This article is about a/an independent-continuity film entry in the Power Rangers franchise.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is a 1995 American superhero film produced by Saban Entertainment and released by 20th Century Fox. The story is an alternate re-telling of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers television series as the Power Rangers defend Angel Grove from the vengeful Ivan Ooze.

Contents show]

Synopsis

When an egg in Angel Grove is unearthed, Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa release the creature inside, Ivan Ooze. Zordon trapped him inside thousands of years ago, so Ivan leaves to seek revenge. Ivan destroys the interior of the Command Center, almost killing Zordon, weakening and slightly fraying Alpha 5, and causing the Power Rangers to lose their powers. The Power Rangers must go on a quest to find new Ninja powers on Phaedos, granted to them by Dulcea.

Plot

As the film begins, Angel Grove is holding a charity carnival to save the local observatory in time for the arrival of Ryan's Comet, which is set to pass by Earth in three days. Among the events is a skydiving competition, which Rocky, Adam, Billy, Aisha, Kimberly, Tommy (the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers), and Bulk and Skull are in. Though the Rangers' performances and landings impress the crowds and their young friend Fred Kelman, Bulk and Skull miss the landing field entirely and end up parachuting down into a construction site. As they leave, the crew stumbles upon a strange chamber containing a giant egg.

While rollerblading to Ernie's, the Rangers are summoned to the Command Center by their mentor Zordon and his robotic aide Alpha 5. Zordon tells them the tale of Ivan Ooze, an intergalactic tyrant that he and a team of warriors trapped inside a Hyperlock Chamber six thousand years ago, and which the construction crew has just discovered. Fearing for Ivan's return, Zordon tells the Rangers to head to the chamber and rebury it before the arrival of an enemy beyond all imagination.

As night falls on the city, the construction site stirs with life as Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa appear to release Ivan Ooze from his captivity and direct his vengeance towards Zordon. When the Rangers arrive, Ivan summons his own personal minions to fight them while he teleports to the Command Center and proceeds to destroy it. By the time the Rangers finish off the Oozemen, their powers vanish.

Returning to the Command Center, the Rangers witness the destruction left by Ivan and rush to Zordon's side. With his time-warp shattered, Zordon is rapidly aging and dying. The Rangers seek a way to save their mentor, and so Alpha tells them of a great power on the distant planet Phaedos that could save Zordon, but not without great risk. Using the last of the Command Center's power, the Rangers are teleported to Phaedos.

Up on the moon, Ivan Ooze returns to Lord Zedd's palace and is angered by Rita for not destroying the Rangers. Annoyed at their incompetence, Ivan turns on Zedd and Rita by trapping them in a snowglobe, then gives their minions Goldar and Mordant the choice to either swear allegiance to him or be trapped with Rita and Zedd. To save their own hides, they agree to serve him. Ivan then creates an army of Tengu Warriors to find the Rangers on Phaedos and destroy them.

On Phaedos, the Rangers are attacked by the Tengu and are nearly killed, until a female warrior appears and drives them off. She orders the Rangers to leave with their lives while they can. When she is told of Ivan Ooze's escape and his attack on Zordon, she introduces herself as Dulcea, Master Warrior of Phaedos, and agrees to help the Rangers find the great power.

In Angel Grove, Ivan establishes an abandoned factory as his personal lair and begins his plan to rebuild a pair of weapons Zordon had buried long ago, the Ectomorphicon Titans, but he needs added manpower to dig them out. Disguising himself as a wizard, Ivan infiltrates the charity carnival and gives out free jars of ooze to the children. Though the kids and teenagers only see it as a fun novelty, the ooze hypnotizes adults on skin contact and turns them into Ivan's obedient slave laborers. When the Tengu return and report their failure and Dulcea's involvement to Ivan, he responds by blowing them up and ordering the adults to finish the excavation by dusk. When Fred's own father goes missing after coming into contact with a jar of ooze, Fred sets out to find him and discovers Ivan at the construction site. From his hiding place, he is able to learn of Ivan's true plans.

As they stand around the campfire, Dulcea teaches the Rangers about Ninjetti, the Great Power that makes all things possible, and the hidden temple where it resides. She cannot travel with them to seek it because she would age and perish like Zordon currently is, so Dulcea instead gives the Rangers new powers based on the six Ninjetti animals: the red Ape, the black Frog, the blue Wolf, the yellow Bear, the pink Crane, and the white Falcon. On their way, they must battle a living dinosaur skeleton and contend with the four Gatekeepers of the temple before the Great Power is bestowed upon them, allowing them to morph into the Power Rangers again and return to Earth.

