Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie Information

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (also known as Power Rangers: The Movie) is a 1995 American superhero film based on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The film stars the regular television cast of Jason David Frank, Amy Jo Johnson, David Yost, Johnny Yong Bosch, Karan Ashley and Steve Cardenas. The allies and villains are Australian and English actors. It was produced by Saban Entertainment and Toei Company. Filming took place in both Sydney and Queensland, Australia and the film was released by 20th Century Fox on June 30, 1995. Much like the television season that followed the release, the film used concepts from the Japanese Super Sentai Series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger.

Despite a mixed reaction by critics, the film went on to receive a cult following thanks to the popularity of the TV series. It also grossed $38,187,431 theatrically in the U.S. and $66,433,194 worldwide, making it a financial success.

Plot

The Power Rangers, Adam, Kimberly, Billy, Aisha, Rocky, and Tommy, participate with Bulk and Skull in a charity sky dive for Angel Grove in anticipation of Ryan's Comet which will be passing near the planet in two days. After the Rangers jump, Bulk and Skull finally work up the nerve to dive as well, landing in the middle of a construction site in midtown. Before they are admonished the construction workers are distracted by a giant egg that had been uncovered where they were digging. The unearthing of this egg alerts Zordon who contacts the Rangers; he explains that 6,000 years ago he tricked a shape-shifting being known as Ivan Ooze by trapping him in the egg and buried it to prevent him from taking over the universe. He sends them to recover the egg before it is opened, but Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Goldar, and Mordant find the egg and release Ivan before the Rangers arrive. Ivan summons several subordinate "oozelings" on the Rangers. While the Rangers are busy defeating them, Ivan infiltrates the Command Center and destroys its equipment, incapacitating Alpha and sending Zordon outside of the time-warp tube that keeps him alive as a result. With the destruction of the Command Center having disabled the Rangers' morphing powers, Alpha sends them to the planet Phaedos in search of a greater power to defeat Ivan and save Zordon. After they leave, Ivan traps Rita and Zedd in a snowglobe; not wanting to meet the same fate, Goldar and Mordant submit to him.

Ivan decides to recruit the parents of Angel Grove to dig up his Ectomorphicon Titans, massive Zord-like machines that were buried long ago. Disguising himself as a carnival wizard, Ivan gives out free jars of ooze to the children of Angel Grove, one of whom is a young friend of the rangers Fred Kelman. Fred's father discovers the ooze, which promptly hypnotizes him, along with the rest of the parents, into working for Ivan. Fred discovers this and follows the parents to uncover Ivan's intentions. Meanwhile, the Rangers arrive at a plateau on Phaedos and after facing an attack from Ivan's minions, the Tengoo, they meet Dulcea, a warrior who wants to help Zordon by leading the Rangers to the great power. She teaches them to harness their animal spirits, and directs them to a monolith which houses the power. The Rangers overcome many deadly obstacles and uncover the power along with new Zords to match their animal spirits. With their power restored, they return to Earth to face Ivan.

Having restored his Ectomorphicon machines, Ivan orders the parents to leap to their deaths at the construction site; Fred recruits the now-parent-less kids to help him save them. The Rangers arrive and summon their zZords to stop the Ectomorphicons, saving the kids who are nearly killed in a monorail derailment allowing them to continue their mission as the Rangers battle Ivan's machines. When they destroy one of his two machines, Ivan merges with the other becoming a massive robotic version of himself. The Rangers form the Ninja Megazord, but are heavily outmatched in the fight. Billy suggests they drag Ivan into the path of Ryan's Comet to destroy him. They form the Ninja Falcon Megazord and trick Ivan into chasing them into space and with a trick maneuver from Aisha, they are able to safely avoid the explosion when the comet destroys Ivan. His destruction reverses the hypnotic effects of the ooze, and the parents, who have been stalled by Fred, Bulk and Skull, and the other kids, are saved. The Rangers return to the Command Center where they learn that Zordon had died. Tommy suggests using their powers to revive him, and they are able to do so, restoring the Command Center and his time-warp tube all at the same time. In a celebratory festival, Bulk and Skull are offended that the Power Rangers are given credit for saving the city yet again even though they legitimately had a part in helping to save lives, but their embellished tales only lead to laughter from the teens.

Meanwhile, in Rita and Lord Zedd's Moon Base, Goldar decides to proclaim himself "King Goldar, the Ruler of the Universe", but when Rita and Lord Zedd enter the chamber, growling at their turncoat behavior, Goldar and Mordant look at each other in shock.

Cast

• Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver, The White Ranger
• Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park, The Black Ranger
• Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos, The Red Ranger
• Karan Ashley as Aisha Campbell, The Yellow Ranger
• Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Hart, The Pink Ranger
• David Yost as Billy Cranston, The Blue Ranger
• Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier
• Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch
• Paul Freeman as Ivan Ooze
• Nicholas Bell as Zordon
  • Robert L. Manahan as Zordon's voice
• Peta-Maree Rixon as Alpha 5
  • Richard Wood as Alpha 5's voice
• Gabrielle Fitzpatrick as Dulcea
• Jamie Croft as Fred Kelman
• Paul Goddard as Dave
• Robert Simper as John
• Julia Cortez as Rita Repulsa
  • Barbara Goodson as Rita's voice
• Mark Ginther as Lord Zedd
  • Robert Axelrod as Zedd's voice
• Kerry Casey as Goldar
  • Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar's voice
• Jean Paul Bell as Mordant
• Richard Genelle as Ernie (deleted scenes)

Music

Adaptations in other media

• Five different video game titles based on the movie were released for the Super NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Sega CD and Game Gear.
• Marvel Comics released a comic book adaptation of the movie which was dated September 1995.

Release

The film opened on June 30, 1995. Its opening rank was #4 with $13,104,788, behind Apollo 13, Pocahontas and Batman Forever in their third weekend.

Critical reception

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie received generally mixed reviews from film critics mostly because it was aimed toward a younger audience, although the fanbase's reaction was generally more positive and it developed into a cult film, receiving a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 21 reviews. In its opening weekend, the film came in fourth with $13,104,788 behind Apollo 13 and holdovers Pocahontas and Batman Forever. This was considered a disappointment by some analysts given the show's popularity, but the film ultimately grossed $66,433,194 against a $15 million dollar budget, making it a financial success.

Home media

The film was released on VHS in late 1995, and then on DVD in 2003. All DVD releases include a theatrical trailer, and the Region 1 DVD also includes a "Making Of" featurete. The film is sometimes bundled with Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie as a double feature.