Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Review

It’s campy, it’s cartoony, yet it was the movie of the year for children to watch in 1995. It had flips, kicks & some serious teenagers with attitude. Let’s morph! 

Genre: Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi

Director: Bryan Spicer

Cast: Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, David Yost, Steve Cardenas, Karan Ashley, Johnny Yong Bosch, Paul Freeman, Nicholas Bell, Peta-Marie Rixon & Mark Ginther.

Run Time: 95 min.

US Release: 30 June 1995

UK Release: 21 July 1995

German Release: 13 July 1995

Hello all, today I’ll be finishing my throwback series for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which leads to my review of the new film, releasing later this month. The first feature-length movie of this franchise dates back to 1995, being the hot topic of that year. I remember everybody at my school talking non-stop about it, re-enacting scenes from the movie in the schoolyard, or just playing Power Rangers on the SNES at home. I was desperate to watch this cinematic release in theatres on opening day, but sadly, my mom and dad didn’t want to hear anything about it.  Finally, I got my chance when a friend’s parents invited me to join them.

Now, while I gave the series the merit of being reviewed purely for what it is: a children’s TV show, I can’t do the same for this one. This was a cinematic release, meaning adults had to sit through it too, while their kids were having the time of their lives in the theatre. So get ready for a painfully honest analysis. 

— WARNING, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! —

When a giant egg is unearthed in the small city of Angel Grove, the villainous Ivan Ooze is reawakened from his millennia-long imprisonment. Ooze wreaks havoc in the city, destroys the Rangers' command centre, mortally wounds Zordon, plus takes over Rita Repulsa's and Lord Zedd’s fortress, kicking the villainous duo out. With their powers lost, the six teenagers are sent by Alpha 5 to a distant planet, where they need to find the mystical warrior Dulcea, who guides them to a new morphin source. In the end, the heroes return, pilot their new Zords, defeat Ivan Ooze, as well as magically revive Zordon. 

It is important to remember that the movie isn’t part of the Power Rangers main continuity, but rather takes place in an alternate reality. It also doesn’t recycle Super Sentai stock footage; everything here was filmed originally for the big screen, and herein lies one of its biggest flaws. Straying from the series's source material, the writers decided to go bolder with the story. The first half-hour is cheesy, bonkers, teenage action fun, just like the TV show. Unfortunately, once Ooze is released and the main narrative takes form, the plot screeches to a near halt.

While our six heroes are off on a distant planet searching for a new source of power, with little actually happening, the feature constantly cuts back to an even more boring side arc, involving a child trying to save his father, who’s been brainwashed by Ivan’s purplish ooze. That side story takes up far more time than it should, lacking any sense of urgency.

The acting has never been one of the series' strong points, relying more on quirky one-liners and physical performances than deeper dialogue. This also carries over into the flick. While that may work for a weekly twenty-minute serial episode, the core six actors struggle to give believable performances in a feature-length production. Everything is overacted or delivered with too much emphasis.

Paul Freeman, who played Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark, takes on the role of Ivan Ooze. He is delighfully exaggerating, clearly having fun with the character. Nicholas Bell takes over as Zordon from David Fielding, though he only gets minimal screen time. Sadly, Gabrielle Fitzpatrick delivers the blandest performance as Dulcea.

The first fight against the new villain’s cronies is handled much like in the series, filled with ridiculous yet amusing wirework, just like physical performances from the actors. The upgraded suits look great, while the make-up and prosthetics are also upgraded. All in all, these are positives for a kid's film from the 90s. That said, the cinematography is not great, the visuals are clunky, and the CGI effects look bad even for their time, resembling something from an MTV music video or a cheap video game.

Most irritating, however, are the sound effects, which include “swooshing” noises for every single move any character makes. It makes this premise far cornier than it needs to be. Then there is the issue of the horrible ADR, which is once again overused in a lot of the scenes.

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Verdict: This was the pinnacle of 1995; if you hadn’t seen it, you weren’t cool! Thinking back to my childhood, I can absolutely see why kids loved this blockbuster back in the day; it had ninja action, cool new Zords, shiny upgraded suits, one-liners, plus no child cared about the graphics. However, as an adult, I can see why my parents didn’t want to take me to the cinema for this. It is an assault on the senses; the corny lines are cringeworthy, the non-stop swooshing sound effects are nerve-wracking, the badly written story sends shivers down one's back, and the “music-video-level” computer effects hurt the eyes. While I was able to review the series purely from a child's perspective, since it didn’t require an adult to tag along for supervision, I can’t do the same here. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie earns a 1.5 out of 10. 

So, what do you think? I was a big fan of this flick growing up, though I quickly realised how truly horrible it was. Do you agree with me? Thank you for reading!