Back on Earth, the Ectomorphicon Titans are fully rebuilt. After commanding the adults to go leap to their doom at the construction site, Ivan brings his creations to life and orders them to destroy Angel Grove as he and Goldar watch from the observatory. Fred, having followed Ivan, runs to Ernie's and rallies the other kids and Bulk and Skull to help him rescue the adults, and they all take the Monorail to the construction site.

When the Rangers return to Earth, they call upon their new Ninjazords to battle the Titans. They destroy the first of the Titans, Scorpitron, and corner its partner Hornitor. Angry, Ivan fuses with Hornitor to increase its power, takes the observatory out of the ground to use as a lance, and destroys the monorail track as he marches forward to battle. The Rangers form the Ninja Megazord to try and destroy him, while Tommy is briefly forced to protect the kids by helping the monorail avoid falling off the broken track. He soon rejoins the battle to form the Ninja MegaFalconzord. At the construction site, Fred orders the kids to put all their strength in holding back the hypnotized adults from jumping, while Bulk and Skull help him use a cherry picker with a firehose to push them back further.

Now flight-capable, the Rangers lure Ivan off of Earth and into space, where they intend to lure him into the path of Ryan's Comet. Ivan proves hard to shake off and the Rangers are unable to break free from his grip as the comet draws near, but the Rangers throw Ivan off their Megazord with a knee to his groin (courtesy of Aisha) and quickly leave as Ivan crashes into the comet. With Ivan's death, the adults are also freed from his hypnosis and reunited with their children.

The Rangers return to the Command Center, only to be told by Alpha that Zordon has already died. The Rangers mourn his loss, until Tommy reminds them that anything is possible with the Great Power. The Rangers form a circle around him and infuse him with the energy of their new powers. As a result, Zordon is successfully revived and restored to his time warp, while the Command Center is also repaired and returned to its former glory as if nothing happened. The Rangers are Zordon are very happy to see that each other is all right.

The movie ends with a celebration for the Power Rangers at Angel Grove harbor. As the Rangers enjoy a much-deserved victory party and fireworks, they take time to thank Fred for his role in saving the parents and comment that he could make a great Ranger himself one day, which Fred looks forward to. When a message thanking the Power Rangers is lit, Bulk and Skull are offended, though the two of them legitimately had a very large part in saving lives.

In a mid-credits scene, back on the moon Goldar has taken the throne and proclaimed himself to be the new ruler of the universe. However his reign is short-lived as Zedd and Rita return, making both Goldar and Mordant realize they're in a lot of trouble.

Characters

Rangers

Allies

Villains

Creatures

Cast

Notes

Continuity

This movie takes place in an alternate timeline than the Power Rangers television show, as numerous differences appear between the two.

Literary differences from the established continuity (seasons 1 to 2)

As much as possible, the film allows the viewer to jump off the established continuity from the TV series, story-wise, so that the movie may serve as somewhat of a continuation following season 2. However, a few minor differences remain.

There are two weapons from the movie that do not appear in the series: Kimberly's "Pterodactyl Thunder Whip", and Billy's "Stega Stinger".

The Rangers morphed in a different order than the TV show's morphing sequence. Instead of Kimberly, Zack/Adam,

Tommy used the morphing call "WHITE TIGER!" in the movie, instead of "TIGERZORD!" and the White Ranger shield still features the tiger claw emblem prior to being replaced with the Falcon one.

The new character of Mordant is treated as if he had always been among the "Evil Space Aliens," and Squatt, Scorpina and Baboo are nowhere to be seen. The reason for this is because the explanation for Mordant's appearance, which was on the script, was dropped.

The movie makes several blatant references to death and murder (such as Fred screaming "If you don't come with me right now, our parents are going to die!"). Normally, Saban had shied away from such scripting, due to Power Rangers being a kids' show.

Literary differences after the film (season 3)

Since the film loosely continues from season 2 of the show, but creates its own continuation, many differences occur especially as season 3 began.

The story of how the Rangers received their Ninja powers and the Ninjazords is retold entirely differently in the four-part episode "Ninja Quest". The only real similarities are that the Command Center was destroyed (although Zordon's life was never in danger) and the one who gave them to them did not initially trust them.

