What happens to a bunch of weaponized high school kids recruited to fight intergalactic bad guys? They become some seriously disturbed adults.
That’s the message in this stylish, high-concept fan film that reboots the popular live-action television show for kids that first aired in the 1990s, Power Rangers.
This film by music video auteur Joseph Kahn, produced by Adi Shankar, stars Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame and James Van Der Beek (who also gets a writing credit) from Dawson’s Creek as two former Rangers on different sides of the long-running intergalactic war.
Check out the dark film below (NSFW warning: there are boobs and lots of violent scenes), and you’ll never think of this franchise in the same way again.
Sackhoff’s Pink Ranger character is interrogated by Van Der Beek’s turncoat Ranger as he looks for the Rangers’ rebel leader. The film explores what it might be like as the high school kids grow up, especially through the story of the black Ranger, Zach, who’s become somewhat of an adrenaline and violence junkie now that he’s gotten older. Zach’s sold out and made a horrific kids fitness video, which is shown as a hilarious parody of the similarly awful, yet completely real, videos of the early 1990s. When Zach isn’t doing tons of blow and having threesomes with hot chicks, he’s out fighting Yakuza to keep his edge.
This is a great little film, even for those not originally fans of the Power Rangers TV show. If only it would turn into a feature film or even mini-series, à la Black Mirror, we’d certainly tune in.
Here’s a quick video showing Shankar as he explains why he rebooted the Power Rangers, complete with Justin Beiber jokes.
Via: CNET
Rob LeFebvre is an Anchorage, Alaska-based writer and editor who has contributed to various tech, gaming and iOS sites, including 148Apps, Creative Screenwriting, Shelf-Awareness, VentureBeat, and Paste Magazine. Feel free to find Rob on Twitter @roblef, and send him a cookie once in a while; he’ll really appreciate it.
4 responses to “Power Rangers morph into a dark, R-rated fan film”
Please say this is a Deadpool-type attempt at getting a movie made. The 90’s show was overly campy. I’d’ see this in a heartbeat!
It’s satire. The point of this film is how ridiculous and stupid this type of approach is.
That was fantastic and actually made the power rangers relevant.
This is exactly how the show should’ve been since it’s inception.