Every Power Rangers Movie, Ranked by Letterboxd

Ever since the Power Rangers franchise made its grand appearance on television in 1993 with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, it's been one of the leading children's series of all time. Because of the massive success and popularity it garnered throughout the years, it's earned itself a good couple of movies — theatrical and straight-to-DVD. While they haven't been around in film much since their last outing in 2017, there are still four flicks that are worth a watch (mostly) for a good throwback.

While it's up in the air if it'll ever come back in movies, fans of the series have some available that are... well, something — not horribly reviewed, but not great either. What do fans truly think of them, though? The best place to look for information on that is none other than Letterboxd, pretty much the best spot to see what people's truly honest reactions to projects are. While, for the most part, thoughts aren't great all around, there's still always something to love about Power Rangers movies in some way, shape, or form. Regardless of their (sometimes many) failings.

4 'Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie' (1997)

Letterboxd Score: 2.4/5.0 (40 Fans)

Power Rangers Turbo as a whole wasn't a super popular season of the show, as it is, so it makes sense that the movie it got wasn't greatly received either. One of its biggest sins just so happens to be the lack of what makes the series everything it is: morphin — as best described by adambolt on Letterboxd: "is there a lore reason why they take 50 minutes to morph". There is such a lack of it in this movie that it's one of the most common complaints that people have about the movie. How could one have a Power Rangers film without morphin?

That alone pretty much explains the quality of this movie as a whole. It's a really dumb plot, but not in a fun way, but in a hard-to-watch way. Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is the perfect example of what not to do when making a Power Rangers movie. The lack of morphin (while it may work in another Power Rangers film project) does not work here and only makes the terrible plot feel worse than it already does, which is saying a lot. This doesn't add much great positive press for a series that already had a mixed reception in the first place. This left Power Rangers Turbo, as a whole, feeling pretty "mid" in people's minds, when it honestly may have been able to be saved if the movie genuinely was great.

3 'Power Rangers' (2017)

Letterboxd Score: 2.5/5.0 (372 Fans)

After many, many years of Power Rangers being absent from the Hollywood film space, they made their big comeback in 2017's Power Rangers, which sought to redefine the franchise into something a little more mature and emotionally complex. Jorge on Letterboxd even called it, "man of steel for power rangers". Despite the incredibly average reviews, there's a big group of people who believe that this movie never got the attention that it deserved, and was hit with criticism from people who were expecting something else out of the movie — something they were never going to get.

Much like Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, the Rangers here take almost the entire movie to morph, but unlike the 1997 project, it surprisingly works here (for most). The team really has to earn the morphs by completing their character arcs, which keeps the transformations feeling earned and satisfying. There was a franchise planned, but due to mixed reviews upon the release of the film, the franchise never got to see the light of day. There was a lot of potential here, but nothing ever came of it, unfortunately. Had they gotten the chance to move forward and continue to expand on this world, there's a good chance that it could have become a pretty legendary film franchise.

2 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie' (1995)

Letterboxd Score: 2.8/5.0

It only makes sense that, due to its massive popularity, the first series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, got its own movie. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is an interesting case when it comes to transitioning a franchise from television to film. The typical suits they wear went through a major change, as the designs stayed pretty much the same, but the material making them up completely shifted to a more rubbery/leathery type. They're bulkier and shinier. Some see this as kind of cool, but others see it as completely unnecessary. The plot within Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is interesting. It feels like one long episode of the television series, but not in the best way. It feels pretty weak, but still appeals to children who love the series, which is what they really were aiming for, at the end of the day.

It must be acknowledged, though, that there are obviously still fans of the series that are older, and the whole "it's intended mainly for kids" thing isn't as valid as some would think. It's hard to see a world where this would be considered better than the live-action adaptation, but the people have certainly spoken... even if out of nostalgia. A great example lies within Richard T's review, in which, after calling the movie bad, he says, "I can't think of a more entertaining time I've had watching a film of this nature. I bought it for a friend for his birthday and as we watched with his brother and another friend, I could only think it was the best birthday present I have ever given. If I was to describe it in a sentence, it would be great entertainment that I will enjoy revisiting for many years to come."

1 'Power Rangers Samurai: Clash of the Red Rangers - The Movie' (2011)

Letterboxd Score: 2.9.5.0 (16 Fans)

Despite being a season with more mixed reviews than positive, Power Rangers Samurai has somehow come out on top on Letterboxd in terms of providing a good movie. Not many points higher than Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, this flick finds a lot of praise in the fact that it crosses over with the Red Ranger from the one and only Power Rangers RPM, a totally underrated classic. So, nostalgia may be a big factor in the success of Power Rangers Samurai: Clash of the Red Rangers - The Movie, but that doesn't make the ratings of the project any less legitimate.

While it could be considered just a television special of Power Rangers Samurai, this project does a great job bringing these two seasons together. But it's not perfect, as no Power Rangers flick is. The disdain some have for Power Rangers Samurai holds it back a bit, but still keeps the positives intact (mostly), as described in chuchi_ventura's review: "I hate samurai, but this crossover cooked". It seems like the fact that it's a crossover helped it out, but that doesn't stop the story from simply being an episode of the series, just longer. Some also note that the writing for RPM's Red Ranger, Scott Truman (Eka Darville), is out of character for him, which could be the result of the Nickelodeon writers simply not understanding how this Disney Era Ranger was supposed to be.