POWER RANGERS

Rainbow Warriors

released 31 JUlY (Blu-ray/ dVd) /24 JUlY (download)

2017 | 12 | 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray/dVd/ download/ VOd

Director dean Israelite

Cast dacre Montgomery, Naomi scott, rJ Cyler, ludi lin, Becky G

In 2017 Hollywood pre-existing brand recognition is everything – it almost doesn’t matter what the franchise is, as long as people remember it. So who cares that ’90s breakfast TV staple Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was simplistic, repetitive and as cheesy as hell? It had memorable costumes, plenty of giant robots and a very catchy theme tune… What’s not to like?

Ironically, it’s when this movie reboot skews closest to the TV series that it’s least successful – with five teenage superheroes in Technicolor outfits and giant robot dinosaurs scrapping with a city-squashing monster, the final act of the film is so one-note you could be watching any other Hollywood blockbuster.

Before that, however, Power Rangers makes a valiant attempt to be different, with a Breakfast Club-ish origin story that’s fun, self-aware and touching without being cloying. In terms of representation, it’s way ahead of Marvel and DC – the Rangers aren’t just an ethnically diverse teen unit; one’s gay and another’s autistic – and it’s much more entertaining than any movie based on this franchise has the right to be. That it’s not a classic owes more to the source material than the execution.

Extras The DVD has a director/ writer commentary, 18 deleted/ alternate/extended scenes (34 minutes) and outtakes (four minutes). On HD the centerpiece is whopping nine-part documentary “The Power Of The Present” (140 minutes), which covers everything from the costume design and music to the original show – there are even cameos from the original Pink and Green Rangers. You also get a trailer – which, bizarrely, has its own director’s commentary. How we’d love to get a Blu-ray release for a new Star Wars movie as packed as this.

Blue Ranger Billy Cranston was named after Breaking Bad’s Bryan – who voiced two villains in the TV show’s first season.