In the movie, Zordon did not die instantly when his time warp was destroyed; rather, he began to age rapidly, and die away slowly. In Countdown to Destruction, it was revealed that the destruction of Zordon's tube with him in it causes his instant death. In the movie, Ivan Ooze destroys the columns around Zordon's energy tube, while in Countdown to Destruction, Andros destroys Zordon's energy tube causing his death. It's also of note that in the movie Zordon was still referred to as being in a time warp while in Power Rangers: Turbo, Larigo released him from the time warp, meaning that he may have been in a containment tube rather than a time warp in Countdown to Destruction.

The new female character of Dulcea never appears in the show, or is even referenced. In season 3, she was replaced by Ninjor, who is male.

The Ninja Megazord looks very different from its Kakuranger, and naturally, the season 3 counterpart. The Zords' original design had solid, unmovable fists, wheras the movie design kept the Wolf Zord's jaw for a left hand and gained a movable right hand in order to grip its Power Sword, which was actually the Fire Saber of the Shogun Megazord. The combination with the Falconzord was also changed from "Ninja Megafalconzord" to "Ninja Falcon Megazord." Even the seating is somewhat changed. For example, Pink Ranger sits lower-down, front-and-center, Blue Ranger sits to the left of her, and Red Ranger sits to her right.

Production notes

The first trailer implies that the film is shot in a 4:3 (1.33:1) aspect ratio before it was cropped into widescreen in the final cut. None of the home video releases use the original aspect ratio.

In the original script, Dulcea was reportedly much more fleshed-out. Her entire backstory was given, which included her explaining that she was a member of an ancient order called the Order of Meledan, a group which imprisoned Ivan Ooze. As could be expected, some scenes had to be cut (mainly due to time constraints), but one scene which would have greatly improved the movie included a training sequence in which Dulcea taught the Rangers about their Ninjetti powers on her home planet of Phaedos. The twelve minute scene depicted the heroes trying to tap into their respective spirit animal instincts. This was cut both due to the absurd length of the scene and the producers assuming it would bore the audience. This is likely why the people who captured Ivan in the first place are never named or alluded to with Zordon only saying "a group of young warriors, like {the Power Rangers} lured him into a hyperlock chamber and buried him deep underground." The group of people were supposed to be revealed later in the movie but was cut out since the film was already 90 minutes long and 2 hours was seen as too long for a kid's film in the 90's.

This was the last Fox Video VHS to feature the 1993 Fox Video logo.

The movie had come to DVD in 2001 on a dual-sided Double Feature DVD with Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie and in 2003 individually by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It has also aired on TV a few times, fully restored with sharper picture and clearer sound, on ABC Family.

According to Paul Freeman, who played Ivan Ooze, the movie was originally going to be done in the style of the TV shows before the producers changed their minds and decided to put more resources into the production. In order for the purple tongue to match the purple body, Freeman drank black currant juice, held it in his mouth and spit it out before each take.

Due to the longer than anticipated production, the episode "Party Crasher" was never made (and thus the perfectly usable Dairanger monster Pot Taoist was never adapted) and was replaced in its scheduling spot by "Storybook Rangers-part I

The fight scene between the Tengu Warriors and the Rangers on Phaedos was originally much more brutal and gruesome, as there were scenes in which one of the creatures had Kimberly in a chokehold, another pecking at Tommy with its beak with such force, and another throwing Adam into a creek. The scene was toned down when it was considered too gruesome for a child audience. However, even though the fight was altered, one of the Tengas later said that he 'threw one of them off a mountain into a region river,' possibly referencing the original depiction of the fight.

Originally, the crew felt that the total covering of the Power Rangers' faces removed any ability to express emotion, so initial shooting took place using the actors in costume with no visors on the helmets. However, they realized that this was a mistake and realized that the Power Rangers in Morphed Mode are not supposed to show emotion, but rather were supposed to be a powerful fighting force and that their identities had to be concealed. To correct the error, the action scenes were re-shot the next month with the visors added back. However, the Ninja Ranger powers still had their eyes fully shown, unlike in the series. It's unknown what became of the original footage for the scene although it was likely scrapped and never shown since Youtube didn't exist in 1994 (the year this movie was being made). The Rangers' costumes in the movie weighed around 40 pounds, and the actors sometimes had to film as long as ten hours a day in them. Due to this, Amy Jo Johnson and Karan Ashley would often experience back pain after certain scenes. The White Ranger's morpher appears on his belt in comparison to the TV series, where it is replaced with a symbol, since the White Ranger's Sentai counterpart was from Dairanger , not Zyuranger .

to be concealed. To correct the error, the action scenes were re-shot the next month with the visors added back. However, the Ninja Ranger powers still had their eyes fully shown, unlike in the series. It's unknown what became of the original footage for the scene although it was likely scrapped and never shown since Youtube didn't exist in 1994 (the year this movie was being made). Episodes of the TV show were shot at the same time as the movie, notably in The Wedding , where the Rangers went on vacation to Australia while Alpha turns evil.

