Mighty Morphin Power Rangers “Master Vile and the Metallic Armor 1-3”

Written by: Mark Litton
Directed by: Robert Radler

The transition from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers into Power Rangers Zeo begins with this mini-series. This mini-series introduces Master Vile, Father to Rita Repulsa and Rito Revolto. This also introduces the Metallic Armor power up, despite the armor not being used very often in the remaining episodes of the season. Still, this mini series is full of incredible action, sensational zord battles, and uses a ton of Kakuranger Sentai footage.
The story begins with the rangers riding horses on a beautiful day in Angel Grove. Lt. Stone is sponsoring the event which means Bulk and Skull have to tag along despite their fear of riding on horseback. Suddenly, a surge of pure evil arrives at Rita and Zedd’s lunar palace. The sky quickly darkens and the rangers must teleport to the command center at once. At the lunar palace, Lord Zedd demands the intruder leave his throne room while Rita announces that this isn’t just any villain, this is her father Master Vile. Vile is furious that Rita has married Lord Zedd, stating, “Why couldn’t you have married someone with a skull!” Vile quickly takes control promising to destroy the rangers for good. He calls upon his Skull sky base and instructs Squatt and Babboo to feed the Tenga Warriors a special root that will make them unstoppable.
At the command center, Zordon tells his team that a being of pure evil has arrived on the moon. The rangers quickly meet Master Vile while looking at the viewing globe. Zordon states that Vile is the father of Rita and Rito and he has been conquering other galaxies many light years away. Adam is getting tired of Rita’s family stating, “Some family tree. First Rito and now this!” To combat this new threat, the rangers are given their new metallic armor. The metallic armor is basically a shiny gloss like material sprayed onto the regular ranger costumes. The armor will make the rangers unbeatable, but it must be used in only emergency situations. Suddenly, the Tenga Warriors begin their attack and the rangers quickly morph into action. The rangers are quickly surprised at the new strength and savagery the Tenga warriors posses. Tommy instructs his team to activate the metallic armor, and with their new armor the Tenga Warriors are defeated. Master Vile isn’t about to quit and creates his first monster, the Blue Globber. Vile instructs Globber to begin attacking Angel Grove. Back at the command center, Zordon tells his rangers that Master Vile is after the Zeo Crystal. The Zeo Crystal is a source on unlimited power and Vile must not get his hands on it. The Zeo Crystal is stored in the Caves of Deception under Zedd’s lunar fortress. Still, the Zeo Crystal is not unprotected. An energy field surrounds the Zeo Crystal and it will destroy anyone with even an ounce of evil within them. Any person who once committed an act of evil will be destroyed by the crystal’s force field. Tommy volunteers to go after the Zeo Crystal and Kat decides to join him. She is going to pretend to be evil once again in order for Tommy to get into the caves of deception unnoticed. The two morph and teleport to the Lunar Palace and Katherine removes her helmet and tells Rita and Zedd she wants to become evil once again. Tommy sneaks off to the caves of deception and Zedd tricks Kat into stepping into a device that will turn her evil once and for all.
Back on Earth, the other rangers call upon their Shogun Zords and combat the Blue Globber. The Globber drains the Shogun Megazord of its energy and Billy creates a device that will allow the rangers to summon their Ninja Zords. The Ninja Megazord doesn’t fare any better as the Globber drains the Ninja Megazord of its powers as well. Ninjor shows up to help the rangers but Globber is ready for him. The Globber drains Ninjor’s powers and takes Ninjor prisoner. What’s worse, the rangers can’t hit the Globber without endangering Ninjor. Since Ninjor is now connected to the Blue Globber all damage inflicted on the monster will also damage Ninjor himself. Master Vile watches the battle from his Skull Base and Lord Zedd can’t believe that Rita’s father is actually winning!
In the Caves of Deception Tommy faces many illusions as he nears the Zeo Crystal. Tommy confronts the following illusions on his quest: Goldar, his fellow rangers (who claim to have lost and decide to work for Master Vile) the Green Ranger (a very cool cameo) Rita Repulsa, Master Vile and eventually Katherine. Tommy reaches for the Zeo crystal but the force field attacks his body. For those not keeping score, Tommy was evil for a brief period. Clips are shown of evil green ranger Tommy from the Green With Evil mini-series from season one, followed by clips of Tommy fighting the good fight as the Green and White ranger. Due to the goodness in his heart, Tommy retrieves the Zeo Crystal. He teleports inside Rita and Zedd’s throne room and saves Katherine along with the captured Falcon Zord. Katherine and Tommy morph back into action, store the Zeo Crystal inside the falcon zord and show up to help their friends. With the Falcon Zord entering the game, the Blue Globber is caught off guard and things seem to be looking up for our heroes.
