The new film, ‘Saban’s Power Rangers’ is a reboot of the original TV series which launched a 20+ year franchise but as we’ve already seen, there will be many changes to bring the oh-so-90s show into the present. The Rangers’ suits are not the simple spandex unitards with motorcycle helmets from the original and Elizabeth Banks’ take on Rita Repulsa bears little resemblance to the horn-haired, cone-bra-wearing witch from the TV show. What’s left? Why, the Zords of course!
Photos of the movie Zords (which are probably entirely CGI) haven’t been released, but predictably Bandai is set to unleash toys based on the movie. (After all, they’ve been cranking out PR toys from the start.) Of course the toys won’t look exactly like the Zords shown in the movie, but they at least off a tease.
We presented the complete Megazord a couple of weeks back, but in case you missed it, here it is:
This obviously bears little resemblance to the boxy “man in a suit” original, but just as the new power suits seem to draw from the anime ‘The Guyver’ with a more organic look, Megazord does as well. The overall gray-ness of it all doesn’t exactly thrill me, just as the modern movie Transformers just look like heaps of junk. But here’s hoping the version in the film come across better.
Above, you see the Red Ranger’s Tyrannosaurus Zord, equipped with a huge cannon on its back. It looks a lot more like a real Tyrannosaurus than the chunkier version from the show. Will it look good on the big screen? We’ll have to wait and see.
Next we have Trini’s yellow Sabretooth Tiger Zord. Once again, look at the legs and they seem much more like those of a real savage cat. Like the Tyrannosaurus Zord, this one also has a gigantic cannon on its back. Most likely, these are just there to make them fun toys, with missile-firing features. They may pop up in the movie, but they’re rather cumbersome otherwise.
Then there’s Kimberly’s not-so-pink Pterodactyl Zord. In general, it’s similar in shape to the original, but it’s… SO… GRAY.
If you look back at the first Megazord image, in this version, the Pterodactyl forms the head of Megazord. In the original, it was more of an add-on breastplate. I suppose that’s the reason for the drabness of this, but this is the most lackluster of the individual Zords.
Finally, there’s the blue Triceratops Zord. Now… I’ve never seen a real triceratops, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t have six legs. But that’s not a complaint. It’s all fantasy after all. It actually reminds me of the Tundro the multi-legged triceratops type-creature from the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon ‘The Herculoids’. (Which I love!)
Obviously, the ones in the movie will be shinier and cooler looking… hopefully!
What do you think of these new Zords? Do they look nicely updated? Or do you wish they’d stayed truer to the originals?
Directed by Dean Israelite, ‘Saban’s Power Rangers’ stars Elizabeth Banks, Bryan Cranston, R.J. Cyler, Becky G, Ludi Lin, Dacre Montgomery, Naomi Scott, Lisa Berry, Caroline Cave, David Denman, Anjali Jay, Sarah Grey, Emily Maddison, Kayden Magnuson, and Patrick Sabongui and hits theaters on April 24, 2017.
