Power Rangers General Discussion Thread

[Videomaster21XX]

Well using a bit of my time off thanks to my broken leg to watch some Power Rangers. There are actually a lot of series I haven't seen yet.

I originally watched it all the way up to Zeo. Dropped off during Zeo. Dabbled in Turbo.

Then was back full force for In Space.

I don't remember why, but I never got to see much of Lost Galaxy. So I finally corrected that near the start of when I broke my leg. So I've finally finished that and I rather enjoyed it.

Let's see... I need to watch Lightspeed Rescue

I've seen Time Force

Need to watch Wild Force

Need to watch Ninja Storm

Seen Dino Thunder

Need to watch S.P.D.

Seen Mystic Force

Seen bits of Operation Overdrive

Never seen Jungle Fury

Not seen any of Samurai/Super Samurai

Seen Dino Charge/Super Dino Charge

Only watched a few episodes of Ninja Steel/Super Ninja Steel

Then watched all of Beast Morphers, all of Dino Fury, and all of Cosmic Fury.

HOWEVER, given all the praise I keep hearing for it. I'm currently sitting down to watch RPM. Two episodes in.

(As for how, I bought for myself, then gifted the rest for Birthday and Christmas, most of the shows on DVD. I'm only missing the First season of Samurai, and the second season of Ninja Steel.

Since I'm not convinced Beast Morphers and beyond are getting DVD releases.)

 

[Videomaster21XX]

Well got to admit the "And Action" episode of RPM caught me off guard.

 

[Videomaster21XX]

Finished it. Not bad, I see why people enjoy it.

 

[Sabrblade]

Well got to admit the "And Action" episode of RPM caught me off guard.

Since it was meant to be the final season of the show, they did a behind-the-scenes episode as a special treat to give viewers a taste of how the show is made.

 

[Videomaster21XX]

It's not a bad idea. Especially given the budget they must have had. I know it took some talking to get Disney to agree to let the season happen.

That factor is probably behind the few nitpicks I have with it. But I can go into those later.

I wonder which season I haven't seen yet I should do next?

 

[Shadewing]

It's not a bad idea. Especially given the budget they must have had. I know it took some talking to get Disney to agree to let the season happen.

That factor is probably behind the few nitpicks I have with it. But I can go into those later.

I wonder which season I haven't seen yet I should do next?

RPM was starting to go SO overbudget that about half way through the fired the EP and brought on Judd Lynn, classic PR EP, to get the series finished and as budget friendly as possible. That change COULD be a factor in some nitpicks. Also its another reason we got the BTS episode; becuase it was cheap to make and filled out the episode requirement. It also changed the planned ending. for the better imo.

 

[ZakuConvoy]

I wonder which season I haven't seen yet I should do next?

Hmm, given your list of what you haven't seen yet, I'd go with either SPD or Jungle Fury. SPD is more sci-fi based, and Jungle Fury is more martial arts based. So, maybe you want to go with Jungle Fury first since you just got done with RPM which is another sci-fi heavy season? Up to you. But, those are probably what I'd consider to be the two best seasons you haven't watched yet.

Wild Force and Lightspeed Rescue are also pretty solid choices.

 

[Shadewing]

Jungle Fury would be my vote, its a very under appreciated season. It came after the complete disaster that was Overdrive, which I think drove a lot of fans off the Disney era, and they only came back for RPM after word of mouth of how good it was. Leaving JF as the forgotten mild child. Its not of the the greatest seasons, but its still in my top 10.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Well got to admit the "And Action" episode of RPM caught me off guard.

Ha. I think that might have been the first episode I saw of it, when I was up so late on Friday nights that I realized I could just stay up and start watching it again.

 

[Videomaster21XX]

Yeah Jungle Fury is sounding interesting enough that I might go with it next. Or I might do Lightspeed in order to hold out on finishing up what are considered the 'best' seasons right away. Leaving me with the others. I'm not sure yet, but it's likely between those two.

As for RPM. I liked it, but it's not taking the number one spot. I'm not sure I'd even put it in my top five.

The darker tone was interesting, but I got spoiled a lot of the 'twists' and surprises before I ever watched this, which probably took away a bit from the experience.

My main gripes:

Spoiler

Honetly I feel like the Generals Venjix had were kinda pointless. More so than some of the previous series ones.

My biggest issue is the ending seemed REALLY rushed. Like they drop the command building thing on Venjix and they're all like. YEAH! Threat over!

What? We LITERALLY SAW -IN THE SHOW- that his body was destroyed before and he just booted back up at his palace/base and built another body. Why the hell couldn't he do that THIS time? There was no mention of the palace being destroyed. I know we had the thing of their little robot guy finding the place, but nothing happened from that. Venjix activated the hybrids and they all attacked. There was no operation to go bomb that place or anything. I'm assuming that WAS the plan at one point, but budget had to have that cut.

