Last Friday, I, in my continuous pursuit for amusement, spent the whole afternoon and evening watching the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers on Youtube. Hahaha!
I first watched it years and years ago, even before I started kindergarten. Of course, I wouldn't admit it then, but I secretly enjoyed watching the show. After all, it was a 'boys' show. I made sure that I made a lot of noise when my brother would put on yet another video cassette of the Power Rangers into our video player (the habit of hogging the TV prevails to this very day, mind you, in my baby brother and with newer technology instead). But then, because I had nothing else to do, I would eventually find myself sitting in for the show. My sister was not spared.
The best thing about it then was that it actually wasn't a 'boys' show so much after all. There were girls, the Pink Ranger and the Yellow Ranger. When we played 'Power Rangers' with the Korean boy next door, Tom-Bin (not sure about the spelling), I became the Yellow Ranger, my sister the Pink Ranger and him the White Ranger, Tommy (we always called him Tommy after that). Ironically enough, my brother would not join us because he was still 'too small'.
I remember also that I had a Yellow Ranger schoolbag that I used until it was reduced to bits and pieces. I loved it so much because it was really the coolest bag ever. The whole bag was the helmet of the Yellow Ranger, that is, a sabre-tooth tiger. The black visor for the eyes could light up and everything. It was quite sad when I couldn't use it anymore because it was beginning to fall apart from overuse (I used it from kindergarten to primary school). My brother and sister had similar bags, just the Red and Pink Ranger respectively instead. The toys? My brother had everything, the first Megazord, the Thunder-Megazord, the new Megazord (from the movie), White Ranger's whole get-up (mask, suit and weapon), all of the Rangers' weapons (which we can combine together or separate), and of course, all the action figures. When the movie came out, we bought the video cassette and the VCD. Everything was Power Rangers. Power Rangers was all the rage back then.
For someone who have never watched the show (and this also means the early seasons of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers and not the spin-offs and variations of the original show), they might not understand what the hype is about.
Well, it was really cool. The idea of six teens with powers and gargantuan Zords at their call, saving the city of Angel Grove from puddies (the mindless, writhing goons whose only purpose is to stir trouble), ugly monsters and Rita Repulsor and Lord Z (pronounced Zedd) was pretty cool. The fight scenes, Ranger costumes and the different Zords was the coolest. The fact that the six of them were ordinary teens that went to high school and had to put up with class clowns Bulk and Skull was cool too because it was funny and refreshing; it made the existence of Power Rangers almost real and normal. Most importantly, the six of them were, in their own right, super cool.
Before I get ahead of myself, for those who are completely clueless about the Power Rangers, I will tell you what it's all about.
Okay...
Rita Repulsor, the Empress of Evil with a few goons with her, have set their sights on Earth, intending to conquer it and spread evil. Now Zordon, the all-round good guy, is an inter-dimensional being (who appears as a floating head) and is helped by a robot, Alpha Phi. He tells Alpha to find five teenagers with attitudes and gives them the five Powers of prehistoric animals: the Powers of the Mastodon, Pterodactyl, Triceratops, Sabre-tooth Tiger, and Tyrannosaurus. They are given 'morphers' for them to morph into Rangers and are able to summon their Zords (the huge robotic animals). The Zords can enter battle mode and combine to form the Megazord. They also must abide the three rules: 1) They cannot use their Powers for personal gain, 2) They can only enter battle when Rita forces them to, and 3) Their must keep their identity as Rangers secret.
The first Rangers were Jason (Red), Zack (Black), Billy (Blue), Trini (Yellow) and Kimberly (Pink). Later, Tommy is introduced into the show. Sensing his potential, Rita puts him under a spell, controlling his mind, and gives him a Power Coin (Rangers all have power coins). So, he becomes the Green Ranger. He has his own Zord too, the Dragonzord. But he is first evil and causes trouble for the Power Rangers. But they break the spell and he joins them.
The Power Rangers were actually based on a Japanese show, the Super Sentai Series. The costumes and original Zords and Megazord follow the Zyuranger series. The Thunder Zords (Red Dragon, Black Lion, Blue Unicorn, Yellow Griffin and Pink Firebird), the Thunder-Megazord and the new White Ranger was taken from the Dairanger. It is a well-known fact that the American makers literally took the footage of the fight sequences and battle scenes from the Japanese show. However, the rest was original and eventually the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers became completely original in its own right when they started to make their own footage. This began when the Green Ranger died in the Japanese show, but Saban (the producers) decided to keep Tommy due to popular demand (of course!). In the show, Tommy would be seen to slowly lose his Power and often become weak. He was excluded from the battle scenes; a clear indication that Green Ranger was no longer present in the Japanese version.
Hence, we would see the colour theme of Tommy's clothes (the Rangers always wear their respective colours) change to white and Zordon finally gives him the White Ranger Power, the Power of the Tiger. Like earlier mentioned, the White Ranger was taken from Dairanger. This was so that they could continue using footage from the Japanese show when needed. This happened in the second season. In the second season as well, Lord Z was introduced and the Thunder Powers and the Thunder Zords were given, in line with Dairanger.
The characters of the Rangers changed later on, so we would see Jason, Zack and Trini leave. They were replaced by Rocky, Adam and Aisha. Many (and myself included) always argue that the original characters were the best. Fortunately, the White Ranger never changed.
So, back to what I think, my love is only for the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Not any of the subsequent Power Rangers variations. I watched some; Turbo, Lightspeed Rescue, S.P.D., Time Force to name a few, but my opinion stands. The others do not have the entertaining simplicity, humour and utter coolness of the first Power Rangers.
And, of course, Tommy. He is the best Ranger ever. At that age (when I watched it), you wouldn't know who's hot and who's not, but I knew Tommy was hot. He was the real leader after Jason left and he seemed to have the most power. He was the strongest and (for want of a better word) cool! And, everyone knows Tommy and Kimberly had a thing for each other. It had to be the first romance I watched. Hahaha. (unless all those Disney classics like Snow White and Pocahontas should count as well) And they looked really sweet together. I never actually seen an episode where they kissed or were totally romantic when I first watched it but there are some! You'll find me watching all the episodes on Youtube. (Speaking of which, those interested to watch those legendary episodes of the first and second season should tune into and subscribe to this channel on Youtube. Click here.)
Finally, I have to say, even after all these years, I still love the Power Rangers. I still watch it with awe and laugh at the silliness of Bulk and Skull. I still think Tommy is hot.
I wish I could get the whole three seasons on DVD or something. But apparently, Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers is banned in Malaysia. It's really stupid and moronic. They said it's a bad influence because there is the word 'morphin' in it. Blah! How stupid can you get?!
...I love the Power Rangers and I'm 18 years old. Got a problem with that? XP
Check out this video for full clips and with the full theme song by Mighty Raw. (I wanted to embed it but it is disabled)
And since I'm a die-hard Tommy and Kimberly fan, here are some tribute vids! Enjoy!
haha..at last,welcome to the club!
i like that black ranger in the movie..
Adam is so damn cute..
and i have like a lot of their tapes..
oh,and i still watch the movie!
i dah bleh hafal the dialogue lg..
YOU OOZE YOU LOSE! haha.
aku suka power rangers gak...smpai skrg walopun umur dah masuk 23...hehehe...skrg tgh tgk musim baru, power rangers RPM
POWER RANGERSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
Jason always was and always will be my favorite.
i loved mighty morphin power rangers!
=) it's remember me my childhood time!