Grimdark Power Rangers short

[Cikomyr]

I love these projects... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw5vcUPyL90)

Interesting world.. Although, the lack of mention of Zordon himself leaves me pondering what happened to him. Apparently, the Earth sold itself to the Machine Empire (Season 3 villain).

Not sure what it means in the greater war against Rita and Lord Z...

[Devonix]

I love these projects... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw5vcUPyL90)

Interesting world.. Although, the lack of mention of Zordon himself leaves me pondering what happened to him. Apparently, the Earth sold itself to the Machine Empire (Season 3 villain).

Not sure what it means in the greater war against Rita and Lord Z...

Grimdark for no reason and completely ignoring anything having to do with any of the characters... Not interested.

[Metahuman1]

Also, we see Rocky, but no mention of other 3 new rangers form season 2-4.

And Machine Empire was season 4 bad guy. Season 3 was Rita, Z and Mastervile.

[Rater202]

Master Vile wasn't season 3, he was from Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, the miniseries between MM3 and Zeo.

Though I think he was mentioned around the time Rita's brother Rita Revolto showed up.

I think. I haven't seen Mighty Morphin in years.

[Seerow]

Master Vile wasn't season 3, he was from Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers, the miniseries between MM3 and Zeo.

Though I think he was mentioned around the time Rita's brother Rita Revolto showed up.

I think. I haven't seen Mighty Morphin in years.

You still remember way more than I do. I had to do a google search to figure out who Rocky was, and thought the Machine Empire was something completely made up for the short.

[Metahuman1]

Um, Alien Rangers was an arc in season 3. And Master Vile and Rita and Zed remained active till the end of season 3.

Then season 4 they went Zeo and the Machine Empire attacked, forcing Rita and Zed away and doing a number on the command center and forcing the team to become the Zeo Rangers and Billy to step down form being a ranger. They were beaten off by the end of the season.

Then we got Turbo.




Oh, and they failed to talk about the Gold Ranger as well, now that I think about it. To say nothing of the utterly gross mis characterization of Bulk and Skull.

[Rater202]

Um, Alien Rangers was an arc in season 3.

Officially, Alien Rangers was a 10 episode miniseries.

And Master Vile wasn't present in season 3 proper. He was only physically present in the miniseries.
You might be thinking of Rita's brother, Rito, the skeleton soldier dude, who showed up at the beginning of season three with the Tengas.

[Devonix]

Um, Alien Rangers was an arc in season 3. And Master Vile and Rita and Zed remained active till the end of season 3.

Then season 4 they went Zeo and the Machine Empire attacked, forcing Rita and Zed away and doing a number on the command center and forcing the team to become the Zeo Rangers and Billy to step down form being a ranger. They were beaten off by the end of the season.

Then we got Turbo.




Oh, and they failed to talk about the Gold Ranger as well, now that I think about it. To say nothing of the utterly gross mis characterization of Bulk and Skull.

Yeah Bulk and Skull risked their lives time after time to help the Rangers and the world. In the In Space season they rally the citizens of Angel Grove in a last stand against the combined evil empire while using the rangers examples as a rallying cry.

[Metahuman1]

Exactly.


And yeah, Alien happened in the midst of season 3. http://atopthefourthwall.com/history-of-power-rangers-mighty-morphin-season-three/

[Lvl45DM!]

I thought it was hilarious.
Was...was that not the point of it?

[Cikomyr]

I thought it was hilarious.
Was...was that not the point of it?

I certainlu agree with you.

This had nothing to do with genuine representation of the original. Its merely a bat**** crazy ultraviolent Power Rangers pseudo-deconstruction.

[Rater202]

Exactly.


And yeah, Alien happened in the midst of season 3. http://atopthefourthwall.com/history-of-power-rangers-mighty-morphin-season-three/

Just because a fan review folded the miniseries in with season three does not mean it was not a miniseries.

