Things you may not have known about the Power Rangers

Fausto · June 23, 2007, 12:11:46 AM

Here's some interesting ranger facts I picked up on Wikipedia:

*In the original Zyuranger series from which most of the action scenes were recycled, Rita was known as Bandora, Goldar was known as Gryffidor, and Scorpina was known as Laimie. Bandora blamed the rangers for the death of her son and tried to take revenge by selling her soul to Great Satan (Lokar the floating head). Gryffidor and Laimie were married, and at the end of the series Laimie gave birth to their child.

*The actors who played Zordon, Trini and the original Rita Repulsa are all dead. The actor who played Zordon died of a heart attack in 2000, Thuy Trang (Trini) was killed in a car accident in 2001, and Machkiko Soga, who played Bandora among many other sentai villans, died of pancreatic cancer in 2006.

*The Green Ranger was never supposed to return after losing his powers the first time; instead, Jason David Frank was intended to star in VR Troopers.

*An alternate version of the first season finale was shot, which had the rangers sealing Rita and the others back up in the space dumpster, in case the show did not catch on. This would have mirrored the Zyuranger finale (Unlike American shows which try to stay on for as long as possible, super sentai shows are only intended to last a couple of seasons and then start over again).

*The first two major super sentai series, back in the seventies, were loosely based on the marvel superheroes Spiderman and Captain America, respectively (while spiderman, for the most part, resembled Stan Lee's creation, Captain America was changed to a team of five different superheroes, each representing a different country). Both series followed the "one monster a week/giant robot" formula.

*The actor who voiced Lord Zedd, Ed Neill, is actually better known for his role as the crazed hitchhiker in the original "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974).

*The Yellow Ranger (in case it wasnt obvious enough) in the Zyuranger series was male; this is why Trini's costume did not include a skirt like Kim's and why her breasts seemed to disappear after she morphed.

RCMerchant · June 23, 2007, 03:30:46 AM

OK...big confession time. I...sob...used to watch the Power Rangers in the early 90's all the time...in fact...I am the reason my little(at the time) sons got hooked on them! As Lou Costello once sed-" I'm a baaaad man." The first Power Ranger movie is STILL hiding away in my collection! There! I sed it! Ahh..I feel better now!

Oldskool138 · June 23, 2007, 07:05:20 AM

I loathed the Power Rangers. I mean in the early 90's there was a renaissance of sorts in kids shows. Animaniacs, Batman: The Animated Series, etc. My sister and I used to watch those shows religiously. Then this cheezy-a$$ show came along called Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. We watched the first episode and were blown away by several things. The bad dubbing and horrible voice of the main villain. The actors were clearly not the same actors doing the martial arts action stuff. "Morphing" was (at the time) a cool, new special computer effect (see: Michael Jackson's "Black or White" video). At no time did the characters "morph". (Plus I saw the show as a live action Voltron rip-off...which it is)

I thought the show was so bad, it wouldn't last long. Much to my chagrin, it took off and the rest as you know is history. I think Fox (in my area) used to show two Batman episodes back-to-back. Then when the freakin' Power Rangers came along. It was two episodes of that garbage and one Batman show.

BlackAngel75 · June 25, 2007, 02:11:14 AM

Mind you, I have a brother 10 years younger than me. And around the early 90's he was around 6 or 7. When he first saw Power Rangers, that was it. What's worse than having to watch 30 minutes of crappy acting and crappy "fighting" from the Megazord, is the bombardment of that same sh!t from your little brother. Jumping around and yelling like a kid off Ritalin. The kid even made weapons to look like those of the show. And dragged me to see both movies. The first was ok; the only thing that saved it was the effects. The second was straight garbage. I'm so glad he grew out of that crap. That show NEEDS to be canceled, please! Let's start a petition, or steal their tapes something.

Quote from: RCMerchant on June 23, 2007, 03:30:46 AM
OK...big confession time. I...sob...used to watch the Power Rangers in the early 90's all the time...in fact...I am the reason my little(at the time) sons got hooked on them! As Lou Costello once sed-" I'm a baaaad man." The first Power Ranger movie is STILL hiding away in my collection! There! I sed it! Ahh..I feel better now!

You have no soul, Merchant.

Shadow · June 25, 2007, 07:08:12 PM

I never watched this show. It just looked beyond idiotic, but then again I'm sure adults thought the same of the imported shows I watched as a kid: Spectreman, Johnny Sokko, Space Giants and the like.

Back before the first Power Rangers movie came out, I went to see some film in the theater. I forget what it was, but there were a lot of kids in the audience. Before the movie they showed a teaser trailer for the Power Rangers and you could hear the collective gasp of awe and excitement that sounded from all those kids.

BlackAngel75 · June 27, 2007, 01:11:43 AM

There was one other thing I heard, but I think this one was a rumor. When it first came out on tv, it was believed that the casting for the show (particurly the teenager/rangers themselves) was kind of racist or it kind of profiled them. Here's how it was broken down:

Red Ranger = Redneck (white)
Yellow Ranger = Asian
Black Ranger = Afro-American
Pink Ranger = a female (basically)
Blue Ranger = Blue eyed devil (also white)

dean · June 27, 2007, 04:37:15 AM

Wasn't there some thing about one of the Power Rangers being in porn, and another up for murder charges? I forget these things though...

