Part 1:
The History of Power Rangers shifts into turbo, subsequently also shifting into mediocrity.
Part 2:
Part 2 of Power Rangers Turbo. New cast, new rangers, same idiotic villain.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
History of Power Rangers: Power Rangers Turbo
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129 comments:
How can you mention of the Wheel of Fate, and NOT make a joke about Wheeler from US-1?
Why do all the puppets in the Turbo movie look like rejects from the Jim Henson workshop?
Man, I'm amazed you survived this series, Lewis. Hopefully "PRIS" will treat you better
The car theme was done differently and much better in Power Rangers RPM, which is frankly my favorite Power Rangers series of all. Good review though, and I feel your rage at Turbo. This is the point where I originally stopped watching, and I didn't come back until the end of In Space. Keep up the great work Linkara, this was fun!
"The evil pizzas were no match for a simple stoplight!"
....What? Seriously, what the hell?
Sounds like someone at Saban was inhaling a fair bit of exhaust when they thought up this season.
One missed joke I noticed. After Justin announces he's the new Blue Ranger, I would have included a clip from Futurama where Leela says "We're boned."
I never made it past the first few episodes of Turbo. If I would've seen the pizza episode I probably would've had to same reaction you did.
I'm kinda glad I stopped watching, I would've been pining for Rita's nails on a chalkboard voice by the end of the season.
Allright, another Power Rangers lesson!
Linky baby, you are the best!
Wow...you REALLY hate this season, don't you?
I figured the reason that they couldn't fight the Pirahnatrons in the last ep was a couple of factors. 1)The sheer number of them 2)Mental and physical fatigue from the fight with the monster that destroyed their zords and 3)The mystical energy being farther away due to Dimitria leaving.
Can't wait to see how you feel about Elgar still showing up for In Space.
Also, as goofy as Divatox may have been, I do have to give her credit for one thing: In "Honey I Shrunk The Rangers", she tried to EAT one of the rangers (if not all)
What other major villain before or after this one tried to EAT the rangers? I'm not talking a one shot monster, I'm talking boss-level.
It's a real shame Turbo turned out as bad as it did as an Americanization of Carranger could have really been fun. They should have made it a stand-alone series separate from the previous seasons.
I imagine the rather jarring difference in tone between the original Sentai material and what the writers wanted to do was a big reason why they post In-Space series were self-contained.
Hell you could've replaced Divatox with Yosemite Sam and had a more threatening villain. Heck, clone an evil Billy and send him against the rangers. That at least would be more interesting.
The worst part is....she doesn't get killed!
The fact that Turbo merited a two-part review is.....unsettling. I don't know whether that's a reflection on how bad the season was, a natural split due to the changes in the show, or just a timing issue, but either way, I'm not sure whether I should be pleased to see a two-part review or horrified that it occurred with Turbo. Guess I'll have a better idea about that if In Space ends up as two parts.
Anyway, good review of the series Lewis. You hit on some key points that made a lot of sense. My feelings on the finale are the same as yours. I hate the fact that Divatox was successful in doing anything against the Rangers. If anything, I would have loved to see her get dominated like the Machine Empire was by the Zeo Rangers. Hey....that's not such a bad idea. They should have just made Divatox the Zeo enemy and Mondo the Turbo enemy. At least then I wouldn't have a bad taste in my mouth when starting In Space.
Regarding TJ self-destructing the Rescue Megazord, I actually think that was a bold strategy that reflects the desperation of the situation. The Rangers had no plans and no conceivable options left (because come on, would they have really thought to throw their weapons down its throat FIRST?), and TJ was willing to sacrifice the Zords if it meant protecting the Earth. It's not quite on the same level of dramatic tension, but I liken it to Picard attempting to self-destruct the Enterprise in First Contact. The fact that TJ was willing to make tough decisions like that is one of the reasons why he's one of my favorite Red Rangers, and why I think people are idiots to say that he was one of the worst. The defeat the Rangers suffered doesn't make him a bad Red Ranger, it just makes him a victim of really crappy circumstances. Just like you wouldn't say Rocky was a bad Red Ranger after the Zeo crystal was stolen and the Command Center blown up at the end of MMPR season 3.
I liked your choice on a comedic ending clip with the evil pizzas. I still say that the ending of "The Rival Rangers" (with Justin taking both Ashley and Cassie to the dance, a.k.a. being a 13-year-old ladies' man) was the funniest moment in the season, but the evil pizzas is up there on the list.
Anyway, sorry for the wall of text there. I can't wait to get into next season where there's QUALITY again! May the power protect you!
This series is one I always had issues with. As you mentioned before, Carranger was a parody! All the stupid moments in the show (suit acted moments at least) were taken and altered from the Sentai, sadly making it very difficult to take the series seriously at all..
ESPECIALLY when they ride around in freaking GO KARTS! I'm actually surprised you never mentioned those, especially since they make inexplicable appearances in the series.
Anyway, kudos for surviving that car wreck.
I kinda wish they explained things better and cut out the Sentai footage with this series. I mean, for an explanation of the Turbo powers, they should have done something along the lines of 'The Zeo powers were becoming too unstable, and will shorten your life/kill you if continued to use unchecked as they are. Thus, we have harnessed the Zeo energy into a steadier, more manageable form to lower the risk on you. Behold, the Turbo Powers!' or some BS like that.
And why Cars? Perhaps to show a sign of change, that magic and mysticism are parts of who they were growing up, that the ancient powers of magical creatures and ancient dinosaurs take too heavily from the past, so Zords more fitting for the modern day and age have been worked on for their benefit, to represent their maturation into adult hood.. or at least a sign of how they are no longer teenagers with attitude but proud warriors.
Or Billy was just really into cars when he made them, who knows? All I know is that there is one identity that would have been cool.. Billy as the Phantom Ranger. After all, Phantom seemed to know the Rangers' identities from the get go, and after all this time, confronted with unfamiliar faces, Billy perhaps was hesitant of revealing himself.
... meh.. buncha woulda couldas, but hey, I like these theories better than the 'why the hell did you do this?!' feeling I get whenever I see this series....
Keep up the great work man!
"Zordon!"
"What is it, Dimitria?!"
"I came-"
"...what?"
"-to this planet-"
"Oh."
"-to give you this message...Piranha-trons on motorcylces."
"Hey, Alpha, did you hear that?! Piranha-trons on motorcylces."
"Aie yi YI! Piranha-trons on motorcylces?!"
I HAVE A HEADACHE!!!!
well said Rita.
in wikipedia says that the guy who played Ernie had a lot of health problems so he had to leave the show... he is dead now... that is really sad...
I remember the bicycle episode during a marathon. That was the only Turbo episode I watched on TV besides the finale.
"The evil pizzas were no match for a simple stoplight." ...Wow. Just...wow. I think that's going to be my personal philosophy on life. Forget "Do unto others..." and all that BS, it's all about the stoplights and pizzas, baby.
Yeah, Carranger was weird. I dunno if you've found it (I have a feeling you have), but there's a guy on YouTube who posts "Toku Moments of WTF", including one from Carranger where the Red Ranger gets hepped up on being a leader and proceeds to completely spaz out. Now, THAT I would have liked to seen in Turbo; just give some excuse, like a monster messing with TJ's head or something.
I remember dragging my brother to the Turbo movie as a kid. Pretty much immediately thereafter, I felt bad about making him sit through such a bad film, but my brother was pretty cool like that.
Also, I really hate to rub salt in the wound, but I've been told that they were actually considering giving Bulk and Skull powers...several years later. According to the rumors, they would have been the US-original Elephant and Bat Rangers in Jungle Fury, but the plans fell through for some reason or another. Of course, these rumors also claim that Johnny Yong Bosch was going to return to be the JF Rangers' mentor (the role taken up by RJ), and I'm pretty sure that he was busy at the time with his voice acting, so obviously this is a "grain of salt" situation. But if you find anything in the research you do for later seasons, please do share it. I'd be interested to know if there was any truth to those stories.
Ouch. I can see where you are coming from. It's a shame that they had to derail a great series, and replace great villains with a whiney thug. I actually decided to see the Pizza moment just for the hell of it. All I can say is......My mind is snapping.
I can see where your coming from on the whole trying to unsuccessfully splice humor and drama together. It's something that can make for great series (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Spectacular Spiderman), but done poorly, and it can be a huge problem. Even great series can stumble in that respect. It's my biggest problem with my favorite series, Fullmetal Alchemist. It has issues trying to balance humor and drama.
I think this was about the point where I stopped watching Power Rangers altogether-and it actually might've been that episode where they change all but one of the team members that took me over the edge.