[Man on Fire]

I liked it, it was nice dark fanfilm and it's cool to see another work from people who did Punisher: Dirty Laundry.

[Legato Endless]

Grimdark for no reason and completely ignoring anything having to do with any of the characters... Not interested.

No kidding. They hit every major stereotype. :smallyuk:

Then there's that tonal disconnect when we see Rita. Someone dressed like that just doesn't work in something trying so ridiculously be taken more seriously.

It seemed more trite than funny. *shrug*

Apparently they tried to get Tommy's actor to reprise his role, but he turned them down.

[Cheesegear]

I just like seeing James Van Der Beek in any role that is the complete opposite of Dawson. He pulls it off quite nicely, too - and has a writing credit on it!

[Devonix]

No kidding. They hit every major stereotype. :smallyuk:

Then there's that tonal disconnect when we see Rita. Someone dressed like that just doesn't work in something trying so ridiculously be taken more seriously.

It seemed more trite than funny. *shrug*

Apparently they tried to get Tommy's actor to reprise his role, but he turned them down.

Wait Jason David " Will do anything PowerRangers for a paycheck " Frank turned this down... You know what I believe it.

[Metahuman1]

Just because a fan review folded the miniseries in with season three does not mean it was not a miniseries.

It does if it happened right smack in the middle of season 3 and used events of season 3 to set it up and had consequences for the end of season 3 after it was over as well as for several of the following seasons.




And yeah. Jason David Frank was chatting about it on Facebook a couple of days ago.

[Rater202]

Except Alien Rangers aired after season 3. Not during. (http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/Mighty_Morphin_Alien_Rangers)

[Man on Fire]

I don't really get why so many people act as it was inherently horrible. Okay, it's grimdark, but it's not an official movie. It would suck to have say Michael Bay direct movie like this on big screen. But this is basically a fanfic and a way to showcase skills of the director and actors, who are pretty good for an amateur production and it's clear in few moments it doesn't take itself too seriously (I mean that dancing video, Korean guy who looks like he is about to start doing Gangam Style?). It's a dark fanfic, not even the darkest this genre has to offer. I mean, compared to Ed, Edd n' Eddy fic in which Double D murders everyone, Powerpuff Girls fic in which Buttercupp turns evil and becomes mass murderer, Kim Possible fic in which Kim graphically tortures Shego or Superfriends fic in which lovecraftian horror twists bodies and minds of Legion of Doom until they become horryfying monsters and it's actually pretty tame. Hell, it's not even the darkest Power Rangers fic if what I heard about Agony In Pink it's true.
It would be bad if it was canon or reboot or cinematic movie. But as non-canon fan thing I don't get the problem.

[Cheesegear]

I don't really get why so many people act as it was inherently horrible.

Because CANON. That's why! :smallsigh:

I think it's great.
- Gratuitously violent for no reason.
- Dawson cussing twice per sentence.
- Katee Sackhoff

But CANON! And 'Not MY Power Rangers.'
People just can't appreciate it for what it is, because it conveniently has the same name as something else, so that's what it's going to get compared to, despite not really having anything to do with its own source material. This is why people inherently hate remakes/reboots for no apparent before they even see a movie.

[Devonix]

Because CANON. That's why! :smallsigh:

I think it's great.
- Gratuitously violent for no reason.
- Dawson cussing twice per sentence.
- Katee Sackhoff

But CANON! And 'Not MY Power Rangers.'
People just can't appreciate it for what it is, because it conveniently has the same name as something else, so that's what it's going to get compared to, despite not really having anything to do with its own source material. This is why people inherently hate remakes/reboots for no apparent before they even see a movie.

Actually I'm just annoyed so many people are saying that this is how Power Rangers should be. It's just a dark and gritty reamagining. And one that I feel is dark for no reason.

[Cheesegear]

And one that I feel is dark for no reason.

Being dark is the reason, for its own sake.

