Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) [Blu-Ray]

With fans of Mighty Morphin complaining that they could only get the 1995 movie on DVD when it was released as part of a complete box set, Shout! Factory finally releases the big feature film on Blu-Ray for collectors. “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie” admittedly has a ton of nostalgic and sentimental value for me, so I’m not even going to pretend to thumb my nose up at it. All I know is it’s a damn fun movie, and one you can watch the equally underrated “Power Rangers” from 2017.

After a construction crew accidentally unearths an odd egg in the middle of Angel Grove, an ancient warlock named Ivan Ooze comes pouring out of it with his army of bird like Tengu monsters. Stealing the throne from Lord Zed and Rita, Ivan makes a bee line for the Power Station where he manages to destroy the source of the Power Rangers ability and Zordon in the process. Anxious to reclaim their powers, the Rangers travel to the distant planet Phaedos. There they reclaim a new ancient source of animal based powers that give them the ability to bring down Ivan, as he plans to unearth two ancient war machines that could destroy the world.

“Mighty Morphin: The Movie” watches a lot better if you take it on its own terms as a non-canonical stand alone movie. Much of what happens in the movie has zero effect on the series and vice versa. There’s absolutely no mention of Ivan Ooze after the movie, despite the Rangers reverting to their Ninja outfits later in the Mighty Morphin era. Not to mention all the neato weapons and gadgets the Rangers wield in the opening fight are basically never seen again. Also Rita and Zed have almost no role here, Rita’s signature henchmen are not even featured, and there’s the introduction of Rita’s pig-like minion Mordant who, once again, is never seen (or mentioned) on the series after the movie.

Director Bryan Spicer delivers the exact kind of movie Saban was probably expecting. It’s bright, it’s fast paced, and all the second era power rangers arrive to kick some butt. For all intents and purposes, Paul Freeman is very good as Ivan, while Gabrielle Fitzpatrick is insanely gorgeous as enigmatic warrior Dulcea. She has the wisdom of Obi-Wan and the body of Slave Leia. “Mighty Morphin: The Movie” is a solid action adventure for fans of the “Mighty Morphin” era, its just pure nineties beauty, right down to the sugary pop soundtrack.

The new Blu-Ray from Shout Factory features “The Mighty Leap to the Silver Screen” a forty four minute look back at the movie going over the script’s origins, casting, the Australian locations, Ivan Ooze’s makeup, stunts, the Rangers’ armored suits, and reception at the movie’s premiere. There are also interviews with director Bryan Spicer arnd stars Jason David Frank, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steve Cardenas, Karan Ashley, Paul Freeman, Jason Narvy, et al. There’s an “Original Featurette” at four minutes which is a promotional EPK with brief interviews. Finally there’s the original trailer from FOX.