Good Acting Seasons in Power Rangers

Most Power Rangers seasons have acting that ranges from average to mediocre, or in Samurai's case, just plain terrible. However, there have been a handful of seasons that have had descent and even good acting. Here are the seasons, in no particular order, that have descent to good acting.

Power Rangers Time Force


Time Force is considered by many to be the most well-acted series ever in Power Rangers, and with good reason. Strong performances were put on by its two leads, Jason Faunt (who played Wes) and Erin Cahill (who played Jen). Also adding to their acting talents were two Hollywood actors Edward Albert (who played the Wes's father) and Vernon Wells (who played the main villain Ransik). I also feel Daniel Southworth, who played Eric Meyers, put on a good performance as well. However, I feel that this series tends to get overrated by many due to lacking in character development for half the cast and copying most of its story from Timeranger.

Power Rangers Ninja Storm


Many power ranger fans tend to credit Ninja Storm for having good acting. I personally think the acting in this season is a bit overrated. Perhaps it's overrated because it's one of the few Disney era seasons where there is very little accent slippage from the New Zealand actors. It's not bad. I did like the performances by Jason Chan (Cam), Sally Martin (Tori), and Grant McFarland (who played both sensei-Watanabe and Lothor). The rest, however, I felt were fairly average.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder


Dino Thunder is another season that tends to get credit for good acting. There were some good actors like James Napier (even though his character, Connor, is a dimwit), Emma Lahana (who can sing as well), and Jeffrey Parazzo(who played Trent).

Power Rangers SPD


SPD is another season that gets a lot of praise for good acting. It was also the last season before Samurai to use mostly North American actors. There were good performances from the entire cast, although personally I don't think they had the same charm as their Dekaranger counterparts. Despite the excellent acting in SPD, the series had some writing problems, particularly with the Omega Ranger scenario and pacing issues with many filler episodes taking place during the middle of the season.

Power Rangers RPM


RPM I think had the best acting of any series. The core 5 members all put on solid performances, as well as some of the supporting characters such as Dr. K (played by Olivia Tennet) and Colonel Trueman (played by James Gaylyn). Personally, I think the best performances were put on by Milo Cawthorne (Ziggy) who was great in a comedic role, and Ari Boyland (Flynn) who showed a very convincing Scottish accent.

My Top 10 Power Rangers Theme Songs

Although not a top 10 list, in the past I shared my favorite Sentai Opening theme songs. I probably need to update that list, but that will come another time. In the mean time, I'll share my top 10 favorite Power Rangers theme songs. Enjoy.

10. Power Rangers RPM

A lot of Power Ranger fans hate this song, but I actually like it. It has a nice heavy metal beat (which is saying something since I'm not a fan of heavy metal). I personally like it better than the song it was picked over, which again is opposite of most Power Ranger fans. The rest of the background music on RPM however, can take a hike.

9. Power Rangers Zeo


The Zeo theme song was a cool song in a line of Zordon Era cool/awesome music. What was really cool about it was having "go go Power Rangers" in the lyrics.

8. Power Rangers Turbo


While Turbo sucks as a show (mostly the first 20 or so episodes and the movie), the theme song was pretty cool. It has a nice rock beat, and I like the lyrics.

7. Power Rangers Lost Galaxy


Another theme song that not too many Power Ranger fans like, but I find really cool. Again, it has a nice rock beat and the lyrics tell a bit of a story.

6. Power Rangers Samurai


Like Turbo, Samurai fits the label of cool theme song, bad show. Truthfully, I hate Samurai more than any other Power Rangers show, but the one thing Samurai does do right is its theme song. The theme song is a remix of the original "Go Go Power Rangers" theme song, with a rock/techno beat that you usually hear in video games. This makes the song awesome.

5. Power Rangers Dino Thunder


The Dino Thunder theme song is another awesome theme song that I love. Some Power Ranger fans don't like it because it was the first theme song not to have the word "go" in it, but as I see it, it doesn't need to. The rock beat is strong and the lyrics are catchy. It has me singing "dino rangers roar, Power Rangers score" all day long.

