Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1 Volume 1

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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1 Volume 1
By Hervé St-Louis
August 17, 2012 - 11:40

Studios: Saban Brands
$19.99 US
Running Time: 10 hours
Release Date: August 21, 2012
Distributors: Shout! Factory

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1 Volume 1 compiles the first 30 episodes of this breakthrough series produced by Saban Entertainment in 1993. What was groundbreaking about the Power Rangers, as they are now called today, was the mix of live action super sentai video clips obtained from Japanese partner Toei Limited with sequences shot by local American actors. Super Sentai is a genre in Japan where teams of heroes fight against costumed villains and monsters. The Power Rangers were a very successful cultural phenomenon that produced led to toys and a lot of merchandise to be created about them. But how does it feel to watch them nearly 20 years after their breakthrough series?

First, I have to mention that I never watched them back then. I was just too old and the genre did not appeal to me. Having said that, I understand the appeal to kids and adults that did get hooked on the series back then and are still fans today. Most adventures follow a standard premise, given the American adaptation of the Japanese material. The five Power Ranger kids (Jason, Zack, Billy, Trini and Kimberly), who are high school students meet their nemesis and bullies Bulk and Skull. Meanwhile, the evil Rita Repulsa, a witch freed from thousands of years of captivity tries to hatch a plan to conquer the Earth and defeat the Power Rangers. The Power Rangers are often spit and must regroup to better defeat the new creature sprung by Rita Repulsa and her henchmen.

Fortunately, midway in the series, the new Green Power Ranger is introduced which added more drama to the basic plots and a sense of continuity. The footage used for the DVD is not the best. There is a lot of film grain. The worst episode in terms of film quality would be the first, but subsequent episodes are better. I think that in a quest to compile everything on three discs, the producers may have lowered the quality too much to fit in as much material as possible. On a new high definition monitor, you will see the imperfection of the DVD transfer.

I found the American actors quite good given they had to work within an existing plot. It’s almost seamless. The colours are bright and the suits worn by the bag guys are elaborate, even if clearly padded with foam! I wish there less scenes with the sidekick robot Alpha 5. Unfortunately, there are no extras on the set which will not be fun for the fans of the shows who wanted to get as much background information on the characters.

The series at the time was often criticized for displaying a lot of physical violence in front of a kids’ audience. What I find is that it displays a lot of gymnastics and prowess which may be fun for hyper active kids to watch. I don’t think it would be too violent now, but as a way to introduce kids to more physical activities and ask them if they would like to participate in martial arts or gymnastics like the Power Rangers, it might be a good bait! The other important element is that women are treated as equals in this series. There are two of them in the Power Rangers and they are great role models for girls.

Like I wrote above, this series was not produced for me, but for the intended audience that remembers the series and for tweens, this series might be a good fit. The full run of this series comprising season to seven has been available from PowerRangersonDVD to collectors since July 30, 2012.
Rating: 7/10