Customer Reviews

Power Rangers SPD - Joining Forces (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let me start this review off by saying that if you've been disappointed in the past with the lack of Power Rangers DVDs, their content, and the quality, you have no need to fear any longer.

The plot: The year is 2020 and Earth is now home to humans and aliens alike. While 99% of the aliens live in peace, there's always 1% that can't. To deal with them, Earth enlists the help of a "Galactic Police Group" known as S.P.D., or "Space Patrol Delta." Early on S.P.D. is faced by an invasion force, and sends their A-Squad to the front lines, leaving only their B-Squad cadets to defend Earth.

As one would assume, the B-Squad Cadets are then given Ranger powers and the real story begins...

The show is well done from both a technical and artistic point of view, especially for a Power Rangers series. In the first episode simply titled "Beginnings" which is an hour long, we see three cadets who are still green behind the ears. These guys are not your perfect little Power Rangers the way they were in the older shows. One is fairly nervous, one is a bit ditzy, and one is naïve and obnoxiously arrogant. Likewise the final two Power Rangers aren't even your standard "goody-goody civilians" as in past years - they're street thieves! Clearly this group has its' vices, and they make the character's seem more realistic.

Following "Beginnings" (a 2-part episode) we see episode #3 which is called "Confronted." This episode is probably one of the weaker entries into the series, but it does have some high points, such as the Red and Blue Rangers' constantly locking heads. I mentioned an arrogant and naïve character before; that's Sky, the Blue Ranger. While his counterpart in Red isn't quite perfect either, he's far less obnoxious.

The next episode is called "Walls." While I find the episode interesting, and highly enjoyable, I repetitively find myself wanting to scream the words "SHUT UP SKY!" at my TV. Apparently this was the director's intent as the final scene of this episode has him scrubbing the outside of the Ranger's base with a toothbrush a la boot camp. I enjoyed that scene quite a lot, especially after Sky's constant kvetching about not being the Red Ranger.

The last episode on the disc is titled "Dogged." While it had the potential to be the worst episode of the season, it's just the opposite. It's funny, it's tragic, and it's one of the most well filmed and well-written episodes in the shows' history. The moral too the story is done in a very subtle way and looks more like a plot from "Star Trek" than from Power Rangers.

Technical Features: The menus on this DVD are better than that of past Power Rangers DVDs. Last season's menus were probably the worst I've seen in awhile. Disney owed us and they came through. The motion menus on this disc rival those of major motion pictures, including the new Star Wars Trilogy DVD Box. The average DVD Collector would be pleased.
In addition the Disc is encoded with Dolby Surround Sound. Playback on my TV through an S-Video cable using 4.1 THX Certified Speakers really pulls the surround sound to the foreground and shows how well this disc was made.

Extras: If you bought the early Power Rangers Ninja Storm DVDs, you probably scoffed at the extras, which were a bit of a joke, even for the target demographic. If you bought the Power Rangers Dino Thunder DVDs you probably felt the same way and wondered why two episodes of the previous season were deemed "extras" rather than a new disc. With Power Rangers S. P. D. however, the extras are pretty good. The first is based on those old "Join the ARMY" PSAs, and relates to joining S. P. D. - Disney includes a website URL for anyone interested. This is fairly humorous and I confess, I did enjoy it. The second extra is a "Zord Simulator," which is similar to an arcade style video game. Most people will probably complain that we still don't have deleted scenes, or "standard" extras, but given the target audience, this is probably a nice extra, and it beats the Dino Thunder virtual trading cards that couldn't be traded with anyone.

Packaging:
This is admittedly this DVDs weak spot; the packaging isn't even on par with what some fans have done for their collections. It looks like a five minute Photoshop job and for such a well-done DVD I would have expected better. In addition my first copy of this Disc (I purchased two of them.) was loose in its' case, a common problem with Buena Vista Home Entertainment DVDs. Especially Power Rangers DVDs which I've had to return on five occasions due to the disc not being pushed all the way into the center hub and being scratch upon purchase. Disney should fix this on future releases. Shake the case when you get the disc or you may find a nasty surprise when it's all scratched up as you open it. (Disney will replace the Discs for free though if you call them and pay for the shipping as well so it's not so much a loss as it is a nuisance.)

Additional notes:
When watching this DVD, long-time Power Rangers fans should be ready to look for some serious "in-jokes" - younger fans will appreciate them too if they view the Power Rangers Generations block on ABC Family. Here are a few things to watch out for:

- The A-Squad Power Rangers have the helmets from Power Rangers in Space with a slight modification made to them.
- Fans of the shows' Japanese counterpart will recognize the character of "Doggie Cruger" as a nod to his Japanese counterpart, "Doggie Kruger."
- The same man who wrote the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers theme song, Ron Aaron Wasserman, composed the theme song.