I think it says something that this got me to quit watching the show when I actually later on in life kinda enjoyed films like Star Wars Episode 1. This leads me to believe that Power Rangers Turbo is actually many times WORSE than Star Wars Episode 1. lol
Ah, Turbo. So gloriously BAD and yet I loved it anyway, eagerly looking forward to episodes. Even the theme was bad yet addictive. I used to sing along. ^^;
Also, can anyone tell me if there's a reason Linkara videos inevitably end up losing sync between the video and the audio? Usually the video starts bucking along in fits and starts, and the audio continues normally. I don't have the problem with any other blip shows, just Linkara's (I pretty much follow everyone on thatguywiththeglasses.com). I love his videos so it depresses me that they're so hard for me to watch.
Justin, the blue ranger.
No! NONONONONONONOOO! Okay, I KNOW the first movie is not cannon, but BUT Fred Kelman from that said that he would be the Silver Ranger... (an actual color at some point) SO it would have been awesome to have him, I'm guessing his paycheck might have been to large, and also been a weird plot thing, but whatever. Fred Kelman was far more likable and knew how to drive hevey machanry, somehow, this would have given him far more creit to being able to drive.
This point bothered me more then any other. Fred Kelman never shows up, not ever. GAHH.
Well if next up is Rangers IN SPPPPPAAAAAAAACCCCEEEE! Then I know for sure one episode you have to be covering. The one where the Ninja Turtles and Rangers actually met!
I mean that was like the biggest nerdiest thing I could imagine back in the day... even if Next Mutation was a crap show.
The sole reason why they picked Carrangers footage was because it was the most recent Sentai season at the time
They have already used up most of the Dairanger and Kakuranger footage during the run of MMPR and the Ohranger footage was used for Zeo
The only other Sentai footage available was from seasons that were older than Zyuranger which MMPR used during their first season.
In other words the difference between the Power Rangers footage and the Sentai footage would be even more obvious
Still I like the few little references they did to Carrangers, especially the pert of Divatox being obsessed with explosion and possible being related to a protagonist.
Yeah, this was the point where I stopped watching Power Rangers and never looked back.
It's interesting (albeit horrifying) to see how the rest of the season went.
Dumped 4 Rangers at once, did they? Shame. Shame!
And the plot holes! If anything, Eltair being the source of their powers make going there even more important.
If they leave and Earth is attacked, there's still the ex-Rangers. Hell, the entire Zeo cast is available.
If they stay and Eltair falls; no Turbo powers.
You didn't have anything to say about some of those big-budget looking things from the intro? To be perfectly honest, the intro sequence made me wonder how much money the studios were throwing at this show (Tommy cliff-diving, for instance) so they could have exciting sequences and big-budget effects.
Overall, a pretty bad season, but it being the first season I ever saw, it holds a special place in my heart. The Turbo Megazord is right up there with the Thunder Megazord as one of my favourite zords. I remember being traumatized by the Power Chamber's destruction as a kid.
For some reason though, I remember Divatox blowing up the Chamber with a bazooka, not simply detonating bombs. I don't know whats up with my memory.
One thing I forgot to put in on my last post.
For everyone who thinks that Bulk and Skull should have been considered for possible Ranger candidates...
...did you REALLY want to see Bulk in Ranger Spandex? REALLY?
Though I liked Divatox (more interesting than the Machine Empire) and the Rescue Zords could fight on their own, Turbo was just mediocre when compared to the previous seasons and the next.
I just finished watching Carranger a few days ago, so this comment will probably be a bit more detailed than usual.
Odd, they have some of the same villains from the Sentai, but the costumes are clearly not the same, and look off (Ritchhiker/Elgar especially.)
Also, bit of a pet peeve but it's kind of weird when people call the rangers on this show "Turborangers," wince Turboranger was the Sentai from 1989 and had nothing to do with Carranger.
The pirahnatrons may be silly, but you should see Carranger's mooks sometime. They're neon-colored, much sillier than when this show had.
The Phantom Ranger (AKA VRV Master) wasn't a one shot. He had a 3 episode arc where he gave the rangers their second Megazord, but then came back for another few episodes helping the rangers' mentor (who has no Power Rangers equivilant) escape from the villains.
Oddly enough, General Havoc seems to be introduced in Turbo in the arc where he died in Carranger. If you want a primary villain from that point on, that monster Divatox summons from the farthest reaches of space (called Exhaus) comes into the Sentai around that time and serves as the primary villain from that point on. He was a pretty good villain in Carranger and could have easily been an effective one in Power Rangers. Also, I don't know what if anything happen ed with that team of Zords Divatox spoke of making, but in Carranger, Exhaus does have a team of three zords and the arc where the rangers fight them is epic.
I'm not sure how much if any of Carranger is subbed, but I highly recommend it if it is.
One more issue, if they knew Carranger's footage was so against what they wanted to do, why couldn't they use any one of the Sentai before Zyuranger. Jetman (the one right before Zyuranger) actually seems to have better production values than many 90s Sentai after it, and wouldn't have looked out of place.)
Jetman was also a darker show and would've fit like a glove with the darker tone they wanted Turbo to have.
Aw, no mention of the infamous "We're here to toss your salad!" line?
Regardless, an excellently furious & hilarious take on this abysmal year.
I'd say "the worst is over" but you still have to get through Operation Overdrive. Stock up on pills & liquor.
Actualy having seen Turbo post In Space has kinda ruined stuff from In Space: All I knew about Turbo was that the Zords were cars, wich didn't bother me that much that the blue in space ranger was red then,the blue turbo ranger was a kid and that the rangers were utterly destroyed by the end of it by a villain.
seeing turbo:
What was Zordon Smoking! no reason for turbo powers and hiring a 12 year-old kid without any combat experience as the new blue ranger!
Dark Specter is the turbo movie villain's twin brother(not really they just look exactly alike)
How did Zordon turn the spaceship that the rangers got into the spacemegazord's head?
and the worst offence Divatox was the villain that destroyed the rangers. How can you do that! To me she looks like she is a part of Team Rocket not like a genuine threat to Earth or the rangers.
You complain an episode about the Rangers being baked into a pizza, yet you're ok with an episode of the Rangers being turned into cardboard cut-outs!?!
So much irony
The constant inconsistent switching between death-serious drama and surreal comedy was the reason why Ohranger was such a flop and why it almost caused Super Sentai to be cancelled over in Japan.
And here we have the Americans doing the EXACT SAME mistake.
The only difference is that while Americans did it because of the footage they got, the people in Japan did it due to the back then recent terrorist attacks and the attempt to alter the show in a way so it won't remind them of it too much.
Also real irony that the footage used for Turbo was from the series that actually fixed those same mistakes.
Allot of the decisions in Turbo made little sense.
I understand them using Carranger footage since it was the most recent series at that time, but allot of the other decisions were just weird.
For example not using Zedd and Ritta despite teasing their return in the previous seasons.
Despite the using the monster and mecha footage from Carrangers, most of the footage was original.
Divatox was a original villain and so were her grunts Piranhatrons.
Also most of the footage featuring the Carrangers villains was original as well (just using the same costumes)
What kept them from using the old villains then?
REMEMBER, evil pizzas are no match for a simple stoplight..... The moar u no!
The rant at the end of the first part of the Turbo recap was hilarious! Great work once again Linkara, can't wait for the next one.
*headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk* Turbo hurt me. Turbo really hurts me. All the complaints and explanations of why you you complained about them were completely justified. Lack of transition from Zeo, a somewhat annoying kid Ranger who was basically an expy for Billy, a villainess whose competence nearly rivaled Starscream's, and a whole lot more. The ultimate saving grace to the season and subsequent seasons until Time Force, that I'm surprised you didn't mention, was Judd Lynn. He was a brilliant writer and producer for the series that ultimately saved it from being cancelled. Thank you, Judd Lynn for salvaging my childhood! I n fact, I think he's the main reason I kept watching until Wild Force. Once again, thank you Judd, thank you for saving the series once we get into IN SPACE!!!
On the Justin thing, I think you are 100% right. He himself was an OK character, its just that the concept is absolutely ridiculous.
I would even go as far as to say that I think it was a missed opportunity not to bring him back in later seasons when he does reach normal ranger age, having a character connected to the old days, even if they were poor old days, would have been good for old fans, the character had room for development in my opinion (heck you could even include a plot about him feeling guilty about having seen the carnage from the end of Space but being unable to do anything because of not being a ranger)and because of the change in age you wouldn't even need to get the same actor like with Tommy's return in Dino Thunder, just name a teenage ranger Justin- Done.
But then again I guess his unpopularity meant this was never going to happen, I just think that there was much to be salvaged from his character that is not in Turbo
I would love to see Mesagog from Dino Thunder beat the crap out of Divatox. And Zeltrax kill that annoying other guy.
I think this is the point where I lost interest in Power Rangers at all.
