Would a remake of the original 'Power Rangers' movie work?
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Speaking as a massive fan of Superhero films I’m just wondering whether in this era of CGI, credible screenwriters and love for the genre would the original ‘Power Rangers’ movie have been just as successful (raked in I believe half a billion dollars worldwide) if it had been released in the present day where films like The Avengers etc take centre stage and leave audiences amazed and wanting more?
The television series was dramatically ruined with dire continuations and since 2001 has been shabbily brought back to life and repackaged to unsuspecting children but forgetting that for the purpose of the thread could the movie have been just as spectacular if it had a better budget and cast at the forefront? Would any director or actors be daring enough to embark on a modern day remake?
From what I read Disney brought the franchise a few years than later sold it back to whoever owned it outright. They along with Marvel did a splendid job with The Avengers Assemble that I believe could have had pulled of such a revival not so much with their efforts with the television show mind you.
I probably sound like I’ve lost the plot but I’m feeling quite nostalgic at the moment about my childhood (I was four when the original ‘Mighty Morphin’ TV show first came out and have fond memories) and I've decided to come here and ask you the above. Plus I was bored!
The television series was dramatically ruined with dire continuations and since 2001 has been shabbily brought back to life and repackaged to unsuspecting children but forgetting that for the purpose of the thread could the movie have been just as spectacular if it had a better budget and cast at the forefront? Would any director or actors be daring enough to embark on a modern day remake?
From what I read Disney brought the franchise a few years than later sold it back to whoever owned it outright. They along with Marvel did a splendid job with The Avengers Assemble that I believe could have had pulled of such a revival not so much with their efforts with the television show mind you.
I probably sound like I’ve lost the plot but I’m feeling quite nostalgic at the moment about my childhood (I was four when the original ‘Mighty Morphin’ TV show first came out and have fond memories) and I've decided to come here and ask you the above. Plus I was bored!
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The first Power Rangers Movie didn't really make a whole lot of money. It was rushed out before the fad started to die off which started around the movies release.
Comparing it to The Avengers is silly. The Avengers and the individial characters have been kicking around comic books since the early sixties (Captain America since the early forties) with stories that broke boundaries and inspired creators in other mediums. They've had animated series that appealed to children of multiple generations. The appeal of it is actual seeing these disperate characters which work in their own movies coexist in the same universe just like they do in other mediums and getting into the kind of adventures that up until recently could never be done in live action without looking cheesy or cheap.
The individual Avengers are time tested characters. I'm a fan of Power Rangers but to your average joe it was a very short lived childrens fad from the 90s which for some reason lacks the lasting appeal of some of the other 80s and 90s fads.
You miss the whole point of Power Rangers and the Japanese series that Power Rangers culls it's action footage to crudely paste with american teen footage to loosley adapt. Super Sentai recycles itself every year with a new cast, costumes, themes, Zords.
Obviously the Tokusatu genre had never hit western pop culture the way Power Rangers did and that was seen to be largely down to the cast and dinosaur themes so rather than risk losing that they kept going with it as best they could adapting other Sentai series mecha for new Zords every year. You have to hand it to 'em that it showed a lot of imagination and ingenuity to make it work but it couldn't last forever.
More to the point by the time the first generation cast left they were stodgy and old to kids hence how low the ratings were. The shows first full on cast turnover rescued the shows ratings which hit an all time high with the Lost Galaxy premier.
In terms of quality the later Saban series were much better. Yes Mighty Morphin' is good for a nostagia trip but compare the majority of In Space and the entirety Time Force with it and tell me the latter doesn't blow it out of the water. An adult could watch Timeforce and not feel like they were killing braincells.
Maybe. No one decent though. It'd be a Michael Bay affair which is cool if you're into that but nothing Marvel level like Avengers.
Disney generaly did good work with Power Rangers. They brought the series back to kids of the day as opposed an ever dwindling group of overgrown kids like me who still watched but they also did a fair amount of fanservice like Forever Red that united all the Red Rangers from every season up to that point and bringing Tommy back as a main cast member for Dino Thunder.
The thing is Disney weren't interested in a full scale revival. They bought all of Saban's properties as it wanted the monopoly of programming on a certain kids channel in the states. Any money from Power Rangers was just an extra bonus and RPM was going to be the last series anyway.