Also if Venjix is a virus, what protection do they have in their dome to stop that? (Like seriously the Colonel hooks up that laptop to his computer. Shouldn't that have immediately corrupted his system?) Did Dr. K never think to make some other virus to wipe him out before? It just feels rather sloppily put together, but again. I'm assuming budget restraints.

Also didn't hear anything about how it was supposed to end. I'll look it up.

 

[Shadewing]

From what I recall:

Spoiler

Dylan was gonna end up being the final boss. He was an agent of Venjix the entire time. Venjix would upload himself into Dylan to create his final form, which just happens to be Black. This is why there wasn't a "Ranger Black" episode. So yeah, pretty much the main character of the series, ends up being the final boss. Which to me feels like it negates everything that came before. So while Judd's finale might not have been the best, I prefer it to what sounds like completely destorying one of the characters we spent 30+ episodes with.

 

[Sabrblade]

I wonder which season I haven't seen yet I should do next?

Of the ones you listed having not yet seen...

Lightspeed Rescue is good. Not amazing (though, a certain story arc is), but still pretty good.

Wild Force is also pretty good.

Ninja Storm is decent. Not bad, but okay.

SPD is really good. Really solid and above average overall.

I know Operation Overdrive is really unpopular, but I never hated it. And I'd frankly rather watch it than certain later bad seasons.

Jungle Fury is awesome. Like others have said it is criminally underrated.

Samurai/Super Samurai is laughably cringe. It tried to go back to the cheesy goofiness of MMPR Season 1, as if it was 1993 all over again. But it was delightful to see Bulk again.

I notice you didn't mention Megaforce/Super Megaforce. Even more goofy than Samurai/Super Samurai with underdeveloped characters, an overreliance on Sentai footage even when it didn't make sense to use it, and just a major disappointment in the long run.

Ninja Steel/Super Ninja Steel is bland. Just so by-the-numbers. It has its moments but it overall lacks vision or ambition.

 

[Shadewing]

I still can't bring myself to hate Megaforce, they had SO MUCH they were forced to do, that there was no way it was going to be good. But I've done that speil several times by now.

Ninja Steel... yeah, that's probably my second least favorite season (I'm one of those that can't stand Overdrive) becuase it is very by the numbers and feels like its trying to be MMPR... but with almost no redeeming qualities. Samurai at least has some good characters and fun villians and a few good stories. I've liked it better on rewatches then my initial viewing. I won't say Ninja Steel doesn't have anything going for it, but it's fatal flaw is that its just kinda painfully boring. I will suggest you watch SPD before this since they share on actor and I feel that even though they play different characters, that Ninja Steel kinda completes their journey. About the only good thing about it imo.

 

[Videomaster21XX]

Oh right. Not sure why I skipped Megaforce.

So I've actually seen like the first seven episodes of Megaforce. I saw up to where they defeated this one general I think the red ranger had beef with? Didn't get much farther.

Ninja Steel I did watch when it first came out and yeah. I just didn't care for most of what I was seeing. Also I can't stand the comic relief characters at all. It's like that meme "We have Bulk and Skull at home" (Edit: To clarify, I got up to the 'burger morpher'. I think an episode or two after that, and ended it dropping the show to do something else at the time, given I have limited time usually)

I've actually tried watching Lightspeed Rescue before but didn't get into it. That was of course when it first aired. So things have changed.

 

[Shadewing]

Yeah, of all the "trying to recapture Bulk and Skull" Duos, Ninja Steel has the worst, and Beast Morphers imo has the best since it doesn't feel like Ben and Betty aren't trying to be Bulk and Skull, unlike Victor and Monty who certainly are, just without being actual bullies. While Ben and Betty are just trying to help, and it doesn't always go their way; but sometimes it does even if it goes awry. They just feel like more genuine characters and not just around for a cheap laugh.

 

[Videomaster21XX]

From what I recall:

Spoiler

Dylan was gonna end up being the final boss. He was an agent of Venjix the entire time. Venjix would upload himself into Dylan to create his final form, which just happens to be Black. This is why there wasn't a "Ranger Black" episode. So yeah, pretty much the main character of the series, ends up being the final boss. Which to me feels like it negates everything that came before. So while Judd's finale might not have been the best, I prefer it to what sounds like completely destorying one of the characters we spent 30+ episodes with.

Yeah I can't see the logic of that outcome. It raises too many questions.

Spoiler

I just rewatched the original Linkara's History of the Power Rangers RPM video, and he mentions about Dilon at the start of the show giving a flower some water to show how he was human. If he was just the final form of Venjix. Why would he do that? Like he'd have to have his own personality in some regard. Why would Venjix wait till the end of the show to have him do stuff? How is his body the final form over any other body he could make? None of that makes sense to me.

