Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always

For thirty years several teams have fought evil under the name of The Power Rangers.  One of their main foes was Rita Repulsa (Voice: Barbara Goodson) who had been destroyed years ago.  The kids have all grown up and established their lives, but never hesitate to come when trouble calls.  Tech guru Billy (David Yost) accidentally releases a robotic version of Rita and in an ensuing battle, the Yellow Ranger, Trini is killed and Billy along with Zack (Walter Jones) must break the news to Trini’s teen daughter Minh (Charlie Kersh).  A year later, Rita reappears and her ultimate plot is revealed which involves shrinking down and harnessing the energy of the Power Rangers.  The Green, Red and Pink Rangers are captured, which causes Billy to call in the secondary team to help rescue and save their teammates.  Minh, wanting revenge, gets into trouble when she unsuccessfully tries to become the new Yellow Ranger.  Can the team defeat Robo Rita?  Will Minh learn the secret to become the Yellow Ranger?  Watch and find out!

This was an appropriate production to celebrate 30 years of “Morphin Time”!  Pulling in as many of the original cast members that were available and using archived vocal tracks for those that weren’t, the hour-long special pays homage to a show with a huge fan base.  The movie is dedicated to two of the actors who have passed away.  Thuy Trang who played Trini died in a car accident in 2001 and most recently Jason David Frank passed away in November, 2022 from suicide. Jason David Frank was a fan favorite who has the record for the most episodic appearances of any of the other Rangers, having been in in a total of 257.

The original shows humor could only be described as “schlocky” and none of the actors are winning Emmy’s anytime soon.  The special effects are reminiscent of old Ultraman or Godzilla movies, but all of that is what made the show so charming and effective.  The bonding and friendship of the characters and their camaraderie is what brought fans in and the fun, over the top martial arts battles, often against giant monsters is what kept people coming back. The actors are definitely older, and I applaud the production for letting them look their age, without trying to make them look younger than they really are. Once and Always feels like an episode from the series back in the 1990s, which is a refreshing change from other reunion movies that sometimes try to update, remake or turn a series into something it isn’t, something more glamorous than it ever intended on being.  But this production kept the look and feel and even more importantly the heart of the original.