If you want a nostaglia trip for Power Rangers wait 'til the adapt Gokaiger which given the concept of harnessing the powers of every past rangers will obviously bring back more than a few old Power Rangers just like the japanese version did.
Rumour has it Toei have shot a version of this just for PR with just teams that have featured on the American show.. Link
I loved that TV show when I was a kid. I lost interest shortly after the film came out though. I think they released that first film too late especially as they had not long lost three of the original cast members (I wasn't keen on the new rangers when I was young, but obviously the show had to move on to keep it fresh)
I don't think they should remake it, personally. Although it's been years since the film came out, I seem to remember the special effects weren't too bad for the time.
Oh nostalgia...
At the time of the film's release, terrestrial viewers like myself hadn't even seen those three cast members leave and be replaced! Similarly, I may be remembering incorrectly here but I think that we also hadn't seen Tommy come back as the White Ranger.
That movie brings back so many memories. Is that the one with Ivan Ooze?
That movie brings back so many memories Is that the one with Ivan Ooze?[/QUOTE]
Yes, it's a great movie.
I took my children to see it and was deading having to sit through a couple of hours of Power Rangers but they put in enough jokes to keep the parents amused and the music was good.
I also remember the quiet, collective gasp from all the dads in the cinema (and a sudden sitting up straighter in the seats) when that woman who gave them their animal tokens, first took her cloak off.:D
Its far to Cheesy imo
Making a man dressed as a bat into a serious and dark action movie sounds ridiculous but they did it.
^^ You may be right. I seem to remember not really knowing who the new rangers were. As I kid I was gutted the original cast members left
Speaking of the show, it's been years since I've seen it but I seem to remember it looked obvious that the cast members had left before filming their final scenes because for an episode or two their characters barely featured in it LOL
Just dawned on me that the opening scene of this movie shares a big resemblance to that from the Mel Gibson/Robert Downey Jr film 'Air America'. Shot of plane and the Stevie Wonder classic 'Higher Ground' in the background. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers version was used in the Power Rangers film however. How spooky!
I must admit I wasn't keen on the cast changes either. My favourite ranger was always Jason. Hated how Tommy became top trump having previously been the evil green ranger. Billy was the best power ranger though. Three of the original cast quit the series or were replaced after contract talks broke down. Shame really they'd have made the money they wanted had they stayed on board for the film.
The film is quite naff I admit it's only through sentimental reasons I watch it on DVD nowadays. I almost wet myself when I came across the red rangers collective special on Youtube a few years back!
I think I lost interest altogether after A)Alpha & Zordon stopped featuring in it after Lost In Space and
I suppose a modern updated movie could do well if it was less corny and obviously you could do sort of an 'Iron Man' with it where you get to see the emotion of the character in battle if you know what I mean?
Also how nobody ever worked out that those 5 teenagers were power rangers I'll never know! Wasn't it blooming obvious?
Power Rangers eh?
“Oh the things that I have missed: the Black Plague, the Spanish Inquisition, the Brady Bunch Reunion”
Right? I think half of the appeal was that it was ridiculously cheesy.
Tommy was my favourite, then Jason
Trini was great too
In one of the later seasons, wasn't the Blue Ranger actually a little kid - I remember thinking how could he be a 6 foot tall guy in the costume when they morphed, lol
I would like a movie but i'm not sure which incarnation of the Rangers I would want to see. I would make a few changes though. For example, make their zords bio suits, so they get hurt when attacked in them.
Secondly, why should the makers of these things give a flying one about it. You'd probably be first in the queue anyway.
I saw this on the ign app so I don't have a link.
Young Adults: 13 -17
I don't see the point making another kiddie version, of what is already present on tv. Plus the original movie deviated from the light tone of tv show too.
I've always seen the potential for the Power Rangers to work, in a serious form. I'm so glad it's happening.
We'll that age range is where the money is. Plus they will get a bunch of kids from 5ish upwards too.
http://www.idiotbox.co.uk/what-we-want-from-the-power-rangers-movie-60031/
I agree that tonally it needs to be a very different beast to the previous incarnation else it will almost certainly fail
Yeah, when I saw the news of this I thought of the Transformers movie too.
Since seeing this news, I feel very nostalgic about the old TV show. I loved those early series as a kid.
The Green ranger was my favourite. The two episodes: Green with Evil and The Green Candle I used to watch all of the time on VHS