The Good: Five episodes on the first DVD for once. The show is excellent, and the DVD is better than I expected.

The Bad: Disney is still making "Mini-movies" rather than standard episode. The opening and ending credits have been lifted from every episode with the exception of Beginnings (opening credits) and Dogged (ending credits) having one set of credits. This is really a style issue, but it annoys me.

The Ugly: A packaging issue that has been a problem since Prelude to a Storm was release is still plaguing Power Rangers DVDs. I seriously hope Disney is trying to fix this, as it's a pretty common flaw.

Final verdict: If you're a Power Rangers fan, buy this DVD. If you're a parent, you won't be disappointed and you may find yourself enjoying this disc as well. DVD Collectors will most certainly have mixed feelings on this disc though, while young children and teenagers will most likely enjoy it. This is the best Power Rangers DVD release to date, satisfying younger and older fans alike. If you like this series, I recommend checking out Power Rangers Time Force which amazon.com also has for sale. It's only on VHS, but it's similar in style to Power Rangers S.P.D.

As far as Power Ranger movies go, this one ranks right up there......according to my 5 year old son. If you need to get the dishes, laundry or cleaning done, this one will keep your son glued to the tv for at least an hour! I'm not really a fan, but he is and it is one thing that I know will keep him occupied with no complaints!

Volume 1 of Power Rangers SPD is really good and I was surpirsed by all of the episdoes that were on it. I have seen all 36 episodes of the Japaneese version for sale in a nice box set for $99.95 and even Abbaranger which is the Japaneese version of Dino Thunder is all 32 of it;s episodes for $59.95. To be honest I like the 13th season of Power Rangers pretty good but I have one thing that I wish the dvd had and that is the final episode of Dino Thunder it was one of the best season finales and I wish it had gotten on to the dvd.

I hope this review has been somewhat helpful and have a good day.

I remember when I was a kid, the Power Rangers were incredibly popular. The monsters, fight scenes, villains, costumes, what wasn't to like? Then, the show went into over time. Zeo, Turbo, Space, Lost Galaxy, Time Force, and more came. Soon, the show became even bigger. But then, the quality decreases. I viewed Ninja Storm and Wild Force to see why people younger now like it less. I could see why. The characters were no longer interesting, they tried to be more violent with the thirty minute time, but always looked silly. And unlike the really awesome Lord Zedd, these new villains were incredibly bad(an evil wrestler a villain does not make). So I just forgot all about the series until the next one, Dino Thunder, got promising reviews. So I saw it. Surprisingly, Dino Thunder was fairly good. So, I was ready for SPD. The costumes looked amazing, the idea of humans and aliens was neat, and the fight scenes looked like they'd be cool. So, then the anticipated series appears. It begins well enough, but then becomes a cheesy and dull saga. Piggy had no reason to be there, since he was as annoying as the irritating Boom. Grum was pathetic compared to ACTUAL villains, sadly leaving Broodwing little screentime. Though Sid and Z were, may I say, hot, they were not that impressive in character. The retro music got old fast as it was reused. The action started off incredibly but then became the dreaded "same old thing".
So overall, this saga just shows how bad the series got after a while. At least this new series, Mystic Force, is showing progress over the dark ages of SPD.

The all new 13th year of Power Rangers (USA) is finally starting on ABC Kids on February 26th 2005. This now marks the 3rd Incarnation for ABC Kids. Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta will be adapted from the Japan Super Task Force show Special Investigations Task Force Detective Ranger.

The main five Ranger Uniforms will carry over to the USA show as will the Morphing call "Emergancy : Detective Ranger" The USA version will be "S.P.D. : Emergancy"

The First group of Zords will be the Delta Runners which will show up in the 3rd Eppisode of the USA Adaption of Detective Ranger.

Another carry over from Japan's Detective Ranger will be Doggie Kruger known in the USA Adaption as Anibus Doggie Crugger the Shadow Ranger.

In Japan Doggie was known as Detective Master.

Two more possabilities are :

Detective Bright who will be adapted for Space Patrol Delta as Black SPD Ranger

The second which will show up later this year is Detective Break who for Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta as White Ranger

This brings the Ranger Team to seven for the main Rangers.

The Yellow Space Patrol Delta Ranger looks like the Yellow Detective Ranger with her hair style. (Interesting)

The Ranger Team for 2005 :

Shadow Ranger (Detective Master In Japan)
Red
Green
Blue
Yellow
Pink
Black (Detective Bright In Japan)
White (Detective Break In Japan)

Zord Group 1 :
Delta Runners

Megazord Formation 1 :
Unknown At The Moment

City Name For Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta :
New Tech City

Year setting for Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta :
2020

That's all for the moment.

yes go review but dont opening the dvd power rangers bye