Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always

I never thought I would ever write a review about a Power Rangers show, but hey, I can actually recommend watching this reunion special!

Honestly, you don't even have to be an actual fan to enjoy these 55 minutes.

Is it cheesy? Sure! Does it have some awkward one-liners? Of course it has, it's Power Rangers! Does the 90s nostalgia hit you right in the face and bring back childhood memories (which also make you feel really old at the same time)? Absolutely!

BUT on top of that, it's so much better than the show which was Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993. You can tell that in contrast to the TV show, the returning cast members and the crew deeply cared for this production. (Although to be fair, never seasons like Beast Morphers and Dino Fury have improved immensely compared to the past!) There's lots of fan service in the best way and not at the expanse of the story. In fact, the story is so tightly-knit and moves at a fast pace (without feeling rushed) to fit everything that happens into 55 minutes.

In contrast to the TV show, where nobody ever died and stayed dead, this reunion special has real stakes and consequences, and after 30 years in which they were never allowed to use the words "kill" or "die" on this show, these words suddenly become quite meaningful.

The special is still suitable for the target audience of the TV show, aka primary school kids, but you can tell it's mainly made for these 90s kids who are in their late thirties or even older now. As another fan pointed out: It's wild seeing these weapons suddenly CUT INTO opponents instead of just slashing past and causing some sparks which sent the monsters flying.

So, if you are up for a nostalgia trip into your childhood, go watch this 55 minutes special. I definitely had fun (and also shed some tears).

Just finished watching this, i was 10 years old when i watched the original series so i was looking forward to seeing this for nostalgic reasons. I wasn't expecting to be blown away but I was really disappointed with the outcome. It seemed very rushed and lacking in charm, the zords CGI was like something out of a cheap B-Movie and I found Minh to be a really annoying character. I would have given this a 3 but the extra star was out of respect for those rangers we lost. It was nice to have a memory jog but that is really all this is. I'm sure there will be a lot of fans feeling the same way, just dont get your hopes up and you'll be fine.

I was interested to see where this special would go, being advertised as a slightly more mature version of the old MMPR, whilst being stuck between having a nostalic love for the good old series from my youth and some remnant doubts from knowing Jason David Frank had his issues with this special (especially since his passing, which affected me more than I would have expected it to)

Overall it felt like an extended, slightly more mature version of the old episode, in both its strengths and weaknesses. They kept the structure and storytelling alive whilst telling a slightly darker story with some tones of loss, grief, vengeance and acceptance in it, whilst also staying true to the tone of the old series, including its campiness at several points.

It was good to see some of the old crew back, and especially have Zach some extra moments to shine. The story was good enough to carry the special, though my strongest point of annoyence was David Yost's acting, which felt like "I AM NOW READING THIS LINE" at a lot of moments. Even with that issue it certainly was good to see him back and getting a chance to shine, especially how the past did him wrong.

I was kind of worries how they would handle the green ranger after JDF's death, but I think they struck an OK compromise. I somewhere would have wanted something more, but doing it to everyone's liking would be impossibly hard.

Also bonus points for netflix for neither ruining an original casting nor getting overly political in a place it does not belong. (I feel there is one moment some people are gonna complain about, but I think it was actually neat)

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this special. It is mostly for fans of the old Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and delivers for those fans, it probably is not for you if you did not grow up watching Power Rangers in the early 90's, which I consider to be a case of "knowing your audience and targeting them well" in this case (same as Kung Fury did); It is a good watch for it's target audience, and I'd definitely like to see more.

Like a lot of people, Power Rangers was the one show I couldn't miss after school. From the days of Rita and Zedd to the final battle that led to all the original villains like them as well as King Mondo and the Machine Empire, Divatox, Elgar, Astronema, Dark Specter and so many more being either destroyed or turned good due to Zordons great and ultimate sacrifice, this show seems corny some that didn't grow up watching it but to those that did, it's a time machine that I'm grateful to have. So when I heard about this movie and saw the trailer, I was ready to revisit a big piece of my childhood at least one more time.

For me, Power Rangers Once and Always didn't disappoint for the most part. There was great nostalgic moments and I truly felt like I did as a child where I watched to see if Rita would finally succeed in some way as she executed her master plan to finally destroy the Power Rangers and conquer the galaxy like she first attempted to do back in 1993.

The movie was shorter than I expected at a runtime of 58 minutes considering Power Rangers The Movie from 1995 was 1 hour and 30 minutes long and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie from 1997 was 1 hour and 40 minutes. But I reminded myself that this is more of a reunion show so I treated it as a special double episode event. The plot and execution was really great to watch with some very interesting surprises and Easter eggs along the way for longtime fans. The acting at times was a bit shaky or corny but thats how it was even back then so this was one of the rare times that it still worked for me. The way they showed dedication and appreciation to the late and great original actors Thuy Trang (Trini) and Jason David Frank (Tommy) was very special to see to say the least. I don't want to ruin anything but I will say the scene right before the credits roll was absolutely perfect to honor them, the other original Rangers regardless if they were in this film or not and I felt it was also a nice little thank you to the fans that have watched from the beginning regardless if they've seen the first season in 1993 or recently.

Power Rangers for me was one of the things that got me through some difficult times as I was in the hospital a lot due to receiving a Liver Transplant in 1989. Once in 1995 when I was in the hospital for tests, a family friend gave my Mom, Sister and I box seats to see Power Rangers Live in Toronto. I still have my ticket stub. It was an incredible experience I remember to this very day.

I have had my transplant for 33 years (I'm 34) and one of the things that helped me escape the sounds of my IV, medical monitors and the hospital overall was watching Power Rangers when I could. Thats why even at the age of 33, the original seasons still mean so much to me today. I'm currently waiting for my 2nd transplant as this liver is slowing down, so this reunion was a reminder of what Power Rangers did for me during the tough and scary times. I'll always be grateful to everyone involved with the show and for the fans that helped keep it alive for those reasons and more. Thank you for this little trip down memory lane and I truly hope other longtime fans enjoy this as much as I did.

My overall rating is 7/10.

Power Rangers entering the circle of nostalgia. Netflix did what a reboot couldn't do last decade: round up a couple of familiar faces and crank up the nostalgia machine.

As a child I was part of the child audience that never missed an episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and this 1-hour special brought back a lot of good memories, but that doesn't necessarily mean this is good quality stuff. While almost all of the dynamics were reproduced in the likeness of the original series, there are details that went way back, such as the giant robot battles. The move from mockups to CGI didn't do the show any favors, as the practical effects were part of the episodes' appeal. The script is also too basic and the acting is lousy. Now, we must consider that a product like Power Rangers was never something that required a high demand for the actors, so the bad level is quite to be expected.

Recommended only for lovers of the original series, since if you don't know anything about the Power Rangers, you will waste your time with a rather questionable medium-length film.