Master Vile isn’t done yet and the rangers realize they can’t keep fighting Globber as long as Ninjor is placed in danger. Globber finally drains all the zords of their powers and the rangers are kicked out of their own zords. Master Vile sends the zords to the distant planet in the galaxy he ruled over. The atmosphere of this planet creates a layer of corrosive rust that covers the now powerless zords. To make things even worse, Master Vile now has the Zeo Crystal! The Blue Globber then proceeds to drain the rangers of their powers. Tommy instructs his team to call upon the metallic armor; thus the rangers are able to escape. On his Skull airbase, Master Vile and the villains are celebrating their victory. Lord Zedd is clearly unhappy with the outcome of the battle. Zedd is sitting in a chair and very frustrated that Master Vile has defeated the rangers with such little effort. Rita and Rito tell Zedd to cheer up, and Master Vile decides to throw an end of the world party at Ernie’s Juice Bar. At the juice bar, Ernie and Bulk and Skull wonder where the rangers are when Master Vile arrives with his alien army. Master Vile tells the people of Angel Grove that this is the end of the world party. Zedd even joins in the festivities, despite still being bitter that Vile has won so easily. Another thing that is important about this scene is that this is the first time Bulk and Skull actually come face to face with Rita and Zedd. This will later be referenced in the 10th anniversary special, “Forever Red.”
At the command center, the rangers feel drained. Alpha constructs a device to re-energize the rangers. The rangers realize they must get their zords back, save Ninjor, re-claim the Zeo Crystal and stop Master Vile. While Billy, Adam, and Aisha begin to search for the zords, Tommy, Rocky and Kat go to the Juice Bar. At the Juice Bar, Bulk and Skull tell their friends they are really worried about the rangers and Goldar tells the rangers that there is no reason to fight any more since evil has won. Tommy, Rocky and Kat are instructed to return to the command center since Billy has found where the zords are. The rangers all morph back into action and teleport to the alien planet. On the planet, Billy tells the rangers to use their blade blasters to get through the layer of corrosive rust covering the Megazord. This allows the rangers to enter the Megazord. In the heart of the Megazord all six rangers summon the strength from the morphin grid and re-energize their zords. With the zords back in action the rangers return to Earth and prepare to save their world.
Master Vile once again sends Globber to confront the Zords. This time Globber uses the ranger’s own energy that he drained from them in part two. Notice in the sentai footage that the Alien Rangers helmets appear on the Blue Globber. For those who don’t know, the Kakurangers (alien rangers) were the core team in the Kakuranger series, not the Zyurangers (the MMPR power suits). That is why the ranger power helmets that appear on the Blue Globber look different. The rangers realize they must stop Blue Globber once and for all despite putting Ninjor in danger. Just as luck would have it, Ninjor escapes from Vile’s Skull Base and joins the rangers in battle. Master Vile grows angry and decides to grow to giant size and help Globber out. Ron Wasserman’s incredible rendition of the MMPR extended theme plays in the background during this fight. This helps show the severity of the battle and also enforces that the rangers will never give up despite impossible odds. Blue Globber is eventually destroyed and Ninjor is out of danger. Master Vile isn’t finished though and the final fight begins. Vile states, “Monsters may come and go but I Master Vile am here to stay!” Tommy then replies from his Falconzord, “Time to show you how it’s done, Master Vile!” and the rangers summon all their powers to send Master Vile running. The rangers once again gain control of the Zeo Crystal and Vile swears revenge.
In a deserted field, the rangers prepare to split the Zeo Crystal up into five sub sections. The rangers realize they need extra protection they summon the metallic armor. Zordon sends the pieces through a time stream, hiding all the pieces in various locations throughout time and space. By splitting the Zeo Crystal up no one can ever find the crystal and reassemble it. This plot really comes into play in the Mighty Morphin Alien Ranger 10-part mini-series not to far down the road.
With the Earth safe once more, the ranger teens finish their horseback riding event. Bulk and Skull still dread riding on horseback, and the Earth is safe once more.
Thoughts/Comments:
If any of you guys talk to Chris or Omar or Melanie they will tell you that I love the PR Zeo series. I absolutely love it! I mean, I even made Omar, Melanie, Tommy and Manuel all do the Zeo group morph at a bar on my birthday!(I was Zeo Ranger Five) When this mini series first aired I had no clue that the huge transition from MMPR to Zeo was about to occur. I didn’t think the Zeo Crystal would ever reappear and it’s really cool the writers started dropping hints with this mini-series. I love how the full, extended version of “Go Go Power Rangers” plays during the final Zord Fight in part three. I also enjoyed the evil Green Ranger’s cameo in the Caves of Deception. Also, this mini-series was where Bulk and Skull first meet Rita and Zedd. All in all, this is a historic moment in ranger history and I give all three parts a solid A+. I just wish MMPR DVD sets would be released, my copy of this I taped on VHS years ago is old and kind of static in quality. Still, this mini-series is a lot of fun and a great set up for the Power Rangers Zeo series.