Why did they use cars as zords? Because Carranger used cars as mecha. Why did they use Carranger? Because by this point it was pretty much a given that they would use the previous year's Sentai mecha, and the Alien Rangers and Zeo started the trend of using the suits as well. Also, toys. The aesthetic of the toys changed over the years. The Jetman mecha would have been too different, too old of designs to produce in 1997. I was 7 when Turbo aired, and it was the first series I actually saw bits of while it was on (the first one I really saw most of the way through was In Space though). I never questioned the validity of using cars as zords. I just thought it was nifty. And I wanted the toys. I think you're hating too much on those aspects. Power Rangers exists to sell toys. That is its main reason to be. Yes, the show is very successful and popular in its own right, but it exists to sell toys to kids. As long as it makes kids want to buy the merchandise, whatever they do is working, and all other concerns are secondary. Also, you seem to display mixed knowledge of the Sentai footage. I know you said in the introduction to this series that you hadn't really seen any Sentai and were going to judge these shows by themselves, but some writing decisions cannot be explained in a real-life setting in any other way than "They did that because Sentai did that and they only have so much budget for original footage".
I think the replacement of the senior rangers with the younger cast was a precursor to the annual continuity reboot that would start with Lost Galaxy and which Sentai had been following almost since inception, which was where a lot of problems stemmed from. From a writing standpoint, they needed characters whose personalities were not developed enough that the absurd antics of the Turbo Rangers would seem utterly out of character, which they were falling into because, as you noted, Carranger was a parody of itself (hell, their powers in that series stemmed from car-shaped constellations). That, and Power Rangers had been going on for five years at this point. Their target audience, if they HAD seen any of the earlier seasons (I only saw them on rerun, and only MMPR, I never saw Zeo until later in life), probably didn't remember them very well, so all the development the characters had had to this point had gone unseen by them. They needed to introduce and develop new characters along with their new audience. That, and they couldn't pretend the old crop were teenagers any longer, and I guess they need to be high school age so that the age gap isn't HUGE and the kids can relate to their school problems. My perspective on Turbo is admittedly skewed because I only saw some episodes here and there while it was on, but I thought it was a pretty fun series. I would come to appreciate the dramatic shows later, when I was older, but I, for one, never minded the comedy. I look back fondly on the pizza episode.
Anyway. Here's looking forward to Power Rangers in Space, which tied up all, or most, loose ends.
(Incidentally, I find it interesting how Lost Galaxy was supposed to sever all ties to previous series, but then they still use the Astro Megaship and Astronema/Karone makes a return).
This series of Power Rangers suffers from the same flaw that's associated with exhaust based power increase; turbo lag.
Okay people, step back! I STUDIED for this one!
Yeah, I watched the turbo movie. Be afraid, you freaking Ewok!
Zeo Powers nail on the head sir, nail on the head.
Justin is an idea that could have worked. (Or that's my Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha conditioning talking, loudly affirming that little kids wielding mechalike powers are awesome.) It's not like him being overly mature for his age couldn't have played well with the audience, considering Tommy and co. aren't terribly mature for theirs.
Evil Kimberly is disturbingly hot, I hate to say. Something about the sudden absolute confidence and conviction.
HOW COULD YOU. YOU LIKED THE TURBO THEME, WHICH ISN'T FIT TO CLEAN THE KEYS USED TO PLAY THE LAST THREE THEMES. I'M SO BREAKING UP WITH YOU. NOT THAT WE WERE INVOLVED.
I'm not necessarily against the use of cars as the main thing of the season. I can stomache Mospeda/Robotech New Generation (at least in a good mood), and I frankly love the concept behind its Cyclones. Transformers is near and dear to all of us (or damn well should be!) and operated on a similar setup. However, Turbo's cars are not sufficently badass. They magnify the uselessness of previous Zords by being not only never useful seperate, but never POSSIBLE to be useful seperate.
Oh god, Alpha 6. I remember you, Alpha 6. I will always remember you.
On one hand, I think there's a certain truth to the guard having to be changed based on age. Unless the Rangers go "public" on some level, they've got to work for a living now, and that's going to interfere with being Rangers; witness Kimberly. They're not Bruce Wayne, who can play the Rich Idiot With No Day Job card, or Clark Kent, who as an investigative journalist can set his own schedule. They need a source of support, and as we've already noted, Zordon just left the building. Now they could have gone some kind of governmental agency route, which would have been interesting, but I'd have to watch SPD to see how Power Rangers handles or doesn't handle that. (Or maybe In Space? I don't know, more study is required.) Your point about experience is well-made, and argues for a more gradual transition. Indeed you could have made some good episodes out of the conflict between the need to ease new Rangers in while letting the old ones get on with their lives before being a Ranger made it impossible.
I have to admit, the Phantom Ranger? He's cool. His outfit is undoubtedly the coolest one yet seen in your survey of the series, and I'm going to go out on a limb and say possibly the coolest ever. He could easily get away with that on a more serious show.
In defense of the decision to blow up the Rescue Megazord: At that point, it looked very much like they were going to lose it anyways. (And considering the Turbo Megazord's fate, can you really say I'm wrong?) They might as well lose it for a purpose.
I'm actually not terribly upset with Divatox. Maybe I'm comforted by it being like having Old Rita back, something familar and comforting to cling to amidst the madness. Maybe I can just distract myself by disengaging my brain and staring at her boobs. (Seriously, how did they get away with that outfit on a kids' show?)
You know, Blue Centurion? He should have been voiced by Dudley Do-Right like Ninjor. It would have been so much better.
I can see why you released both parts of the review of PR:T at the same time. Watching it, I'm glad to get it over with quickly. A sad, sad little series, chocked full of bad ideas. Did they really know beforehand that the sentai series they were using as the bases for this version of Power Rangers was a spoof? If so, more shame to them!
I swear, I was cringing at all the stupidity that was dredged up. Thank goodness that's over. Since there was no where to go but up, I'm looking forward to seeing your take on Power Rangers...IN SPACE!
Wow, Turbo sucked! I'm actually glad I stopped watching this show. "In Space" must have been awesome to save the show.
No "Power Rangers: IIIIN SPAAAAAAAAACE" joke? Seriously? Do it next time, pretty please.
Also, though the pizza thing was stupid, as were others, it was still using footage from a parody. Though, as suggested from someone here, they could have gotten the Jetman series instead, since that was a dark show and could fit what they wanted. I wonder...if the show did not take itself seriously, would you have actually enjoyed the pizza episode, or any of the odder ideas and the "reading manual" gag.
As much as I hated Turbo, there was one thing I liked:
The Piranhatron theme. You got to love any song which disses it's subject.
Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any audio clips of it anywhere. =(
@ Anonymous
Actually, Ohranger was successful in Japan. Yes, there were changes to it due to terrorist attacks and earth quakes. But it didn't make the show bad. Ohranger did NOT nearly cause cancellation in Sentai. That's just a stupid lie that a bunch of American fans made up. And unfortunately, got way out of hand. Seriously, everyone really needs to stop believing this lie to be true.
Yes, Carranger did save the franchise. But not from Ohranger (since Ohranger didn't do anything bad at all). Carranger saved the franchise from the never ending Jetman craze. Jetman was so popular, that Zyuranger, Dairanger, Kakuranger, and Ohranger got overshadowed. Since Carranger was so different, it couldn't be compared to Jetman. Today, Zyuranger, Dairanger, Kakuranger, and Ohranger are much more praised, since the Jetman craze died down.
It looks like the command center...
*puts on shades*
is no longer in command
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Was hoping you'd give your thoughts on the theme song, but oh well. Unlike all the other series, I never really was interested in going back to re watch Turbo. I knew everybody said it sucked, but I didn't really remember its quality one way or another. Just didn't leave a lasting impact on me, positive or negative. Put simply, it was forgettable.
In Space is next WOO!
"The evil pizzas were no match for a simple stop light"
Wow. Just...amazing.
It would be interesting to contrast this season to RPM. Both were based on very light-hearted car themed sentai series, and both tried to make a more serious series based on them. RPM's success, in my eyes, was the tongue-in-cheek approach it took, constantly lampshading and lampooning the sillier elements, using the sentai stuff often as light relief from the dark tone of the story. It also had a genuinely threatening villain. My one criticism of RPM would be that sometimes it feels like there's a disconnection between the sentai and the rest of the series. It had a Buffy-esque feel with older characters confronting dark situations with flippant humour, which worked very well.
I've heard 'In Space' is one of the better series, so I'm looking forward to seeing your next installment!
You forgot to mention the following information
Amy Jo Johnson (Kimberly) and Austin St. John (Jason) were originally considered to reprise their roles not as captives of Divatox, but to serve as the Pink and Red Turbo Rangers when Nakia Burrise and Jason David Frank reportedly wanted to leave the series. This would have had Catherine Sutherland take over as the Yellow Turbo Ranger with the return of Jason and Kimberly to the "Power Rangers Turbo" TV series following the film. However, the idea was rejected when both actors declined, due to the exhausting work hours of the TV series.