[Metahuman1]

Dark for it's own sake is never a good reason. That's the kind of thinking that gave us the Iron Age of Comic books among other unpleasant things.




That said, I do get that it's a "What if.", it's just that it's a what if that annoy's me by getting way to many of it's facts wrong.



And yes, I also REALLY do not care for the notion that this is REALLY what a reboot should go for. If anything, A reboot should really go for reviling in the insanity with a lot of lampshade hanging. Embrace the campyness.

[Man on Fire]

And it was taken down by copyright claims.


Because CANON. That's why! :smallsigh:

I think it's great.
- Gratuitously violent for no reason.
- Dawson cussing twice per sentence.
- Katee Sackhoff

But CANON! And 'Not MY Power Rangers.'
People just can't appreciate it for what it is, because it conveniently has the same name as something else, so that's what it's going to get compared to, despite not really having anything to do with its own source material. This is why people inherently hate remakes/reboots for no apparent before they even see a movie.

Which is stupid because the guy behind the project said (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDKR_2HqymU) himself it's not a pitch just his way to explore some darker undertones he found when he thought about Power Rangers too much.


Actually I'm just annoyed so many people are saying that this is how Power Rangers should be. It's just a dark and gritty reamagining. And one that I feel is dark for no reason.

Oh, I agree, it's not about how Power Rangers should be. It would suck as part of canon or movie reboot, because it has no spirit of the original, but as exploring a possibility what it could be in a setting with less idealistic rules? I could even accept is as some sort of bad future elseworld, like Rangers' Days of the Future Past or History of Trunks.


Dark for it's own sake is never a good reason. That's the kind of thinking that gave us the Iron Age of Comic books among other unpleasant things.

No. Iron Age was caused by American Comics' industry refusal to follow the path shown by works like Watchmen, which said comics should be more complex. Maisntream said "no, they jsut need to look cool" and flooded the market with 90s antiheroes.
Besides, to speak tvtropes language (blergh) it's less of a dark fic and more of a deconstruction fic, as the producer explained, he wanted to explore what kind of mental damage being a Power Ranger could to to the teenagers and where it would lead them.

[Kitten Champion]

I could appreciate a darker take on the Power Ranger, but I think this moves beyond being a creative reinterpretation of that series into being something else entirely. For instance, something like Madoka Magica is still Mahou Shoujo even with all its bleakness, it carries enough of the substance of the genre to convey its essence. This doesn't. With a few minor edits and slight changes to the costumes you could completely ignore its relationship to the Power Rangers or any kind of sentai series.

[Cheesegear]

It would suck as part of canon or movie reboot, because it has no spirit of the original, but as exploring a possibility what it could be in a setting with less idealistic rules?

Remembering that MMRP is a world where five ripped teenagers with martial arts experience (yes, even Billy) put up with Bulk and Skull for some reason. That's canon. Power Rangers, lives in a world that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but, then, probably the most important line of the piece "Why do you think they only gave the Power to kids?" What mental scarring happens five years down the track, ten years down the track? The Venture Bros. is classic in its ability to deconstruct the Boy Adventurer genre. You spend the majority of your formative years being harassed and physically attacked, you put up mental walls, and you have horrific mental scarring. PTSD is a thing. The Rangers fought building-tall monsters every single day, and almost died several times over. No nightmares? Really? You can't be that naive.

Jason David Frank said that he didn't want to be a part of the flick because it didn't fit the image of what Power Rangers stands for, and he's right. Tommy Oliver represents something pretty amazing, and there's no way in Hell that Frank would diminish that, ever. The flick isn't about what the Power Rangers stand for. The flick is about the mental damage that the 'teenagers with attitude' suffered from their time as Power Rangers. I think Forever Red might have touched on the subject briefly, but I doubt it. At the end of the day, the important take-aways from the piece isn't the violence, but Rocky's monologues, he's very compelling.

