The History of Power Rangers takes a look at the first major series change as the Rangers trade in animals for lucky charms shapes.
And since I don't like making multiple posts within the span of a day, time for Odds and Ends, as well! First and foremost: The next two months worth of episodes:
5/3 – JLA: Act of God Part 3
5/10 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Meet Archie
5/17 –Lunatik #1
5/24 – Syphons #1
5/31 – The Dark Knight Strikes Again Part 3
6/7 – Q-Unit #1
6/14 – Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse #1-2
6/21 – Freak Force #1
6/28 – Chain Gang War #1
As always, the schedule is subject to change if it turns out the comics don't suck as much as I thought they would or if I just decide to do something else.
Also, here's a quick little interview that I did:
Sunday, April 25, 2010
History of Power Rangers: Power Rangers Zeo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
78 comments:
oh, someone checked their Sentai resources
It's really ironic that Zeo is so popular while Turbo so dreaded considering the troublesome run the Ohrangers had and how Carrangers turned out to be more popular over in Japan
Also, Turbo seems to have adapted the concept of a kid being a ranger from Dairangers
:shrug: Kou was still a more fun character than Justin
(Kou was at least a lovable ass-hole)
Also, Archie vs Ninja Turtles?
OK, I know that Arcie published a Ninja Turtles series based of the cartoon (and I heard it was actually better than the cartoon at times), but still
WOW
I thought Archie vs The Punisher was a weird combo
Were there any other crossovers like this?
I don't know which comic sounds worse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Meet Archie, Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse or The Dark Knight Strikes Again Part 3!
I must admit that I've never watched that many Power Rangers episodes, at least not from what I can remember. However, the show seems to have some themes that are deeper than the kids' shows I watched when I was younger. When I'm comparing it to Pokémon, I guess that's not saying much.
Also, looking forward to The Dark Knight Strikes Again Part 3. I've only read The Dark Knight Returns, and pretty relieved about that at the moment.
I've just rewatched Dino Thunder, you'll probably be able to make some good jokes for the episode where the rangers get sent into a comic.
That Tommy team would be the least colourful power rangers team ever; just green and red (white and black aren't technically colours).
I always liked Zeo :)
TMNT meet Archie? Oh god I just know I'm gonna love that review.
Yay for power rangers, Zeo holds one of my fondest memories, because it was the first PR series that I started watching seriously.
Wait... Trey splits into three parts.
Courage.
Wisdom.
Heart.
Change heart to Power and you got... the Trey-Force!
Awesome!
It´s allways facinating, to hear an analysis like this, over this defining part of my childhood. Also get some informations about the backgrounds, that just lost me back in the days.
So, let me say thank you for this summary that revived this glourious series for me!
(PS I hope my english is readable; it´s not my native language and school, well, it´s been a while)
Well, sadly I expected this much. Then again I can only imagine how far downhill the series will go by the time we get to Turbo, Space, Lost galaxy, and then when Tommy returns in Dino Thunder. Actually I am quite curious to hear your opinion on Dino Thunder and its exceptionally loose method of tying into the orginal series.
Hey Linkara, HOPR seems to be sticking right around the "Tommy is King of the Machine Empire" section. Just thought I would let you know
When you do TMNT meets Archie, can you make a small mention how the Archie version of the Ninja Turtles became surprisingly mature in its subject matter? There was an issue that featured ADOLF HITLER for crying out loud!
You seem to be doing a lot of interveiws lately, Lewis. Are people just now noticing you? Anyway, it's nice to see you getting some well deserved publicity.
HOPR just keeps getting better and better. I'd try to offer contructive critism if I could, but like AT4W, you seem to have this down.
P.S, don't feel that bad about the Kristanna Loken thing. It just shows your honest, that's always a good thing. Plus, I think it's kinda cute.
So the power rangers ripped off the Legend of Zelda with Troy, huh?
Actually, what I found that LInkara never mentioned in the previous videos was a villain called Scorpina, thought she was kinda just there and didn't added much to the series, she was still a new addition and a new female villain at that. Though who know what the hell happened to her after Mighty Morphin.
TMNT Meets Archie.
Did you ever read the 2-issue "The Punisher Meets Archie"?
I never actually read it, but saw lots of ads for it....it looked...uh....weird
- The Zeo theme song & intro kick-ass. It's like the original "Go Go Power Rangers" theme on steroids. It's one of my personal favorite Ranger themes, with the choral voices and rockin' guitar solo and stuff.
- Honestly, my friend laughed my ass off when we first saw the new suits, though it was more due to the geometry visors and such.
- Oh man, I hated the snowboard episode so much, mainly 'cause of the Dear John letter that Kim sends to Tommy. What a load of bullcrap that was.
