Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie

Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Shuki Levy David Winning
Produced by	Rob Reiner Jonathan Tzachor
Written by	Shuki Levy Shell Danielson
Starring	Johnny Yong Bosch Nakia Burrise Jason David Frank Catherine Sutherland
Music by	Shuki Levy
Cinematography	Ilan Rosenberg
Editing by	Henry Richardson B.J. Sears
Studio	Saban Entertainment Toei Company
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	March 28, 1997 (1997-03-28)
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$9,615,840

Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is a 1997 American superhero action science fantasy film directed by David Winning and Shuki Levy. It is set in the Power Rangers universe, serving as a bridge between Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo. The film was produced by Saban Entertainment and, like the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The film was released on March 28, 1997. In its opening weekend, the film played on 2,113 screens, and pulled in $3,301,135, finishing in seventh place domestically. It ultimately grossed $8,363,899 theatrically in the U.S. and $9,615,840 worldwide.

Unlike Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, this film takes place within the continuity of the television series. The first episode of Power Rangers Turbo takes place after the movie. Turbo also looks more like the television show. The Ranger suits were spandex rather than the armor-like suits of the first movie, and the Zords and Megazord were also costumed rather than computer-generated animation. Certain sets and costumes from the movie, such as the Power Chamber set, the Alpha costume, and the Maligore costume, were also used in the television show (with the latter being modified and reused as Dark Specter in Power Rangers in Space).

Plot

A powerful wizard from a distant planet named Larigot barely escapes the clutches of the evil space pirate Divatox and heads to Earth where he hopes to find his friends Zordon and Alpha 5 and prevent Divatox from obtaining his key to the Island of Muranthias, with which she hopes to free the powerful demon lord Maligore and rule the galaxy. He lands in Africa, where he is weakened by Earth's ultraviolet rays. Meanwhile, Rocky, Tommy and Adam are training for a martial arts tournament to keep the Angel Grove Youth Center from being closed, but Rocky becomes impatient and makes a bad move, falling and hurting his back badly. Justin, a young friend of the Rangers and one of the children who take part in the Youth Center is particularly devastated by this and goes to visit Rocky in the hospital. However, the Rangers come to visit Rocky and Zordon contacts them. They teleport out, inadvertently revealing their identities to Justin.

Zordon sends Tommy and Kat to Africa to find and retrieve Larigot, though the harsh environment and an encounter with a python causes Kat to injure herself, it does not deter their mission and they eventually find him roaming with a pack of chimps. Meanwhile, Divatox becomes frustrated with her idiot mutant nephew Elgar who had kidnapped Bulk and Skull as her sacrifices to Maligore, despite the fact that the sacrifices must represent strong purity and strength, neither of which are traits the two possess. As such, they had been brain scrambled and stand on the verge of insanity; despite this, Divatox spots two humans diving off the coast that meet her needs perfectly, which turn out to be former Power Rangers Jason Lee Scott and Kimberly Hart. As Larigot recovers, he receives a telepathic transmission from Divatox via Larigot's wife Yara and their baby Batel, who were kidnapped by Divatox. She threatens them harm unless Larigot turns himself over to her willingly, and as insurance that the Rangers won't interfere, she offers Jason and Kimberly in exchange for letting Larigot surrender. Larigot agrees to this, but Elgar tricks the Rangers by casting dummies in the place of Jason and Kimberly, as Divatox needs them elsewhere.

To give chase without being detected, Zordon and Alpha give the Rangers new Turbo powers, Turbo Zords and a ship they are sent to find that would be completely undetectable by Divatox's sonar. Justin joins them as a surprise, becoming the youngest Power Ranger and taking Rocky's place. However Divatox's scanners still detect the humans aboard their vessel and she sends her Putripods to deal with them, but they manage to fend off the beasts and use the keys to their powers to traverse the dimensional barrier that surrounds the island which Divatox crossed using Larigot's key. Meanwhile, Jason, Kimberly, Bulk and Skull work up a plan to escape Divatox's submarine; all but Jason manage to escape, but Kimberly is later captured by the Malakhian natives who inhabit the island and reunited with Jason under Divatox's capture. As Divatox takes them to the temple within the island's volcano where Maligore is imprisoned, the Rangers arrive at the island and morph to save Jason and Kim, but they are held off long enough for the pair to be lowered into a pit of lava within the temple and become evil slaves to Maligore. After a struggling fight between Divatox's minions as well as Jason and Kim, Larigot and Yara revert the two back to normal, but Divatox throws Elgar into the lava, allowing Maligore to climb out. The Rangers fight Maligore, who, in his outrage, erupts into a giant. The Rangers summon their Zords and with the Turbo Megazord, they are able to defeat him. They then offer to take Jason, Kimberly, and a mentally repaired Bulk and Skull back to Angel Grove via the massive robot. However, Bulk and Skull nearly cause the robot to topple by accident, and upon fully noticing Larigot and his family, they panic and faint. Divatox swears revenge against the Rangers for destroying Maligore, but is forced to flee the island when the volcano erupts.

Back on Earth, Jason joins Adam and Tommy in the tournament and they win first place, assuring the shelter will remain open for the children of Angel Grove. In the post credits, the Rangers gather around Larigot and his family, bidding them farewell.

Characters

Main Characters (Turbo Rangers)

Tommy Oliver

The Red Turbo Ranger, played by Jason David Frank.

Adam Park

The Green Turbo Ranger, played by Johnny Yong Bosch.

Katherine Hillard

The Pink Turbo Ranger, played by Catherine Sutherland.

Tanya Sloan

The Yellow Turbo Ranger, played by Nakia Burrise.

Justin Stewart

The Blue Turbo Ranger, played by Blake Foster.

Supporting Characters/Former Rangers

Jason Lee Scott

The original Red Power Ranger and the second Gold Zeo Ranger, played by Austin St. John.

Kimberly Hart

The original Pink Power Ranger, played by Amy Jo Johnson.

Rocky DeSantos

The second Red Power Ranger and Zeo Ranger III, played by Steve Cardenas.

• Zordon
• Alpha 5
• Lerigot
• Bulk and Skull

Villains

Main article: Villains in Power Rangers Turbo

• Divatox
• Maligore
• Elgar
• Rygog

The movie features a cameo appearance by Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd, where Rita is called by Divatox in hopes of advice to use against the Rangers. The characters would eventually come face to face with each other in Power Rangers in Space's premiere episode for the first and only time.

Music

See also: Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Reception

The film has been given mostly negative reviews with a 18% Rotten rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Kevin Thomas wrote a positive review in the The Los Angeles Times saying the filmmakers have brought much panache and sophistication to the making of this fantasy adventure extolling the good old-fashioned virtues of spirit and courage embodied by the Power Rangers and that "Turbo" is a solid follow-up. Other reviews were a mixture of positive and negative, however, the film has more of a cult following in the UK.

External links

• Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie at the Internet Movie Database
• Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie at AllRovi
• Official Movie Site from Fox Kids on Archive.org