Power/Rangers

2015 short film by Joseph Kahn

Power/Rangers is an American superhero fan short film directed and co-written by Joseph Kahn, produced by Adi Shankar and Jil Hardin, and co-written by James Van Der Beek and Dutch Southern. It was released on YouTube and Vimeo on February 23, 2015. It is based on the franchise of the same name.

Dialogue edit

(film opens in the Pink Ranger's view of perspective, showing her and the Rangers on a losing war against the Machine Empire's forces, and the Megazord getting destroyed by one of the Machine Empire's titans in combat, and scene fades out. Scene fades in, showing the Pink Ranger's helmet on the ground)
(voice-over)
Rocky: When two empires declare war, neither side is innocent.
Kimberly: You're still a traitor, you worthless piece...
Rocky: (interrupts her) We were children, asked to fight an intergalactic war against an enemy we'd never met. Let's stop pretending "our" side stood on some moral high ground.
(next scene shows a futurist version of civilization)
(voice over)
Kimberly: What do you want, Rocky?
Rocky: Where's Tommy?
(next, we see citizens in alleys being watched by the Machine Empire's units)
Kimberly: (voice over) Tommy Oliver is a ghost. They'll never find him. I don't even know where... (scene cuts to her (revealed to be chained in a chair) being punched by Rocky (who now sports a prosthetic leg))
Rocky: Bullshit is an ugly color on you.
Kimberly: I prefer pink.
Rocky: If dying is what you choose to do here today, I would prefer you did it with your integrity intact.
Kimberly: How soon after the truce did you turn? Did you even wait until we were disbanded?
Rocky: The second the Machine Empire integrated their machinery into our society, I knew what we'd bled for was gone.
Kimberly: So you stabbed us in the back.
Rocky: I followed the only rule worth following in this fuck storm, I made sure I was on the winning side... Which is why I'm sitting here and you're chained to a chair. Comfortable?
Kimberly: You were never really one of us.
Rocky: Thank you. Who would've thought that weaponizing youth and training them to kill would have turned out so ugly for many?
Kimberly: We were a team. We fought for each other... You never understood that.
Rocky: Let's talk about Jason...
Kimberly: What about him?
Rocky: You were married to him, weren't you?
(flashback of Kimberly (wearing a wedding veil) in a car with Jason plays)
Kimberly: (voice over) For eight hours.
(flashback continues, showing Jason and Kimberly (both wearing their rings) about to kiss until numerous armed policemen arrive. Jason is about to grab his sword, but is violently gunned down)
Kimberly: NOOO!!
(after the shootout, Kimberly falls off the car)
Rocky: (voice over) You know why they did it?
Bulk: Got a little tired of being made fun of by you cunts. (Skull laughs maniacally)
Kimberly: Bulk! Skull! You sold us out!
(one officer knocks her out, and scene fades out; Scene fades in with Tommy checking on Bulk and Skull, who are found dead due to meth overdose and drowning in a bath tub, respectively)
Rocky: (voice over) Machine Empire had better meth. That was all it took. You what happens to a dog that chases cars and finally catches one?
Kimberly: (voice over) It doesn't end well for the dog.
Rocky: (voice over) Let's move on to Zack, shall we? (flashback shows Zack in his bedroom with Divatox and Scorpina) Good kid. Fit. Little hyperactive. (flashback also shows the two women kissing while Zack snorts cocaine) You know where he ended up?
Kimberly: About those Hip Hop Kido tapes...
(flashback shows Zack hosting his Hip Hop Kiddo exercise program)
Zack: Hip Hop Kido! Let's go! Heals! Abs! Abs! Bring 'em up! Work it! Punch! Work it! Let's go! (flashback then shows him practicing more karate in his room)
Kimberly: (voice over) He knew it was bullshit, but the public ate it up. But it was never about the money for him. He was addicted for the action. That was his outlet.
Rocky: And you think peddling false hopes for fat kids was enough to scratch that itch? Y'know he joined the Machine Empire? (flashback shows Zack (in his Black Ranger armor) leaping out of a plane in North Korean airspace) (voice over) Didn't even have to recruit him. He was so hungry for a battlefield, he volunteered to help sweep up whatever resistance was left.
(Zack lands on a base, confronts a group of Koreans, and dehelmets)
Zack: (in Korean) If you hand over the general, all your lives will be spared. If you don't, well... (gives them the middle finger)
General Klank: (in Korean) I know you. You're that black man with the exercise program. Is this some kind of joke?
Zack: (in Korean) Damn. And I know you motherfuckers bootlegged my shit too.
General Klank: (approaches Zack, and pats his shoulders; in Korean) You have a nice body! Kill him! (walks away as his men aim at Zack, who gestures to ask for a minute; in Korean) Do you have any last words?
Zack: (in English) It's Morphin' time. (materializes his Ranger helmet in his hands, and throws it at one of Klank's soldiers. The helmet bounces back to Zack, attaching to his head, as he resumes to fight Klank's men, killing them. Klank grabs a dagger from one of his goons, and kills him with it. Zack and Klank proceed to fight, with Zack killing Klank by impaling his keck with his own dagger)
