MMPR fan film aka Project_Ranger Analysis

Let me get my nitpicks out of the way.
Tommy is an overused device and albeit one used out of legacy and popularity, rather than the actual substance of a character a la Andros or Dillon. Not having the other former Rangers in this fan film, further exaacerbates a post-Austin-Thuy-Walter mentality that they could have easily been replaced, despite all the little character quirks the writers and actors already put in their characters.
The professor in the youtube footage looked a bit too cartoony for me, albeit that might have been an homage to Super Sentai professors of the past i.e. GogoV. I also did not get that it was supposed to be a Silver Guardian project in the trailer.
Some of these nitpicks are not really even negatives. Some may be risks or just the vision of the director.
New blood can be a good thing, especially for those of us who are sick of watching Saban screw everything up. (Mighty Morphin bootleg theme song for two shows in a row?)
We can finally see a passing of the Mighty Morphin torch from the originals to another. Out with the dinosaurs, in with the new.

Now on to the good:
This is a relatively cheap project, yet it looks blockbustery. On a budget of less than $30,000, they managed to develop a film that has a Batman Begins feel to it, being shot in brown film-ish tone, opposed to the children's soap opera production beginnings of the franchise. (Film has a better history of success than television, more of a budget, more takes, less scheduled rushes.)

We often see buildings razed by monsters, but often there are no economic consequences for civilians in these situations. All the white collar jobs normally stay in their respective city, even though giant monsters would most likely drive jobs and construction out of that city. However, in MMPR we see the economic rammifications of Lord Zedd's leadership. Out with the Bar itzvah's. In with economic stability- people without shelter, possibly without food.

Speaking of which, we also get a rare glimpse of religion in a Power Rangers season. A building block of humans under their worst conditions, forced to sin.

How ironic is it seeing MMPR with a girl with a ragged toy, compared to those Mighty Morphin toy commercials with loud rock music , production values, and extravagance.

I do not think this will break barriers for Power Rangers as highest class art, such as Paul Thomas Anderson and Alfred Hitchcock.

However, can we be seeing a Bela Tarr or a Vittorio De Sica in this film? They set up a long shot that great cinematographers use in great scenes for the mmpr trailer.
Also, the trailer goes great with the theme from Taxi Driver!

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fans should watch The Turin Horse

Saban's great first live action superhero franchise Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has some resemblances to Bela Tarr's final cinematic piece the Turin Horse . It is a repeated use of repeated footage from Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, especially for the Pudgy Pig and reused Machiko Soga footage.
Bela Tarr's final piece, The Turin Horse is very methodical. It has a message about Nietszche which I did not get watching it at press screenings from the Walter Reade Theatre twice. However, I did observe the realism through repetition in the film however. It is sort of beautiful in its mundane manner.
The everyday life of farmers forced to eat potatoes to survive in a storm they will probably not survive in, the same fate of those monsters who are too stupid to say, "F*** you, Lord Zedd. I'm not fighting the Power Rangers. They're motherf***ing gonna kill me. What ya have to say about that? I'm forming a union with all the other monsters against these terrible conditions!"
It is not to say that Power Rangers is surreal, but that the Turin Horse is modern, whereas the Power Rangers is possibly a variation of the post-post-modern group, being all mass appealish opposed to dystopian film niche copying and pasting materials, crew and footage.
Furthermore, both media have a certain method to their repetition, and their audiences and fans have appreciated it.

Power Rangers:
Go Go Power Rangers
School scene
Rita scene
Power Rangers vs Putties
Japanese footage

Turin Horse:
Go outside
Put on clothes
Eat potatoes
Light the lamps
Blow out the lamps

Daniel Southworth Updates May to June 2013

Dan Southworth Facebook Admin Susan has stated that Dan has regretably not been able to join Power Rangers Super Megaforce 20th (or 21st or 19th reunion depending on your point of view,) because Dan and Saban Brands were unable to complete a negotiation. The Admin would like to reemphasize: he was invited, but the negotiations did not go through. The information can be seen here.