- Another thing I loved were the little teasers they aired prior to the Zeo premiere. The "It's Coming" at the end with brief glimpses of the Zeo Crystal shapes were both foreboding and awesome.
- By a Rocky & Adam "relationship", I hope you mean it in a non-romantic way, I hope you do. ^_^
- The Gold Ranger kicked so much ass, much like the White & Green Rangers before him.
- One of my favorite "filler" eps is where Adam dreams up that he's in a horror movie and the rest of the Rangers are classic horror film monsters.
For anyone asking, Linkara already said that he won't do Archie vs. Punisher.
Also, was anyone thinking Triplicate Girl when the true identity of the Gold Ranger is revealed? I'm just surprised that they were able to find triplets to act this part when twins are hard enough. At least I think they are triplets.
I have to admit that it was after Zeo, in which I hated the helmets, and Turbo that I sort of slipped out of watching Power Rangers.
It wasn't until Time Force I found it entertaining again. It seemed to get more and more ludicrous as time went on. So I look forward to your recap of the next few series.
Other than the helmets I have to say I liked parts of Zeo. It wasn't inventive, but it cemented the series and a lot of it's later conventions. Including the total uniform, with Zord, change. The acting was a massive improvement, but still not Oscar worthy and as you pointed out the action took a massive leap forward.
I look forward to you're opinion on what I call a series killer like Justin.
Mountain King
@Bennyboy: He's said before that Archie Meets Punisher wasn't that bad. I'd really like to find a copy to see, because it sounds like the most baffling crossover ever.
Anyway, about the PR episode:
Hooray! New episode!
1) Well! Isn't that nice of the virus-maker, warning when the virus is going to strike the computer? All hackers should be so polite.
2) That dude with the long fluffy hair looks like my friend Andy. I must go and relentlessly tease him about this now.
3) Hey, if Doctor Who is to be believed, all aliens everywhere (with the exceptions of Daleks and Cybermen) speak perfect British English of some kind. (Yeah, I know, the TARDIS has a telepathic translation function, and probably translates them into whatever dialect the listener is most familiar with, but still!)
4) I always liked the names that the Power Rangers had for their stuff, like "Zeonizers" and "Zords" and such-as.
5) Does the Yellow Ranger have an equals-sign on her helmet? XD
6) The Defender Wheel sounds like the dumbest idea for a battle vehicle ever. At least get a nice spider tank in there or something. XD
7) Thought: Where does Tommy keep all of his hair when he puts his helmet on? He has so much, and it's so fluffy, that I imagine it'd be stuffed up against the faceplate and suffocating him or something.
8) I think the humanoid Zeo Zords look goofy as hell, with those shapes for their bodies.
9) SPACE CAMPER! I want a space camper.
10) Why isn't there a Broadway Power Rangers musical? I DEMAND IT BE PUT INTO PRODUCTION RIGHT THIS MINUTE.
11) Maybe the purse monster is the most powerful Rita/Zedd summon ever, but I think it's the ugliest thing since that goddamn Terror Toad. D:
This series keeps getting more and more interesting. Look forward to the next entry!
I dread the Anita Blake AT4W episode, though. I hate Anita Blake SO FREAKING MUCH... I think I actually hate that series more than Twilight, believe it or not.
OK, I never red any Anita Blake comics, but from what I could find, the artwork seems nice and I saw allot of favourable reviews of the series, so I guess this is going to be another one of your subjective rants based all around her wearing tight clothing or something like that
Was never a fan of those
However I'm looking forwards to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Meet Archie" and "The Dark Knight Strikes Again"
Did Archie ever have a crossover with Sonic?
I remember dropping out of Zeo initially because it lacked the multi-parters that made that last season of MMPR seem so epic. When I heard on the school bus that Jason had been brought back in, I started watching again and enjoyed it.
And words cannot describe how much I hated the Christmas episode for showing Tommy's future with Kat. I guess since their son was using the old communicators, maybe it is non-canonical.
Linkara, are you a fan of the TMNT Adventures series published by Archie? It took the continuity of the cartoon and took it in dark and interesting directions. The art in the later half of the series was fantastic as well.
On the Power Rangers side, I liked Zeo when I was a kid. Sure, the ending was somewhat an anticlimax with half a dozen things never explained, like Bulk and Skull's return from their mission to France or how the Zeo powers transitioned to Turbo, but I really liked Zeo because it had a certain charm to it that the previous seasons didn't have. Maybe it was the comedy, or the new powers or the really cool new theme song, it had a charm to it that makes it one of my personal favorites. Biggest downside was that it transitioned into the "EXTREME!" Power Rangers Turbo...