, where the Rangers went on vacation to Australia while Alpha turns evil. The movie was the first time the Rangers used something other than their own weapons (in this case, a comet) to destroy a villain.

At Power Morphicon 2007, Johnny Yong Bosch stated that it was his idea to have Adam be disappointed that his new powers were drawn from the Frog. He soon regains faith when Dulcea kisses his forehead and remarks, "Yes, a frog. Like the one you kiss to get a handsome prince".

Catherine Sutherland originally auditioned for the part of Dulcea, but was turned down because the producers felt that she was too young for the part. However, she would later be cast on the TV series' third season as Katherine and would take over the role of the Pink Ranger when actress Amy Jo Johnson left the show.

Walter Jones, Thuy Trang, and Austin St. John (the original Black, Yellow and Red Power Rangers, respectively) were originally set to star in the movie, but ultimately were not included because they were let go due to their contract dispute with the TV show.

Johnny Yong Bosch performed his own stunts for the movie, including the morphed fighting scenes. His stuntman was injured at the time and was unable to work on the film, and Bosch accepted their offer to replace him. Jason David Frank also did many of his own stunts.

Mariska Hargitay originally replaced Gabrielle Fitzpatrick during filming and several weeks of Hargitay's filming had taken place at the Chinese Gardens at Darling Harbour. When the crew thought that Hargitay seemed wrong for the role after filming her scenes, she was replaced again with Fitzpatrick.

This marks the first time that blood is seen in Power Rangers . When a stone gargoyle comes to life and slashes at Tommy with his blades, he cuts through his outfit and you can faintly see two red bloody cuts on Tommy's chest, albeit dry cut. Tommy's cuts are barely seen because the crew did not want to show the bloody cuts fully, having parents already upset enough at the violence shown on the television series.

. When a stone gargoyle comes to life and slashes at Tommy with his blades, he cuts through his outfit and you can faintly see two red bloody cuts on Tommy's chest, albeit dry cut. Tommy's cuts are barely seen because the crew did not want to show the bloody cuts fully, having parents already upset enough at the violence shown on the television series. The theme music Go Go Power Rangers , although having the same lyrics and musical notes, was played using electrical and heavy metal instruments, with rock star-like singing, whereas the series' theme song is more orchestral. For this version, The song was performed by "The Power Rangers Orchestra:" a collaboration that featured credits of Mr. Big front man Eric Martin, guitarist Tim Pierce, former Pablo Cruise bass player John Pierce, singer-pianist Kim Bullard and former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum.

, although having the same lyrics and musical notes, was played using electrical and heavy metal instruments, with rock star-like singing, whereas the series' theme song is more orchestral. For this version, The song was performed by "The Power Rangers Orchestra:" a collaboration that featured credits of Mr. Big front man Eric Martin, guitarist Tim Pierce, former Pablo Cruise bass player John Pierce, singer-pianist Kim Bullard and former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum. When this movie was shown in the UK, it was before the three part episode The Wedding had aired and therefore spoiled Rita's return (although she and Zedd work together in the movie, it isn't established if they are married like their TV counterparts or have simply joined forces).

had aired and therefore spoiled Rita's return (although she and Zedd work together in the movie, it isn't established if they are married like their TV counterparts or have simply joined forces). The reason why Billy stopped wearing glasses was because the actor David Yost requested to Haim Saban that he preferred not wearing them as the fake lenses had started to mess with his eyesight. This eventually crossed-over to the TV series.

Originally, it was intended that the Rangers would return from Phaedos to the Command Center to find Zordon dead. They would then restore Zordon and the Command Center BEFORE going off to save Angel Grove from Ivan (hence Adam saying "Hang on Zordon!" and Rocky adding "We're on our way!" before they teleport away from the Monolith). This running order was swapped in post production, although a picture of the helmetless rangers preparing to teleport out of the restored Command Center was shown on the back of the VHS box and in the liner notes of the film's original soundtrack while the actual scene is shown in the behind scenes special " Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie : Secrets Revealed" and the sneak peek of the movie on the VHS release of The Pagemaster . The scenes in the restored Command Center were simply filmed before the destruction sequences.