4. Power Rangers SPD


Just like its Sentai counterpart, Dekaranger, SPD has an awesome theme song to go along with the show. SPD's theme song is fast pace, catchy, and has a good rock beat. Making it even more awesome is it's composed by Ron Wasserman, who's made many awesome Power Rangers theme songs and insert songs.

3. Power Rangers Wild Force


The Wild Force theme song is another awesome creation. While the show's quality is debatable, the song has an awesome fast pace rock beat. It's perhaps the only song to beat Ron Wasserman's music.

2. Power Rangers In Space


The In Space theme song is yet another awesome creation by Ron Wasserman. A catchy theme song to go along with an awesome show. One of the many reasons why Power Rangers In Space is my favorite Power Rangers series.

1. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a.k.a. Go Go Power Rangers


I think everyone knows this song would be on the top of my list. Again, another creation by Ron Wasserman. Strong rock beat, simple yet very catchy lyrics. Even better is its extended version, also by Ron Wasserman, which is really rocking.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder Series Review

Power Rangers Dino Thunder (2004) was adapted from Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, was the 12th installment of Power Rangers. Dino Thunder, while keeping Abaranger's dinosaur motif, had a completely original storyline. In this season, popular character Tommy Olliver returned much to the delight of the power rangers fandom. The series also plays heavily on MMPR nostalgia with Tommy, the dinosaur theme, and teenage characters. Dino Thunder is generally one of the most popular power rangers series due to Tommy's return, as well as a likable cast and solid writing. However, some tend to criticize Dino Thunder as a Disney rip-off of MMPR, as well as for the white ranger clone saga and for Tommy being stuck in morphed form during the middle third of the season. The latter was due to Jason David Frank requesting time off to take care of his dojo in the United States. This is a season that tends to be both overrated and underrated, imo. Many Tommy fans tend to overrate the show just because Tommy is in it while the actual content of the series itself I feel is underrated.

The Good
Tommy serves the mentor position quite well during this series, even though it's odd to think of him having a PHD in Paleontology. However, besides Tommy, Dino Thunder I feel has a good cast. Other solid characters include Trent, Kira, Ethan, and Haley. Also, the acting in Dino Thunder is fairly good, seemingly a rarity in Power Rangers. The villains are solid, particularly Mesogog and Zeltrax. Also, despite Tommy being stuck in morphed form, this actually worked in Dino Thunder's favor. It allowed for some good character development for the other characters while JDF was away. The story was solid, particularly Trent's story with his foster father who happened to be Mesogog. It is a bit of an overused plot but I felt it worked really well here, especially since Tommy had known Trent's father before the series began. Dino Thunder also had a good and enjoyable team-up with Ninja Storm. This series also has one of the better theme songs as well, despite not having the word "go" in it.

The Bad
While most of the characters are solid, Connor imo is one of the most unlikable characters ever in Power Rangers. Connor was the jerkass, annoying, and dumbass all rolled into one. The handling of the White Ranger clone saga wasn't particularly well done. It was a good idea on paper and worked well with the story, but how they handled the Sentai footage was a mess. The other problem was the somewhat anti-climatic final battle.

The Ugly
There's nothing I would really consider ugly about this series.

My Rating
8.5/10- Despite having Connor as one of the more unlikable characters, this series is actually pretty good. I feel all the pros outweigh the cons in this series.

My Favorite Episodes
Episodes 1-2 (Day of the Dino): Solid start to the season.
Episode 4 (Legacy of Power): A clip show of the entire first 11 seasons, and it's Power Rangers' 500th episode.
Episode 5 (Back in Black): Tommy's return as a power ranger.
Episode 6 (Diva in Distress): A kinda cheesy episode but still a solid character development episode for Kira.
Episodes 11-13 (White Thunder): Trent becomes the evil white ranger.
Episode 18 (Bully for Ethan): Good episode for character development and story, despite a chesy ending.
Episode 21 (Copy That): Strong episode involving Trent and his father.
Episode 27 (Fighting Spirit): This one is not only a great episode for Tommy, but the others as well who gather the courage to fight the MOTW without their powers.
Episode 30 (Strange Relations): The end of the White Ranger clone saga, but it ends with a cool battle between the two white rangers.
Episodes 31-32 (Thunder Struck): The Dino Thunder-Ninja Storm team-up.
Episode 36 (A Test of Trust): A clip show, but one that goes over trust issues with Trent as well as the character development the others have received.