Then personally, yeah I liked Dilon, and if they did that, I'd have been upset and this would not be a season I'd look back fondly too. Just kinda sad I see a lot of comments online from people wishing it HAD gone that direction. :/

 

[Shadewing]

Yeah I can't see the logic of that outcome. It raises too many questions.

Spoiler

I just rewatched the original Linkara's History of the Power Rangers RPM video, and he mentions about Dilon at the start of the show giving a flower some water to show how he was human. If he was just the final form of Venjix. Why would he do that? Like he'd have to have his own personality in some regard. Why would Venjix wait till the end of the show to have him do stuff? How is his body the final form over any other body he could make? None of that makes sense to me.

Then personally, yeah I liked Dilon, and if they did that, I'd have been upset and this would not be a season I'd look back fondly too. Just kinda sad I see a lot of comments online from people wishing it HAD gone that direction. :/

Spoiler

To give credit where credit is due, I am sure if this guy had been allowed to finish, he might have made it work. Not saying I or you would like it, but it was the story he was building up to. And I can kinda understand some wanting it, because its a very dark and different PR finale for series that has been dark and different. Just like there are some fans that like the Power/Rangers grimdark fan film... But I feel that it goes against PR too much especially when at the time it was possibly the /last/ season. So for all its issues, I am glad Judd went in a different direction. [/spoilers]

 

[Sabrblade]

Spoiler

My impression of the original ending was that it wasn't going to reveal Dillon to have been the enemy all along, but rather that he was a sleeper agent of Venjix, an unknowing pawn who would have been an unwilling participant in Venjix's plans. It was established early on that Dillon had the virus inside of him. It probably would have grown and spread throughout his body over the course of the season, evolving and enhancing Dillon's body until such a point when Venjix had deemed him ready to be fully possessed and taken over. Dillon probably would have tried to resist Venjix's control and fight him from within, but instead of successfully overpowering him and taking back his own body (which would have been more in line with the traditional Power Rangers moral about never giving up and the power of willpower/friendship/love/etc. overcoming all odds), Venjix would have simply been too powerful for Dillon to overcome his possession, requiring the Rangers to destroy their friend in order to destroy their enemy once and for all, making Dillon's story ultimately a tragedy in the end. Which would have been a far more depressing ending than the one we got, done just for the sake of being darker and edgier.

It has also been mentioned by Adelaide Kane, Tenaya 7's actress, that she would have received her own Morpher and joined the Rangers in the original ending's final battle. But whether this means she would have become the new Ranger Black after Dillon was turned into Venjix's final body, or if she would have received a brand new color suit made especially for RPM not originally featured in Go-Onger (like maybe a Pink Ranger since there wasn't one already) is unknown. It's also been said that she originally wasn't going to be revealed to have been Dillon's long lost sister (as that reveal was a later development thought up by Judd Lynn afrer he came aboard), but whatever her character's originally identity might have been is also unknown.

 

[Shadewing]

Spoiler

My impression of the original ending was that it wasn't going to reveal Dillon to have been the enemy all along, but rather that he was a sleeper agent of Venjix, an unknowing pawn who would have been an unwilling participant in Venjix's plans. It was established early on that Dillon had the virus inside of him. It probably would have grown and spread throughout his body over the course of the season, evolving and enhancing Dillon's body until such a point when Venjix had deemed him ready to be fully possessed and taken over. Dillon probably would have tried to resist Venjix's control and fight him from within, but instead of successfully overpowering him and taking back his own body (which would have been something more in line with the traditional Power Rangers moral about never giving up and the power of willpower/friendship/love/etc.), Venjix would have simply been too powerful for Dillon to overcome his possession, requiring the Rangers to destroy their friend in order to destroy their enemy once and for all, making Dillon's story ultimately a tragedy in the end. Which would have been a far more depressing ending than the one we got, done just for the sake of being darker and edgier.

It has also been mentioned by Adelaide Kane, Tenaya 7's actress, that she would have received her own Morpher and joined the Rangers in the original ending's final battle. But whether this means she would have become the new Ranger Black after Dillon was turned into Venjix's final body, or if she would have received a brand new color suit made especially for RPM not originally featured in Go-Onger (like maybe a Pink Ranger since there wasn't one already) is unknown. It's also been said that she originally wasn't going to be revealed to have been Dillon's long lost sister (as that reveal was a later development thought up by Judd Lynn afrer he came aboard), but whatever her character's originally identity might have been is also unknown.

Spoiler

Yeah, Tenaya was one of the elements that suffered from Judd imo. She ended up being a poor man's Astronema and they never really seemed to know what to do with her.

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

Ninja Steel/Super Ninja Steel is bland. Just so by-the-numbers. It has its moments but it overall lacks vision or ambition.

I liked Ninja Steel well enough, and the setup for Super Ninja Steel, but everything after... meh. It felt like kind of running back the first season or something.

RPM is probably my favorite stand-alone season, but Lightspeed Rescue is up there. And depending on how you count it, Lost Galaxy is a favorite, too.