"I'd like to thank the producers at Saban for extending an invitation to appear in the upcoming reunion, and while its unfortunate that we were unable to reach a mutually suitable arrangement I hope filming goes well and that perhaps there will be another opportunity."

He can however be seen on his web show Divergence from his own production company Popular Rising seen here.

Best of luck to ya, Dan!

Carter Grayson and Dana Mitchell's Double Date

What I'm about to say is going to be controversial and a bit of a stretch for the average Power Rangers fan, who does not follow Rob Ager, Darren Foley and other great internet film critics. However, it does bring out a missing "it" factor in the franchise that could distinguish it from a mere post George Lucas Clone prequels. In fact, it can help present Power Rangers as great a work of art as some of the finest film classics of both past present and future.

Certain music fan vids have shipped the Dana Mitchell and Carter Grayson together, possibly from outpours of psychological color associations (in this case Red and Pink) fans had with love in Power Rangers starting from Kimberly and a later Red Ranger Tommy in Mighty Morphin, Kat-Tommy from Zeo and Kendrix-Leo from Lost Galaxy.
In fact, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue has exactly what Alfred Hitchcock (and in turn inspired David Lynch) had in many of their films, not to mention Walter Hill in the Warriors, Paul Thomas Anderson in the Master.
The use of this literary device, is called the double, a character who physically look similar in similar situations within a film in the previous cases, and in this case, a franchise. I have speculated this ever since I watched Lightspeed Rescue when I was 14, and finally have more evidence of it now rewatching episodes. Saban did this possibly afraid from alienating fans from watching a Power Rangers series that is too different, even though it did not primarily take place in Space and had nothing to do with Angel Grove. I am 99% sure Saban and his lieutenants were aware of this when they were casting, unlike when they cast Thuy as Trini and Walter as Zack.

Look at the resemblances here.

Carter is Leo (the leader)

Dana is Kendrix. (Both blonde, like romances in a Hitchcock film or Kat from Zeo)

Chad is Kai. (Asian American)

Kelsey is Maya (Brunette)

Joel is Damon (African American)

And to be honest, are they really lying about having the same crew for a different series post-Lost Galaxy? Although characters on screen change, Most of the backstage crew is still the same, (sold from or to Disney or not.)

Furthermore, it is sort of possibly inadvertently hinted in the story.
Remember that story about Carter wishing he could be as good of a superhero as Captain Mitchell? Well, in fact, what he may have inferred by that was he wanted to become Captain Mitchell's son, or Dana's husband, because of how much of a father figure and role model Captain Mitchell was to him growing up.
We do not see what of Carter Grayson's family. He's an adult. They could live far away. They could have been old or died. (Maybe they died in that fire that traumatized him when he was younger.)
The point is in the show, he is lacking a family. In fact, most Power Rangers series lack families and ever since Turbo, they have made that less of an issue. With Captain Mitchell and possibly Dana, he can have a family in the show, a theme shared in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy with Lost Galaxy's and its source footage, Gingaman's Red Ranger brothers.

Another Lost Galaxy-Lightspeed Rescue connection
Leo has a brother. Dana has a brother. Leo and Kendrix want a relationship between each other. Carter and Dana want a relationship between each other.They're both coupled with each others associated self in a different Power Rangers generation.
Furthermore, Leo and Kendrix never get to tell each other how they feel, even if they do flirt with each other, because Kendrix dies in Lost Galaxy. Is this the reason why Carter and Dana never start a relationship either? It's a theory...

Recently, there has been a picture circulating of Alison MacGinnis backstage. And get this: rumor is she's naturally red-head and wears a blonde wig when portraying Dana Mitchell!

This gets more interesting in the Junior Ranger Trakeena's Revenge episode. The mother is a redhead, like Alison MacGinnis. You could debate if this red head is Carter Grayson's wife, but the Junior Ranger could definitely be an offspring-like figure, just like Captain Mitchell and Dana Mitchell.

