If you’re not a major fan of the Power Rangers, odds are that at some point you’ve said, The Power Rangers are still on TV? While the Power Rangers are still on TV, the series has gone through changes otherwise the show would currently be about a bunch of middle aged people hanging around Angel Grove High School waiting to battle something new from Rita Repulsa. Not only did the series bring in new young actors, they changed how the Power Rangers look,ed, their powers and their zords. Each new generation of viewers experienced their own version of the Power Rangers kinda like James Bonds. After the success of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, the producers went theatrical to present the transition from Power Rangers Zeo to Power Rangers Turbo. This move allowed them to create a bigger budget than lumping together the cost of 5 episodes. It also was a big way to let the kids know that there was going to be a whole new version of the Power Rangers coming to Fox Kids
Far away from Angel Grove on a distant planet the wizard Lerigot is battling against Divatox (Scanner Cop‘s Hilary Shepard-Turner). She’s a space pirate that has to grab a special key from Lerigot in order to marry her demonic boyfriend. Back at Angel Grove things aren’t going well. The Rangers warm up for a charity boxing match leads to Rocky, the Blue Ranger carted out of the ring on a stretcher. And then Divatox’s minions arrive on Earth looking for two humans to sacrifice as part of the ritual with the key. This leads to Bulk (Paul Schrier) and Skull (Jason Narvy) being kidnapped. But they are not worthy of sacrifice. They nab two original Power Rangers. In order to battle with Divatox, Alpha and Zordon create the Turbo Powers which involves various cars, trucks and vans being their zords. They have to get on a ghost ship so they can track down Divatox. They also have to deal with a rather young new Blue Ranger. Can they really take on the fresh evil power that’s arrived on Earth?
Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie wasn’t even close to the box office hit of the original movie. But the film made a pretty big dent in video rentals. Kids who got into Power Rangers needed to see this linking moment between the two shows. They’d force mom to rent it multiple times at Videorama. The big impact of being able to introduce the new powers and a few new characters outside to confines of TV broadcast amped up the show for young fans. The film also pleased older younger fans by bringing together Jason David Frank, Austin St. John and Amy Jo Johnson once more. They really did turbo charge Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie.
The video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The resolution quality seems to changing depending on how much special effects are used. There’s quite a bit of optical moments that look like they were made for standard definition. Other shots look quite right on the HDTV. The audio is 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround. There’s also the 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo to give you the same sound as when you bought the laserdisc as a kid. The movie is subtitled.
Rangers Tale – Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (23:21) has the cast reflect making the film. They spent 3 months making the movie. They felt it was an extension of the TV series. They spent a lot of time on the pirate ship.
Turbo – A Power Rangers Original Featurette (4:21) is from the original release. They talk about the Rangers changing to have car powers. They keep pushing the new Blue Ranger.
Theatrical Trailer (1:06) promises it is time to power up with the Power Rangers on the big screen. There’s talk of the youngest Ranger yet.
TV Spot (0:35) asks when was the last time you got any action in a movie theater. That slogan seems to be better used in a Porky’s film.
Shout! Factory presents Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie. Directed by David Winning & Shuki Levy. Screenplay by: Shuki Levy & Shell Danielson. Starring: Johnny Yong Bosch, Nakia Burrise, Jason David Frank, Catherine Sutherland, Amy Jo Johnson, Steve Cardenas & Austin St. John. Rated: PG. Running Time: 99 minutes. Released: July 30, 2019
