Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is more or less the same quality of entertainment as the first movie and the various television series with over-the-top performances and a thin plot, though I guess if you’re a fan, you might find it to be fun.
Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie
(1997)
Genre(s): Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure
Shout Factory | PG – 100 min. – $19.99 | July 30, 2019
Date Published: 07/15/2019 | Author: The Movieman
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Shout Factory provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 1.5/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: It’s the Power Rangers to the rescue as they race to save the planet Earth from certain destruction at the hands of a ruthless band of evil space aliens. The evil space alien Divatox (HILARY SHEPARD) plans to unleash the dark forces of Maligore, a powerful, fiery creature imprisoned inside a volcano on the magical island of Muiranthias. She can reach the island only by traveling through the dangerous Nemesis Triangle, and for that she needs the special powers of the magician Lerigot. But Lerigot flees to Earth, to see the only people who can stand stop her evil plan: the Power Rangers. Along with the new Blue Ranger, their turbo-powered Zords, and the unexpected help of original Power Rangers Kimberly (AMY JO JOHNSON) and Jason (AUSTIN ST. JOHN), the Power Rangers set out on their most thrilling and dangerous adventure yet! Quick Hit Review: Probably mentioned this already in my review for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, but never was an avid watcher of the Power Rangers television series and what I had seen found to be pretty bad, though its quick cut style and cheesy action wasn’t my cup of tea. Now with their second attempt at a feature-length film, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie isn’t a sequel but instead continuation of the Power Rangers Zeo series, and as someone who has never seen that iteration, had a bit of a harder time following a few of the new characters, though a few of the originals, like Tommy (Jason David Frank), Adam (Johnny Yong Bosch) return as do Kimberly (Johnson) and Jason (St. John) have smaller roles and are no longer Rangers for some reason. In any case, the movie at hand is pretty much a bigger budgeted, extended episode with some cringe-worthy comedic moments, mostly at the hands of Hilary Shepard as Divatox who, like Rita Repulsa (who makes a cameo), mostly yells her lines, though she does have some… assets, that would please the teenage boys. But beyond the cheesiness that I come to expect, I found this movie to be rather boring where there were times I kind of zoned out. The action is chaotic and the plot, although probably better than the previous movie, wasn’t anything noteworthy. In the end, I assume rabid fans might find some entertainment value, myself I couldn’t wait until it was over, though seeing my high school crush Amy Jo Johnson made things a little easier. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5 |
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This release comes with a glossy slip cover and features include Ranger Tales (23:21) retrospective featurette with new interviews with Blake Foster, Nakia Burrise and Catherine Sutherland amongst others, the Original Featurette (4:21) from ’97 and the Theatrical Trailer (1:06) and TV Spot (0:35). |
VIDEO – 3.75/5 |
| Neither the back cover nor Shout’s website mentions any sort of restoration, so presumably this 1080p transfer was given by Fox. With that said, while I can’t say this is a brilliant looking picture, detail at least looked sharp on the close-ups and colors had a nice brightness to it, especially noticeable whenever the Power Rangers were onscreen. I didn’t notice any major instances of dust marks, aliasing or artifacts and even some of the underwater scenes didn’t show off banding. |
AUDIO – 3.5/5 |
| The movie comes with the choice of a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 track, the former being the default option. Never found this lossless track incredible but certainly on the serviceable side with clear dialogue and some so-so depth during the action sequences while ambient noises made okay use of the rear speakers. |
OVERALL – 2.25/5 |
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Overall, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is more or less the same quality of entertainment as the first movie and, from my limited viewing experience, the various television series with over-the-top performances and a thin kid-friendly plot, though I guess if you’re a fan, you might find it to be fun, for myself when I wasn’t annoyed, I was bored. |