Original Soundtrack Album is the licensed soundtrack to the film. It was released byFox Records and Saban Records on June 8, 1995, onaudio CD andcassette.[7]
Despite several of the songs heard in the movie being well known and older, the album featured the highest profile musical talent the series had been associated with up until that point. The music ofVan Halen,They Might Be Giants,Devo,Red Hot Chili Peppers,Roxette,Dan Hartman, andBuckethead was used throughout the film. The single released to promote the soundtrack wasShampoo's "Trouble", although the commercials for the film used both this andSnap!'s hit "The Power".
The Power Rangers Orchestra consisted ofEric Martin ofMr. Big, renowned studio guitaristTim Pierce, John Pierce ofPablo Cruise on bass, singer-pianistKim Bullard, andMatt Sorum ofGuns N' Roses andVelvet Revolver on drums.[note 1] The solo on the track "Firebird" is performed by Buckethead.[note 1]
| Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie: Original Motion Picture Score | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | June 6, 1995 (1995-06-06)[8] |
| Recorded | 1994-1995 |
| Length | 35:24 |
| Label | Varèse Sarabande |
| Producer | Graeme Revell Robert Townson(exec) |
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie: Original Motion Picture Score is the soundtrack of the score to the movie, released byVarèse Sarabande on June 6, 1995, onAudio CD andCompact Cassette. This release features most of the film score by composerGraeme Revell, except for the track called "Firebird" which he performed along with guitarists Carl Verheyen and Buckethead; this was included in the film's previous soundtrack. The score was performed by theWest Australian Symphony Orchestra with orchestrator Tim Simonec conducting.
The film was released on June 30, 1995, by20th Century Fox.
Family entertainment center chainDiscovery Zone promoted the release of the film by giving away Power Rangers Wrist Activators (with 33 messages) to customers who bought a Discovery Zone Summer Power Pass. Discovery Zone also gave away one of six Power Rangers Movie Challenge cards for free during each visit. This promotion lasted the entire summer.[9]
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The film was released onVHS andLaserDisc in late 1995 and then as a double feature with 1997'sTurbo: A Power Rangers Movie on a double-sidedDVD in 2001 by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Bonus features included a theatrical trailer and a "Making Of" featurette. The film was then released separately on a single-sided DVD in 2003.
The film was re-released with different packaging on DVD in 2011. The film was then re-released in 2017 in a bundled set withTurbo: A Power Rangers Movie (this time as two single-sided DVD discs) to coincide with the reboot filmPower Rangers.
On May 9, 2018, it was announced thatMighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie would be released onBlu-ray for the first time byShout! Factory as an extra disc included in their 25th anniversary DVDSteelBook box set of theMighty Morphin Power Rangers TV series.[10] Shout! Factory released a stand-alone Blu-ray Disc on June 4, 2019.[11]
In its opening weekend, the film earned $17 million, coming in fourth behindApollo 13,Pocahontas, andBatman Forever.[12] It ultimately grossed $66.4 million against a $15 million budget,[citation needed] making it a financial success.[3]
On the review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 30% of 40 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "For better and for worse -- too often the latter --Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie captures the thoroughly strange aesthetic of the television series that inspired it."[13]Metacritic gave the film aweighted average score of 40 out of 100, based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[14] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[15][better source needed]
Kevin Thomas of theLos 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 directorBryan 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.[16]
Caryn James ofThe New York Times thought that story-wise, it resembles multiple episodes of the television series strung 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.[17]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 ("curious that, 6 thousand years ago, he would have had an English name"), lacked personalities, and that the scenes of monsters rampaging through the city hearkened back to the worst Japanese monster films.[18]Mick LaSalle of theSan 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.[19]
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (video game) based on the film was released for four different platforms theSuper NES,Sega Genesis,Game Boy, andGame Gear.
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Marvel Comics released a comic book adaptation and a photo comic book adaptation of the film in September 1995. The comic book was printed with two different covers: one featuring fully morphed Rangers and the other featuring them in their Ninjetti uniforms.
The film was followed byTurbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997) andMighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always (2023).