Link this trivia
and An original shooting script for this movie was originally going to include a romance between former Power Rangers Jason Lee Scott (Austin St. John) and Kimberly Ann Hart (Amy Jo Johnson). This would serve as a possible reason why Jason's girlfriend Emily from "Power Rangers Zeo were not mentioned or present for the film
Ah, Divatox. I always hated her. By far the worst villain I ever saw in Power Rangers. I never thought she should have been a credible threat to the Power Rangers. Her, her stupid sub, her,ugh,torpedoes, and yeah, Elgar. I hated him too! PRT in general was bad, although it became better once General Havoc showed up.
I hated the Turbo movie, but I will say the first movie made a decent stab at trying to make a bigger budgeted version of the Rangers, and most of the effects were good. Turbo just...failed.
I think everyone who'd been following this series of reviews was anticipating an epic, rage-filled Linkara meltdown right about here. And you did not disappoint.
The biggest tragedy about Turbo, I think, is that it turned SO many people away from Power Rangers (myself included) that there were fewer people who stuck around for the monumental awesomeness that was In Space. I didn't even bother with it until nearly the end, cause I was so disgusted by Turbo. By then, I had missed so much that it was hard to keep up. And that really sucked, because as I would later find out, In Space was the series that Zeo could've been and Turbo should've been, and the payoff to pretty much everything that came before it.
Love the reviews. Thanks.
I'm suprised you didn't mention the fact that all the female characters wore hotpants in the Turbo movie, considering your views on the portrayal of women in comics. This is a kids movie and the women are wearing skirts that barely cover their butts!
Also this is the point where I stopped watching Power Rangers. I got tired of the fact that Divatox's plans all involved a Detonator!
I tried watching again in Space but I just did not like Andros. But that's a topic for the next part.
I really hope you don't bash In Space. It was my favorite season. XD
>The biggest tragedy about Turbo, I think, is that it turned SO many people away from Power Rangers (myself included) that there were fewer people who stuck around for the monumental awesomeness that was In Space.<
You're spot on Benjamin. Everybody I knew had moved on from the show. Like I said, Turbo was just "meh" for me that I barely remembered any of it. Never even saw the movie. Though I am glad to say I stuck around for Space. It had me hooked from the first episode with both Astronema and Andros' hair(guess it's a family thing :P), but they were cool characters that also had depth to them. I can acknowledge Space has its flaws like the entire series, but it's still my personal favorite out of all the seasons, even Morphin'.
Hey dont make fun of the pizza episode that was one of my favorites, well as a kid it was.
ackofgod : Linkara why u dont say Richard Genelle die on December 30, 2008 In real life, Genelle left the series to take steps to overcome his smoking problems and obesity. any way this ally bug me. the Tom Oliver (clone) He kept the Dragon Power Coin with him to keep it out of evil hands ok ... so were it ? is it a family item? or in PR in space why Justin have the Turbo power?
Please say next time
"Power Rangers...IN SPACE!" the same way you said "IN SPACE!" in the Superman IV review with Nostalgia Critic, at least once.
Finally got to see the vids, and wow! You make so many valid points, and make them funny, it's not even funny!
I do like that you weren't super harsh on Justin, because he never bothered me that much. It was a silly idea but I went with it, because Big Bad Beetleborgs was out at the time I think, and was a hit (kids becoming heroes).
All round great video series!
So until my giant pizza that I will use the defeat the Power Rangers, is delivered in 30 mins or less, MAKE MINE LINKARA!
The thing about Power Rangers is sometimes the show can be fucking awesome, And other times the show can be downright terrible and Turbo is an example of that. You have Sentai footage that never worked for the kind of show Power Rangers is and you have a production staff who wanted the series to be an epic, dark story. I thought Turbo became a hell of a lot better when Judd Lynn took over replacing Doug Sloan as head writer. Judd knew that the first half was shit and tried his best to make the second half good. And it was good. But next time we will get to Judd's magnum opus. Power Rangers in Space.
Hello, Linkara.
First off, That show hurt. A lot. The movie hurt even more. I will never understand why they stopped using the Zeo powers.
Second, to change the subject, are you familiar with a Wordpress user names Allecto? If not, she's a radical feminist. How radical? Well, while you are the Professor X of feminism, Allecto's the Magneto.
If you need to view her opinions, here's a link to an essay she wrote back when she was on livejournal.
http://users.livejournal.com/_allecto_/34718.html
So, until the the Scarlet Witch says "No more Countdown", make mine Linkara.
Damn it Linkara, now I'm seeing Turbo: A Power Ranger Movie everywhere... Though it may only be a coincedence there was a copy at that yardsale.
To my main point.
PRT had the potential to be one of the most memorable Ranger series of all time. They had incredible storylines, demonically evil villians, and an arsenal of car mecha...oh wait that was soley Carrangers. PRT wasted so much of the potential of the darker Sentai series in order to tow the line of humor and something that can only be described as near-emo.
Lets not forget the whole idea of Kid to Adult using the Morphing grid. That right there is a WTF moment. Were the men writing this series watching older Sentai footage and hitting the bong? Then we get the brand new teamcaptain. The "Token" black guy of the crew who now gets Red status. I'd like to point out the humor they had in naming him too TJ... Maybe its just me, but T and J are the initials of Tommy and Jason were both red rangers and fan icons. Maybe it was coincedence lke the faux pas with Tommy being red, Trini being yellow, Zack being black.
I would like to point out something that may just be another coincedence. The Pink Ranger is ALWAYS a girl, and Blue is ALWAYS a boy. Gender stereotype much?
Now as for a theme this season. I would give it the term "Stepping Stone." While you are right it could have easily been a next chapter, I find that this season is nothing more than a stepping stone to connect MMPR and ZEO to Space, and ultimately to the rest of the seasons, sans DinoThunder and RPM. Turbo serves no purpose in furthering any previous storylines, and by no means brings anything substantial to the table as far as the series goes. It simply cuts the threads to the older cast in order to more easily set up a reason for how they could use newer sentai footage that takes place in places other than the normal Earthbound settings.
So... did they ever rescue Kimberly?
And it's at this point I stopped watching Power Rangers completely and gone over to anime, and ironically Johnny Young Bosch would move on to become a well known anime VA. Hmmm...
Looks like Turbo is to Power Rangers what Batman & Robin was to the Batman movies. Seriously, getting baked into a pizza?
I know I should be glad to have abandoned the series in light of this, but I'm guessing the next season is going to have me regret it. Looking forward to the vid though.
Anyway, a pirate trying to take over the world can be a cool villain if done right. Look no further than Sir Crocodile of One Piece. Incited a civil war in Alabasta, very nearly destroying it, and defeated Luffy twice before his defeat.
"The Pink Ranger is ALWAYS a girl, and Blue is ALWAYS a boy. Gender stereotype much?"
Ninja Storm and Mystic Force blue rangers are girls.
I think the worst thing I could say about Turbo was that I still love the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers, Zeo, and Power Rangers in Space(I stopped watching after this, as the series was perfectly completed for me) and remembered most of the plot points you mentioned, but Turbo?
A big void in my memory there. Not even the sacking of the command center.
Sentai Shows should not be forgettable.
Period.
Even though I only watched Power Rangers for the first season and a half I'm really enjoying these highly packed bites you're giving us.
And I'm very curious where one of the shots you use in your intro mash-up comes from, I'm like geeze is that Robbie Sinclair back there?
I'm really looking forward to your take on Time Force. IMO it was one of the best seasons (especially among those after they dropped the continuity between series)
Oy, looking back yeah it's an awful season, I mean getting baked into a pizza, so many changes within an episodes span, bad writing, bad acting WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING? But if I can try to fix one plothole, when Kat used her Zeonizer she was hitting the water. Someone & I'm not saying who *Cough Either Billy Or Alpha Cough* forgot to waterproof it & it might've shorted out the whole Zeo morphin circuit.
Linkara, why didn't you review do a mom-themed comic for mothers day?
Any chance you'll mention the fact that the Power Rangers In Space ship is basically a cheap knockoff of the Defiant from Deep Space 9? I always got a kick out of that when I saw that show.
About the "rubber band ball"
This is very hard to see, and I think they only close upped on it once in the Sentai in one of the last few episodes which is when I finally did notice, but it's actually made of roadway. This goes with the villains in the Sentai, since they're a bousou zoku (basically a biker gang) who are working for a guy who wants to blow up Earth so that he can finish his space highway.
"I would like to point out something that may just be another coincedence. The Pink Ranger is ALWAYS a girl, and Blue is ALWAYS a boy. Gender stereotype much?"
Actually in Super Sentai there were several female Blue Rangers.