Power Rangers Handling of Nostalgia

Since we have two series that are trying to connect to nostalgia (Power Rangers Samurai and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger), I decided to examine how both past and current incarnations of Power Rangers and Super Sentai have handled dealing with nostalgia. I'll analyze Power Rangers first and then analyze Sentai later on in the week.

Power Rangers Wild Force

The first is Power Rangers Wild Force, being Power Rangers' 10th anniversary season. Like its Sentai counterpart, Gaoranger, Wild Force didn't dig deep into the nostalgia factor. The only time it dug deep into nostalgia was with the episode, Forever Red. Forever Red essentially took a short pose of a bunch of red rangers from Gaoranger vs Super Sentai and made it into their own unique episode. While they're were many plot holes in Forever Red, there was some cool things about it. First was the fact that all of the previous red rangers as well as the current one, Cole Evans, united to defeat the remains of the Machine Empire. The fight scenes in the episode were also really awesome. It also had a new version of the Astro Megaship from In Space, as well as an Alpha robot, Alpha 7, that had the voice of Alpha 5 but the body of Alpha 6. It was also cool that many former Power Ranger actors, such as Walter Jones who played Zack, Archie Kao who played Kai, and Catherine Sutherland who played Kat, got roles as voice actors for some of the Machine Empire generals in the episode. I also liked the ending when all the other rangers try to outdo Tommy. However, for me there are two things that really bring the episode down a bit. One, Jason's cockiness. Seriously, he never acted like that during MMPR or Zeo, and suddenly in this one episode they make him look like the biggest asshole in Power Rangers history. The other is the whole Serpentera scenario. First, the CGI Serpentera is terrible, and was a whole lot smaller than the original one was back in MMPR S2. Second, how easily he was defeated by Cole on the Wild Force Rider, which is pretty dumb considering this thing was easily 10 times the size of any zord and once destroyed an entire planet. For me, while Forever Red is a good episode, it feels a bit rush and would have been better as a two parter, like it originally was planned to be.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder

Among all the Power Ranger seasons that attempted to tackle nostalgia I think Dino Thunder handles the best. The obvious was bringing Tommy back to serve as a mentor. Unlike MMPR S2, where he seemed too powerful, he wasn't given too much focus in Dino Thunder. Dino Thunder I felt did a better job of developing the characters around Tommy than MMPR S2, but that's besides the point. Besides Tommy, Dino Thunder takes advantage of MMPR nostalgia with the dinosaur theme. Abaranger was the perfect Sentai to adapt for MMPR nostalgia. The red ranger had a T-rex zord, the blue ranger a Triceratops zord, Kira, the lone female ranger, had a Pterodactyl zord, and Tommy's Brachio Zord is reminiscent of Titanus. The characters except for Tommy, are all teenagers and have to learn to bond together even though they're from different worlds. Trent was a lot like Tommy and his morphing call, White Ranger Dino Power, was a throw back to the song "White Ranger Tiger Power." There was also the episode, A Legacy of Power, which was a clip show of the entire series that I personally find to be much better than Forever Red was. So in short, Abaranger had all the elements for Power Rangers to take advantage of MMPR nostalgia and handled it quite well IMO.

Power Rangers Operation Overdrive

Like Dino Thunder, Operation Overdrive inherited a lot of nostalgia elements from its Sentai counterpart, Boukenger. First, Operation Overdrive had the same colored suits as the original 5 in MMPR did. It also inherited villains and evil mechas that were based on past Sentai mechas and bared resemblance to many past Power Ranger megazords. However, Operation Overdrive basically did nothing with these nostalgic factors. It did have the team-up Once A Ranger, which I thought was a descent team-up. It was by far the best episodes in Operation Overdrive, but it inherited and suffered from many of the flaws that Operation Overdrive already had such as terrible villains, bad acting, bad dialog, and an extreme overuse of explosions. So while Once A Ranger may be the best episodes in Operation Overdrive, that really isn't saying much for a terrible season.

