A few months ago, Battlestar Galactica star Katee Sackoff tweeted pictures of herself suiting up for a secret job. Imaginative fans jumped to the conclusion that the actress was teasing her rumored role as Captain Marvel, Marvel Studios's first big screen, female hero. They were wrong.

Holy hell, they were so, so wrong.

As the world learned today, Sackoff's face masks and brightly colored costumes were all for Power/Rangers, a Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers fan film that rivals the gory violence of masters like Quentin Tarantino and Paul Verhoeven. If you wondered why Zack the Black Ranger never stabbed a man in the eye with a hunter's knife, Power/Rangers delivers. Costarring James Van Der Beek (of course) and directed by Joseph Kahn (Torque, Detention, an insane list of music videos), the film is uber-serious, uber-malicious, and uber-slick, pushing Hollywood's nostalgic instincts to new extremes. When Skull, the oafish punk comedy relief from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, mauls Kimberly the Pink Ranger like she's the Bride in Kill Bill, you will rethink your life.

In an interview timed to the film's release, Kahn told HitFix, "I think the trick that I really wanted to do with this was to make that dark and gritty version that everybody keeps talking about, but really do it. Really see if I could totally accomplish it with essentially a really incredible incredibly silly property." Screw you, children currently enjoying Power Rangers Dino Charge. Millenials are taking back what's rightfully theirs.

Brace yourself — here's Power/Rangers.

Update: Vimeo removed Kahn's super gory cut, so here's a slightly cleaner version.

Update: YouTube removed that one, too. Producer Adi Shankar isn't thrilled. He sent Esquire this statement:

Today, I was deeply disappointed to learn that Saban Brands decided to attack my Power/Rangers "Bootleg Universe One-Shot" film. To all the viewers that enjoyed this film, I consider this an outright infringement on freedom of expression and individualism. I set out to make this film because I am a childhood fan of the Power Rangers. As children our retinas are burned with iconic images and as we grow older these images come to represent crucial moments within the trajectories of our own lives. This film is a homage to the original creators of the Power Rangers, and a parody of a television series we all grew up loving. Films like my Power/Rangers "Bootleg" are vital expressions of creativity in our troubled world. If we suppress this creativity and become passive participants in the consumption of the culture we live in, we implicitly allow a dangerous precedent to be set for the future of the internet.

Warm Regards,

Adi Shankar P.S. Thank you Mark Zuckerberg for hosting Power/Rangers and taking a stand

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Matt Patches Senior Writer Patches is a Senior Writer at Esquire.com.

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