And while there wasn't a male Pink Ranger, there was an instance when the Pink Ranger was the team's leader instead of the traditional Red
How is Astro Megaship a knock off of the Defiant, Kregano? The two ships don't even look alike.
If anything the Astro Megaship looks more like the Millenium Falcon then the Defiant.
Awesome. HoPR > AtFW
"Linkara, why didn't you review do a mom-themed comic for mothers day? "
The question is, are there any mom-themed comics?
Somehow I never thought I could say, "Go kart driving spandex clad superheros would go to war with a pirate hooker using only bumper car tactics in battle." Turbo proved me wrong.
What I always thought to be odd about the whole season/series of Turbo was the concept of the Rescue Zords. Is it suppose to be an upgrade to take a Big Ass Red Car Mecha and swap out for a firetruck? Atleast in the case of DinoZords into ThunderZords they went from Dinos to Mythical Beasts. I could suspend disbelief that Zeo power gets pushed aside like last years prom date, but using civil servant verhicles as upgrades to steroided out cars and trucks is just beyond me.
I did notice you skipped the other Mechas this go around. You showed Tor who got all of 3 epsiodes, but left out Artilliatron. Which just also happened to be the mobile garage for the Zords. Which I might add was a relief from the action figures they used for the NinjaFalconUltraMegazord.
Is it me, or does Cassie dress like Trixie Tang from Fairly OddParents?
(her ethnicity doesn't help either)
Good job Linkara, Though I feel you kinda rushed through part 2, I guess you just wanted to get through it and get to space. Since I take your line about the new rangers feeling like the Power Rangers, that They grew on you as decent replacements, since you seem to only give your feelings on how much you hated how rushed it felt with thier introduction. I still think T.J proved he was a good enough replacement for Tommy, but Maybe that's because I knee jerk at people that play the Andros is better red Ranger card.
Wait, A giant Pizza makes you go crazy, Yet a Giant purse Driving the Megazrod, Card board Cutouts and Zedd trying to use mind control dradels don't effect you?
I admit, Divatox going all Patton on the Ranger's asses is a massive mood whiplash, With Getting GoldGoyle to waste the Megazords and then Swarming the Rangers with Hundreds of grunts, and Your right the grunts are weak, but it doesn't matter if your wasting a dozen a minute, when thier more then enough. also the whole She just inbstantly blows them up, what no hour time limit to gloat?
or summed up like this
"Who are you and what have you done with Divatox! Your General Havoc in Drag aren't you!"
but at the same time, It be like if Zedd actaully upgraded his Putties to not having a weak point or got a nuclear reactor for Serpentara, The sudden level of intelligence would be jarring regardless.
So yeah, The first half would drive you mad, the Second half is decent enough.
I can't wait for you to get to Light Speed Rescue. IMO best writing, characters, villans, action, drama, and the public service design is more heroic then cheap hot rods.
I want to correct myself from a previouw post. I suppose a continuity alarm should go off.
Not all Blue Rangers were boys. Power Rangers Mystic Force featured a Blue Ranger who was female, albeit her name Madison was gender neutral. Power rangers Ninja Storm also featured a feminine Blue Ranger by the name of Tori.
While your rant in Part 1 is rather Justified and hilarious,and If they had atleast built up to the cast change with some form of intelligence it would have reduced the pain
Didn't Zordon essential throw his Super powerful weapons into the hands of a bunch of untested, inexperienced Newbies He had picked at random? Note I know your just railing on the stupidity of it all, but you don't really express much love for the new team, You do give a passing statement of like, but I comes off as though you kinda just hate them for replacing the old.
I mean in the intro vid you said you'd be biased in your opinion but lets be honest. Zordon's reasoning has never, ever made much sense if you stop and think about it. "I'll pick five random teenagers... luckily three of them are trained Martial artists, The other two are A Nerd who can't fight and a Valley Girl, Three out of five ain't bad!"
and of course Justin, What Zordon didn't feel bothered to phone up someone else? I'm sure Brad Hawkins would have loved to finally get on the Show! Since they tried twice before!
So How's Lost Galaxy going?
What the heck is with Justin's hair? It looks so 70's. Also, is there a CD for the series music?
So Linkara, Which Phantom Ranger Theory do you like best?
His Zordon's Son or his a Machine inhabited by the Souls of all previous Power Rangers?
I prefer the first, Since if it was the latter, He should be freaking powerful.
I can understand Linky's frustration with Divatox totally boning over the Rangers at the end of the season, where as Zed, Rita, and the Machines didn't. But isn't that kind of how some of these sci-fi/fantasy stories go? It's somehow the underdogs who always manage to obtain victory in the end. Who'd have thought that a ragtag band of rebels and some hippy teddy bears could've toppled the Empire in Star Wars? By all rights, they should've been wiped out in Episode IV, but somehow managed to win in the end. The only difference this time is that its the underachiever bad guys who prevail. So, where as Divatox is just some space pirate with a garage-kit equivilent of an army who busted the Rangers' butts over two major galactic evil factions, its not really all that unacceptable. Just a little teethgrinding is all.
One thing sill bugs me. How exactly does a car that big, only need 1 driver.
WOW I have to say that you put Power Rangers in a whole new prospective for me. I find your vids to be interesting and informative. However, I will have to call foul on your review on Turbo because there seem to be a few things out of place with this review that I have to address.
First of all let me make note that I strongly agree with you about the transferring of powers and the Turbo movie I did not get it. That said I am surprise that you didn’t make note about the very first part of the first episode in which they do cut scenes from the movie basically telling us to go watch the movie if you want to know what happen. It just seem like a big FU to the fans that did not see the movie first.
2nd, Devatoxics-, wow your kind of hash with this character. 1st with her music, she a pirate the music was suppose sound like a underwater theme music and it did all the other villains had the same treatment its not the best but it fits. 2nd With her taking over the planet, there have been many anime in which a small group, like pirates, has taken over a country, nation, and even a planet so the concept is not that farfetched. And, with the final battle she was fighting a new group of rangers it actually seem possible for her to have the invasion and win over this group of rangers. If it was the older members then it wouldn’t make any sense.
3rd the Zords- there is nothing wrong with car zords in fact the Rescue Megazord is one of the best zords made, and it is the closes to being a Transformer Gestalts. The only problem is going back to how they got their powers, it makes no sense. If the origins were better executed then even you would not have a problem.
4th The Grown Up Scenario- I know that you know this and most likely didn’t mention it because you wanted to be entertaining, but I feel it should have been mention. This is a kid show if they would have gone into that direction it would be difficult to market the toy line. Also it makes it easy on them, because as we all know in show business even if the characters change the morels stays the same. At that time I remember a lot of my friends were tried of the rangers and were moving on to other stuff. It just the way it goes sometimes. If they had made it more mature then they would lose there target group those who still wanted the toys. Adults do not relate to kid teens don’t either but they are closes to age.
Final The Moral- I will admit you tend to bring something I never even thought of when I was watching PR. I would think that the point of this season was change and preparation because of the rapid changes that were happening in the show. Saban and Bandai, even though at time it looks like they did not know what they were doing, they knew that space was going to be their swan song and was trying to prepare for it. There where even episodes that tended to point to that direction.
Now don’t get me wrong, this is not an attack on you or this vid. I actually enjoyed it and found it entertaining. But, I have to put my 2cents in, I too was an avid fan of PR and total understand what you are staying. However, because I was an avid fan you can understand that I have a different view point. You can criticize my view as much as you want I accepted whatever you have to stay, but we may never see eye to eye on this. I just wish to stay that I have enjoyed your vids and I can’t wait for the next one.
WOW I have to say that you put Power Rangers in a whole new prospective for me. I find your vids to be interesting and informative. However, I will have to call foul on your review on Turbo because there seem to be a few things out of place with this review that I have to address.
First of all let me make note that I strongly agree with you about the transferring of powers and the Turbo movie I did not get it. That said I am surprise that you didn’t make note about the very first part of the first episode in which they do cut scenes from the movie basically telling us to go watch the movie if you want to know what happen. It just seem like a big FU to the fans that did not see the movie first.
2nd, Divatox:-, wow your kind of hash with this character. 1st with her music, she a pirate the music was suppose sound like a underwater theme music and it did all the other villains had the same treatment its not the best but it fits. 2nd With her taking over the planet, there have been many anime in which a small group, like pirates, has taken over a country, nation, and even a planet so the concept is not that farfetched. And, with the final battle she was fighting a new group of rangers it actually seem possible for her to have the invasion and win over this group of rangers. If it was the older members then it wouldn’t make any sense.
3rd the Zords- there is nothing wrong with car zords in fact the Rescue Megazord is one of the best zords made, and it is the closes to being a Transformer Gestalts. The only problem is going back to how they got their powers, it makes no sense. If the origins were better executed then even you would not have a problem.