Power Rangers Samurai

Samurai, IMO has handled the nostalgia even worst than Operation Overdrive has. Operation Overdrive basically did nothing with the nostalgia elements it inherited from Boukenger. Samurai, on the other hand, has tried to create its own nostalgic elements and failed miserably. First, I will give credit where credit is due. The theme song is a remix of the original Go Go Power Rangers theme song, and I admit I do like the theme song. The rest of the nostalgia has been terrible. They brought Bulk back, and while it's nice to see him back he's had nothing to do with the plots so far. Him and Spike are seemingly thrown in there as fanservice and have absolutely no interaction with the rangers themselves. They occasionally have some interaction with the MOTW, but that's rare. I also don't like the subplot with Spike having a crush on the Pink Samurai ranger. For me it was ok when Skull had a crush on Kimberly, but this subplot just creeps me out. Besides Bulk and Spike, the morphing call is just terrible (Go Go Samurai), and the show has gone overload with the cheesy puns. The cheese was fun in MMPR, but now they've taken it up to 100, even giving the Gold Ranger, Antonio, a bunch of cheesy lines.

Dark Seasons of Power Rangers

Inspired by Sean Akizuki's blog entry, Sentai Seasons Labeled as Dark Seasons, so I decided to do one for dark seasons of Power Rangers.

MMPR S2

MMPR S2 started out as a dark season. At least, that's the direction it looked like it was going during the first 10-15 episodes. Season 2 had a very dark villain, Lord Zedd (who had a dark theme song as well), and when the green ranger powers slowly drained away it seemed like the rangers were heading for defeat. However, the tone shifted during the second half of the season and became much lighter as the season went along. This was due to the white ranger saga, the cast change, and the villain decay of Lord Zedd from his dark nature to a more comical character. This was due to parents complaining that Lord Zedd was too scary for children. By the end, season 2 wasn't that dark at all.

Power Rangers Turbo

Power Rangers Turbo originally tried to be dark. Head writer Douglass Sloan originally wanted Turbo to be a dark, apocalyptic season. However, Turbo failed miserably due to poor handling of the Carranger footage, which Carranger was a light hearted Sentai known for slapstick comedy. Another reason why the writers failed to make Turbo a dark season was due to having some very poor villains during this season.

Power Rangers In Space

Some fans consider Power Rangers In Space to be a dark season due to some of the story elements such as the Psycho Rangers, Astronema, the main villain, being Andros the red ranger's sister, the capture of Zordon, and the fact that all the villains from the previous seasons have formed an alliance which will attempt to take over the universe. This season also featured an apocalyptic final battle, Countdown to Destruction, and the first good-side casualty ever, with the death of Zordon. Some of the villains during In Space were very dark, such as Darconda and Dark Spector. This is a season that I would consider to be semi-dark. There are some dark elements to In Space, but some of the seasons that follow will be much darker.

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy

Lost Galaxy IMO is definitely a season that is very dark. This season had the Magna Defender, who was morally questionable, as well as a dark main villain in Trakeena. This season also had a higher death count than its Sentai counterpart, Gingaman, and arguably the highest death count ever for a Power Rangers series (that is if you don't count all the off screen deaths in SPD and RPM). It was also the first and arguably the only PR season to feature the death of a ranger, Kendrix, when she sacrificed herself in the team up with In Space to save Cassie.

Power Rangers Time Force

At the time that Time Force aired it was easily the darkest season ever of Power Rangers. Like MMPR S2, it had a very dark lead villain, Ransik. It also featured dark elements such as death, terrorism, and destruction. It also is arguably the second Power Ranger season to involve the death of a ranger, Alex, but that depends on what story you believe and if it really counts as a death. The latter half of the season, however, had to be toned down due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks that happened while this series was airing.

