The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers had a certain unmistakable quality that was rectified by intense sales and high ratings to the Fox Kids network. (Sure, because it was a hit with the kiddies. But to be fair, Fox Kids had a number of quality shows back in the day; notably the Batman, Spider-Man, and X-Men animated series) I am now nineteen years old. (I’m twenty-three as of this writing, a tad older than you are – go figure) I recently began watching Power Rangers Dino Thunder again, and I will be the first to admit that what truly drew me to the show was the beauty of Kira Ford, the yellow ranger (I liked Emma, she was nice to look at… from a non-perverted point of view, of course). Anyway, after watching a few episodes of the show, I have concluded that (Actually, you didn’t conclude anything except for what’s blatantly obvious on screen, but let’s not be too harsh and jump ahead) :
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There are now three main rangers as opposed to the original five, and two “reserved” rangers as opposed to the original one.
(The original sentai Dino Thunder was based on, “Abaranger”, started off with a three-person Ranger team before adding two more. The Super Sentai series usually determines what the Power Rangers show in the subsequent season has to work with; it’s always been the case. This has nothing to do with Village Roadshow – they have to make due with what they have. While Lightspeed Rescue did produce its own unique Sixth Ranger, he was only featured in a relatively small portion of the series and was really nothing more than a peripheral player and plot point.) -
The new megazord is a joke. It looks so ridiculous with a tail for an arm.
(This is an opinion, not a fact. Some people might actually like the Zord Designs in the various series. I personally don’t care for CGI-based zords, but then again, that’s my opinion. It’s not right nor wrong. It’s all subjective.) -
The stunt doubles are no longer real martial artists. Then again, I could be wrong. I would not want to meet one of them in an alley to find out.
(I’m pretty sure that Alpha Stunts do know some semblance of martial arts in addition to the usual stuntwork, considering this is a franchise with a large focus on martial arts. I’m surprised that you didn’t complain about all the stunt doubles being male… or perhaps you didn’t know. In which case, I apologize for shattering your fantasy.) -
The pink color has been eliminated from the ranger lineup.
(So what? There wasn’t a Pink Ranger on the team since Dino Thunder. Power Rangers SPD did bring back the Pink Ranger since that’s what Dekaranger had… why is this a problem again?) -
The cast seems to have gotten a lot smaller, compared to the old days.
(So there are fewer characters in the cast. I think this is an excellent idea, but the less numbers allow expanded characterizations of those who are available. And don’t give me that “it’s a kids show mentality”, because I know better.) -
The rangers are now under the guidance of a human mentor, rather than an interdimensional being or a sophisticated, yet outgoing robot.
(There were seasons when the Rangers had absolutely NO mentor. Clearly, this guy is upset because the show isn’t MMPR anymore despite having Tommy and dinosaurs.)
Anyway, these are just some of my observations. I do not want to bore anyone, so I will stop with those. (To quote Tommy – “AW MAN, ZORDON!”) I believe that the direction “Village Roadshow KP Productions Limited”, Disney, or whoever is officially in charge of the series now (I have not researched enough to confirm) is going to lead to the show’s eventual destruction. (What direction is that, man? I didn’t realize there was a direction other than “Look kids! Colors! Robots! And Things That Go BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOMMMM!!!!!) Above that, the show now airs early in the morning or later in the evening, times when children (the predominant audience) are less likely to watch the shows. (So that’s why they have cartoons on Saturday mornings, so nobody’ll watch them… Besides, I’m sure the kids’ll beg the parents to buy the DVDs, which are pretty cheap even in Canada)
I do not have a problem with the current Power Rangers cast at all, though I do think Doctor Tommy Oliver (Jason David Frank) does not belong in the series as a ranger, if not in the series at all. (For once, I agree wholeheartedly – Tommy shouldn’t have been made into a Ranger and was best served as the mentor. Even so, it was still a nice treat to the longtime fans to bring him back nonetheless. And I actually enjoyed this evolved version of Tommy.) I think it was a good idea to make Power Rangers: Dino Thunder reminiscent of the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers series, but what is being done is definitely not good enough. (Whatever similarities exist between Dino Thunder and the original MMPR run is purely coincidental. If there were intended similarities, nods, winks, and whatnots, they are few and between.) This whole three-ranger concept seriously needs to go. (Please elaborate on why.) Haim Saban had seen the success of the original five, and smartened up by always adding in a new ranger that always captivated the television audience. (No, he didn’t. He thought that these cool Japanese stuff would make him lots of cash and he was right. That’s probably the main reason why he bought it back because if Disney wasn’t going to milk this thing for all it’s worth, he would. For all we know, it could have been based off a show with ONLY three members and he’d still consider it a cash cow.)