4th The Grown Up Scenario- I know that you know this and most likely didn’t mention it because you wanted to be entertaining, but I feel it should have been mention. This is a kid show if they would have gone into that direction it would be difficult to market the toy line. Also it makes it easy on them, because as we all know in show business even if the characters change the morels stays the same. At that time I remember a lot of my friends were tried of the rangers and were moving on to other stuff. It just the way it goes sometimes. If they had made it more mature then they would lose there target group those who still wanted the toys. Adults do not relate to kid teens don’t either but they are closes to age.
Final The Moral- I will admit you tend to bring something I never even thought of when I was watching PR. I would think that the point of this season was change and preparation because of the rapid changes that were happening in the show. Saban and Bandai, even though at time it looks like they did not know what they were doing, they knew that space was going to be their swan song and was trying to prepare for it. There where even episodes that tended to point to that direction.
Now don’t get me wrong, this is not an attack on you or this vid. I actually enjoyed it and found it entertaining. But, I have to put my 2cents in, I too was an avid fan of PR and total understand what you are staying. However, because I was an avid fan you can understand that I have a different view point. You can criticize my view as much as you want I accepted whatever you have to stay, but we may never see eye to eye on this. I just wish to stay that I have enjoyed your vids and I can’t wait for the next one. Also sorry for misspelled words.
Forgive me Linkara but I feel the need to address something
People need to stop with the whole
"Divatox won because the rangers were New, She would have lost if the old rangers were around"
The Old Rangers would have lost just as badly under the same circumstances.
GoldGoyle was Too much for the Megazords, and even robbed them of thier turbo weapons, Linkara while he states the idea of the Self destruct is dumb, He really doesn't give a reason for why it's dumb. I guess it's dumb on the matter of principle that you don't self destruct a megazord, but GoldGoyle opens the battle by Tanking thier most powerful move, This fight was going to be brutal regardless. Someone can somehow prove Tommy, Adam, Kat and Tanya add +5 to a Megazord's power. The Battle Would have played out the same regardless, and that's not factoring in the mental strain from possibly losing Zordon
Second, Divatox launched Hundreds of grunts at the Command Center, not a few dozen, Hundreds. It doesn't matter how weak and worthless they are, sheer numbers like that would overwhelm anyone. And It doesn't matter how good the Command Centers defenses are, If someone blows a hole in the wall, thier getting in.
Third, completely out of character, Divatox doesn't even bother with a timer, Unlike Zedd or Mondo who would start gloating the moment victory was at hand, Divatox is only stopped because she's called away. Instead of doing a classic "No one could survive that!"
I guess that's what makes people so angry here, Divatox has to be mostly out of character for her victory to work, to the point she's actaul Competent.
@ The Anonymous who points out the obvious about Divatox winning.
I concur that it did take a series of events that removed her from the goofy villian to win. It is under the same heading that I daresay Rita could have easily won.
Rita relied too heavily on her monster machine and the quaint monster maker. Now if she would have summoned up some of her so called minions in bigger numbers like for instance: The Pig monster, The Sphinx Monster, and the Eyeball monster all at once, then the Original Megazord would have been screwed.
Now factor in a logical strike on the rangers after the zords go down and she may win. Factor in the common sense of a full assault of Putties and viola Alpha and Zordon would be sitting ducks. She had the resources to make millions of them.
Zedd had all the potential in the world in the beginning. He even had his personal Zord. HIs putties, and his more violent monsters.... Yet they went nonsense on him and no victory.
That's the problem though my Friend, is Apparently it isn't obvious enough, since you'll still get people throwing out the idiocy of " They were Newer Rangers, or Weaker or Poorer or Etc/ The older Rangers would have won because they understood the true meaning of christmas or some other bullCrap.
They seem to miss the point, That the Rangers didn't lose because they were weaker, They lost because thier opponent did the Smart thing. Of course As I have completely admitted, The character showing said intelligence is pretty much playing against her potrayal.
We could sit and discuss forever all the ways, Rita, Zedd , Master Vile and King Mondo could have screwed the Rangers over six ways to sunday.
So some people had made the case that the old team of PR would have lost as well. The only thing I can say is, that it depended on Saban, if they wanted them to lose. However, on a more tactical point of view these people statements do not hold that much water. First of all though it is true that the Rangers sacrifice their own weapons and Zords against the last monster, it really comes down to the question what would the old Rangers do? In retrospect the old rangers never had to do that with there own zords, in fact the villains were the ones that destroyed them. It is not the first time that rangers had to fight a monster that was stronger then the megazords in fact most of the times it’s these stronger monsters that forces the rangers to get better zords. What the rangers did in turbo was desperate and I can’t imagine that any of the older rangers would agree to destroy their zords even with Zordon being capture. Also it kind of bugs me why they would be this upset about what happen to Zordon because they own meet him once and that was when they became rangers in the first place. When the hell did they develop a relation to point that it is affecting their fighting? I personal don’t think that is a factor.
Next- the attack on the base, every single villain had an army Zed and Rita and the Tenga and the Putties, and Mondo had the Machine empire (he even effected a future ranger story). The thing is that the rangers have been out number many times but still defeated the enemy. The fact is that this team was careless they did not have their weapons, zords, or backup support (like Dimitria) to help them out. Their shields were low prior to the fight and they had no defenses against this threat. To make matters worse, they did it to themselves. Do anybody really think that the old rangers would do these rookie mistakes.
And as for Divatox herself, hey if Bush can be President then she can defeat the power Rangers .
Your blaming the new team being beaten on "Rookie mistakes"?
How are they "Careless" when they got stuck with a monster that requires Extreme measures? How are they "Careless" when thier mentor leaves them to help Zordon?
How are they "Careless" that thier opponent sends hundreds of soldiers to attack them at thier base? Your honestly blaming the enemies sudden leap in intelligence and Strength on the fact the Rangers are new?
You sound like the Act of god comic going on and on about how the heroes are "arrogant"
Also seeing that the old team was never in the Sitaution of having to choose how the megazord goes, I give the new team credit for atleast trying to take the Sob with it, unlike standing in awe as the thing falls apart. Hell when ever the Old did have it's ass kicked, Zordon would always have an out waiting for them.
Also don't throw the
Well Rita and Zedd had an Army and the rangers were outnumbered before. The Old rangers were never attacked on the scale of chase into space. Yes there was the one time Zedd and Rita sent like 15 or 20 monsters at them. But 20 monsters is not the same as hundreds of footsoldiers. The two are not comparable.
Zedd, Mondo and Rita never used thier army to do a full scale assualt, Linkara even points that out.
Hey, where are you viewing all these episodes from?
You point out there is infact a military. However, nobody in the entire west coast of America, came to notice that the current barrage of monsters were coming from a small pond in a suburbian town.....
Zedd, Rita, Mondo all had the benefit of hiding on the moon and in space. Divatox hid in plain sight for nearly a year and achieved her goals until she got called away. I say she must have been doing something right.
Though I think in all senses of reality her brother would have finished what she started... if they didnt kill him off in the Sentai series so we couldnt have any stock footages.
According to variety, Saban bought Power Rangers back from Disney in a 9 figure deal. This is great news, since it seems like Saban is interested in going back to adapting the Sentai series.
Disney's "re-versioned" Power Ranger repeats haven't been doing well in the ratings anyway, probably because the show is a bit outdated for today's kids and the adult fans were driven away by the stupid cartoon graphics.
There is a police and army in Super Sentai
Sometimes they even try to stop the monsters
and when they do that, they usually end-up dying
so yes...
no wonder Power Rangers tried to avoid that
Great review man. I gotta say as a kid, I "liked" Turbo(or 'Turdo' as it should be called) as a kid, but then again: 1) I was a stupid kid who didn't really question much and accepted whatever crap was thrown my way and 2) While I did like it, something always felt off to me about it. Now I realize that it was just that the series sucked and it was a good thing In Space was handled very well otherwise Power Rangers would've been deader than Masked Rider.
Anyway, it's like torture waiting for the in Space review! I can only hope that it's almost done!
Hello, Linkara.
You won't believe this, but Saban just bought back Power Rangers and is planning to air another season.
Here's a link if you don't believe me.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100512/media_nm/us_powerrangers
Turbo could be summed up in a Word
"Trial"
I kinda take offense that you say using Carranger was a misstep since The Second half of Turbo was so much stronger, and seeing what they do with In Space, Lost Galaxy*Especially Lost Galaxy* and RPM. Though the Hell you have to go through to get there okay maybe it's justified. That kinda leads me to believe that The "Serious" Writing Staff faction had no earthly idea how to do thier "Serious, Dark and epic" story with the source Material, Though Seeing that thier Villian is just Dick Dastardly with Boobs I kinda feel the Whole, the Writers were torn thing is just a blown up excuse. Because if they wanted a Dark Epic, Why did they Neutered Elgar? In Carranger while a comedy, The Villians were complete Pyschos, Elgar's counterpart being a Demonic looking Bloodthirsty Monster. Why make the villians so unthreating?