Furthermore, during several parts of the episode, Leo Corbett, Carter Grayson's predecessor is losing his powers and voice, just like the the redhead mother. In fact, we do not get to see much of Kendrix or her antecessor Karone in the episode. They've become powerless. Heck, we do not get to see much of Dana and Carter in the same episode despite the fact that they are physically perfectly fine in the episode.

A lot of what could have happened for Lightspeed Rescue.
I am not suggesting that this is canon or was the original intent of the writers, unlike what Rob Ager and Darren Foley suggested for their respected films by their favorite auteurs. However, would not everybody like the be Stalinist for once and rewrite history so that something better comes from Power Rangers canon for once?
This must be done at the teamup, as it may be another 5-10 years before something monumental as this happens. Sure, they screwed up the monumental passing of the torch from Bulk to Spike and the Samurai Rangers. They just have to keep the two in character and nothing else can be screwed up from that.

Writers do not, I repeat, do not have Dana take Carter's last name, it has to be Carter who takes Dana's.

Who's Crying Now? Hopefully not me

"Look at me! Do you see any tears?!"
Sure, the actor who plays Troy does not have the right charisma, but he at least works hard to get a performance out of himself under the production schedule's limits.

The bully plot does not seem to have to be there and got resolved way too easily. I doubt we will see any of these characters in the future, and since we saw very little of them, hopefully for the better.

Side note, are the extras ever the same? How does class in this town work?

Also, Creepox has not been around long enough and have enough character development for me to care for his destruction. He seems to be an overrated grunt in my opinion.
Wikipedia lists him with a superiority complex. However, not much can be done with it in a Nickelodeon/Saban Brands context. He's not exactly as Amon Goth memorable.

There really was not much to this episode. Ultrazord already? I super duper dog dare you!

Why are the Power Rangers Megaforce writers so fucking incompetent?

Seriously.
You still have problems writing episodes?
I understand Saban does not pay, but you chose this job for a reason. You may want job security.
I understand that screenwriters do not need to take screenwriting 101 classes to get their job.
But seriously, what the fuck are you doing?

United We Stand
The beginnings of most of these episodes do not set up for the rest of the episode so well.
Gia and Emma dirt biking in the middle of the woods, nearly killing themselves for no reason while discussing how awesome they are as if this was Dr. Strangelove or something. (Wouldn't that be an interesting premise for Power Rangers?) What the fuck does any of that have to do with their friendship and saving the world from a motherfuckin alien invasion? Are you selling fucking Power Rangers mountain bikes or something? Seriously, what was the point of this scene supposed to convey.

I get it... She likes bikes. She likes nature. But it's a bit one note. You're not really developing the characters, the setting or the conflict. They hang out. Does that truly make them friends however?
Maybe Gia can talk about how Jake is creeping her out, but does not know how to react or something. Maybe they can talk about their journeys as heroes and how much trust they put into each other.

Robo Knight
What the fuck does Jake liking Gia have to do with Jake running into all his classmates? What does the friggin teacher running into a hoe have to do with the Robo Knight? (Epiphany: Are we supposed to picture the Jake as a teacher running into hoes in the future? That's the only saving grace for that intro.)

In the words of the Dude, why the fuck does everything have to be a motherfuckin travesty with you, Saban? What the fuck did any of that stuff have to do with the Robo Knight? What the fuck did any of that have to do with Robo Knight? What the fuck are you talking about?
For a mass marketing corporation, you figure marketing 101 would be to advertise the main feature or toy of the episode! Here's the Dude's can for your downfall Donny shows. Now shut the fuck up, Donny!

I trip on acid watching the beginning of Prince Takes Knight

"Some scientists believe that dreams can tell the future."

Where the fuck is the evidence of that? Cite something. Here goes Saban and teaching me what wombats don't look like again. (VR Troopers)
"Oh come on!"

"Ah! A snack and snare job! I'm in." He continues while squatting, "I, PsychoDICK, master of the draining energy am the man for the job!"

Capture Robo Knight! We'll drain him dry and reprogram him!

In the words of Jake, Oh come on!

Power Rangers Theme Park Tie-In?