On the comic side of the spectrum, I have to say this: Archie meets the TMNT? Who smoked up that idea? Why would they think it would even be a good idea in the first place? It makes even less sense than Star Trek meets the X-Men! That one's definitely gonna suck, as well as Part 3 of the Dark Knight Strikes again. And yet, I'm looking forward to both reviews... huh.
Hrm, who played that warrior we saw at the end of the Power Rangers Zeo video, the one talking to Bulk and Skull? The voice seemed really familiar...
Keep it up though, I'm dying to see what you think of some of the later seasons.
Until this point, what Zords have not been destroyed, only
disappeared, never to be seen or mentioned again?
Becouse I can not remember that at some point the titanozord and Tor the Shuttlezord have both been destroyed beyond simply ceased to appear, unlike Dragonzord which they had an excuse to never ever be seen or mentioned again.
I ask this because I want to know:
What Zords were destroyed? (Like the original five)
What Zords were excused from appearing ever again? (As the Dragonzords)
What Zords were simply forgotten and sent to the absence? (As the Titanozord)
And knowing you're doing a story collection of the power ranger I think it is prudent suggest if you can make a time in your videos to answer these questions or make a mention of the fate of the Zords when they are "replaced".
Something worthy of note in your Turbo review.
Turbo was based on Carranger, Sentai's 20th anniversary. As part of the celebration, they did a 'comedy' season parodying the 13th season, Turboranger (ironic). As a result, a lot of the plots were dumber than other series. To it's credit, Turbo was a lot more serious than Carranger.
But Jungle Fury ruined the awesomeness of Gekiranger.
If you were referring to me when you said someone was going to mention about being that character's older self in the Sentai, you were wrong. Why? Because I've never seen the Sentai Zeo was based off of :P
ahh, didnt mention the promos that were so cool, but this was a great look at Zeo. Zeo was awesome. Turbo... ughhh Turbo movie and series... sigh. Anyway, Zeo rocks.
STRONGER THEN BEFORE!
GO ZEO.
Ah, Zeo. Nifty theme song, good costumes, new villains. It does seem like the only ones getting major character development is Bulk and Skull. I would label this revision as "a nice change of pace".
Next, Turbo. May Zordon have mercy on our souls....
Hey Linkara where are you getting all these clips from? Are they old tapes you have or did you find them on the internet like Google video or a torrent site?
I remember being indifferent to Zeo and not really liking or disliking the Machine Kingdom, who was such a fall from Zedd, Rita, Rito and Goldar, it was really a shame. Though the show really falls off a cliff in Turbo. I can't wait for you to dissect that disaster.
As big a Linkara booster as I am (it's not a shameless plug here when I say just check my blog) (OK, maybe it is), your not going to be able to improve on what Chris Sims of the Invincible Super Blog has been doing with Anita Blake, but I will still tune in and laugh. :)
TNMT Meets Archie is another comic that I actually own, and the weirdest story in there isn't even the main one, and that has the Turtles traveling through dimensions in the mouth of a Zordon-ian cow head.
Somebody mentioned Time Force, which for some reason is my favorite of the series. Someone else also did a Tri-Force pun which may have corroded my appendix. Painful puns are painful.
Finally something on topic: I think the team-up in Gasket's dimension (seriously, how do these guys keep getting their own dimensions?) is my favorite Bulk & Skull moment. As for Tommy/Kat (way to break my heart), am I the only one who thought in the early episodes that Adam may have had a thing for Tanya? That I wanted to see go further.
Also of note: They wanted to use one of the VR Trooper actors as the Gold Ranger? This is the first I've heard of that, which is interesting since another one played that ski champion that was trying to date Tommy (now she just does soap operas) and the show that became VR Troopers started out as a vehicle for Jason Frank, then evolved in its own direction with Brad Hawkins in his place, and only two of the original concept's actors coming back. You can find the pilot for "Cybertron" (not-Transformers related) around YouTube.
5/10 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Meet Archie
I'm not sure what's more surprising that this exists? Or that we never got an Archie meets Sonic the Hedgehog comic?
5/17 –Lunatik #1
A fine example of Keith Giffen's "trying to recreate Lobo over and over again" period.
5/24 – Syphons #1
Is this the 1987 series or the 1994 book?
6/7 – Q-Unit #1
Yet another publisher trying to imitate the Image Style.
6/21 – Freak Force #1
I'm guessing this the one most likely to be deemed "not that bad." Sure it's 90s-tastic but I can't imagine anything co-written by Erik Larsen and Keith Giffen to be devoid of charm.
6/28 – Chain Gang War #1
A 90s book about murderous vigilantes with a foil cover? *yawn* Oh wait this one was created by Judge Dread creator John Wagner. So who knows...
