So we’re looking at the 2003 DVD compilation called The Best Of Power Rangers: The Ultimate Rangers, which collects some of the series’ best episodes or at the very least, the highlights. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that the Power Rangers franchise has seen a DVD release; unless the movie 2-pack had already been released around this time. In any event, let’s see how this DVD release stacks up.
THE GOOD: The disc collects five Power Rangers television stories; the two-part MMPR episode “White Light”, the two-part Power Rangers In Space finale “Countdown to Destruction”, the Lost Galaxy/In Space team-up episode “To The Tenth Power”, the Lightspeed Rescue/Lost Galaxy team-up episode “Trakeena’s Revenge”, and finally, the Wild Force episode “Forever Red.” In terms of the three two-part episodes, they have been edited to form a single, longer episode rather than two parts. For what it’s worth, you have some of the better Power Rangers stories presented here and while one could argue of more episodes being included, what they have here is fine… somewhat.
THE BAD: Not much in terms of bonus features; just a couple promos for other products and that’s about it. The set includes only one episode of the In Space/Lost Galaxy team-up and not the second episode. Also, there isn’t any sort of chapter selection where you can skip to a particular scene; instead, you skip episodes, so you’ll need to fast forward to reach a particular scene of an episode. The episode selection, while solid, also seems a bit random, as “White Light” seems tacked on for the sake of having an MMPR episode on there while the rest of the package were team-up episodes (though Countdown isn’t technically a team-up per se, it does feature characters outside the usual PRiS sphere of influence). Video quality also isn’t fantastic, as some noticeable grain and noise effects can be seen during sequences that feature lots of dark colors.
OVERALL: For a cheap-o DVD release, the Ultimate Rangers isn’t the worst thing out there as it collects five of the better Power Rangers stories up to that point. Arguments could be made as to which episodes should or shouldn’t have made the cut, but as a nice primer of the franchise’s high points and a collection of its best stories, it’s more than adequate. Fairly cheap, not bad, it gets the job done well enough.
RATING: 7/10
dtm666 