I figured I would come out of my blog writing hibernation to write about some Power Rangers. It has been announced that Power Rangers will be getting an all new movie. I was very excited by the news even though I know the film could suck big time. That doesn’t stop me from watching the other two Power Rangers movies. So I’m going to quickly go over what we know so far. This will more than likely be a retelling of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. I am fine with that. I know some people would like a Time Force or one of the sentai seasons to be adapted, but Mighty Morphin is the brand most people remember. If you want people in the theater, you go with Mighty Morphin. I’d be for an original concept, but I know there is no chance of that happening so I can deal with a retelling.
Some minor things I want to see and do not want to see
Keep the original names, characters, and colors!
People are nostalgic for the old character names. You don’t want the older audience wondering why Jason has a different name. Stick with the names. We want Jason, Billy, Trini, Zordon, Rita, Bulk, Skull, and even Ernie. I know kids don’t care what their names are but there is an audience that does not like things that are different. I’m all for giving us a new character or monster here and there, but keep the core people the same names.
Keep the original Power Rangers actors out of this film except for cameos
I know Jason David Frank is trying to get his Green Ranger film by pestering Saban executives, but we don’t need that. Make that a TV movie on Nickelodeon if we must. We also don’t need him or any of the other original Power Rangers near this film. I only want to see them in small cameo roles. I’ll explain where I would want that later in this blog.
Don’t tie this in with the TV series
I’m 98% sure they won’t do this, but I just figured it needed to be said. Do this like the first Power Rangers film where it took place in its own universe. I don’t want this to be Star Trek 2009 where time travelling Tommy comes from the future. That would be stupid. Keep time travel out of this film. Keep time travel out of Power Rangers period. Those plots confuse me. This coming from a guy who loves Power Rangers Time Force and even Star Trek for that matter.
Okay, I got that out of the way. Now I figured I’d give my own ideas of how I would do a cinematic Power Rangers universe. Yeah, I’m giving it the Marvel name. Marvel is basically a good blueprint to follow. They are good at setting up sequels even if some of those films aren’t that great. I could easily see a few sequels if the first film is done right and not crap like Transformers. Then again Transformers is up to their fourth film, so they must be doing something right like making money. Anyway, here are my ideas for at least four Power Rangers films. If I think of a fifth film while writing, then I’ll put it down. I’m going to leave out Bulk and Skull in these plots. They have their place in the films, but they aren’t important to my main plots.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
I can’t call it Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie because that’s taken, so I might as well call it what the show was called. Same thing Star Trek 2009 did because Star Trek: The Motion Picture was taken. So here’s my idea for a first film and I’ve seen some similar ideas to mine on the Internet so I’m not ripping anyone off on purpose.
Pre-Title Sequence
This is where we get the background of the film. 10,000 years ago, Zordon, his robot sidekick Alpha 5, and his team of Rangers are at war with Rita Repulsa and her minions. This is where you can have cameos from people like Walter Jones or Jason David Frank. You can have them playing the six ancient rangers. Zordon gets put into the time warp tube while the ancient rangers defeat Rita and lock her and her minions away into a dumpster or whatever you want to use. You can have the ancient green ranger losing his power coin at this point, but I wouldn’t make it too obvious. It might even be better to not include an ancient green ranger. Well, the other ancient rangers retire and give their coins to Alpha 5 and Zordon. Then we get our title scene.
1st Act
This is where we set up our 5 teenagers with attitude. I think I would make them just graduating from high school to make it feel more adult instead of them being high school freshman. I don’t think fans are really dying for Mr. Caplan or Ms. Appleby appearances though you could give a nod to them in a graduation scene. Here’s where I’m torn because I want the Rangers to all be friends already like in the original series. I know it might help character development more if they did not know each other, but I said they are graduating high school so they should know each other. Now if they were high school freshman, I would have them not be friends and then bring all their stereotypes together. Basically Act 1 would be the Breakfast Club or even Star Trek 2009 if they went that route. However, I still prefer that they all know each other. We establish they are good people with distinct personalities. The goal is to make us care about the characters. This should not be The Phantom Menace where I don’t care what happens to Obi Wan Kenobi.
Meanwhile, astronauts on the moon have discovered Rita’s dumpster and release her. Like most people who have thought about a MMPR movie, I’m basically remaking Day of the Dumpster. Zordon and Alpha are alerted of this and that’s when they call for their teenagers with attitude. Like on the show, the Rangers are initially skeptical. Rita is too busy attacking Earth though for them to be skeptical for too long. Rita is forming a big plan during the attack. She is summoning a monster who can easily defeat the Rangers. In the meantime though, she sends out Goldar and Putty Patrollers. The Power Rangers defeat Goldar and company rather easily. We have established that the Rangers are decently competent fighters who study martial arts or other athletic practices. That way it is not far-fetched when they defeat Goldar. I mean they defeated Goldar and King Sphinx in Day of the Dumpster, so I don’t see why they can’t here.