Really enjoying these.
Am I the only one who thinks the opening chorus of the Zeo theme kind of sounds like Queen?
Hah, the monster from the episode where Jason becomes the Gold Ranger is modeled on the Valkyries from the original Macross anime. XD
Speaking of the Gold Ranger, it always bugged me how his suit was predominantly black. I know gold sounds more majestic, but it would have been like referring to the original Green Ranger/Dragonranger as a Gold Ranger.
I'm actually quite looking forward to your review of Anita Blake. I'm not familiar with the series, but my dad and aunt did and they were both greatly put off by the genre switch from urban fantasy to sex-powered Mary Sue. It should be a fun review. (PS Louis, if you haven't read it already, I highly recommend the Dresden Files. It's essentially urban fantasy starring an older Peter Parker who is equal parts badass and snarky, but still a good guy.)
I'm loving the HOPR series, 9i grew up with it as a kid, u should of mentioned Cybotron/VR Troopers, Masked Rider and Beetle Borgs. When is the next episode (presumably Turbo)
"It's time for the Zeometry lesson!"
...yes, I've been saving this pun for a while now.
Interesting that you should bring up the theme song from Zeo in this one. Being the dork that I am, I purchased a CD titled, "The Best of the Power Rangers" thinking it would be a collection of the old theme songs and some of the battle music. Unfortunately, the only original Theme was for Zeo, the rest consisting of the background music with lyrics from the newer shows. Most of them are just god awful, but the real crime is that the only version of the original theme is a remixed version that makes me want to punch a small child whenever I listen to it. I'm really enjoying this look into Power Rangers and finding you insight into the series very enlightening. Keep up the awesome work.
Well removing the cable doesn't really work when they've penetrated your code wall and hacked all IPs simultaneously to steal all your Internets.
Also I loved the camper of evil in Zeo.
You said that you couldn't get a version of the theme with no course or dialogue?
Well here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfOrzigICfo&feature=related
Awesome video. I always thought that Zeo was fun, but I didn't watch it that much as a kid.
I look forward to your Turbo review. Sounds like you don't like it.
And now we hit the stuff I never watched. Let's see what happens!
...lolvirus sequence is lol. I get the feeling you don't like this one from the way you introduced it.
You know, that Machine Empire stuff is pretty badass at first, but the footage is as old as the Zyuranger stuff. This might be a problem.
Was THAT your project we caught you with last time?
Tanya's from a rougher, more brutal age I suppose. I'm not as fond of the Zeo suits myself.
That Megazord is crowded. Nobody's breaking in like Tommy did in Green With Evil I guess.
That Neo-Plutonium armor monster is pretty cool, I gotta admit. If it weren't for the "obvious rubber suit" factor it would fit right in with stuff from Classic BattleTech. (In fact, it looks an awful lot like a Thunderbolt or the Chronus that descended from the Thud.)
Oh god! Billy left the show? Damnation and hellfire. I don't think I could have stood that.
The fascinating thing about the Power Rangers is that there's a narrative that runs through all the different series, while the sentai footage being used assumed new continuity each time. As a kid, I enjoyed it as a fun series to watch, but as an adult I can appreciate just how hard it is to make something totally new with a different cast for a different audience from the footage. RPM was fascinating for that, using the sentai footage very cleverly to tell a story with a very different plot, setting and overall feel.
I'm watching 'Samurai Sentai Shinkenger' at the moment, and I'm kind of sad that they don't seem likely to even try to adapt a series from that. It would be a challenge, since it's very strongly rooted in Japanese culture, history and myth, but it'd be so cool if they could pull it off!
Linkara you Handsome, Genius Devil
yet another great look
Ah... Zeo, Oddly enough when Billy went to Tech support
The Zeo team seemed to fall back into the old MMPR standards or relationships
Tommy was of course the Leader, while Ironically Adam came off as Tommy's right hand man and new best friend, Tommy even let's Adam read his mail. This might explain why Adam is one of the more popular rangers after Tommy, Jason and Billy.
While Poor Rocky, You know not-Jason seemed to be just redundant,with Billy still being the smart guy. Rocky just seemed to be there.
Of the Two Adam seemed to fill the nitch of Second best fighter and Best Friend while Rocky was just left in the cold... and then He makes the most controversional choice ever in Turbo.
He was on pain Killers, He wasn't in his right mind!!!
Your Turbo look is gonna be long, Since the Movie official ties in.
Turbo is horrible start/First half... but an excellent Second and WoW Finish
Wow! Just saw the video on Zeo, and I loved it! Dude, your voice sounded fine to me, or at least I never noticed anything wrong with it. I anticipate seeing how you feel about Turbo.