The one good thing about the Power Rangers movie is that it was filmed in Australia, and I've met the guys who did special effects/stunts for it [the explosions etc] and they were really nice, really fun group of people [who most also worked on Farscape as well]

Ted C · June 27, 2007, 01:57:02 PM

There's a rumor that Amy Jo Johnson (Pink Ranger) did a soft-porn movie, but I've never actually seen it.

Andrew · June 27, 2007, 04:40:09 PM

Quote from: dean on June 27, 2007, 04:37:15 AM
Wasn't there some thing about one of the Power Rangers being in porn, and another up for murder charges? I forget these things though...

If I remember correctly, a minor actor on the show was involved in a double murder and theft of a luxury yacht. After going to sea with the owners, they (two or three people were involved in the murder) subdued the owners and then strapped them to an anchor and tossed them overboard.

I only found this, but think he was convicted:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article556250.ece

Fausto · June 27, 2007, 05:48:00 PM

Quote from: Ted C on June 27, 2007, 01:57:02 PM
There's a rumor that Amy Jo Johnson (Pink Ranger) did a soft-porn movie, but I've never actually seen it.

Jason David Frank, the original Green Ranger, was in a porn film. (Amy Jo Jonson did star in a b-movie called Infested, with Zach Gallihan, and I think there was some nudity in that) There was, however, a controversy over some internet fan fiction, in which Lord Zedd and a new monster capture and repeatedly rape the Pink Ranger. The graphic story caused major debate about internet censorship.

Quote(Plus I saw the show as a live action Voltron rip-off...which it is)

Not true. The japanese versions of both shows were made by the same company (Toei/Bandai) and were made in basically the same way, with the original footage bastardized into an American version. The live action sentai series started back in the 60's, while the animated spinoffs came out in the 80's. (Incidentally, an American release of a live action Voltron movie is due out in 2008).

cath · June 28, 2007, 05:30:26 PM

Dude, I totally watched power rangers as a young'un. Hey, I was born in 86, it was cool for my age in the 90's. Looking back, it makes me want to retch, but there you go.

And I did notice the racist casting. Muahaha. My brother and I and our friend used to play power rangers. They fought over who got to be the Red Ranger (the green didn't exist yet), and I got to be a saber tooth tiger with wings. Wow. Memories.

We stopped watching by the end of like, the second season before going on to play ninja turtles or something else inherently cooler.

Oldskool138 · June 28, 2007, 08:44:34 PM

Cath!!! Great avatar!

"We take our mutilations serious around these parts"

RCMerchant · June 28, 2007, 11:00:56 PM

Quote from: BlackAngel75 on June 25, 2007, 02:11:14 AM
Mind you, I have a brother 10 years younger than me. And around the early 90's he was around 6 or 7. When he first saw Power Rangers, that was it. What's worse than having to watch 30 minutes of crappy acting and crappy "fighting" from the Megazord, is the bombardment of that same sh!t from your little brother. Jumping around and yelling like a kid off Ritalin. The kid even made weapons to look like those of the show. And dragged me to see both movies. The first was ok; the only thing that saved it was the effects. The second was straight garbage. I'm so glad he grew out of that crap. That show NEEDS to be canceled, please! Let's start a petition, or steal their tapes something.

Quote from: RCMerchant on June 23, 2007, 03:30:46 AM
OK...big confession time. I...sob...used to watch the Power Rangers in the early 90's all the time...in fact...I am the reason my little(at the time) sons got hooked on them! As Lou Costello once sed-" I'm a baaaad man." The first Power Ranger movie is STILL hiding away in my collection! There! I sed it! Ahh..I feel better now!

You have no soul, Merchant.

HaHa! I've heard that more than once before!

Fausto · June 28, 2007, 11:16:12 PM

Quote from: RCMerchant on June 28, 2007, 11:00:56 PM
Quote from: BlackAngel75 on June 25, 2007, 02:11:14 AM
Mind you, I have a brother 10 years younger than me. And around the early 90's he was around 6 or 7. When he first saw Power Rangers, that was it. What's worse than having to watch 30 minutes of crappy acting and crappy "fighting" from the Megazord, is the bombardment of that same sh!t from your little brother. Jumping around and yelling like a kid off Ritalin. The kid even made weapons to look like those of the show. And dragged me to see both movies. The first was ok; the only thing that saved it was the effects. The second was straight garbage. I'm so glad he grew out of that crap. That show NEEDS to be canceled, please! Let's start a petition, or steal their tapes something.

Quote from: RCMerchant on June 23, 2007, 03:30:46 AM
OK...big confession time. I...sob...used to watch the Power Rangers in the early 90's all the time...in fact...I am the reason my little(at the time) sons got hooked on them! As Lou Costello once sed-" I'm a baaaad man." The first Power Ranger movie is STILL hiding away in my collection! There! I sed it! Ahh..I feel better now!

You have no soul, Merchant.

HaHa! I've heard that more than once before!

Dont listen to them, Merchant, they are nonbelievers and will never be able to experience the true glory of the MMPR experience; pity them, its their own loss.

quabrot · July 10, 2007, 04:28:09 AM

It broke my heart to find out the original Yellow Ranger died. I was looking for people who I sharde a birthday with on IMDb, and found out she was killed in a car accident.