2nd Act
The Rangers are happy they defeated Goldar and they seem to accept the role as Power Rangers. Rita, however, is not too concerned that the Rangers were defeated. She was buying time summoning a more powerful monster. Here’s where I am split on with the monster. I think they should either go with an original monster here or go with Lokar. I’m siding with Lokar because I like retelling the TV series. I would not mind an original monster though. Basically I would combine the plots of Day of the Dumpster and Doomsday. Rita would transport everyone in Angel Grove (maybe Earth) to another dimension with the help of Lokar. The second act ends with the Rangers fighting Lokar and losing which forces them to retreat.
Final Act
The Rangers are reeling from their first defeat in only their second battle as Power Rangers. Their initial confidence is gone since they thought they could defeat anything. Lokar and Rita are destroying buildings now and causing havoc while taunting the Rangers to show themselves. Zordon gives the Rangers a speech and it inspires Jason to lead the charge giving the Power Rangers their confidence back. The Rangers get back into the action and fight Lokar. They manage to get the upperhand, but Rita summons Cyclopsis to destroy the Rangers for good so Rita can conquer Earth. This is when Zordon tells the Rangers about their Dinozords. They get in their Zords, they defeat Cyclopsis and Lokar, and everyone is saved because Lokar’s destruction allows for everyone to return to this dimension. Zordon thanks the Power Rangers for their service and asks them to continue their mission to stop Rita Repulsa who got away. The Rangers accept and they can even do a cheesy jumping high five shouting “Power Rangers” to end the film. I think that’s basically the ending to Doomsday.
Post Credits Scene
I’ve seen so many people mention this scene already, but there’s really no other thing to do. A defeated Rita reveals she has the Green Power coin. End film.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2: Green with Evil
Pre Title Sequence
I’d do one of two things here, but they get us to the same point. First option would be the Power Rangers defeating a monster. I’d make it an iconic monster like a Knasty Knight, Pudgy Pig, or King Sphinx. I’d probably go Knasty Knight in this situation since it helps set up the Green Ranger arc. The other option would be to have a montage of the Power Rangers defeating various monsters like the ones I already mentioned. I call this the Rocky 3 opening. You could even play Eye of the Tiger, but that would be too cheesy. Then again, this is Power Rangers. Rita realizes that her monsters keep failing. She has been looking for the perfect Green Ranger, but has been having no luck. Jason enters a martial arts competition and makes it to the finals before finishing in a draw with a guy named Tommy Oliver. Title Sequence!
1st Act
You already know this is a retelling of Green with Evil. I put that as the title even. Rita tests Tommy and then abducts him. We need some flirting with Kimberly before this though. She does her old brainwashing thing and makes him the Green Ranger. Meanwhile, the Power Rangers have gotten confident and a little cocky with their powers. Kimberly even seems more excited about a future date with Tommy over being a Ranger. No monsters are posing a threat, so they have become relaxed with their powers. This is where my Rocky 3 parallels continue. The main difference being Goldar isn’t coming in to help the Rangers train. The Rangers go down to fight another Rita monster. Maybe you could use Knasty Knight here. The Rangers defeat him, and the Knasty Knight explodes leaving only the Sword of Darkness. This is when the Green Ranger picks up the Sword of Darkness. He immediately goes to town on the Power Rangers and dominates them.
2nd Act
The Rangers retreat to the Command Center to find that the place had already been wrecked by the Green Ranger during their fight with the Knasty Knight. Zordon and Alpha are out of commission until Billy gets them somewhat functioning. Jason is furious about this and he goes out and tries to find the Green Ranger. A damaged Zordon tells Jason to not take the Green Ranger lightly. This man is a killer like Clubber Lang. Jason doesn’t not seem to listen well. He goes out to find the Green Ranger and Rita transports him to her Dark Dimension. Jason gets his ass kicked because he doesn’t fight smart. The Green Ranger is about to kill him when Billy transports his Jason out of there with the help of a restored Zordon.
