When you're a 9/10 year old kid, and you are hooked on watching Power Rangers - like every other kid at that time - and you are just enthralled with the whole thing that you feel like, "Forget being a doctor/lawyer, I want to save Angel Grove!", especially after watching the first two seasons, you wonder if it could be any better. Well, after the special appearance the cast had in Universal Studios California, the answer was yes.
After the surprise success of that event, Saban and the studio executives at 20th Century Fox decided to go ahead and do a big-budget, state-of-the-art motion picture of Power Rangers. The first order of business was to find a director, which just so happened to be Bryan Spicer.
Though he had directed a few TV shows, Spicer had never directed a movie before, but upon meeting the cast and working closely with them and the screenwriters he quickly developed a clear vision for what he wanted the film to be.
By assembling a group of talented people and having the production be in Australia, Spicer began work on the film in earnest. And for the cast, this was a whole new thing. Not just in terms of traveling abroad, but also in regards to being on a production that was bigger than anything they had ever done before. And it really was.
The movie begins with a cool opening crawl, and then we see our six teens with attitude - Tommy, Adam, Kimberly, Billy, Aisha and Rocky doing a charity skydiving event to help the city's local observatory stay open. After which we get a nice little montage of our heroes rollerblading through town, allowing the audience to get that "day-in-the-life" that the show would do with the characters, but with a more cinematic feel.
While all this is happening, a nearby construction crew uncovers what seems to be a purple egg, which gets the attention of Zordon and Alpha 5 who contact the Rangers immediately and tell them about this new threat - Ivan Ooze.
Once the team arrives, they find themselves confronted with Ivan Ooze himself, a being who had once consolidated control over the world long ago and was about to complete a special project of his when the then-current Power Ranger team stopped him and had him sealed in a hyperlock chamber where he would be trapped for good, or so they had hoped.
While Ivan keeps the team busy with his own "kids", he makes his way to the Command Center and attacks the place, ultimately stripping Zordon and his protégés of the Power.
With time running out Alpha manages to teleport the six teens to a distant planet called Phaedos where they can hopefully find something known as "The Great Power" that can not only restore their powers but Zordon's life force.
Once the team arrives, that is when the adventure truly begins for our six teens, and while they are off on what could only be described as an epic adventure, we get treated to another adventure back on Earth with a younger kid named Fred, a student of Tommy's who starts out as a fun sidekick-type character to someone who truly steps up and shines as a hero in his own right, especially once he learns that his dad - along with every parent in the city - is being hypnotized to do Ivan's bidding, which is uncover the two Ecto-Morphicon Titans that were buried along with the chamber Ivan was sealed in.
Back with our Rangers they then encounter Dulcea, a friend of Zordon's who fought against Ivan Ooze way back when. Once she learns why the six teens are there she then takes them to what is known as the Temple of the Ninjetti so they can then learn how to harness the power of a spirit animal so they can have something to help them obtain the Great Power, which is kept at another place known as The Monolith. Naturally the place is kept under heavy guard so not just anyone can get to it.
After obtaining their spirit animals and some sage advice from Dulcea the team heads off for the Monolith, all the while encountering an obstacle or two.
Eventually they get to the Monolith and find themselves attacked by the guards. Fortunately they were able to defeat the guards and in a scene that really is a cinematic moment, the Great Power is revealed, and with it, the Rangers get their powers restored.
What follows is a Power Ranger-type battle but on a grander level, and with no Sentai footage to fall back on either. The zord battles with the Ectomorphicons are amazing, and then when they combine to form the Ninja Megazord it is incredible for its time.
But even with Ivan defeated, it seemed that the team may have been too late in saving Zordon...or were they? For as Tommy pointed out Dulcea's words, "To those who possess the Great Power, all things are possible." And so in a scene reminiscent of classic fantasy, the Rangers tap into the Power itself and manage to not only restore the Command Center, but Zordon's life as well. And the way it was shot, along with the score made the scene very memorable. Shortly after that a huge celebration is had at Angel Grove and the team gave Fred props for coming through and helping save lives himself, something Fred remarked to Tommy about the latter teaching him to have a calm focus and use one's head to solve problems, leading to an incredible ending with fireworks and an awesome song by Van Halen.
Tough the film was shot out of the continuity of the show, the end result was still nevertheless a film that stayed true to the essence of what made Power Rangers successful while at the same token elevating it to a cinematic experience that fans would come to love about it. With Bryan Spicer's directing and a great screenplay, along with an epic score by Graeme Revell, this movie definitely lived up to many fans expectations and still holds up well even to this day. If you were a Power Rangers fan and you were to put in the DVD you will find yourself just hooked into it once more. And plus, the merchandising was to no surprise, out of this world, especially this McDonalds one!
In all, not too bad for a first ever cinematic experience for six teens with attitude!