More awesomeness pending! Some new miller time! An easy "because poor literacy is kewl" joke with Lunatik! A bunch of tother stuff I am unfamiliar with! Laughing Corpse? Neat sounding title, but here that means nothing! Matches on standby for now....(why the unneeded ellipses?!?)
So until Archie reforms his band (that sand Sugar Sugar in the 60's with him) and tours with the rock star versions of TMNT, MAKE MINE LINKARA!
The Red Ranger looks like Starman from the classic NES game Pro Wrestling
I remember Zeo fondly, and nice to see many more do also!
Hey Linkara, you're in the same boat as me, since I also like Zeo. But I will also admit that I like Turbo too. Now I know that you won't have any kind words for it, but please unstand this: Turbo was revolutionary in its own way, since it was the first PR season to have an African-American Red Ranger (S.P.D. and RPM will also follow on this), an Asian-American Pink Ranger, a Caucasian Yellow Ranger, and a Latino Power Ranger.
So Linkara, Would you call the Gold Ranger identity essentially DC's Primarch equivalent of Power Rangers?
On the Brad Hawkins thing, Brad was suppose to be the White Ranger, but due to Tommy's insane popularity, they decided to switch roles, giving Brad the Lead in VR Troopers, mmm Kaitlin double teaming goodness. Then, in Zeo, Brad was once again picked to be the Gold Ranger, being like Zordon's backup student or something since Billy's actor kept sitting on the fence on whether he'd leave or not. However stuff fell aprat and We get the Trey-Force
I think Zeo's finale is the weakest of the Zordon era finale's
I know this is stupid, considering the topic.
On MMPR, the zords were all more or less fully mobile. Then in season 2 and 3 we get to see the Thunder and Ninja and Shogan zords... all of which look functional when not in combined form.
Yet when I see the first gen Zeo zords, the two "tank" ones just seem out of place. I mean they can only attack in 1 direction and mostly appear to just be pulled. The single barreled one looked like a Dalek to me.
2nd major thought. The shift in themes seems to almost mimick real life. In the past we had spirituality and mysticism get toppled by modern technologies, and then more recently the new age movement arose as a counter to the normal culture. Much like how the rangers go from Tech to Magic to Tech, and the bad guys stay magic and get replaced by tech only to survive in a much smaller role.
awesome job once again man. it feels good to remember what went on after forgetting in so long. i hope you get into disney acquiring saban[and in turn, power rangers] and get your thoughts on it when it comes that part.
Awesome!
If anyone wants to know: I was the one who donated the TMNT meets Archie comic to Linkara.
It was a Special comic issue under Archie's TMNT line. Can't wait for that review.
Now I'm looking forward if he ever reviews the Jurassic Park comics out there. The one I gave away had two stories: One with a girl's pet ferret and the other involving motorcyclists vs. dinosaurs.
Are the Turbo movie and Turbo series gonna be in the same video or seperate?
By the time Zeo came on tv I had stopped watching Power Rangers so I'm really going to be looking forward to your next installments. I'm also kind of interested on your take of the Kamen (or Masked) Rider shows. Too bad they never made it in the states.
I've been really enjoying your MMPR reviews and came across some fanart of Bulk and Skull you might like: http://leighanna.deviantart.com/art/Frig-Off-NumbSkull-155625435 and http://leighanna.deviantart.com/art/Frig-Off-NumbSkull-155625435
Looking at Bulk and Skull fighting the Cogs in "King For a Day," I've got to say it's ironic in retrospect that their duck-and-cover method of fighting is played as a joke. Comes RPM, when the mooks are robots again, this kind of fighting is considered an effective strategy and it's frequently used by both the good and bad fighters on the team.
Another great HOPR review Linkara!
I was a fan of PR growing up, I watched from the beginning thru Zeo. The stuff that happened in Turbo turned me off. After that I only watched Time Force (I liked the story) and DinoThunder (cause Tommy came back, he was one of my favorites) although I never got to finish those seasons when the aired. I may have to go back and finish them because your reviews have reminded me why I enjoyed the show so much, depsite its flaws and high cheese factor.
I'm glad to see alot of the posters liked Zeo also, I thought it was a good season. The new villians were fun but you made a good point in the review how Mondo and the Machine Empire never came of as menacing as Zed and Rita implied.
I thought Goldar and Rito getting amnesia and becoming Bulk and Skull's manservents was ridiculous but at the same time hilarious.
One of the things I didnt like about Zeo was Tommy getting a Dear John letter from Kimberly. That was one of the most stuid and insulting things ever and your rant about it sumed up my feelings on the matter perfectly. It made me against the Tommy/Kat stuff right off the bat, even though I liked her.
