If you grew up in the 90s, there’s a fair chance that Mighty Morphin Power Rangers served as prominent figures in your childhood. Saban Entertainment’s superhero story soon spawned an entire entertainment franchise, and the IP still resonates with people today thanks to merchandise and the like. And while Lionsgate has picked up the Rangers’ film rights ahead of a 2016 release, acclaimed filmmaker Joseph Kahn today unveiled a gritty, R-rated interpretation of the source material.
With stunning special effects, Tarantino-like fight sequences and a wonderful attention to detail, Kahn’s rendition of the Power Rangers is something to behold. Heck, it even features a cameo from Rita Repulsa. You can check out the edited version of the footage in question above, or the NSFW copy through the director’s Vimeo page.
Shortly after the release of the non-profit short film, Hitfix caught up with Kahn to talk about his approach to the beloved property, and how he preferred his own low-key, water-tight tactic in lieu of a studio approach laden with an eye-watering budget.
“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. The irony here is that I wouldn’t even want to make “Power Rangers: The Movie’ for real. Like if I had to make a ‘Power Rangers’ movie, this is it. It’s 14 minutes long and it’s violent and this is what I have in me. If they offered me the 200 million version, the PG-13 version, I literally wouldn’t do it. It’s just not interesting to me.”
Kahn’s Power Rangers short features appearances from Katee Sackhoff (Kimberly/Pink), James Van Der Beek (Rocky), Russ Bain (Tommy/Green), Will Yun Lee (General Klank), Gichi Gamba (Zack/Black).
Tell us, did you enjoy the footage as much as we did? Let us know below.