Rocky: (voice over) Most people play the odds. (scene shifts to Zack still training) But then there are those few who just don't feel alive unless the odds are stacked completely against them.
Zack: (stops for a moment to catch his breath) I knew you'd get me. It's all good. Get on with it. (gets shot in the head. Back in present, Rocky's monitors show Zack's image in red)
Rocky: It's tough, seeing your friends murdered, one by one... (a tear slides on Kimberly's face) Especially by one of your own...
Kimberly: What the fuck are you talking about?
Rocky: Think about it. Rita made Tommy to fight against us. Then he betrayed her, switched sides, and when she tried to kill him, he lost his power, gained it back-- only to see a fucking treaty signed? (laughs) I'm glad I'm not his shrink. Say what you want about the machines, at least they're consistent.
Kimberly: What does this have to do with me?
Rocky: Tommy's always been hung up to you. (flashback shows Tommy and Kimberly kissing; then scene shifts to Tommy entering a restricted area) (voice over) Yesterday, Tommy paid a visit to Billy Cranston. But don't worry, I think we all know it's unlikely you fucked him too.
(we see several posters with Billy; one of them reveals he came out as gay, while Tommy is watching Billy's public announcement)
Billy: (on the announcement) ...our alliance with the Machine Empire will bring a new level of synergy within Cranston-Lockheed Martin. We will be mass producing our signature Blade Blaster weapons within initial order of 1.6 trillion euros from Soviet Europe.
Tommy: Dammit, Billy. What did you do? (finds Billy dead in his table)
(back to Rocky's interrogation room)
Kimberly: You're out of your mind! Tommy didn't kill any of us. He's a Ranger. You just forget what that means.
Rocky: Why do you think they gave these powers to kids? Hmm?
Kimberly: Because we were the only ones who could destroy Rita and her...
Rocky: (furiously tossing his table aside, breaking it into pieces) You are NOT that stupid! For fuck's sake, pull your shit together and start thinking for yourself. For once in your life! You're not a little girl anymore. Now where's Tommy?
Kimberly: Go fuck yourself.
(Rocky gestures for the surrounding guards to step aside, and puts his chiar closer to Kimberly)
Rocky: You think you're defending something worthwhile... I get that. But technology? The Machines? They always win...
Kimberly: I told you, I haven't seen Tommy since the last time... (Rocky begins strangling her with his arms around her neck)
Rocky: (whispering in Kimberly's ear) One last warning. Every move we make leaves a footprint.
Kimberly: (chocking) Trini's funeral. (flashback shows her and the Rangers attending Trini's funeral, with Kimberly spotting Tommy from afar) (voice over) While the government was negotiating the treaty, we were burying our own. I saw him for a moment, and then he was gone. (scene shifts to Tommy wondering around the city alone) It's been years.
Rocky: (voice over) You're telling the truth. (back in the interrogation room, he check his monitors) The machines are never wrong. Told us exactly what you know.
Kimberly: So... you lose.
Rocky: Oh, Kimmy... you really don't get it, do you? We never needed you as a witness. You, my dear... are bait.
(suddenly, power in the room is shut down by Tommy, who storms in killing the guards with his sword. Rocky materializes his sword, and the two fight. Rocky gains the upperhand, and pins Tommy down with his prosthetic leg, until Kimberly grabs a gun and shoots his head, killing him while Tommy gets up)
Tommy: Who are you?
Kimberly: I'm Kimberly.
Tommy: No. You're not! (Flashbacks reveal Tommy holding Kimberly's body, mourning her death) I held Kimberly in my arms when she died! So I'm going to ask you one more time... WHO ARE YOU?!
("Kimberly's" left cheek begins to crack, and we are shown more flashbacks of the deaths of the other Rangers)
"Kimberly:" (Flashback to Jason's death) Kill! (Flashback to Bulk and Skull's deaths) Stab! Drown! (Flashback to Zack's death) Sleep! (Flashback to Billy's death) Shoot! (cut to the Present, where "Kimberly" breaks out of her chains) Don't you remember me darling? I'm the one who turned you into a Ranger in the first place.
(as she walks, "Kimberly" is revealed to be Rita Repulsa in disguise)
Rita: I've killed them all! And now the world is ours...(cackles)
Tommy: Rita...! (roars and slashes at her and screen goes dark, ending the movie)

Cast edit

Power Rangers edit

  • Katee Sackhoff as Kimberly, the former Pink Ranger
  • James Van Der Beek as Rocky, the former Red Ranger
  • Russ Bain as Tommy, the former Green Ranger and White Ranger
  • Gichi Gamba as Zack, the former Black Ranger
  • Yves Bright as Billy, the former Blue Ranger
  • Stevin Knight as Jason, the former Red Ranger
  • Camilla Lim as Trini, former Yellow Ranger

Others edit

Perez had previously played Rita Repulsa in the original series. She was the only cast member to reprise her role.