South Park: The Imagination Land Trilogy DVD Review

I know South Park really isn’t about heroes, but this mini movie had so many hero and villain cameos I couldn’t wait to review it. Before starting, yes I just bought this DVD on Friday and I don’t have cable at my house so I know many of you have probably already watched this movie. But I’m late to the party and I’m also going to talk about the extras on the DVD itself.

The plot of this mini movie goes like this: Kyle loses a bet when Cartman proves a Leprechaun does exist. Kyle now has to suck Cartman’s balls. This is really the central theme of all three episodes but the setting of this story takes place mostly in Imagination Land. I don’t want to type out Imagination Land every time in this review, so I’m going to refer to it as IM (remember, this doesn’t stand for Iron Man or anything like that). So the after losing the bet to Cartman, Kyle and crew are approached by the mayor of IM in his magical balloon. Kyle, Stan, Kenny, Butters, Jimmy and more decide to follow go with the mayor and enter IM. Butters fears the mayor will rape them, but that is no the case. After singing a terrible song, the mayor and boys enter IM. We are first introduced to the good characters of IM. Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears, Orko from He-Man, Snarf, Lollipop Land thing, and others reside here. Jimmy has one of the best lines of the entire story when meeting the citizens of IM: “This is incredible, and completely fucked up at the same time!” The mayor brings the boys down and they mention how they met the Leprechaun from the beginning of the episode. The Leprechaun told them terrorists were going to attack IM, but before the boys can tell the citizens of IM the message the terrorists actually attack IM. Many IM characters are killed, and the boys escape but Butters is captured and left behind.