Final Act
The Power Rangers have basically learned their lesson at this point. They know not to underestimate their opponents anymore. The Green Ranger warns the Rangers he will attack Angel Grove if they do not fight him. The Ranger show up and they fight the Green Ranger again. This time it is a more even fight with the Green Ranger having to retreat to his Dragonzord. The Rangers summon their Megazord and the two zords fight it out. The Dragonzord is defeated, but not destroyed. A weakened Green Ranger challenges the Red Ranger to a fight to the death. Jason ultimately wins the fight, but he refuses to kill the Green Ranger. I’m not sure if I would have revealed to the Rangers if Tommy was the Green Ranger yet like in the show. It might work better if they don’t know, but I would include a scene where Kimberly is upset that Tommy skipped out on their date. Tommy is turned into a good Power Ranger with the Sword of Darkness being destroyed. Zordon welcomes Tommy to the team and the Power Rangers are all happy again. We might even get another cheesy jumping high five.
Post Credits Scene
Rita has been hinting the whole film that she has a boss who tells her what to do. She mentions at one point that if her Green Ranger plan fails then her boss would come to Earth. The post credits scene would then show Lord Zedd inside Serpentera heading to Earth.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 3: The Wrath of Zedd
Pre-Title Sequence
I should mention that Wrath of Zedd is a joke title, but it’s where my plot is going. Basically, I’d have Zedd come to Earth here and kick Rita off the moon. I’d probably also have the Power Rangers fighting a monster again or perhaps they are on some sort of other adventure. Either way, I want this scene to show that Jason and Tommy are best friends now. These guys have each other’s back. Some Kimberly/Tommy romance stuff can also be sprinkled into this scene. I’d probably have that through the whole film though.
1st Act
I haven’t had as much time to think about this film. I’d say it’s more of a mix between The Mutiny and Green No More with similarities to The Power Transfer (No Rocky, Aisha, Adam) and the first movie. So the first act would basically be the Power Rangers are at the top of their game. They aren’t too confident or cocky anymore. They are basically the best they can be. That is until Lord Zedd comes down and kicks their ass. The Megazord sees its demise in the 1st Act. The Dragonzord is salvaged. Lord Zedd is fighting the Power Rangers in this film. This isn’t The Mutiny where Pirantishead is the monster. That’s not going to work on the big screen. Zordon tells the Power Rangers about how the ancient Power Rangers from the first film hid their legendary Thunderzords or possibly an upgraded Dinozords instead. Think of that rumored Zyu3 design for you Power Rangers fans out there. So the Rangers have to go to another planet and that leads us into the….
2nd Act
This is where we see similarities to the first movie, Power Transfer, and Ninja Quest. The Power Rangers have to find these ancient Zords or maybe new powers as well to combat Zedd. Zedd isn’t going to Ivan Ooze this though and chill on Earth. He’s chasing them down in Serpentera the whole way. He’s got long battery life too in this film. This leads to a few battles here and there and Zedd eventually believes he destroyed the Power Rangers. So now he goes back to Earth to finish off the planet. He’s looking to destroy this planet because of Zordon and the previous failures by Rita. The Power Rangers are not destroyed and instead they get lucky and find the Zords/powers. Poor Tommy doesn’t get any new powers though since there were only five new Zords. He’s cool about it though and is just happy the Rangers can fight Zedd now.
Final Act
The Power Rangers have to race back to Earth now in their new Zords. Speaking of which, I can’t decide how I wanted them to get to the planet. Possibly teleporting or even a space ship. Zedd is about to have Serpentera blow up the Earth when the Power Rangers just make it in time to deflect the blast. The blast does weaken Serpentera forcing it to land on Earth where the Power Rangers can combat it. Tommy summons the Dragonzord to join the fight. The battle is hard fought between Zedd’s Serpentera and the new Megazord. The Megazord defeats Serpentera, but Zedd activates the self destruct mechanism which will destroy the Earth. The Megazord is too weakened to do anything, but the Dragonzord has just enough power left in it. Tommy’s Dragon Dagger is too damaged from the events of the film to summon enough power to control the Dragonzord. This leads to Tommy having to pilot the Dragonzord itself. The Dragonzord flies into space, Zedd can’t do anything since Serpentera had no power left, and the Dragonzord and Serpentera blow up. Tommy is dead. The Rangers mourn for him. Lord Zedd was able to escape in an escape pod, but he did not avoid the explosion and he lands on Earth. Zedd gives the Devimon from Digimon speech that there are far more evil beings than him out there. Jason says they will be read to face any evil in honor of their friend. The film ends with a private funeral for Tommy. I’m going to call him an orphan just to avoid people wondering what happened to Tommy.