The other was the Billy sendoff, it stunk the actor left before they finished, but it was def better handled than when Jason, Trini and Zack left.
The Gold Ranger stuff I really enjoyed, they did a good job with the mystery of his identity. I was dissapointed it wasn't someone they knew but the idea of Trey was neat.
Trey getting hurt lead to one of my favorite moments of the season, Jason coming back. Jason was one of my favorite Rangers, so I was really excited back then when he stepped in to be the Gold Ranger for awhile.
Another poster mentioned the way Tommy and Adam became friends, I had forgotten about that. Adam was my favorite of the replacements in MMPR Season 2. Rocky was ok but he didnt get alot of character growth. Although there was the episode this season where he becomes insecure about his place on the team with Jason back, since he took Jason's place as the Red Ranger.
Since I didnt watch most of the series that came after Zeo, I'm really looking foward to the rest of the reviews Linkara, keep up the good work!
I like how Zordon says the original Power Rangers are gone forever, except that Jason uses the Red Ranger powers in Wild Force, and Adam uses the Black Ranger powers in Space and Operation Overdrive.
There is this fantastic part in Turbo episode 33 where they call on the giant carrier zord to roll out. They cut to a shot of the thing coming down the street and then immediately cut to a shot of the carrier still inside the garage as the door opens and the same clip of it rolling down the street plays again. I'm not sure if a commercial was suppose to go there or not because the music never faltered, but I think it rests as the worst editing cut ever in a PR episode.
Damn Blogger didn't save my comment...
I can't wait for the Turbo review, as I had watched the opening 3 parter, and I didn't find Justin all that annoying. It was actually Divatox's 80's cartoon villainy, which doesn't work in live action shows, and Eldar, a character there is nothing right about, that made me cringe.
However, I am surprised no one mentions a quirk in the Zeo helmets, something that only seems to bother me. They are bland. Yes, the geometry/number theme is cool, but the upper part of the helmet has nothing and looks like it's missing something while the lower half's lips are just kinda there, and not breaking it up with the silver that the MM ones did makes it worse.
WiFI will be the death of us alL!
While Zeo may be the "Triumph" of PR,
Turbo was the "Fall", though with Turbo, I think for alot of us, The old cast had grown stale but at the same time we just couldn't let them go, I mean Zeo fleshed Adam, Tanya, Kat and Rocky out more then MM did, to the point they were more then stand ins for thier replacements,wll Kat being Kim's love replacement not withstanding. Tommy's awesome factor had just grown stale.
Turbo, Let's face it, had a stupid moronic start that never really explains anything. Why did we Upgrade from Zeo tech? What happened to Mondo and Zedd? Why is this merry band of incompentent Space pirates and rouges suddenly the most dangerous force in Sol system? and Zordon's answer, "They just are!"
Dear Linkara, please show some mercy to dear Turbo, While yes, Turbo's first half is pointless, slow and rather boring. The Cast Change renewed my faith and the second half was strong even if it was wonderfully whacky and The OMG Finale.
Yes! I am soooo looking forward to the final DK2 Review. :)
I actually never really got into power rangers, but I babysit osme kids who watch it. Last week i decided to meantion the word "zord" and ended uup enjoying a nice game of chase with the...ah.... zords....
But the babysitees had fun, and i thought it was rather funny. So thank you Linkara!
Has anybody else noticed a very significantly common trand with the 6th rangers?
Tommy as the green ranger is given a solo zord, and a iconic weapon.
Tommy as the white ranger is given a solo zord twice, and an iconic, albeit nagging, weapon.
The Gold ranger has his own solo zord, and yet again an iconic weapon.
The most recent one is also excellent, I hope to remember to come back in a month or so to see your later reviews, totally worth the time and memory watcing (now I betters go disconnect my net to avoid overcharges...)
I hope they reference this history if they ever do most seasons and bring it all together.
Man, I'm gonna have to set aside a couple of hours this weekend to catch up with your Power Rangers stuff. It looks cool, but my homework keeps demanding my attention when I try to watch it >:( lol.
Speaking of homework, I was doing the most boring assignment ever devised by teacher-kind while I listened to that interview, so thanks for providing some giggles with the mental image of you as a ninth-grader wearing a fedora. XD
And now it is on to Turbo. There are two great canyons of suck the series falls into, and Turbo is one of them. Certainly not to be outdone until Operation Overdrive. As I recall they still joke about how silly the pizza episode was in Forever Red.
I have to admit this show (power rangers) was very memorable to me. Why? Because I LIKED it and HATED it.
Since I probably got some attention I'll go on.
