I missed the Power Rangers fad by mere months. By the time the TV show (and
toys, of course) was the talk of the town, I'd just entered my 'too cool for
school' teenage years. Privately, though, I watched the syndicated program every
afternoon even as I hemmed and hawed over whether or not I was too old to jump
on the bandwagon. Coolness prevailed; I never owned a single Power Ranger action
figure, though I did have some fun with the SNES side-scrolling beat 'em up and
the first theatrical movie's soundtrack (then-favorite They Might Be Giants
contributed the fantastic 'Sensurround' to the score). In the intervening years,
I've gone from 'too cool for school' to 'too old to care,' and the new
semi-season sets of the classic Power Rangers program are on store shelves, just
waiting to be discovered by those who missed the adventures of Billy, Zack,
Kimberly and the rest. And as far as DVD collections go, this one is actually
pretty good.
If you don't know about the Power Rangers by now, here's a little background,
albeit an oversimplified one. Five normal teens are contacted by a giant
floating head and its 'wisecracking (see: barely tolerable)' robot sidekick.
They are each given the power to wear spandex and take command of a series of
giant robotic dinosaurs to fight Rita, an over-the-top space witch, er,
sorcerer, or something. Each and every episode plays out in the exact same way:
The teens face an issue in their real life and somehow Rita knows to model that
episode's antagonist to be in line with their difficulty. The suited-up Power
Rangers fight off a few disposable henchmen before calling in the dinosaur
vehicles, and the battle is always won with the combined robot's super form and
its large sword. Rita is defeated, the problem the teens face is resolved in the
last few minutes and the show ends. It's the same every single time. Seriously.
Sure it's dumb and manages to rip off concepts from dozens of other
shows/characters/games (Voltron, Ultraman, etc.), but the simplicity of it all
is safe and somewhat endearing.
If you read this article's title, you saw those words I hate more than
anything: Season One, Volume One. Splitting TV shows into sub-season DVD sets is
usually a deal breaker for me, but this one gets a pass. Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers is a syndicated program, which means its season-by-season breakdown
often stretches way beyond other programs as far as episode numbers go. Season
One, Volume One contains over 30 episodes and has a run time of nearly 10 hours.
That is a whole bunch, especially compared to other DVD seasons that are split
into volumes (c'mon Thundercats' Two DVDs for a mere 13 episodes?!). Everything
else about this set is on par with Shout! Factory's usual standards; the menus
are fairly nice, the transfer is pretty good, not great (the better your TV, the
worse it looks)' you get the picture. Those who choose buy this set will get
more than their money's worth of classic Power Ranger action wrapped in an above
average package.
Just in case you were wondering, yes, this set does include the five-episode
Green Ranger arc, which most will remember as a pretty big deal (Ooo' Tommy is
sooo dreamy, says Tiger Beat magazine). The introduction of a new character to a
series that was basically the same from show to show was a big deal back in the
day, and seeing it all these years later provides a different perspective how
the program was constructed and how it moved forward. Mighty Morphin Power
Rangers was never all that great a show, but those looking for nostalgia in DVD
form are sure to be pleased with this set. And don't tell my wife, but my
teenage crush on Kimberly, the Pink Ranger, all came flooding back while I
pushed through this collection. Just kidding (not really).