Post Credits Scene
This is where I’m split going into the next film. This post credits scene would either show Rita going home to get help in Master Vile and Rito Revolto or it would show the possibility of Tommy still being alive. I’d prefer not to do the second option though.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 4: White Knight
Pre Title Sequence
This again would probably be Rita being back with Master Vile and Rito Revolto at her side. I don’t really have anything for the Power Rangers to do in this opening sequence.
1st Act
Not much time has passed between films. The Power Rangers are still mourning the loss of Tommy. They are also questioning their own mortality at this point. No Power Ranger had died before, so this was brand new to them. The Power Rangers do their best to help clean up the streets and repair damage from the previous film. Maybe Serpentera killed some cities before it was destroyed. That would help explain Tommy’s death more now that I think about it. The Power Rangers know there is still an evil threat out there since Zedd warned them. Finally, that threat arrives. Rita and her family have returned to Earth. I just thought of an alternate plot to this film where Zedd survives the 3rd film and joins with Rita, but I’m sticking with this plot without Zedd. Too many ideas on the fly.
2nd Act
Master Vile concocts a plan where they attack different parts of the world making it harder for the Power Rangers to get to all of them. The Power Rangers try their best to save as many cities as possible, but they can’t be a multiple places at once. They try splitting up, but it’s not working. This is when their White Knight arrives. The White Ranger helps the Power Rangers even the odds and push back Vile and Rita’s forces. The six Rangers return to the Command Center and we get the reveal of who the White Ranger is. Now who is the White Ranger? Well, in the third film I’d set up a couple good Samaritan characters that help during crisis. We get to know those characters throughout that film and we see them interact with the Rangers. You can even call one of them Richie. Those characters are also in this film as possible White Rangers. Hell, you could even make Skull a possible White Ranger candidate. The other option is that Tommy survived the explosion from the third film and Zordon had somehow kept him alive in a chamber until he made him the White Ranger. Now that option would make Zordon seem like a dick for not telling the Rangers though. I personally would keep Tommy dead (I know that’s blasphemy) and go with a new White Ranger. Zordon does create this White Ranger though using technology from the new powers of the last film.
Final Act
Master Vile, Rita, and Rito have focused their attack on Earth’s biggest city. The Power Rangers must stop them. Simple enough. There’s going to be a lot of destruction and civilian deaths in this. I’m thinking Man of Steel/Avengers levels of destruction. The Rangers overcome the odds in the end by combining the Megazord and Tigerzord to defeat Vile, Rita, and Rito once and for all. No more Rita after this film. She’s dead. The film ends with the Rangers celebrating and promising to rebuild the city.
Post Credits Scene
One might not be needed in this film, but if I had to do one then I would probably set up Dark Specter and the United Alliance of Evil.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 5: The Final Frontier
Pre Title Sequence
I have no good subtitle for this film at the moment, so I’m going with the classics. I have a few different ways I want to go with this film. First off, a few years have passed since the fourth film. The Rangers have helped rebuild. Humans have started to move out into space more to meet other planets and form alliances with them. One of the planets reveals that throughout the universe, the United Alliance of Evil have been strengthening their forces to conquer more and more planets. Some planets are destroyed or severely damaged depending on if they have good resources. This is where you can throw in a reference to KO-35 and even have them get some help from Andros. I wouldn’t make him a Power Ranger though. I don’t think there should be other sets of Power Rangers in this universe. This seems like it could be a long pre-title sequence so some of this can go in the first act. I would also set up the villain for this film working for Dark Specter. Dark Specter is the big bad for the 6th and final film of my ideas. I have three ideas for a villain in this film. I’d go with The Machine Empire, The Psycho Rangers, or a completely original villain. Maybe even do two of them.
1st Act
I’d continue with the Power Rangers and other Earthlings working on relations with other planets. This is when the villain invades. Chaos is caused and the Power Rangers must use their Megazord to stop the villain. This villain is holding back though and retreats because a different plan is in the works.
2nd Act
While the Power Rangers are occupied on let’s say KO-35 for television continuity, Dark Specter has sent forces to Earth. The Power Rangers learn of this and hurry back to Earth, but they are too late. Cities have been leveled and people are dead. The Command Center has also been thrashed. Zordon has been taken and Alpha destroyed. The Rangers defeat the forces on Earth, but then they realize that KO-35 is now under attack once again.