Power Rangers Wild Force

Some fans consider Wild Force to be a dark season. It involved a story of war, as well as the death of Cole's parents. Wild Force was also the first and so far only season to feature the death of a child on-screen. However, I don't consider this season to be that dark. I compare it to Zyuranger, having some dark elements but overall being rather cheesy and kiddy. Wild Force had some lighthearted themes such as the story of Animarium being read through a childrens book and having a narrator.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder

Dino Thunder as I see it wasn't really a dark season, but it had a few dark elements such as a dark lead villain, Mesogog, the story of Anton Mercer's failed experiment that turned him into a split personality with Mesogog (and being Trent's father), as well as Zeltrax being a former colleague of Tommy's who wanted revenge.

Power Rangers SPD

SPD is another season that like Dino Thunder isn't really that dark but does deserve mentioning because it has a few dark elements. These elements includes the murder of Sky's father who was a former power ranger, and Doggie Crugar's home planet being destroyed and his wife being kidnapped.

Power Rangers RPM

RPM is easily the darkest Power Rangers season ever and even darker than most Sentai seasons. RPM succeeded where Turbo failed. RPM turned a lighthearted, comical Sentai series (Go-Onger) into a very dark Power Rangers series. To do this, RPM used less Sentai footage than perhaps any season since MMPR S3, and had a very dark story that was lacking in Turbo. RPM is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the villains have won and the last bastion of free humanity lies in the domed city of Corinth. This season has several flashback episodes that involve death and the events of what was happening during the war with Venjix.

Power Rangers ratings Wild Force-MMPRv2

Fantasy Leader the other day asked for a list on viewer-ship ratings for Power Rangers. I was able to find numbers on everything from Wild Force to MMPRv2, however, I have yet to find anything from MMPR S1-Time Force. Also to note, the American ratings system is much different from the Japanese system, so it's difficult to compare. For example, the highest rated tv shows in the United States have ratings around 6.2, while in Japan ratings can be much higher, into the 50's and 60's I believe. Also, these ratings are somewhat skewed because it shows viewer-ship for ages 6-11, and doesn't take into account older fans. Needless to say, Power Rangers has a large older fanbase. Also, these ratings are done on a week by week basis.

Power Rangers Ratings (on ABC kids)

(PRWF average: 1.38 rating / 6.46 share)
(PRNS average: 1.42 / 6.86)
(PRDT average: 0.93 / 4.78)
(PRSPD average: 0.99 / 4.89)
(PRMF average: 0.96 / 4.64)
(PROO average: 0.70 / 3.55)
(PRJF average: 0.60 / 3.07)
(PRRPM average: 0.53 / 2.82)
(MMPRv2 average: 0.47 / 2.28)

TOON DISNEY

(Saturday mornings)

(PRMF average: 0.45 / 1.81)

(PROO average: 0.54 / 2.42)

(PRJF average: 0.56 / 2.97)

ABC FAMILY
(Saturday mornings)
(PRWF average: 0.95 rating / 4.67 share)
(PRNS average: 1.17 rating / 5.86 share)
(PRDT average: 1.05 of 11 reported)
(PRSPD average: 0.71 rating / 3.33 share)
(SPD new eps only: 0.75 / 3.50)

For me some of these ratings come as a bit of a surprise. I would have expected Dino Thunder to be much higher than SPD and Mystic Force due to its popularity. Then again, ratings aren't exactly a good measure for popularity. RPM, for example, had bad ratings because of terrible time slots. As we know, even though the ratings for Wild Force are relatively high, it is one of the most unpopular seasons among Power Ranger fans. Likewise, while RPM's ratings are low, it is one of the most popular Power Ranger seasons. Here's a few graphs that show some of the recent PR ratings episode by episode.

When looking at these ratings, Operation Overdrive's ratings took a free fall from the first week. It's common for shows to have a big drop off from the first week, but a total free fall. While Jungle Fury's ratings were low, they went up after the beginning of the season. Also, as I stated above, it is somewhat unfair to compare these ratings to what they could have been because of time slots and the fact that older kids/adults aren't included. BTW, Fantasy Leader can you provide some ratings stats for Super Sentai as well?

Jason David Frank to make his MMA Pro Debute

Many of you probably remember Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver (a.k.a. the Green Ranger), and all of his awesome fight scenes on Power Rangers back in the day. Now, Frank will be fighting for real. Exactly one week today (August 4th) will make his MMA pro debute in Houston, Texas against Jose Roberto Vasquez. Frank went 4-0 as an amateur in MMA matches. I'm not much of a fan of fighting sports, but this seems interesting and it would be interesting to see how he would do against real professional fighters.