What I believe needs to be one with Power Rangers: Dino Thunder is this…
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Put together a saga of episodes (three episodes at the minimum) whence the Dino Thunder Rangers faces the return of Lord Zedd, Master Vile and Rita Repulsa.
(First off, Rita and Zedd have been turned good and Master Vile can be presumed to be dead after Countdown to Destruction. Since Dino Thunder, Rita has become Mystic Force’s Mystic Mother (and you can tell it’s Rita because it’s the same actress and she mentions something about a headache, despite not sounding at all like the Rita of old) and Zedd apparently returned to evil and is lost in time according to the Super Legends video game… where he had to fight a bunch of Rangers… or something.) -
The saga should feature the return of Zordon.
(Why are you so obsessed with bringing back Zordon? He’s dead… has been for a long time. Get over it.) -
The Dino Thunder Rangers, in all their inexperience, will lose to Lord Zedd and his minions in battle, thus Doctor Tommy Oliver is left with no choice but to seek the help of Zordon.
(Why would the DT Rangers have trouble beating Zedd’s forces? Zedd’s army largely comprise Putty Patrollers with a huge bullseye on their chest as well as a variety of test tube monsters. Inexperience should not factor into the Rangers’ defeat; possibly outnumbered or outmatched, but not lack of experience. And why would Tommy go whining to Zordon – if he were alive – for help, especially against an enemy he has defeated countless times and knows better than anybody? When Tommy needed help with a grave threat, he assembled all the Red Rangers he could muster and they fought together to take down a Serpenterra one-third the original size.) -
Together, Tommy and Zordon resurrect the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, or at least close to the originals, considering Thuy Trang’s unfortunate death in 2001. For those of you unaware, Thuy Trang played Trini, the original yellow ranger.
(Yeah, right. Good luck with that.) -
The original MMPR then morph into action and assist the five rangers of present day, showing them “how it should be done”.
(What? You mean they travelled to the future? How does that work?) -
In the same event, Tommy’s black dino gem is destroyed somehow, and is haunted by the return of the dragon dagger.
(His powers have… oh wait, I’m jumping ahead here. But WHY?!) -
The rangers of present day witness Doctor Oliver morph into the legendary Green Ranger, who calls upon the power of the mighty Dragonzord once more, destroying the minions of Lord Zedd.
(For all intents and purposes, the powers of the Green Ranger are extinguished forever and – short of bringing back the Tommy clone who last held the coin – will never make a comeback. Besides, if given the choice, Tommy would probably go White Ranger, whose powers far exceeded those of the Green Ranger… apparently. Regardless, this is a TERRIBLE idea.)
This right here would help the series greatly, as well as bring up the ratings a lot. (No, it won’t. It’s basically ideas for generic fanfiction crap that some two-bit writer could formulate better… *looks both ways before starting on Chapter 1*) But time is a major factor in a show’s success. (No argument there.) If any members of the Power Rangers production crew are within the text of this message, this is my message to you (If anyone involved with production actually read through the entirety of this diatribe, I’d be greatly impressed) Find a way to put the Power Rangers on a public television station, and schedule it to air sometime in the afternoon. Kids will be more in need of something to watch when school is out, and your ratings will skyrocket. Furthermore, bring back the original production line concept for the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and apply it to Power Rangers: Dino Thunder or any future projects you might have in mind. I do not seek to be a beneficiary of the idea I just presented to you. If you share my optimism in this idea, you have my full blessings in implementing it. If not, you have my thanks for hearing me out. (You’ll be ignored – besides, this is an absolutely horrendous idea! You want to dump the high-production Power Rangers for a cheaply-made model that is outdated in modern terms?).
The Power Rangers series has always had so much potential. Even many years after I last watched the show (I stopped watching at the beginning of Power Rangers Zeo) (I stopped watching after being fed up with Ninja Storm – but DinoThunder brought me back because of Emma – f**k Tommy!), I still believe the power rangers should represent a fictional world inspired by children’s fantasy. If the show’s path to success is so frequently discerned by what is more marketable or which actors are cheaper to hire, children lose interest. (Dude, it’s all about the toys!)
dtm666 