Final Act
The Power Rangers return to a pretty much destroyed KO-35 where everything is pretty much in ruin. The villain the Power Rangers are facing is pretty even with them. Similar to the end of the Power Rangers Turbo episodes Chase into Space, the Power Rangers sacrifice their Zords to destroy the villain(s) for this film. The Power Rangers are broken because they have no way to save Zordon now. This is basically an Empire Strikes back ending. The Power Rangers head back to Earth on a NASADA shuttle and look through the rubble of the Command Center. It is here where they discover a secret chamber. Zordon and Alpha had been working on new upgrades to the suits. We see what looks like the Power Rangers in Space suits with some MMPR tweaking in there. We can’t have too much change! The film ends with a recorded message from Alpha or Zordon telling them they had been working with Alpha to form a new Zord: enter the Astro Megaship. Credits roll!
Post Credits Scene
Basically Dark Specter planning his invasion of the galaxy.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 6: The Curse of Michael Myers
Pre-Title Sequence
We pretty much set up that this is the final film. Dark Specter is ready to take over the universe and the Power Rangers are ready to stop them with their new Astro Megaship.
1st Act
This will be an all out war with the Megaship battling enemy ships. This one might be an explosion happy film. The Power Rangers also manage to try and round up some help from the alliances they made with planets like KO-35, Triforia, and Aquitar. Maybe I’ll even let them form their own Power Rangers after all, but that would be pushing it. Probably too much for one film.
2nd Act
Dark Specter finally confronts the Rangers. They form the Astro Megazord and we get a good battle between the two sides. The Rangers think they have a shot at winning when Dark Specter brings up that he has Zordon in his stomach or something. I haven’t really thought that out. Dark Specter will look nothing like Malagore from the Turbo movie by the way. I’d go with an original design, but keep the Dark Specter name. Anyways, Specter warns the Power Rangers that if they kill him then they kill Zordon. They don’t want to do that. No Z Wave in this film. Zordon is unable to communicate with them too at this time. Dark Specter gets away leaving the Rangers beaten because they refused to fight him. Their Powers and Megazord are pretty damaged at this point. Specter decides to go to Earth destroy what the Rangers love most before taking over the universe.
3rd Act
Specter’s forces are decimating the planet. People are wondering where the Power Rangers are. Bulk and Skull give their pep talk though like in Countdown to Destruction and lead the charge against the enemies. The Rangers finally return to Earth in their damaged Megaship. They have been working on a way to contact Zordon the whole time, but it’s been near impossible with him trapped inside Specter. This leads us into the final battle between Specter and the Astro Megazord. Then out of nowhere Tommy returns in a new Super Dragonzord. Tommy is also now played by Jason David Frank…..oh sorry about that. JDF hijacked my blog. Speaking of which, I wonder if I should turn the White Ranger into the Silver Ranger during this. Maybe the White/Silver Ranger helping people on the planet like in CTD. He can even have his own Delta Megaship if he must. That might take too much explanation for why he needs his own Zord again though. Back to Specter vs. Astro Megazord, the Power Rangers are finally able to communicate with Zordon after a lengthy battle where they held back a bit. Zordon basically tells them the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few, so he’s all for them sacrificing him. The Power Rangers put everything that have into a final blow and they destroy Dark Specter. All over the universe we see his forces fall and the Power Rangers have saved the day. The film ends with the Rangers helping rebuild and agreeing to always protect the universe. They can reveal their identities to the public. Mainly so Bulk and Skull can see who they are. That can happen earlier in this film.
Post Credits Scene
Nothing. Just the logo. Maybe a montage of highlights from past films.
That’s it. Those are my six film ideas for a Power Rangers Cinematic Universe. I came up with half of those while writing this. Now I didn’t outline everything. I said at the beginning I would leave out Bulk and Skull stuff. More personal relationships would also be needed. I think I’d pair Trini up with the White Ranger (unless it’s Tommy since he belongs with Kimberly). I wouldn’t be against pairing Jason and Kimberly up after the fourth film though. I was more concerned about main plots here. I’ll give a quick summary though for those too lazy to read.
First Film: Retelling of Day of the Dumpster and Doomsday
Second Film: Retelling of Green with Evil
Third Film: Retelling of The Mutiny, Green No More, The Power Transfer, Ninja Quest, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie; It’s a weird blend of those
Fourth Film: Retelling of White Light with 3rd season MMPR characters like Rito Revolto and Master Vile
Fifth Film: Slight retelling of Turbo’s Chase into Space along with some Power Rangers in Space elements
Sixth Film: Retelling of Countdown to Destruction
There you have it! Six Power Rangers films for Saban to think about. My ideas probably won’t ever come to fruition, but it was fun to write. Take care everyone and let’s hope this new Power Rangers movie doesn’t suck.
Nautical Nonsense of Nodnarb 