The domestic problems of the rangers were where my love/hate started. Of course it struck me that the problems the rangers had in their "normal lives" were pitifully irrelevant, but at the same time they were relatable. I know that the ninja turtles problem of never being able to go above ground because of the fact that everyone would call them freaks, developed their characters, but not being a giant turtle myself, there was a disconnect. I could relate to dealing with siblings and bullies, and not always being an A student however, like the rangers. However I also realized that their emphasis on "normal lives" meant the rangers never did take their enemies that seriously and do something like... I don't know, mass their forces and actually try to DESTROY them, rather than just sitting on the perpetual defensive for no defined reason. It was established that the rangers knew where their enemies were, so why not just build a rocket, shoot up to the moon (like in rangers in space) and engage them directly? Two reasons, A, to draw out the series, and B, because they couldn't have normal lives while battling on the moon. (Think about the series Beast Wars, where in the characters, good and bad, lived in bases sitting across from each other, and therefore had virtually NO domestic lives constantly having to deal with the enemies. A final victory or at least tactical advantage, was ALWAYS the goal.)
Next was the fighting/super powers. From the descriptions, the power rangers HAD super powers, they just never used them. The preferred fight tactic was traditional melee even if the rangers had guns and super powers. Why use a sword when you have a gun? Why use karate, if you have subtle control over an element, and a sword that shoots lightening? But then, hold up, who did I know who had super powers in the real world? How could I possibly relate? And besides, shoot outs, though using more advanced tactical weapons, don't last nearly as long as sword fights, nor require nearly as many cool moves as martial arts battles. In the end, it just felt like these were heroes I could actually emulate, living in a world I could understand, and fighting in a way I could actually learn to.
continued
Finally came the reason I LIKED rangers sort of, but HATED it with a passion. Stock footage over usage. And I didn't call it "senti footage", I called it what it was, stock footage. Rather than have an original battle incorporating elements of the series thus far, and the show, the rangers would always fight in the exact same robot formation (even though they had five zords often with three or four possible combinations). Even when the green ranger's dragon zord was introduced and shown as well able to hold it's on in a fight, rarely would the rangers tag team an enemy when they had zords in play. Why the hell not? No explanation other than that would have been too hard to produce. I got that the show had a budget, but legitimately I had to ask, why then not just chuck the robot battles, which really only drew out the ground battles anyway (which were often just as cool), if they didn't have the ability to use them properly?
Why keep the robot battles? Same reason they show digimon transformations in a strange fifth dimensional whatsit that never actually happens, it looks cool. Yes the whole idea is retarded from beginning to end, but even I have to admit, it still looks cool. First the zords are summoned with a five story monster lumbering directly over the rangers, using hand gestures that take about ten seconds each (in which time they should all be stepped on). The zords then are shown coming out of natural disasters like volcanoes (yea, I grew up in Alaska, this coming out a year after the eruption of Mt. Spur was kinda touchy)and twisters, that would be utterly horrifying for any innocent bystanders, were the events actually occurring, and not just pointless backgrounds. Oh yea, God only knows where the zords actually came from, but that stuff NEVER happened they just showed it anyway. Then the power zords and the monster would be shot fighting with a completely different back ground, making the audience wonder where the hell they just went and why. Defeating the monster, though the rangers ACTED like something new was happening every time, usually ended up just being the same moves.
Zord battles made sense when fighting machines that were giant to begin with, but when fighting monsters, it seemed like just a way to draw out the episode and send every epileptic kid into a seizure. (Yes, I do hold this series partially responsible for the constant need of modern shows to go from super dark to super light, which is annoying and hurts the eyes even if you don't have a disease.)
In the end, this series had great ideas that seemed a little silly, but ultimately worked. Then the series, in my opinion, was shot to shit, in order to incorporate robot battles the studio wasn't prepared to do justice.
I have to admit that it was after Zeo, in which I hated the helmets, and Turbo that I sort of slipped out of watching Power Rangers. It wasn't until Time Force I found it entertaining again. It seemed to get more and more ludicrous as time went on. So I look forward to your recap of the next few series. Other than the helmets I have to say I liked parts of Zeo. It wasn't inventive, but it cemented the series and a lot of it's later conventions. Including the total uniform, with Zord, change. The acting was a massive improvement, but still not Oscar worthy and as you pointed out the action took a massive leap forward.
The Machine Empire ships look an AWFUL lot like Dalek warships...
Ah well. Awesome job as always, sirrah!
I'm sure quite a few people have heard about this by now, but there is a very good reason why Billy left the show. David Yost explained recently why in an interview with No Pink Spandex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmlcuY8bOUk
I want to adress a very old comment, a reply which the commentor probably won't see but I feel obligated to make anyway.