Jason David Frank MMA promo video

Why Campy Seasons Can Be Good Seasons

Earlier this week, the Power Rangers Union blog discussed weather or not Power Rangers or Super Sentai should be more serious or more campy. This was also argued on my blog a while back in the comments section, when another user mentioned that he didn't like the 1990's Power Rangers seasons because they were "so campy." While there are many good dark, serious seasons in both Power Rangers and Super Sentai, the more campy seasons are good and often underrated as well.

Power Rangers

In Power Rangers during the Zordon Era, and especially from MMPR-Turbo (In Space was the most serious and darkest season during this era), Power Rangers was at its campiest. As well as having the comic relief of Bulk and Skull, these seasons had many comedy oriented villains such as Rita Repulsa and her brother Rito Revolto, Squat & Baboo, Elgar, Divatox, exc. With the exception of Turbo, these are also among the most popular Power Ranger seasons as well, and deservedly so. The Zordon Era is often referred to many as Power Rangers' "golden age." However, these seasons get ridiculed unfairly for their "campiness."

Two other rather campy, Power Ranger seasons that I would say are among the best are Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder. Ninja Storm had comedic villains such as Lothor and like Carranger in Super Sentai, Ninja Storm parodied Power Rangers' past. Dino Thunder brought back many MMPR elements such as stereotypical teenagers, and its two comic relief characters, Cassidy and Devin, were a tribute to Bulk and Skull. One of the reasons why Power Rangers lost its flavor during the Bruce Kalish era was the lack of comic relief available during his four year tenure.

Super Sentai

In Super Sentai among the most underrated and unappreciated seasons is Go-Onger. This season is often ridiculed by both Power Ranger and Super Sentai fanboys for its campiness and outright kiddy nature. Go-Onger is actually a very good series, one of the better 2000's Sentai's in my opinion. Go-Onger's campy and kiddy tone is what makes this series so fun to watch.

Even the more serious, darker seasons in Super Sentai such as Dekaranger and Shinkenger have their very campy and hilarious moments. Above are two of my favorite scenes from each season. The first is in Dekaranger, Tetsu had a bisexual, bug-like alien admirer that loved him relentlessly. That seen is from Episode 45 and one of the most hilarious scenes from that season. The second picture is from the recent V-Cinema, Shinkenger movie. In this scene the Shinkengers are in the dream world, switching from illusion to illusion that are based off of common movies/dramas. In this scene, the Shinkengers are dressed in costumes resembling their Origami's, and the funniest part of all is that instead of Takeru being the lord, Ryuunosuke is and he's the 18th head of the "Ikenami clan." Basically, Takeru and Ryuunosuke's rolls are reversed.

Overrated and Underrated Power Rangers

I've decided today that I'll talk about some of the most overrated and underrated Power Rangers. First I'll start off with rangers that are commonly called overrated by others, then I'll give my list of overrated rangers as well as underrated rangers.

Rangers commonly called overrated by the fandom.

The rangers that are most commonly labeled as "overrated" are Tommy, Jason, and Andros, which I tend to disagree with. Tommy and Jason are easy targets because of their popularity, while some fans on Power Ranger message boards have called Andros' leadership ability "overrated." Personally, I think these three have all earned their spots and popularity, thus imo, they're not overrated. I will say, however, that its unfortunate that Tommy does tend to overshadow an otherwise very good cast in Power Rangers Dino Thunder.

Rangers that I do see as overrated.

I'll start off with Kimberly. Kimberly is a pretty and lovely character, but to me she is overrated even by others who say she's overrated. Why? Well no offense Sean, but to start off Kimberly/Amy Jo Johnson is not hotter than every Sentai girl nor is she the hottest Power Ranger girl. Her fighting skills were rather, sub-par. All she could really do is kick and she was able to get by with her gymnastics skills. Her and Billy during season one were portrayed as the weak link on the team. Her actress, Amy Jo Johnson, however, is an excellent actress.

