OK, so this is the type of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers film that would get me into a theater. So are you ready to never look at them in the same colorful light again? Don’t get me wrong, for all its silliness the franchise is iconic and remains an insanely popular brand all over the world since it debuted in 1993, but you really have to check out this 14-minute R-Rated short film based on the team of campy superheroes.
The latest effort presented by Adi Shanker in his “Bootleg Universe,” where he re-interprets popular properties using a hyper kinetic directing style and gritty aesthetic, gives this Power/Rangers a hyper violent spin similar to what we saw in the under appreciated big screen Dredd starring Karl Urban. Shanker has already made fan films based on Marvel’s The Punisher and Venom.
First off, Katee Sackhoff stars as Kimberly, the Pink Ranger as you have never seen her before. Since genre fans adore Sackhoff, this is a huge plus. She co-stars with James Van Der Beek (yes, the Beek From The Creek), who also co-penned the script with director Joseph Khan and Dutch Southern. The bloody film follows the surviving Rangers the years after their legendary exploits and gets to who is behind the calculated assassinations within their ranks.
Talking to Hitfix, here is what Khan had to say about his film:
I think the trick that I really wanted to do with this was to make that dark and gritty version that everybody keeps talking about, but really do it. Really see if I could totally accomplish it with essentially a really incredible incredibly silly property…
So when I did the dark and gritty version of this, I mean, we go full out. There’s blood, there’s brains, there’s gunshots, there’s sex, there’s violence. I mean, basically we made the version that Hollywood could never ever make. If I had to watch the ‘dark and gritty’ reboot, then this is the way I would want it. This is the version I would personally want to see, but I also know this is the version that could never, ever be made in Hollywood. They would be crazy, it would be financially irresponsible, but this is what I personally would like to see out of a Power Rangers film.
Be warned this is NSFW, lots of blood and off color language.
The film features Russ Bain (Tommy/Green Ranger), Will You Lee (General Klank), and Gichi Gamba (Zack/Black Ranger). You can also check out Shanker’s video Why Bootleg The Power Rangers? below where he reveals his inspiration for this dark fan film re-boot. “I eventually came to the realization that high school kids weaponized to fight an intergalactic threat would turn those kids into some seriously disturbed adults.”
SOURCE: Adi Shanker
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