The Big Picture: No No Power Rangers

[ccggenius12]

Wait there are people EXCITED about a Power Rangers movie? After the last few awful seasons put out by Saban? I'm entirely not hyped mostly because I have no faith it'll come out well. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I just don't see them putting in the time, money, or effort. Maybe partnering with an actual movie studio will get the Saban productions to bother to work and hire actors who can act, but Iunno.

I can't speak to the stuff that came out after RPM (haven't seen it, it's not on network tv anymore), but I enjoyed that one immensely.

OT: I'm cautiously optimistic. Would I prefer if instead of doing this they just ported the Japanese sentai shows and subbed them? Yes, but that's really not something that equivocates. Frankly, if they give us Pacific Rim with bright primary colors, I'll be satisfied.

 

[Bruce]

I think a Power Rangers movie could work out good right now because it runs counter to the dark, "realistic" take on superhero movies we've had for a while now. There is a gap for something that has a little more joy to it.

That said, I think it will be a disaster much like the previous PR movies because, well, Hollywood can only ever pull off camp accidentally.

Think about it, when was the last time you saw a good movie that was attempting camp on purpose?

 

[uknownada]

I honestly didn't think people cared enough about Power Rangers to make it into a new movie. I know there are those fans that just will never let it go, but...honestly, I didn't think anyone else gave a damn. Not even the haters.

 

[Gerardo Vazquez]

Wait there are people EXCITED about a Power Rangers movie? After the last few awful seasons put out by Saban? I'm entirely not hyped mostly because I have no faith it'll come out well. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I just don't see them putting in the time, money, or effort. Maybe partnering with an actual movie studio will get the Saban productions to bother to work and hire actors who can act, but Iunno.

I can't speak to the stuff that came out after RPM (haven't seen it, it's not on network tv anymore), but I enjoyed that one immensely.

OT: I'm cautiously optimistic. Would I prefer if instead of doing this they just ported the Japanese sentai shows and subbed them? Yes, but that's really not something that equivocates. Frankly, if they give us Pacific Rim with bright primary colors, I'll be satisfied.

RPM is easily the series best season. If anything needs to be made into a movie it's that one.

 

[JimB]

God damn you, Bob, I was snacking on a mini-donut when you did that "Trans4mers" thing. I am sending you the bill for my cleaning!

 

[vid87]

What I find surprising about my perspective on this is that, not long ago, I would've been psyched. I had even thought if they couldn't do the PR franchise itself they could do a Tarantino/DelToro style homage using the familiar trappings to give insight and commentary to the storytelling structure and eventually build their own mythology. Thing is, modern hero stories, especially ones about kids and violence, skew towards darker and more dramatic - someone would rebel against their calling; a loved one would die; blood, sweat, rage, screaming, etc. I can't say I'd be 100% happy if this went back to its camp roots - looking back on the old episodes reveals how ungodly cornball the non-action stuff is - but I think we as a culture are starting to turn against "grim n' gritty," hence the eye-rolling at what is most likely going to be another "mature" series.

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

First off nice episode and I have to more or less agree, i don't think it'll work really but i'm not annoyed by the idea of a power rangers reboot.

secondly, I have to say, Don't you dare show us footage of days of future past while talking about the movies comic book fans "always wanted to see." the x-men movies are an affront to everyone who's ever picked up a comic book and they're very existence is an insult to people who love the x-men. these piece of shit movies exist solely to feature hugh jackman naked and give him the name of a comic book character that has absolutely nothing to do with the on screen persona. so while they make even more "x-men" movies where hugh jackman does everything and a few well known mutants get to stand around in the background I grow more and more disgusted by them. these movies offend me as much as the star wars prequels offend die hard star wars fans, only there are 5 of them with more on the way. I as an x-men fan have accepted i will never get the version of my favorite superheroes I deserve and everyone walks around like that's ok and these movies are shitty as hell but "kind of fun" so lets keep going to see them so they keep making money and wolverine the single most self involved mutant in the history of comics can be portrayed as the savior of the mutant race because he's only murdered more people than the plague but hey he's a popular angsty manchild so lets make everything about him.


but yeah, power rangers i think will be interesting if nothing else, i was a fan as a kid but any potential nerd rage i might have had has long since disapated, i mean they've had SUV zords already. even micheal bay couldn't do damage to this franchise. but I've always said if you're a huge fan of something then i want the movie that pleases you most.