[Rater202]

Forever Red was going to touch on it a bit, but they had to scrap that when the budget for the episode got cut.

[Metahuman1]

Dino Thunder did touch on it in at least one ep.

But anyway, no, the whole "Why did they use kids?" thing is part of what could work here. What kills it, like I said, is that it keeps getting facts form the Canon it's pulling from Wrong.

[Rater202]

On the "why use kids" topic; ignoring the opening, Zordon, in Day of the Dumpster, asked for "Over Energized and Over Emotional Humans"

Alpha 5 is the one who thought "teenagers"

[Metahuman1]

I could swear he specified young. But he could have still veto'd using teenagers and said "No, I want them about 5-10 years older then that Alpha, good try though.".



But I get your point.

[Man on Fire]

Remembering that MMRP is a world where five ripped teenagers with martial arts experience (yes, even Billy) put up with Bulk and Skull for some reason. That's canon. Power Rangers, lives in a world that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but, then, probably the most important line of the piece "Why do you think they only gave the Power to kids?" What mental scarring happens five years down the track, ten years down the track? The Venture Bros. is classic in its ability to deconstruct the Boy Adventurer genre. You spend the majority of your formative years being harassed and physically attacked, you put up mental walls, and you have horrific mental scarring. PTSD is a thing. The Rangers fought building-tall monsters every single day, and almost died several times over. No nightmares? Really? You can't be that naive.

Jason David Frank said that he didn't want to be a part of the flick because it didn't fit the image of what Power Rangers stands for, and he's right. Tommy Oliver represents something pretty amazing, and there's no way in Hell that Frank would diminish that, ever. The flick isn't about what the Power Rangers stand for. The flick is about the mental damage that the 'teenagers with attitude' suffered from their time as Power Rangers. I think Forever Red might have touched on the subject briefly, but I doubt it. At the end of the day, the important take-aways from the piece isn't the violence, but Rocky's monologues, he's very compelling.

That's what I'm saying. It would be bad as a part of official canon, but as a way to explore possibilities that are interesting, but canon will never explore them, because it would go against what Power Rangers, at their core, are about, it's not bad.


I could appreciate a darker take on the Power Ranger, but I think this moves beyond being a creative reinterpretation of that series into being something else entirely. For instance, something like Madoka Magica is still Mahou Shoujo even with all its bleakness, it carries enough of the substance of the genre to convey its essence. This doesn't. With a few minor edits and slight changes to the costumes you could completely ignore its relationship to the Power Rangers or any kind of sentai series.

But then you would also have to expland it to explain history of Rita and Tommy's stand-ins and likely show how the characters were as teenagers before being recruited. That's a thing being a fanfilm lets you spare from budget expenses. And Madoka was a deconstruction of a genre, comparing it to this is like saying Madoka is a Sailor Moon fanfic, not a work on it's own. Besides, I'm pretty sure Tokusatsu has it's own share of darker series and deconstructions, like Guyver or Shin Kamen Rider.

[Man on Fire]

On related note, here (http://www.hitfix.com/motion-captured/world-exclusive-what-are-katee-sackhoff-and-james-van-der-beek-doing-in-joseph-kahns-powerrangers#s1CLqScEquj501H1.99) is what director said about the movie

"It's funny… I've seen repurposed stuff on the Internet where they take a property that's serious and make it even more so, like a Batman fan film or something like that, or a video game or whatever. I've actually seen stuff like where they've taken ridiculous stuff like Mario Brothers and then tried to make the dark and gritty version, and they obviously play it for laughs.

I think the trick that I really wanted to do with this was to make that dark and gritty version that everybody keeps talking about, but really do it. Really see if I could totally accomplish it with essentially a really incredible incredibly silly property."