Since The Writing strength went up with one of the Comedy Faction's supporters becoming Head Writer and taking charge for Turbo's second half*Judd Lynn*. Turbo's first half literal comes off as The Writers of the Serious Faction going "I give up" and just wanting to slide through the season.
But adapting Carranger was clearly PR's first time dealing with source material that differed greatly from the past seasons. Let's be honest It was pure fluke that the past four seasons had atleast Animals/Animal like things for Zord's , Dinos, Mythical, Ninja Animals, More Mystical Animals,*note whatever the hell Pink and Yellow's were*.
If they had backpedaled and used Jetman, You'd be complaining about Planes instead of Cars. Though let's face it Not Explaining your power change, Not making your Villian out to be a threat,Throwing out plot points and changes at a rapid pace, It's like the Writers were purposefuly trying to kill the franchise
Turbo was the test, and they Barely passed thanks to a better second half.
Turbo is a lesson, That I find all PR seasons since have followed, Either Be drasctically different from the source *Lost Galaxy* or follow the source Closely* Wild force* but Never Just hold your hands up and say "I give up." Atleast Try to make it work.
Justin was fine in concept, The problem isn't his a kid that grows up in Ranger form, since it apparently worked in two seasons of Sentai. The Problem is His a kid on the Team with Tommy! I notice justin hate dies greatly once the Team switch happens since I guess Tommy and the 12 year old rubs people the wrong way.
Or maybe the concept doesn't work with Americans.
Also The Autobots take offense that you don't think of them as a Legendary group of SuperHeroes!
"If they had backpedaled and used Jetman, You'd be complaining about Planes instead of Cars."
Actually, Jetman used birds for their mechas
That would actually fit the animal theme
But I agree, considering it was meant to be comedy Carranger had some pretty brutal villains.
They were humorous, but also very cold blooded - rather similar to the Joker
Turbo seriously castrated them
Yeah your right about the Birds... but If they didn't explain the power transfer. We'd still complain.
Well Really, Being whacky does't make you less of a threat.
Heck, The old Adam West Batman Villians, Had some of the sickest ways of killing people, though they played it for laughs. Crushing someone like a poster so you can mount thier flattened corpse on the Wall isn't funny!
What's sad about Divatox's portrayal is that she's suppose to functionally represent the last major bastion of Evil. Or be one of the Three major contributors to the Alliance of evil.
Zedd, you get all the Magic, Mystical and Demonic forces.
Mondo, You get all the War Machines
Divatox, Well once you get past the Cartoon antics is suppose to be Mercenaries, Criminals, Traitors and just the general scum of the Galaxy. Yeah Great job protraying on of Dark Spectres three major armies as a bunch of nimrods.
Yes, I think that's probably the reason why after Space they simply decided to go with the Sentai formula and just introduced a new team every season
I can imagine them having problems thinking of reasons to switch powers every season, especially after Zeo was described as this ultimate power that just keeps getting stronger
alto someone could always steal the crystals
There are a few things I want to point out in this comment space since the last time I read from it. First with regards to the rookie Thing that that I mention it seems that person who written about my comment after make it seems like I am demonizing or not giving the new team the credit they deserve. I want to point out that is not the case at all. The fact that they are a new team and are rookies is what makes the story interesting in the second half because they were made to make mistakes. That was the point that Saban was trying to display if the older rangers had done what they did people would be flat out mad. The new team had to grow to reach a new level that defines them, which they would not receive until Space Rangers. This in my opinion was one of the greatest seasons ever.
Also, this whole thing about the army outnumber rangers in the final battle is trivial. The circumstances in this season were different compare to others. I’m just going out there and state this, Divatox was an opportunist. She used the ranger mistakes and the right times to defeat them. It clear as day before the final battle what she was planning. Think about other series and the reason wide neither Rita, Zedd, or Mondo was able to do what Divatox did. The Rangers, had their Zords, Weapons for the most part the base was fully operational and protected, in fact Mondo attack their headquarters with ships and still not defeat them and Zedd still had to ask permission to enter their base, and finally the source of their powers was not in jeopardy at the time. If you remember Zordon’s planet was being attack and the morphing grid was there. The Rangers was dealt a bad hand and inexperience was one of the cards.
Also don’t give this monster was to strong for them to defeat them each season including the ones after that had the same scenario, and usually the rangers would get new weapons or powers or zords to deal with the threat They did not have to blow up their zords. I don’t think it was a bad thing to do this story wise because it made the plot more interesting I’m just point out details that’s all.
Finally with Divatoxs, She must be doing something right if she survived as long as she has. Think about she lived for centuries has a whole army by her side can call on any monsters when she wants to and she is called to be one of the center figures in the alliance of evil. Most people problem with her is the way she acts and her personality, well the leader of North Korea like Daffy Duck cartoons does that make him less of a dictator. She may not be people’s favorite villain but her role and playing the opportunist was an important factor in this season, and I have to give credit to Saban for that.
Really like the History of Power Rangers series so far and I'm really looking forward to "In Space" since that's one of my favorites...especially once the Psycho Rangers are thrown in the mix.
I will agree that Turbo was a bad time in Rangers history. Personally, I liked the costumes, as they were a huge improvement to the Zeo costumes. But story wise, it was a drop and Justin also brought it down a notch. And yes, I did agree with Linkara's part 1 ending rant. (Though, for me, the part where I stopped watching Power Rangers for the longest was "Lost Galaxy". The Charlie Brown uniforms and Scott Hall runs really turned me off.)
In closing, there's one thing I have to say and I'm very surprised no one has mentioned it yet...it was a good thing the Power Rangers didn't have that TMNT crossover when they were baked into the giant pizza. :P
I love how you open this segment with what could be considered a kick-ass intro to Power Rangers Turbo, and then turn around and say "Yeah, this show sucks hardcore."
Evil pizzas. That tops even a 6-foot blue anthro dog getting mock-fisted by a chiropractor in ridiculousness.
Can't wait to see the other installments of this series.
@SynjoDeonecros
what?
Krugger made it into the American cut of Dekaranger?
Thought his character would be too out-there for the American audience
"what?
Krugger made it into the American cut of Dekaranger?
Thought his character would be too out-there for the American audience"
From the comparative footage I've seen here and there, they did redesign him a bit, but still anthropomorphic dog.
I'm actually a bit worried
Hey, Linkara are you going to talk about the horrible idea that Amit had for Ninja Strom. The Dreaded Hexagon and Ranger Civil War?
"From the comparative footage I've seen here and there, they did redesign him a bit, but still anthropomorphic dog."
More than a bit. Completely new facial design (complete with eyes and mouth that moved better than Deka's), scaly-looking skin instead of fur, a more plasticy-looking uniform, and an overall bigger build.
As someone who wasn't allowed to watch Power Rangers as a kid, the second half of Turbo is the first series you've covered that I thought looked really interesting. Part of it is that, based on your reviews, it looked like the first 4 1/2 seasons were basically the adventures of "what power does Tommy get now," mixed with everyone else getting swapped around at random (not the fault of the writers, I get it was behind the scenes stuff). The total switch up made it a team of equals again, instead of Tommy and the rest. I agree with you overall that there were a lot of miss steps in this season, but putting the team on an equal footing was a step in the right direction.
I've actually just started watching CarRanger (which Turbo is based on), and I've found it hilarious so far. I especially loved when one of the monster's plan is to levitate the cars into space and make them honk a lot and be so noisy that nearby aliens will come and attack Earth to stop the noise.
Also great is when they actually pull out manuals to figure out how to use the weapons. Of course I'm only six episodes in so it might change, but so far I'm loving it.
For some silly reason, watching all of the entries up until now (well, the last was Lost Galaxy) has given me a strange idea that probably could explain the Turbo powers and a bit about what happened later. Try to follow along:
When the Rangers received their Zeo Powers, Zordon seemed to praise them and essentially say that this was the pinnacle of his successes: they got an infinitely powerful magic crystal that will just keep getting more powerful. But it became evident that the crystals...were too powerful. They emitted a harmful radiation that both gave more power to the "human" rangers using them (note I said human since somehow the powers were probably meant for those of Trey's race; maybe the "three bodies" thing just allowed for his people to cope with it) and became worse with more usage. Jason ended up being the test example: when directly holding Trey's Zeo powers as the Gold Ranger, he just became too weak and unstable, considering it was empowered way more compared to the ones derived from the Zeo Crystal. Zordon, being the big-headed douche he can be, ignored it for a time and believed this was the pinnacle of successes. But Billy, who knew of the adverse troubles with science (both from his own experiments and maybe consulting with the Aquitar Rangers), knew that the sooner the Rangers got off the Zeo Crystal, the better.
