Power/Rangers
Power/Rangers, or Power Rangers: Unauthorized, is an American superhero fan short film directed and co-written by Joseph Kahn, produced by Adi Shankar and Jil Hardin, and co-written by James Van Der Beek and Dutch Southern. It was released on YouTube and Vimeo on February 23, 2015. It is based on the franchise of the same name. Plot. The Machine Empire defeats the Power Rangers in battle, destroying the Megazord. It is revealed that Earth's governments then negotiate a truce with the Machine Empire and the Power Rangers are disbanded. Years later, Rocky, the second  Red Ranger has defected to the Machine Empire, critical of Zordon's use of Power Rangers as child soldiers, and now sports a prosthetic leg. He interrogates a restrained Kimberly, the former Pink Ranger, about the location of Tommy Oliver, the former Green Ranger. He details the fates of the other Rangers in flashback. Jason, Rocky's predecessor as Red Ranger, was gunned down eight hours after marrying Kimberly, when Bulk and Skull seemingly revealed their location to a police force. Zack, the former Black Ranger, was an insatiable action junkie who became a Machine Empire enforcer (seen taking down  the North Korean Kim and his goons personally) before being murdered by an unknown assassin. Billy Cranston, the former Blue Ranger, became an openly-gay trillionaire who ended up buying Lockheed Martin and was found dead of an apparent suicide. Kimberly rejects Rocky's claim that Tommy is hunting down the Rangers. She tells Rocky that she has not seen him since the funeral of Trini, the former Yellow Ranger who died at the treaty negotiations. Rocky acknowledges that he already knew that; she is really being held as bait. Tommy arrives and kills the guards, entering into single combat  against Rocky in a sword duel. When Rocky gains the upper hand, Kimberly shoots and kills him. Tommy demands to know who she is, as the real Kimberly died in his arms during the final battle years earlier. The fake Kimberly's façade crumbles to reveal Rita Repulsa, who killed all the others: she distracts Jason during the shootout and executed Zack and Billy with gunshots. Rita attempts to lure Tommy into her plan of world domination (noting that she created him) but he denies her, attacking her as the film ends. Several of the plot points make references to  real-life incidents in the original Power Rangers actors' lives: David Yost, who played Billy, came out as gay after the series ended, while Thuy Trang, who played Trini, died in an automobile accident in 2001. Cast. Others. Perez had previously played Rita Repulsa in the original series. She was the only cast member to reprise her role. Release. The film was released on February 23, 2015. Two versions of the film were released; the version hosted on Vimeo included brief nudity not present in the YouTube version. Critical reception. Members of the original "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" praised it , such as Austin St. John, Amy Jo Johnson and Steve Cardenas. Jason David Frank, the original Green Ranger, criticized the short film, thinking it was too violent and the fact the "Power Rangers" franchise is still being produced for children. However, he appreciated it on an "inner geek level". Removal by Saban and restoration. On February 24, 2015, Vimeo chose "Power/Rangers" as a "Staff Pick". However, a few hours later Vimeo removed the film from its site entirely. On February 25, Vimeo released a statement that the film was removed due to a copyright claim from Saban, the original  copyright holders of the "Power Rangers" franchise. On February 26, Saban had the film removed from YouTube, once again citing copyright claim. On February 27, "Power/Rangers" was restored to both Vimeo and YouTube. Possible television follow-up. Adi Shankar has shown interest in making an R-rated re-imagining television series of the original television show.