Even after he started, he had his reservations. "There were a couple of things that were appealing to me. One, as opposed to like taking something like Barney and doing your dark version of Barney, there's at least a mythology there. The original mythology is really expansive and kind of silly in how many different…" Kahn collapsed into laughter. "I mean, these guys turn into dinosaurs. How do you take that seriously? But there's enough of like a groundwork of the original source material that they based off this repurposed Japanese show that has like norms of anime and kung fu and all that stuff that appeals to me because I'm an anime and kung fu guy anyways. I just took pieces that I liked and then streamlined it and made a bare bones version and really expressed the versions that seemed like they naturally fit within the down-the-middle dark and gritty reboot. And by the way, the dark and gritty reboot thing is such a cliché that the intention was not only to make it dark and gritty but make it even darker and grittier than you could possibly imagine, hence the brains, the blood and the violence and the sex."

[Prime32]

Dino Thunder did touch on it in at least one ep.

But anyway, no, the whole "Why did they use kids?" thing is part of what could work here. What kills it, like I said, is that it keeps getting facts form the Canon it's pulling from Wrong.Ressha Sentai ToQger (http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Station:_Let%27s_Ride_the_Limited_Express _Train) has already done "Why did they use kids?", sort of, while remaining extremely silly and light-hearted. And most Super Sentai teams don't even use kids.

[Cikomyr]

Maybe the Morphing Grid needed the hormonal imbalance present in Pubescent teenagers?

Would exain why they need to cycle out actors rangers as their salary demand age increase.

Would not explain why Tommy was able to become Black Dino Thunder Ranger..

[Rater202]

The Morphing Grid is powered by the struggle between good and evil

Children and Teens tend to be, on average, more idealistic-thus, while teens and young adults tend to be used=more idealism=more likely to act the hero.

Tommy, however, had already been a hero mos of his life, and had mutible connections to the Morphin Grid. Thus, he is able to step into the hero roll pretty easily-Fighting Spirit even implied that Tommy sort of saw himself as basically a hero and a collection of powers.

[Metahuman1]

Which is nice but doesn't explain seasons with older people running teams like Lightspeed Rescue/Wild Force and Operation Overdrive. (I know the last one was aweful but still.)

[Devonix]

Which is nice but doesn't explain seasons with older people running teams like Lightspeed Rescue/Wild Force and Operation Overdrive. (I know the last one was aweful but still.)

In fact most teams featured adult members.

Lost Galaxy, Time Force, Wild Force, Op Overdrive, Lightspeed Rescue, SPD, RPM, and so on.

[Cikomyr]

I dont know why, but without having watched any of the Power Rangers seasons, based solely on Linkara's reviews, i think SPD was by far one of the best and most complex storyline.

Plus, a kickass multi-parter crossover.

[Almarck]

Which is nice but doesn't explain seasons with older people running teams like Lightspeed Rescue/Wild Force and Operation Overdrive. (I know the last one was aweful but still.)

It's the same reason armies often have older COs. Generally, the older people are more experienced, but aren't able to take it to the field as well as younger members. More often than not, they also have other duties that are more management oriented or... simply are to valuable to risk on regular combat.

Now, obviously, there's cases where someone young can get promoted very high ranked as a result of battlefield promotions and those that work on the field, but I am talking about the in general sort of thing. Seniority is a thing.

[Rater202]

Lightspeed rescue consisted of a Fireman, a nurse, an aerial stuntman, a pro athlete(rock climbing), and a marine biologist/natre lover. They were later joined by a guy who really wanted to be a fireman when he grew up, never really had a chance to grow up normally, from there, and made the conscious choice to turn away from the demons who practically raised him because he realized they were evil.

People who are already heroes, or people who could easily adapt to the hero role.

With wildforce, there's some kind of chosen one thing going on.

Time Force and SPD were both Cops who were neither corrupt nor brutal(at least that specific set of five-seven)

Lost Galaxy was a chosen one thing.

[Almarck]

So on the topic of old power rangers, well there's a 100,000 year old caveman on the team

[Rater202]

So on the topic of old power rangers, well there's a 100,000 year old caveman on the team

...which team?