Eventually, Billy probably found out some information (most likely from the Aquitarans) regarding other "Ranger Powers" that exist tied to other civilizations and such. (maybe stuff like the Space powers of Andros' race, the Quantum Sabers on Maya's planet, etc; my guess is that the Zeo powers in general were the powers tied to Trey's race and fell with the rangers due to losing Zordon's/Ninjor's and their forced need to protect the Zeo Crystal thanks to Master Vile) Among them included information regarding Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster, two sentient cars who chose their master and, likewise, who they gave their ranger powers to. (my guess: the same civilization probably also developed the Blue Senturion and the Rescue Zords) Realizing the ease of creating "replacement powers" for the destructive Zeo powers (and probably seeing them as the easiest option being, you know, not needing to invent spaceships or Galactibeasts), Billy obtained their blueprints, which included a model for the morphers. Working from there, the genius used various automobiles on Earth to create the Turbo Zords and likewise developed similar morphers and suits and such to the ones connected to LC/SB. He was hoping to develop more but his age-advancing affliction forced him to abandon the project, yet not before finishing the basics for a new set of powers. Billy knew that they were going to be needed but Zordon's continued belief in the Zeo powers and the Machine Empire crisis prevented the transfer from being done before he left Earth forever.
(tbc)
(continued from last time)
However, it wasn't too long after that which Jason nearly died thanks to Trey's Gold Ranger powers. Zordon finally saw what Billy was warning of firsthand: the Zeo powers kept getting more powerful...but humans don't. (humans are not Triforians and don't have the physical capabilities of containing the Zeo Crystal for too long without harm) While the Zeo powers were enough to finally stop the Machine Empire, the sudden appearance of Divatox prevented any sort of transitional period to allow for the Rangers to know the truth regarding why they had to just abandon the "unstoppable Zeo powers" to "some cars". (heck, maybe it wasn't even enough time to tell them to remove the Zeo morphers due to Kat's attempt of using the powers in the Turbo movie) Probably knowing of the sacrifices two of his original five "teenagers with attitude" had to go through recently due to their battle with evil soften Zordon into allowing the Rangers to use the Turbo powers developed by Billy. Luckily though the existence and development of these powers allowed for those associated or who knew about the original civilization who did this to get alerted to Earth to assist them, including the Blue Senturion and the Phantom Ranger. (who knew where the Rescue Zords were) But more importantly, this also allowed for the emergence of Lightning Cruiser and Storm Blaster, who sensed those using "their powers" and came to Earth to gain knowledge and ultimately assist the Turbo Rangers. I mention those two in particular because the trust they gain from working with the Turbo Rangers ultimately would lead them to give "their powers" post-Turbo: Storm Blaster to Justin (in Space) and Lightning Cruiser to T.J. (in Wild Force)
BTW: Continuing from my weird train of thought above, I wouldn't be surprised if Billy did actually gain contact with Andros (or something tied to the Astro Megaship) during his research and gained/developed the blueprints for the ship NASADA would develop, but gave it to NASADA due to them having a better means to develop space technology. Yeah, Billy's a genius but even he has limits.
i felled so ashamed when learned turbo SUCKED today, back than i liked it as a kid, liked so much i had the film. I FELL SO ASHAMED NOW!!!
Cars are the one thing that never seem to work for PW.
SPD did it right, by theming it around something that would use cars instead of the cars themselves. At least the cars in Turbo look kinda cool unlike RPM which has the stupidest Zords ever. Of all time.
Gotta say, after having rewatched most of Turbo, including the movie, this season is VASTLY underrated. It's definitely the most fun season and had a solid team line-up, specifically the 2nd Turbo team.
It's genuinely funny at moments, has a great soundtrack, and Divatox isn't a bad villain, not as great as Astronema and Ecliptor, but better than Rita. All in all it's not terrible like people make it out to be.
I really liked the Turbo series. The first team was familiar, and Bulk and Skull were hilarious as chimps.
I feel that the reason the Mellenium Message didn't come to pass was because Divatox had the power to change it after she saw it. Yoda says it best, "Many possible futures, there are." (or something like that :p)
I read on IMdB about the unused Turbo movie scenes, and i think it would be alot better if they used that.
I'm watching Turbo now and actually don't find it to be too bad. I'm not looking forward the lineup change because I love Tommy, Kat, Adam, and Tanya, but I will try to embrace it when it comes. Divatox isn't too bad, just more slapstick than serious.
So just had a thought and wanted to share it.
You are right, in the long run it makes sense to keep the Zeo powers as they will continually grow stronger over time as mentioned. BUT! They had to create the Turbo powers for the situation at hand.
The Zeo powers were not yet strong enough to breach the barrier that held Malagore behind it, and with Lerigo captured and being forced to open the way, they had to follow. So, the new powers. Based on a key design since Lerigo had the Golden Key that would open the portal in the first place.
Humans can create connections to the Morphing Grid, as seen in Lightspeed, Time Force, etc., so that is taken care of.
Since they would need to catch up with Divatox, they would need the Ghost Galleon, and since the island was rather large, they would need a way to travel without being detected. Hence the Vehicles.
Since the Zeo powers were not enough to breach the barrier yet, it can be presumed that the zords, tied directly to the powers, would have been unable to as well. And with only so much room on the ship, why not have the cars themselves be the zords, allowing the Rangers to travel with a minimum of equipment.
The season was still goofy as all hell, and one of the worst in my opinion, but the powers themselves made sense to me, both their creation and their need to create them.
Of course, I could be giving the producers WAY too much credit, but that is the way I see it. Would love your thoughts Linkara.
Well I managed a few months ago to watch all of Turbo via Netflix streaming.
Yeah it wasn't great, but it did pick up in quality after "Passing the Torch". I do think that General Havoc should have become the main villain instead of just having a 4 episode arch.
I couldn't really tell the difference between Carol Hoyt and Hillary Shepard Turner playing Divatox . . . they were both annoying as hell.
As for Justin, well that was a Fox Kids demand on Saban . . . I do remember ratings for PR had started to decline during MMRP: season 3 (at one point, even Beetleborgs had higher ratings that PR), I'm guessing due to over saturation of merchandise, etc.
"Chase into Space" is one of the best overall episodes in PR history because it's one of the few times the Rangers have a MAJOR defeat.
@KAW
"there is nothing wrong with car zords"
YES THERE IS, the carzords were the stupidest Zords EVER.
Great lookback, Lewis.
The season may have worked better if Divatox wanted to steal the Zeo crystal due to it being the most covented treasure in the galaxy (she is a pirate after all). She has a device that can extract the rangers powers and the physical crystals out of them during battle causing Zordan to tell them it's too dangerous to fight with the Zeo powers as they can't risk the crystal falling into Divatox's hands. He takes the crystal to Eltar to keep it safe, but Divatox is still convinced it's in the Power Chamber and that being her motivation to find it. As for the cast change midway, like a professional PR writer, I'm going to make up science and say Divatox hits the rangers with a beam that polarizes their bodies causing them to repel the Morphing Grid energy meaning morphing could kill them. Billy, on Aquatar, promises to find a way to reverse it, but in the meantime they need to consider replacements. Whatever the reason, it would have been better if the old cast had had no choice, but to give up being rangers. You could have them come back every now and again to mentor the new rangers and tell them during "Chase into Space" to go and the old cast will try to protect the Earth in their place.
Phew.
I completely agree on the subject of TJ. The guy is easily one of my favorite red Rangers in the entire series. And I think a lot of the fans project hate from the seaskn itself onto some of the characters, even if they weren't completely deserving of it. The dangers we're getting the absolute are beating out of them and it's highly unlikely that they would have won by anything other than a complete Deus Ex Machina at that point .
TJ's decision to blow up the megazord wasn't necessarily bad. The fact that the monster survived so easily if anything is just proof that they were totally screwed from the start of that. And I commend TJ for thinking it up without the help of a mentor. That's one thing I always liked about him. He never seemed as reliant on Zordon or Dimitri as the other leaders did.
Eric Frank who played Tommy's brother (who was Jason David Frank's brother in real life) didn't really care about the show and even told Jason not to work on power rangers. Jason David Frank actually was at first going to be the red ranger in season 1 but his brother like I said before told him to not to really care about the show. The producers Jason to film a few episodes as the green ranger and you know the rest. Eric Frank didn't want anything to do with power rangers. That's why Tommy's brother was not the blue ranger. Eric Frank had also passed away in 2001.
Any chance of a re-upload since Blip is no more? I was really hoping to rewatch the series and this is the first not on youtube.
"Any chance of a re-upload since Blip is no more? I was really hoping to rewatch the series and this is the first not on youtube."
It HAS been reuploaded. This blog has been dead for over a year. You should be following things over on http://atopthefourthwall.com, where everything is nice and organized and there is a new player.
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