The other I would say is Billy. Billy was cool, and at times reminds me of myself growing up as a kid because I was always picked on, but to me he's somewhat overrated as well. The reason is because a lot of people choose him as their favorite blue ranger just because he's from MMPR, and often these fans choose ALL of the MMPR rangers as their favorites. While Billy matured dramatically by season 2 into a muscular, skilled fighter, he was the weak link along with Kimberly during season 1.

Rangers that I see as Underrated.

To me Cassie is the most underrated ranger of all-time. The reason is because she is overshadowed by other very popular pink rangers such as Kimberly and Jen. It also doesn't help that the cast of In Space tends to get overshadowed by Judd Lynn's story writing during this season.

Ashley is another In Space ranger that tends to get overshadowed by the series story writing. In particular I think her and Cassie get lost in all the drama between Andros and his sister Karone/Astronema, the search for Zordon, and the two part finale, Countdown to Destruction.

Ok while Kira and Trent are somewhat popular, I think both of them along with Ethan get overshadowed in this show by Tommy's presence. I actually felt that Doug Sloan did a good job developing the other characters around Tommy and didn't focus too much on Tommy, but Tommy is such a big ticket that his mere presence overshadowed the rest of the cast on Dino Thunder.

I think the cast of SPD is highly underrated, in particular Jack and Z. The cast and the series as a whole tends to get lost in the fact that it was both a Disney series and a Bruce Kalish written series. This series is actually ok, better than MMPR S3, Turbo, Lightspeed Rescue, Wild Force, Ninja Storm, and the other three Bruce Kalish seasons imo.

My Top 5 Yellow Power Rangers

Now its time for my next top list, my top 5 yellow rangers. But first my honorable mentions. :)

Honorable Mentions- Maya (Lost Galaxy), Aisha (MMPR). Either of these two could have made it into my top 5 if they were pink rangers, but just miss the cut for yellow rangers.

5. Kira (Dino Thunder)




Kira to me was an average fighter at best, but she was a rather lovely, cute girl who could sing. She also had a sense of humor, and seemed to be based largely on Kimberly Hart from MMPR S1.

4. Summer (RPM)



Unlike Kira, Summer could whip some tail and was a skilled martial artist. She matured from your stereotypical beautiful but spoiled brat rich girl into a kick ass power ranger. For Example, after seeing her butler, Andrews, die while sacrificing himself for her, she grew up and learned to help others.

3. Z Delgado (SPD)




Yes I know, Z is from not only a Disney season but a season that was written by Bruce Kalish, but SPD actually had a halfway descent cast. Also, with the exception of maybe 3 rangers, the Saban seasons had rather bland yellow rangers, so 3 Disney era rangers make it into the top 5. Anyways, Z originally was childhood friends with Jack. Both of whom, grew up together as Robin Hoods (stealing from the rich to give to the poor). Like Jack, she demonstraited excellent fighting skills which lead to both of them being recruited from jail to join the SPD B-squad. Also to me, Z is one of the most gorgous female rangers of all time. It's unfortunate that her past is a poorly executed carbon copycat of Jasmine's from Dekaranger.

2. Ashley (Turbo/In Space)




Ashley is another character that kind of reminds me of Kimberly in a way. She's kind and caring, and I might add she's hot. And since I'm attracted mostly to latina and asian girls (even though Ashley is portrayed as caucasian, her actress Tracy Lynn Cruz is of Cuban and Filipino descent) I give her extra points for hotness. :P

1. Trini (MMPR Yellow)




Many people rank Trini as one of the most likeable characters of all time in Power Rangers, and I couldn't agree more. She's peace-loving, kind, calm, collective, and could really kick some ass if you got on her nerves. It's really sad that her actress, Thuy Trang, died in a tragic car accident.

My Top 10 Badass Power Rangers

I've decided that I'll make my own series of top 5 and top 10 lists for both Power Rangers and Super Sentai. I will make Power Rangers lists first since I've seen nearly every season of Power Rangers, so it might be a while before I make a Super Sentai list. Today I'll start with my top 10 Badass Power Rangers list (which is really a top 11 since #10 is a tie).