: Secrets Revealed" and the sneak peek of the movie on the VHS release of . The scenes in the restored Command Center were simply filmed before the destruction sequences. Shout! Factory licensed this film and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie from Fox for a Blu-ray release as part of its deal with the studio in 2018. Originally it was released as part of the 25th anniversary complete series box set, but was later released individually with Turbo following not long after. Both films were given brand new 4K restorations for the release, and were co-branded with Saban due to Shout!'s status as the official distributor of the franchise.

Errors

Skull jumped out of the plane without a helmet or securing his parachute.

The CGI.

A Tenga says he "threw one of {the Rangers} off a mountain into a region river" although he never did so and them lying wouldn't make sense. This is due to the deleted fight scene mentioned above.

When jumping over something while rollerblading, the teens landed in a different order than had been seen earlier.

Zordon told the Rangers about Ivan Ooze during the day, but the teens seemingly waited hours before heading to the hyperlock chamber, it being night when they finally arrived.

When Ivan was blasting the Command Center, Zordon (and his tube) was missing in several shots.

Aisha's Power Beams did little, if anything, to illuminate the area.

The Rangers teleportation streaks headed towards the dark side of Phaedos, but it was day when they arrived.

Despite being at the back of the crowd, Fred was seen holding a jar of ooze just as Ivan had started handing them out in disguise.

Ivan hurried the unearthing of the Ectomorphicons believing Dulcea would lead the Rangers to the great power, but he was later surprised when they managed to return.

The Falconzord was shown firing three missles from its left wing, but then four (two for each wing) were shown heading towards their target.

The bear symbol on the Yellow Ranger's suit was missing after her Zord was blasted into a building.

During the Megazord formation the Crane Ninjazord was shown already in place when the Ape and Wolf attached, but was then shown landing and taking its place as the head to complete the sequence.

The Ninja Megazord prop that crashes on the building is the Deluxe TV show toy instead of the CGI Ninja Megazord.

The monorail travelled smoothly across the Falconzord's back, when it reality it would surely have derailed.

Ryan's Comet had none of the characteristics of a comet; it was far too small, was travelling too close to the Earth, was going way to fast and was made of fire instead of ice.

Reception

The film was met with mixed reviews, earning a 37% percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie in 1997 would go on to fare even worse, earning a 15%, possibly being a key contributor to the dismal reaction and ratings for Power Rangers Turbo after it.

"Despite the larger budget, the film remains true to the style of the show - which often recalls Japanese monster movies in its depictions of battling giant monsters through obvious special effects." ―One critic on Answers.com, who gave the film a 1-star rating

"The fast-paced fantasy action attracted a good portion of its intended youthful audience, while not becoming quite as much of a sensation as the TV series. Some adults attacked the film for its reliance on violence (though of a bloodless, cartoon variety) and its status as a blatant promotional tool for the best-selling Power Ranger toys." ―Judd Blaise of All Movie Guide, giving the movie a 1-star rating

"For an adult, the Rangers are easy to dislike, dismiss, and discard as just another lousy children's fad." ―Brett Weiss of All Game Guide

"As seen through the eyes of a child, they are a larger-than-life team of superheroes who battle the bad guys in an exciting and entertaining manner. Whether you fall on one of these ends of the spectrum or somewhere in between, you'll still find Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers to be a disappointment." ―Brett Weiss of All Game Guide

On certain online retelling sites like Amazon.com, several online critics gave the film 5/5 to 4/5 star ratings while browsing the film's DVD release on Sept. 2, 2003.

Upon its opening weekend, the film opened at #4 with $13,104,788; behind Apollo 13, in Pocahontas's, Batman Forever's, and Toy Story's third. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, on Box Office Mojo|Box Office Mojo, is currently ranked at #47 in the "Superhero" genre. The film's budget was Wikipedia:United States dollar $15,000,000, making this the most expensive Power Rangers-themed project for its time. It currently ranks as the highest-grossing Power Rangers movie of all time.

Home Media VHS, DVD & Blu-Ray Releases

November 21, 1995 VHS Release[1]

References

to be added