Buena Vista // 2007 // 161 Minutes // Not Rated
Reviewed by Judge David Johnson // February 20th, 2008
"Leave my mother out of this!"
-- Kamdor
Volume 5 brings the final seven episodes of the Operation Overdrive saga. Fight back those tears!
"Red Ranger Unplugged"
The Rangers square off with a female
dog-monster named Crazar, an enemy the Mercury Ranger appears to have an
intimate knowledge of. But that's not the worst of it -- some sinister magic
leads to Ranger clones, forcing our heroes to battle themselves. Meanwhile the
Red Ranger is grappling with the news of his true identity and embarks on a
voyage of self-discovery.
* "Home and Away, Part 1"
The Fearcats are on the march and
have secured something called the Octavian Chalice, which they're hoping to use
to become all-powerful (shocker). The Rangers will have to defeat them without
the help of the Mercury Ranger, who finds himself on a wacky flashback trip,
reunited with his formerly dead girlfriend.
* "Home and Away, Part II"
Having received a major
trouncing at the hands of the Fearcats, now juiced up on the powers of the
Octavian Chalice, the Power Rangers crawl back to home base and work on their
dilapidated Zords. Will the Mercury Ranger find his way back to Earth in time to
help his hopelessly overmatched pals?
* "Way Back When"
The Rangers forget what the heck's been
going on for the past few months and decide to catch up on the details.
Translation: lame clip show!
* "Two Fallen Foes"
The Rangers can almost smell the
remaining jewels for their magic Corona crown and head off to Greece with the
Chalice and unleash a series of special effects to find out the where the jewels
are. Then one of the bad guys turns into a humongous blue jay.
* "Nothing to Lose"
The forces of evil are dropping like
flies and Moltor decides to bring the fight to the Rangers. But how to retrieve
the crown from Moltor's lair, an active volcano that -- as Spencer the helpful
butler notes -- is uninhabitable for humans? Send in the Red Ranger for the
mother of all one-on-one fights! With Moltor weakened and desperate, he
reluctantly asks his brother Flurious to help. but Flurious a dick and betrays
him and ends up with the crown and the Mercury Ranger's girlfriend and -- it's
on!
* "Crown and Punishment"
The Rangers locate the final
jewel, but Flurious shows up at their headquarters uninvited and manages to
escape with the fully-jeweled Corona crown, setting up the final confrontation
for the fate of the world.
And that's all, folks. After five volumes worth of screaming and hyperactive martial arts and lumbering plastic nightmares and obtuse storytelling and plot devices and more pyrotechnics than all Whitesnake concerts put together, the tales of the Operation Overdrive Power Rangers have come to an end. There's enough brain-blistering sensory overload to wire the young viewers, and, combined with a steady infusion of chocolate cereal, possibly generate a clean, renewable energy source.
As ludicrous and cheesy as the series is, I have to confess, I kind of enjoyed it. And if I were 9 years old, I'd probably think it was the greatest thing ever. The series wraps up predictably (the Pinocchio comparisons will be unavoidable), but satisfactorily.
Full frame and 2.0 stereo continue to be the technical specs and a featurette on the Rangers' life lessons and the final installment of the interactive trivia-based "training course" game complete the extras.
Review content copyright © 2008 David Johnson; Site layout and review format copyright © 1998 - 2013 HipClick Designs LLC
Scales of Justice
Judgment: 80
Perp Profile
Studio: Buena Vista
Video Formats:
* Full Frame
Audio Formats:
* Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (English)
Subtitles:
* English
Running Time: 161 Minutes
Release Year: 2007
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Marks
* Featurette
* Trivia Game
Accomplices
* IMDb
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0784920/combined
* DVD Verdict Review - Volume 1
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/powerdrivev1.php
* DVD Verdict Review - Volume 2
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/powerdrivev2.php
* DVD Verdict Review - Volume 3
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/powerdrivev3.php
* DVD Verdict Review - Volume 4
http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/powerdrivev4.php