T10. Trini (MMPR Yellow)



By far my favorite all-time yellow ranger. Trini was the third most skilled ranger in MMPR S1 and the first half of S2 behind Tommy and Jason. Unlike the other rangers, Trini was skilled in Kung Fu and not Karate. She was basically the team leader when Jason wasn't around and could whip anybodies ass that got in her way.

T10. Trent (Dino Thunder White)



Why Trent? Trent is the second strongest among the Dino Rangers. Trent's highly underrated and like the other Dino Rangers, is overshadowed by Tommy. Trent is a lot like a young Tommy, although not nearly as skilled. He defeated the evil White Ranger clone and saved his father in the process.

9. Cassie (Turbo/In Space Pink)



Cassie is my favorite Pink Ranger and one of the most underrated rangers of all time. She's often overshadowed by other popular pink Rangers such as Kimberly and Jen, but she can fight. Cassie was tough as nails and could stand up for herself against both the other rangers and any monster. She even stood up for a monster that had a heart.

8. Adam (MMPR Black, Zeo/Turbo Green)



Among the new cast members during MMPR S2, Adam was the most skilled and the coolest. Adam was tough physically and mentally. During In Space, he helped Carlos to get tougher and faught a monster even though he knew that using his old powers could destroy him.

7. Leo (Lost Galaxy Red)



Leo sneaked into Terra Venture without a ticket, but I'm sure the Galaxy Rangers were glad he did. He took his brother's Quasar Saber after it looked like his brother had died. Motivated by his brother's apparent death, Leo faught valiently to make his brother proud. At the series end, Leo saved the space colony with one last shot from his battlizer.

6. Andros (In Space Red)



Andros wanted to fight against the forces of evil and find Zordon without the other rangers help, but eventually accepted the helping hand. Andros, however, was more than capable of fighting on his own. He was also an excellent leader. Andros was motivated by his missing sister which turned out to be Astronema in the end.

5. Dillon (RPM Black)



Dillon is literally a cyborg, equiped with Venjix hardware in his body. He is easily the toughest among the RPM rangers. Before becoming a ranger, he evaded a Venjix attack to reach Corinth, then helped the rangers and saved Summer's (RPM Yellow) life. After becoming a ranger, he single handily defeated 100 Grinders.

4. Jen (Time Force Pink)



As tough as Yuuri from Timeranger is, even she is small fry compared to her PR counterpart, Jen. Jen is the one chick who it would be smart to avoid when she's in a bad mood. Jen is by far the toughest Heorine ever in Power Rangers history, and was motivated by the death of her fiance and also by her team's failure to transport Ransik to prison.

3. Magna Defender (Lost Galaxy)



Some people might not consider the Magna Defender a ranger, but since him and the Galaxy Rangers were fighting a common enemy I will consider him a ranger. The Magna Defender was motivated by hatred against Scorpius and wanted revenge for the death of his son. The Magna Defender often single handily defeated monsters while refusing help from the Galaxy rangers. Eventually, he sacrificed himself and released Leo's brother Mike to save Terra Venture from destruction.

2. Jason (MMPR Red, Zeo Gold)



Jason is arguably the most skilled power ranger of all time, and is possibly the best true leader as well. Jason taught his own karate class and helped to transform Billy from a brainiac with no fighting skills to a very skilled fighter. If his actor Austin St. John never left the set, Jason might be talked about as the best power ranger of all time instead of Tommy.

1. Tommy (MMPR Green/White, Zeo/Turbo Red, Dino Thunder Black).




Like Jason, Tommy is arguably the most skilled ranger of all time. For the record, I'll put him infront of Jason for two reasons. The first because in Tommy's first appearance he had a 2 point lead on Jason in a Karate match before the match ended in a tie and the second, well its hard for me to remember anyone single handily, monster or human, coming as close to defeating the power rangers. The In Space rangers came close to defeat against the Psycho Rangers and on Countdown to Destruction, but it was a group effort. While initially Tommy wasn't nearly as good of a leader as Jason was, he became a great mentor/leader by the time Dino Thunder rolled around. His actor, Jason David Frank, is even a badass (6 degree black belt and undefeated in MMA matches).