The '90s were weird. Pepsi was clear, Shaquille O'Neal was a movie star and fat chicks were giving blowies to saxophone-playing world leaders. However, one of the strangest products of the '90s was the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Something about "teenagers with attitude" that fight giant cosmic demons (and are also color coordinated by race) really struck a cord with the American people.
I witnessed this anomaly first hand, most notably when I jumped off the stairs and karate kicked my Cocker Spaniel in the face because I thought I was the Red Ranger. Also, I'm pretty sure my mom got in a fight with a Portuguese lady at Toys "R" Us over the last Green Ranger action figure. One of them curb stomped the other while screaming, "KING KONG AIN'T GOT SHIT ON ME!" I won’t reveal who it was, but let's just say I got the toy I wanted. Thanks, mom.
Recently, it was announced that Lionsgate is going to be producing a new Power Rangers movie. Naturally, I felt it was obligation to provide my expert opinion on the matter and come up with a dream team cast and crew. Because this is Lionsgate, the studio famous for the Saw and 300 movies, I am working under the assumption that this film is going to be gritty as fuck and Rated R. Just please God, no Zak Snyder.
P.S. I'm going to try not to sound racist. No promises though.
Matt Rimer is a writer living in Boston. Follow him on Twitter here.
1. powerrangerslead
2. redranger
3. blackranger
Denzel as Zack/Black Ranger
Give it up for Zack, the black guy who's good at break dancing and basketball! Radical! Oh wait, what? Wow, this all seems super racist in retrospect.
It’s cool though, Denzel knows how to kick racism in the dick. He played the coach in Remember The Titans and Malcolm X. And, like, Malcolm X beat racism and now its over, I think. Something like that.
4. blueranger
5. lucyliuyellow
6. pinkrangerkate
7. greenranger
8. Varys
The Guy Who Plays Varys On Game of Thrones as Zordon
Zordon is the guy that lures kids into his house, tells them to dress up in costumes and makes them promise not to tell anybody about it. Wait, that can't be right, can it?
"It'll be our little secret, okay. Now sit on my giant floating intergalactic face."
P.S. The original Zordon was just unused footage of Marlon Brandon in Apocolypse Now, right?
9. alphadustin
Dustin Hoffman as Alpha
Alpha is the Rain Man of robots. He's good at counting, he's easily taken advantage of and he's probably autistic. Watch your ass, McConaughey, Dustin's coming for the throne.
10. puddylakers
The 2013- 14 Los Angeles Lakers as The Puddies
For those of you who don't know, the Puddies are the evil henchmen of the show's villain and they each straight up look like the Greendale Human Being from Community. So why are the Lakers perfect? They run around like morons and get dicked on by their opposition. This one is a no-brainer.
11. ritasjp
12. goldbarbrethart
13. squatt
Warwick Davis as Squatt
Peter Dinklage has been stealing the spotlight from Warwick Davis lately and it's flat out bullshit. Warwick Davis was in goddamn Willow. If anyone is going to play Rita Repulsa’s space troll/little person crony, it's going to be Warwick.
14. zedd
15. bulkandskull
16. erniehoratio
Horatio Sanz as Ernie
Who better to play the fat guy that nobody cares about than a fat guy that nobody cares about? Since his SNL days, Horatio Sanz has been MIA from acting. This could be his big break. Or, more likely, it will ruin his career when it flops because it's going to be terrible. This movie was a huge mistake, guys. I'm sorry.
17. directorstephensoderberg
Directed by Stephen Soderberg
Time to pull out the big guns. Critically-acclaimed director Stephen Soderberg can direct any type of movie. From indie art house films to big Hollywood blockbusters, this guy has done it all. His incredible versatility has resulted in him being dubbed a "stylistic chameleon" by critics. If he could remake Oceans Eleven, who's to say he can't remake Mighty Morphin Power Rangers?
18. scorejohnwilliams
Score by John Williams
Nobody does it like John will.i.am.s. This dude drops dirty scores and then goes home and fucks the prom queen. True story: My nipples get hard when I hear the Jurassic Park main theme. Do with that information what you want.
Just imagine the "Go-go Power Rangers!" theme song performed with a 100 piece orchestra. J. Will is hot fire right now.
19. screenplaydavidmamet
Screenplay by David Mamet
I think we can all agree that the original Power Rangers dialogue was amazing. Although, if '’m being totally honest, I feel like it was a little exposition heavy. Like, sometimes the characters would talk about what was going on as it was going on. The bad guys would be all like, "Bahaha! I’m destroying the city!" Yeah I know, dude. I can see you doing it. Also, who are you talking to?
David Mamet would know how to tighten things up because if there's one thing the Power Rangers need, it's more dialogue about real estate leads.
20. rogerdeakins
21. stockfootage
Stock Footage c/o Battle Royale
The original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers featured reused stock footage from the Japanese television show Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. In fact, it attributed for, like, half of the show's entire runtime. If they're going to use stock footage for this movie, it has to be something awesome. That's why I decided to choose another beautiful piece of Japanese cinema: Battle Royale. It's a pre-Hunger Games film about a bunch of 8th graders forced by their government to murder each other on an island with guns and samurai swords. It has nothing to do with the Power Rangers, but neither did the show's original stock footage, so fuck it.