"Has anybody else noticed a very significantly common trand with the 6th rangers?
Tommy as the green ranger is given a solo zord, and a iconic weapon.
Tommy as the white ranger is given a solo zord twice, and an iconic, albeit nagging, weapon.
The Gold ranger has his own solo zord, and yet again an iconic weapon."
That's the point of the sixth ranger. The franchise exists to sell toys to boys. The appearance of the sixth ranger in the show coincides with the second or third wave of toys so they can sell toys based on all his fancy gadgets as well as whatever fancy gadgets they give the rest of the team in the way of mid-season upgrades. I mean, really, what you've done here is basically highlight what the sixth ranger IS. More than JUST a sixth member of the team, he has his own unique zord and weapon and an appearance that stands out from the rest of the team in more than just color. With a few exceptions.
Just posted this on Rangerboard
I just rewatched MMPR-Zeo reviews and your Comic Reviews in between. I can't help but think if Power Rangers was a comic you wouldn't have glossed over a lot of stuff. Currently Iim watching the Act of God series in which you're very pissed off ( and almost anal) about the mischaracterizations and inconsistencies of Superman and other superheros and the whole story itself. But in his Zeo or Season 3 review not once do you take issue with the fact of Tommy's supposed Native American Status. Just one season ago we learn that Tommy's Ancestors were his clone left in Colonial times and the White Stranger in the wild west neither of which were Native Americans.
While I'm thinking about it The writers of MMPR need to take a history lesson during the Colonial era California was owned by the Spanish not the Red Coat Brits. what the hell were the English doing there to begin with!?!
I'm not accusing you of giving MMPR and Zeo a free pass but If this were a comic I can't help but think you'd be tearing it a new one like you did in the Act of God series. MMPR-Zeo had so many mischaracterizations and inconsistencies as well. OK Maybe I'm just crazy. MMPR-Zeo is not nearly as bad as the comics you've read so maybe Zeo doesn't deserve a good shellacking.
Danny
For Power Rangers Zeo, the Dear John letter was bullcrap. I really find it too STUPID.
Anyway Ohranger if you try to take a look at it, can be more interesting than Zeo. The ending of Ohranger also was kind of intense in how Baranoia was able to temporarily take over some parts of the Earth, and another when Hysteria (Masheena in Zeo) sacrificed her life to save her grandson.
Speaking of Justin, well I didn't complain about his existence although Kou was more well-developed. Kou is called by some as "Justin disgracing Tommy". In Ohranger, the King Ranger (Gold Ranger in Zeo) was also quite young chronologically.
Oh, if you're that passionate against the Dear John letter in this season, I'd hate to hear how you'd react to its follow-up in Power Rangers Samurai. Here's a hint: That's actually Kimberly's SON that's with Bulk in the new promos. Yes, really. You may now bang your "Skull" into the wall.
Hey mate!
Rewatching these, I had a thought I hadn't seen listed here yet. It was a theory that i thought about a long time ago. Considering that Trey had Pyramidas, another part of the Zeo crystal, and the final components of the Zeo powers, the Super Zeo Zords, I was always under the impression that Trey's people are the ones who originally had access to the Zeo powers.
They hid it from the forces of evil on earth's moon like it was revealed in Season 3 MMPR, but keep the last part of the Zeo crystal safe, as without the full crystal, it would not be as powerful.
This also makes sense in that the original zeo zords, while designed by Billy, were designed with help from Alpha and Zordon, who as revealed in this series, are at least known to the Triforians, and presumably the two know about the origins of the crystal and Pyramidas as well. and even if they weren't, since the zords were designed to go with the Zeo powers, it makes sense that the zords would fit with the other zord based on the Zeo pwers, in this case, Pyramidas.
I could be way wrong, but that was the theory my friends and I came up with when the show first came out.
Just correcting some faulty information,
The real reason David Yost was not really acting on the show that much & eventually left was because he was being harassed often & being called a "faggot". He struggled with it for years & even went to a straight camp after he quit, but now he's completely open about it & I'm glad for him, but I hate that people were so insensitive to him in the 90s.
The information that you got was probably them trying to cover the real reason up, it's not rare for them to do that, especially for issues such as this
"The real reason David Yost was not really acting on the show that much & eventually left was because he was being harassed often & being called a "faggot". He struggled with it for years & even went to a straight camp after he quit, but now he's completely open about it & I'm glad for him, but I hate that people were so insensitive to him in the 90s.
The information that you got was probably them trying to cover the real reason up, it's not rare for them to do that, especially for issues such as this"
I'm assuming you're watching these for the first time, since that information didn't come out until some time after the original video was posted, and I did bring up the interview where he revealed this in a later part of HOPR.
Post a Comment