The next morning the Stan and Kyle realize they had the same dream, and Mr. and Mrs. Stotch tell everyone Butters is missing. In IM, a huge rocket thing that is alive is used to destroy the barrier separating the good IM land characters from the bad ones. The forces of evil pour through and begin to kill even more IM characters. Some of the evil Im characters include: Predator, Alien, Storm Troopers, Joker, Darth Maul, Jason from Friday the Thirteenth, Freddy Kruger, Carnage, the Woodland Critters (from season 8’s Woodland Critter Christmas) and the first appearance of the true Manbearpig. Butters escapes with Snarf and Lollipop land guy and head for the magical castle outside the gumdrop forest. Back in our world, Kyle is about to suck Cartman’s balls when the government comes and takes Stan and Kyle to the pentagon. The government witnessed the video of Butters asking for Stan and Kyle to help him, so the boys must remember the exact chords to the IM song to open the government’s own IM doorway portal. Cartman is very pissed at this since he has gone to court and received a document declaring Kyle must suck his balls before the next 24 hours are up.

The evil IM characters torture Strawberry Shortcake. She has an eye cut out and the Woodland Critters want to pee in her eye to give her AIDS and make he suffer a slow death (yes, that is exactly what they say to her) while Butters, Snarf and Lollipop guy try to stay quiet. Back in our reality, the government sends Kurt Russell through the now opened doorway to IM with other government troopers. In IM, Kurt and the soldiers run into the Woodland Critters and the Critters begin to rape and kill Kurt and crew. Cartman makes his way to the Pentagon and shows the government the court order, thus Kyle and Cartman are sent to a room so Kyle can finally suck Cartman’s balls. Kyle wants to get it over with, but Cartman doesn’t want to rush this and gets some thrill from Kyle’s suffering.

Back in IM, Butters and crew meet the imaginary council of nine at the castle. The nine consists of the best imaginary characters ever. Some of the nine include Aslan the Lion, Morpheus from the Matrix, Popeye, Wonder Woman, and even Jesus himself (Melanie didn’t care for that when I told her and Omar about the council) and Butters realizes he is the key to saving IM. He is from our world so anything he imagines will come true. However, Butters is nervous and can’t seem to imagine Santa Claus. The council needs Santa as the evil IM characters storm the castle for the final battle. At the pentagon, Manbearpig breaks through the barrier getting the attention of Al Gore. Al shows the video to everyone, and at the pentagon Kyle and Cartman are told to report to the main lab by the IM doorway. Cartman is pissed and Manbearpig is sent back through the portal. The government realizes they must now nuke our very own imagination to stop other characters from entering our world.

Back in IM, the battle of good vs. evil explodes. Have you all hear the song “The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny?” If so, this is almost that song brought to animated life. Optimus Prime and other characters show up to fight for the forces of good. But without Santa Clause the evil forces will prevail. In the battle Popeye is raped by the Woodland Critters, Jesus is losing to the Alien, countless characters fall, and there isn’t a power ranger in sight to help the forces of good. Butters finally imagines Santa being there, and he then uses his imagination to give Popeye more spinach which helps him defeat the woodland critters, while Jesus is given a huge gun to take down the alien.

Just as things look like they will work out, the doorway at the pentagon opens up and sucks Kyle, Stan, the government, and the nuclear missile right on top of IM. Everything is blown up and destroyed.

The screen goes white and Butters appears. He uses his imagination to undo all the damage caused by the terrorists and evil characters. He also brings everyone back to life and things are back to normal. However, Cartman learns that if he uses his imagination he can create anything while staying in IM. He imagines Kyle really going to town on his balls, and everyone laughs at Kyle. Back in reality, Butters wakes up in his room and is grounded by his parents for not helping his mom clean out the basement.

Thoughts/Comments:
This DVD is a must for any South Park fan. Not only is the DVD uncensored, but Matt and Trey do a super long commentary on the mini movie. They usually only do commentary minis on South Park DVD episodes, but they did a great job talking about this story. They even considered this being a theatrical release for a while, the story itself was supposed to be five episodes long at one point. I would have loved to have seen this in theaters since the story was much better than the original South Park movie. Bonus features on the DVD also include the episodes “Woodland Critter Christmas” and “Manbearpig.” All in all, this DVD was a lot of fun and deserves a solid A. Go pick it up, it’s great to pause the scenes with all the IM characters.