 

[scw55]

I was a 90s kid. I hated the Power Rangers, and I still do.
Therefore by default I am not keen on the movie. Then again, I am not being forced to see it.
I was forced to see Batman Begins and it was torturous.

 

[nejiyellow]

"a series concieved to sell toys created from a series concieved to sell toys". Which is where I knew you were full of shit on tokusatsu. For the record, I'm sure you do watch it. The modern post-2000 crap(exceptions aside, like gekiranger and go-busters.) Did the older, good shows sell toys? Yup. Guess what else did. Batman:the animated series. That was one shitty show huh? Oh wait.

Any entertainment created for children will sell toys as a aside. Star wars did. Does that mean the movies/shows/comics/whatever have to be garbage? Nope. I have no issues saying that, for example, gosei sentai dairanger is better than anything saban ever shit out. Funny thing is despite the fact that he is a hack in every sense of the word, I don't hate haim saban. He's just doing what he's done from day one in his career and it's not a big surprise. Who I do hate is the modern toei and what they have done to both sentai and kamen rider in japan. Shotaro Ishinomori would be rolling in his grave. Like the people who made batman TAS he actually gave a fuck about something "for kids" still being good while selling toys at the same time. Hell, I don't care for it, but we can put the modern marvel movies there too. Haim saban was no different than the hacks who made shit like transformers G1 and heman. Toei? Even if they were fine with it from day one, I guess I(perhaps foolish) did except better from them. I know that they love power rangers and it is there international face for the franchise, I don't have a problem with that. However, the modern shows might as well be just stock footage for power rangers. They are garabage, with terrible writing and stunt work, and the franchise is not what it used to be.

PS-linkara can kiss my ass. I don't care if he like power rangers more or not, but saying stupid shit like "sentai is the ripoff of power rangers because... my nostalgia!!", with his yes-men defending him, makes me want to hurl.

 

[Vault Citizen]

Speaking as a Millennial (as much as I dislike that term, how come our generation name isn't as cool as "Generation X"? my reaction was exactly what Bob said it was when he discussed the various reactions at the beginning of this video. I can't wait to see this movie.

 

[OrokuSaki]

I don't really see any way that the Power Rangers reboot can be good. I mean, the sheer amount of self-awareness that the series had isn't really something that's going to translate well into a summer blockbuster movie, and making it less self aware just emphasizes that the original series wasn't that great.

Recently I bought the first season of mighty morphin power rangers (Because it was $20) and started to watch it in my free time. I honestly chortled to myself at how low its budget was for such a big-name property, even after the money MUST have been pouring in from the toy sales, it still kept true to its low-budget, toy-pushing roots.

While intoxicated the show was an absolute riot, with many moments when I giant robot reached into the clouds, retrieved a sword, and then, instead of having a sword battle, lifted the sword over its head and showered a densely populated city with laser lights and explosions.

So I really don't see how this is something that we should be bringing to the big screen in the 2010's. I imagine that a straight-to-DVD/Netflix option would be amazingly successful with the "ironic" crowd, but I don't see how it would translate for a big-budget summer action film.

 

[medv4380]

I don't think it's cut down generational lines. Personally there are several lines being drawn, and it's mostly played out like Subbed vs Dubbed war, and Anti4Kids. There really isn't a great track record for Americanizations of Japanese material. For every Robotech there is a Macross, and ever Zilla there is a Godzilla.

