File under "Not Seen Every Day"
Oct. 28th, 2003 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kingandyJust a quick note, I promise.
Flipping through the cable TV channels, I happened across what was advertised as "Power Rangers Wild Force" on the Fox Kids. "Oh ho," thought I, "This is not Wild Force! For I recognise the Time Force Red Ranger. Fox Kids have fucked up their scheduling again." Then the camera cut to some other characters - also Red Rangers, this time Wild Force and Turbo. "Hello," thought I, and sat down to watch.
I should note that while I am not an avid Power Rangers watcher, I am a follower of the phenomenon. Though I did watch a fair few episodes of the Time Force iteration, since at that point I was mostly unemployed and had plenty of time for such things. I do not have much time for Wild Force, though, since I believe it is disgustingly eco-friendly. And it doesn't involve time travel. So - and I must stress this - sitting down and watching an episode of Power Rangers Wild Force is not something I would normally do. I do like to keep up with landmark events and abnormal episodes, however.
I only caught the last five minutes or so of the episode, but it was worth the effort. It was clearly an anniversary episode of sorts, featuring just about all the Red Rangers that have existed (and then some - the original Japanese Super Sentai series, from which the martial arts and giant robot sequences were lifted, has been running for about 25 years, last I checked). As such, a substantial effects budget had been allocated. Bullet time, wire work, laser effects, the works; and the choreography was quite top notch also, as the Red Rangers all worked in synchrony, leaping off each others backs and backflipping around the place. Not exactly Shakespeare, but worth five minutes of my life.
I'd have liked to see the rest of the episode, if only to see how (if) they explained the continuity glitches. See, the Super Sentai series were all discrete teams, with Ranger squads only crossing over in the odd holiday special or anniversary episode (see above). US Power Rangers, on the other hand, decided to keep the same squad (allowing for periodic changes as actors left the series) and invent plot reasons for the changes in suits & robots. (I think they gave up, eventually, and changed the title from "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" to "Power Rangers: Flavour Of The Month". Or whatever.) With the result that it would not normally be possible for, say, Red Zeo Ranger and Red Ranger Turbo to be in the same place at the same time.
I don't know that for sure, actually. I'm not up on the exact chronology and sequence of rangers, but I'm sure there was a conflict somewhere.
Flipping through the cable TV channels, I happened across what was advertised as "Power Rangers Wild Force" on the Fox Kids. "Oh ho," thought I, "This is not Wild Force! For I recognise the Time Force Red Ranger. Fox Kids have fucked up their scheduling again." Then the camera cut to some other characters - also Red Rangers, this time Wild Force and Turbo. "Hello," thought I, and sat down to watch.
I should note that while I am not an avid Power Rangers watcher, I am a follower of the phenomenon. Though I did watch a fair few episodes of the Time Force iteration, since at that point I was mostly unemployed and had plenty of time for such things. I do not have much time for Wild Force, though, since I believe it is disgustingly eco-friendly. And it doesn't involve time travel. So - and I must stress this - sitting down and watching an episode of Power Rangers Wild Force is not something I would normally do. I do like to keep up with landmark events and abnormal episodes, however.
I only caught the last five minutes or so of the episode, but it was worth the effort. It was clearly an anniversary episode of sorts, featuring just about all the Red Rangers that have existed (and then some - the original Japanese Super Sentai series, from which the martial arts and giant robot sequences were lifted, has been running for about 25 years, last I checked). As such, a substantial effects budget had been allocated. Bullet time, wire work, laser effects, the works; and the choreography was quite top notch also, as the Red Rangers all worked in synchrony, leaping off each others backs and backflipping around the place. Not exactly Shakespeare, but worth five minutes of my life.
I'd have liked to see the rest of the episode, if only to see how (if) they explained the continuity glitches. See, the Super Sentai series were all discrete teams, with Ranger squads only crossing over in the odd holiday special or anniversary episode (see above). US Power Rangers, on the other hand, decided to keep the same squad (allowing for periodic changes as actors left the series) and invent plot reasons for the changes in suits & robots. (I think they gave up, eventually, and changed the title from "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" to "Power Rangers: Flavour Of The Month". Or whatever.) With the result that it would not normally be possible for, say, Red Zeo Ranger and Red Ranger Turbo to be in the same place at the same time.
I don't know that for sure, actually. I'm not up on the exact chronology and sequence of rangers, but I'm sure there was a conflict somewhere.
