Power Rangers: toujours vers le futur

Like a lot of people, Power Rangers was the one show I couldn't miss after school. From the days of Rita and Zedd to the final battle that led to all the original villains like them as well as King Mondo and the Machine Empire, Divatox, Elgar, Astronema, Dark Specter and so many more being either destroyed or turned good due to Zordons great and ultimate sacrifice, this show seems corny some that didn't grow up watching it but to those that did, it's a time machine that I'm grateful to have. So when I heard about this movie and saw the trailer, I was ready to revisit a big piece of my childhood at least one more time.

For me, Power Rangers Once and Always didn't disappoint for the most part. There was great nostalgic moments and I truly felt like I did as a child where I watched to see if Rita would finally succeed in some way as she executed her master plan to finally destroy the Power Rangers and conquer the galaxy like she first attempted to do back in 1993.

The movie was shorter than I expected at a runtime of 58 minutes considering Power Rangers The Movie from 1995 was 1 hour and 30 minutes long and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie from 1997 was 1 hour and 40 minutes. But I reminded myself that this is more of a reunion show so I treated it as a special double episode event. The plot and execution was really great to watch with some very interesting surprises and Easter eggs along the way for longtime fans. The acting at times was a bit shaky or corny but thats how it was even back then so this was one of the rare times that it still worked for me. The way they showed dedication and appreciation to the late and great original actors Thuy Trang (Trini) and Jason David Frank (Tommy) was very special to see to say the least. I don't want to ruin anything but I will say the scene right before the credits roll was absolutely perfect to honor them, the other original Rangers regardless if they were in this film or not and I felt it was also a nice little thank you to the fans that have watched from the beginning regardless if they've seen the first season in 1993 or recently.

Power Rangers for me was one of the things that got me through some difficult times as I was in the hospital a lot due to receiving a Liver Transplant in 1989. Once in 1995 when I was in the hospital for tests, a family friend gave my Mom, Sister and I box seats to see Power Rangers Live in Toronto. I still have my ticket stub. It was an incredible experience I remember to this very day.

I have had my transplant for 33 years (I'm 34) and one of the things that helped me escape the sounds of my IV, medical monitors and the hospital overall was watching Power Rangers when I could. Thats why even at the age of 33, the original seasons still mean so much to me today. I'm currently waiting for my 2nd transplant as this liver is slowing down, so this reunion was a reminder of what Power Rangers did for me during the tough and scary times. I'll always be grateful to everyone involved with the show and for the fans that helped keep it alive for those reasons and more. Thank you for this little trip down memory lane and I truly hope other longtime fans enjoy this as much as I did.

My overall rating is 7/10.

Growing up watching this from the very beginning as a child I thought it was brilliant how they kept so well to the original and thought the modernised special effects made it even better. To include everything we remember from the original series as well as how the show progressed I found very clever. Still has the same cheesiness to it that it always had but it wasn't overdone, wouldn't be Power Rangers without the corny sound effects! All in all, as a 34 year old man who grew up living the Power Rangers, I'm proud to admit I enjoyed it a lot and it made me feel like a little kid again. To see all the old cast again made me feel extremely old but was a nice blast from the past, everyone basically just got chubbier!

Just finished watching this, i was 10 years old when i watched the original series so i was looking forward to seeing this for nostalgic reasons. I wasn't expecting to be blown away but I was really disappointed with the outcome. It seemed very rushed and lacking in charm, the zords CGI was like something out of a cheap B-Movie and I found Minh to be a really annoying character. I would have given this a 3 but the extra star was out of respect for those rangers we lost. It was nice to have a memory jog but that is really all this is. I'm sure there will be a lot of fans feeling the same way, just dont get your hopes up and you'll be fine.

Go, go Power Rangers!

Great bit of fun and exciting childhood nostalgia. Yes some of the acting and effects are a little bit dodgy, but I don't think anyone is expecting Avengers: Infinity War here. Was great to see some of the original cast, especially the legend that is David Yost, and some from other incarnations of the show. The way they wrote out Trini, and paid homage to Thuy Trang and Jason David Frank, with a song sung by fellow original Amy Jo Johnson, was beautiful.

If you're a fan of the shows, especially the original, then just enjoy it for what it is.

Once a Ranger, always a Ranger.

I was interested to see where this special would go, being advertised as a slightly more mature version of the old MMPR, whilst being stuck between having a nostalic love for the good old series from my youth and some remnant doubts from knowing Jason David Frank had his issues with this special (especially since his passing, which affected me more than I would have expected it to)

Overall it felt like an extended, slightly more mature version of the old episode, in both its strengths and weaknesses. They kept the structure and storytelling alive whilst telling a slightly darker story with some tones of loss, grief, vengeance and acceptance in it, whilst also staying true to the tone of the old series, including its campiness at several points.

It was good to see some of the old crew back, and especially have Zach some extra moments to shine. The story was good enough to carry the special, though my strongest point of annoyence was David Yost's acting, which felt like "I AM NOW READING THIS LINE" at a lot of moments. Even with that issue it certainly was good to see him back and getting a chance to shine, especially how the past did him wrong.

I was kind of worries how they would handle the green ranger after JDF's death, but I think they struck an OK compromise. I somewhere would have wanted something more, but doing it to everyone's liking would be impossibly hard.

Also bonus points for netflix for neither ruining an original casting nor getting overly political in a place it does not belong. (I feel there is one moment some people are gonna complain about, but I think it was actually neat)

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this special. It is mostly for fans of the old Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and delivers for those fans, it probably is not for you if you did not grow up watching Power Rangers in the early 90's, which I consider to be a case of "knowing your audience and targeting them well" in this case (same as Kung Fury did); It is a good watch for it's target audience, and I'd definitely like to see more.