[Almarck]

The Dino Charge one. Sorry. It's actually quite funny that all of the characters have such really ridiculous ages.

[t209]

It's kinda like Old Man Logan, Blade Runner, Dark Knight Returns, and Animorph's criticism on Kid Hero for good measure.

[Cheesegear]

Animorph's criticism on Kid Hero for good measure.

Animorphs got real dark, didn't it? From Applegate herself; "Wars don't end happily. Not ever."

Speaking of, Tomorrow When The War Began also works.

[Traab]

As for putting up with bulk and skull, they were jokes, who over the years turned into decent guys, even if still mainly jokes, who from time to time, could really step up and do their part. I dunno if I recall the rangers ever putting up with them, or otherwise letting them get away with being bullies, werent they embarrassed most of the times they tried to pull some sort of bully activity? For the record, I think I stopped watching around the times they became cops?

[Rater202]

That would have been Turbo, meaning you missed their best moment.

[Cheesegear]

I dunno if I recall the rangers ever putting up with them, or otherwise letting them get away with being bullies, werent they embarrassed most of the times they tried to pull some sort of bully activity?

They weren't bullies in the traditional sense. Not as we would term them anyway. But they pulled annoying - but ultimately harmless, because idealism - pranks on the Rangers several times. But, because idealism, at the end of the episode, Bulk and Skull would always get their comeuppance (lol, accidental wedgie, HAHAHAHAHA! Roll credits), but it was rarely due to any of the Rangers' agency, because the Rangers were 'supposedly' scared of what Bulk and Skull would do them next.

Then Bulk and Skull got a character makeover where they turned into actual decent human beings, and that's how we remember them.

[Rater202]

The only time I ever remember the Rangers doing anything was in the second or third season of Mighty Morphin, when B&S were trying to uncover the Rangers' secret identities and managed to get video of a morph(or something) and the ranger's swapped the tape before anyone could watch it, and a second time in In Space where Astro Red Andros demonstrated his psychic powers by telekinetically spiking B&S's Milkshake with hot sauce.

[HardcoreD&Dgirl]

I loved it, I wouldn't want to see it as canon, but it was fun.

[Traab]

They weren't bullies in the traditional sense. Not as we would term them anyway. But they pulled annoying - but ultimately harmless, because idealism - pranks on the Rangers several times. But, because idealism, at the end of the episode, Bulk and Skull would always get their comeuppance (lol, accidental wedgie, HAHAHAHAHA! Roll credits), but it was rarely due to any of the Rangers' agency, because the Rangers were 'supposedly' scared of what Bulk and Skull would do them next.

Then Bulk and Skull got a character makeover where they turned into actual decent human beings, and that's how we remember them.

I could have sworn they started out as casual bullies, always trying to cause issues with the folks of angel grove, just trying to hang out at ernies juice bar, or whatever the heck the hangout place was that the rangers practiced their gymnastics, martial arts, and whatever. Just the stupid stuff, slapping books out of peoples hands, stuff like that. I just wikied that and yeah,


Bulk and Skull started out as bullies at Angel Grove High School, usually targeting the Power Rangers in the 'B plots' of the episode. They were regulars at Angel Grove's Youth Center. Their actions were motivated by greed and ego in the first season. Wacky schemes abound (such as creating an obviously-fake kung fu style called "Cockroach Kung Fu" to attempting to catch fish or claiming reward money for themselves) always ends in failure and/or humiliation. They are also frequently put in detention by Angel Grove High's somewhat-antagonistic principal, Mr. Caplan.

As the seasons went on they became more jokes and slapstick than bullies and of course tried to figure out the rangers identities, but they started out as bullies.

[Rater202]

They weren't jokes at the end of In Space.

[Man on Fire]

I've found this in regard to the original cast and the fanfils - http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/02/28/more-original-power-rangers-respond-to-gritty-fan-film/