Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - Complete Season 1 Review

4 stars of colourful fun for kids and adults alike.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was first shown in 1993 and was the start of the huge franchise that is the Power Rangers.

Despite being a children’s show, it became a massive part of 90’s pop culture, spawning a huge line of action figures, along with lots of other merchandise.

The show uses stock footage from Japanese action series Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, as well as sections filmed with American actors.

“Teleport to us five overbearing and overemotional humans…”

All seems well at the Angel Grove Youth Centre Gym and Juice bar. The teenagers there are going about their daily business of practising karate, gymnastics and trying to avoid the attentions of the local meatheads, Bulk (Paul Schrier) and Skull (Jason Narvy).

However, trouble is brewing elsewhere. Up on the moon, a couple of astronauts have found a “space dumpster” and when their curiosity leads them to open it, they unwittingly release the evil witch, Rita Repulsa (Barbara Goodson), imprisoned there 10,000 years previously by the ancient wizard Zordon (David J. Fielding).

Rita immediately gets to work and turns her sights to the nearest planet, Earth. She plans to dominate the Universe, starting with our little planet. Along with her hordes of strange aliens and homemade monsters known as Putty Patrollers (blokes in grey leotards), she plans to destroy Earth and all who sail in her.

Zordon, unable to act himself due to being trapped in a time warp by Rita before she was imprisoned, has his robotic assistant Alpha 5 (Romy J. Sharf) summon to his hideout five “teenagers with attitude” to become his Power Rangers and save the world.

As an earthquake begins to strike, five teenagers from Angel Grove suddenly find themselves transported to an unknown location. Jason Lee Scott (Austin St. John) is an athletic martial artist and will become the Red Ranger. Trini Kwan (Thuy Trang) is elegant and graceful and becomes the Yellow Ranger, while Kimberly Hart’s (Amy Jo Johnson) gymnastic ability makes her perfect for the Pink Ranger. We also have dancer Zack Taylor (Walter Jones), the Black Ranger and last but not least, the scientist of the group and Blue Ranger, Billy Cranston (David Yost).

Sceptical at first, they are nevertheless obliged to take on the role of saving the world and are given all manner of new powers, courtesy of their Power Coins, which allow them to harness the power of dinosaurs. They can summon giant plastic dinosaurs known as Zords, which can join together to form an enormous Megazord.

Although the effects in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are primitive enough to be downright hilarious, it is still really good fun to watch. It’s enduring popularity is testament to the extent to which it captured the imagination back in the 90’s and it’s still going strong now.

This release will not only allow a new generation to see how it all started, but I have no doubt there are plenty of adults out there who will thoroughly enjoy this trip down memory lane, this represented childhood to many people. A must own for nostalgic 90’s kids and parents of young children alike.

“These are your power morphers. When in danger, raise them to the sky, calling the name of your dinosaur and you will morph into a formidable fighting force, known to one and all as the Power Rangers.”