When it was first broadcast over twenty years ago, The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was an undeniable success. An American production remodelled around the original Japanese Super Sentai series, it continually revamped itself under a number of names. Still going with the same continuity to this day, Power Rangers Dino Charge is the current incarnation. A highly recognisable part of 90s pop culture, it has been parodied and honoured many times before, including the youtube sensation Mighty Moshin Emo Rangers. This week saw the release of the latest tribute, the short fan film called simply Power/Rangers, which has already taken the internet by storm. The idea behind it was simple: take a ridiculous children's Saturday morning TV show, and try and make something more realistic. Less than 24 hours after its release on video hosting site Vimeo however, it had been chosen as a 'staff pick' but later removed after an intellectual property infringement claim by Saban, which owns the rights to the original series. Debate has since raged about ideas of copyright and fair use policies, with director Joseph Kahn continuously defending their intentions. Not only were the costumes, effects, etc produced from scratch (and therefore use none of Saban's physical property), but the film was completely self financed, and Kahn has stated that he would turn down any money offered to him as a result of the project. Controversy or not however, Kahn and Shankar have created a 14 minute film that is still available on youtube (although not in its original NSFW form) that original fans and newcomers alike have celebrated and embraced. Without giving away (too many) spoilers, here are just five simple reasons why you should too.