We really only have two results from all of this, and that it's ether going to be Good, or it's going to be Bad. But in this case Bad is Godzilla 1998 Bad. Not bad as in cheesy or corny, but bad in that it was Godzilla in name only. A Power Rangers Reboot has the chance of being Power Rangers in Name Only. Which has pro Dub, pro Sub, and Anti4Kids concerned. Many are excited, but others know the track record. While the American Media industry sees Power Rangers as kids only material we can expect to still see cigarettes becoming lollipops, and flat chested men claiming to be women despite the original scripts. And as such being Kids material doesn't have a good track record for theaters ether. As long as it's shuffled into the Saturday Morning Kids shows it has a chance of continuing. Beyond that there hasn't been much hope outside of very limited releases, and will probably continue to do so.

Abandon all hope. It will only lead to disappointment, and gnashing of the teeth.

 

[templar1138a]

You raise a fair point, but I'm a Millennial who's rolling his eyes at this nonetheless. Even as a kid, I could see that Power Rangers was meant to promote toys more than anything else. Granted, I WANTED the toys because they were awesome-looking, but the show just seemed pointless to me. I might've thought better of the show if it had more of those hand-to-hand fight scenes that you showed in this video and not nearly as much over-emphatic gesturing and out-of-costume scenes.

 

[Jingle Fett]

I like the potential a power rangers movie could have. Consider for example, Pacific Rim. Big mechs fighting big monsters. Add some ground combat and over the top villains and...well how could that not be awesome?? I guess it ultimately depends on who the target audience is, will it be the kids who watch it now, or will it be the fans who grew up with it? I mean I'm trying to keep my hopes in check because there's a good chance it might simply get Bay-ified and end up being crap...but the potential is there.
I'd say give Power Rangers to someone like Sam Raimi, Guillermo Del Toro, or Joss Whedon and you have a recipe for success.

 

[Gerishnakov]

Pretty much the only toys I liked as a kid, besides Lego (no plural needed, please, I'm British), were the Power Rangers megazord sets. God damn I fucking loved those things, especially when you could mix and match between sets, that was awesome. Probably one of the few things from my childhood that hasn't been spoiled as I've grown up. I do have perspective however, and if this reboot allows a whole new generation (Z?) to enjoy the same things I did, then I'm all for it. I fondly remember seeing the original '90s Rangers movie and being absolutely psyched for it, here's to the future.

 

[Edl01]

I grew up on Power Rangers, it's a series that was on when I was really young and I probably watched it until I was way older than I was meant to be. I won't say I'm looking forwards to this film since the first two movies are both kind of terrible, but I want to try to go into this film being cautiously optimistic.

Just to correct Bob on one thing.
Batman and The Avengers ect, aren't 80's properties(someone mind explaining to me why Bob calls it Generation X? I'm guessing it's just because it sounds cool), they were popular before that, and they are still popular now. Trying to tie down a character like Captain America or Batman to a singe generation just doesn't work, they are characters that are timeless ad are enjoyed by everyone, not just a certain generation.

Also can I laugh a bit at the guys who are criticising the existence of this movie and insult power rangers as a shallow attempt to sell toys, while considering Transformers or GI Joe amazing shows from their childhood.

 

[Gerishnakov]

By the way I'm genuinely usure, being a Brit rather than an American, as to whether I fall into the Millennials or our very own Gen X. I was born 1988 but seem to have a lot more in common with most gen-Xers. Perhaps I'm some sort of cross-generational freak.

 

[seiler88]

Shall we do the time warp again?

 

[walsfeo]

I roll my eyes a bit. I'm old, and I don't get it. Just like I don't get Dragon Ball. It all seems too rudimentary and low-brow. If my son had ever been into them I'd probably have an appreciation for them.

That being said, I think it's culturally cool. It's pretty neat that we don't have to put away our childish things. At least it is pretty neat as long as it doesn't prevent us from also appreciating things that are more sophisticated and/or high quality.

I hope it fulfills the dreams of those who care, and that it gives the rest of us something to snark about. Hopefully without wrecking the dreams of those who care.