[TokuKnight89]

Finally rectified something and watched the first truly original Sentai Movie yesterday: Gorenger's "Bomb Hurricane" (or "Hurricane Bomb", depending on the translation).

When I say "first truly original Sentai Movie", it's because all the other films for Gorenger were just rehashed episodes blown up to theatrical proportions. This is first truly original work released in a theatrical setting.

The plot is pretty basic as far as your standard Gorenger formula. There's a "blow everything up with missiles and/or bombs" plotline which the team has to uncover in very James Bond fashion. Seriously, you can't look at Gorenger and not see the James Bond influences! The spy-craft is very much on display and very flashy as far as spies go, but that's what James Bond made popular.

The Kamen Kaijin, Steel Sword Dragon, is...pretty bland, and that's a shame cause he has such a fascinating design which looks like it would fit right at home in Kamen Rider Amazon. He doesn't have a lot of special abilities and his personality is reduced to growls and roars.

The plotline revolves around an arms dealer and a woman. The woman has a secret identity...as the Black Cross Fuhrer himself! This is definitely playing into the enigmatic nature of Black Cross, but also feels rather dated at the same time.

The arms dealer is snuffed out rather quickly and makes wonder if Momo committed a murder! If would play into the thematic constraints I already brought up, but still.

Not hard to figure out, but the film's name refers to the special attack at the end and it's different...but simple and not as flashy as you'd hope for. If you've never seen this movie, but always wanted to cause you wanted to see the inevitable finisher, you might feel as though the whole thing has been overhyped cause the aftertaste is just a little bland. It's a move that makes you wonder "Why didn't they just use this in the series proper?"

It's not a bad movie if you like Gorenger, and definitely significant in Sentai history cause any movie or crossover with special attacks or even special power-ups or special combinations is derived from the basic elements seen here. Not quite like Gao Knight or GouraiSenpuujin Sword and Shield or Burning Legend DaiVoyager or Engine DaiShogun or Samurai Formation 23 or Go-Buster Kero-Oh or Tatagami Raiden Kyoryuzin, but each one of these and more owes their existence to this film even if it's only in a small way.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TokuKnight89

The plot is pretty basic as far as your standard Gorenger formula. There's a "blow everything up with missiles and/or bombs" plotline which the team has to uncover in very James Bond fashion. Seriously, you can't look at Gorenger and not see the James Bond influences! The spy-craft is very much on display and very flashy as far as spies go, but that's what James Bond made popular.

The original "Mission Impossible" of 1966 was cited as one of the sources of inspiration for the Gorengers. So we can safely say that ?Mission Impossible? inspired ?Power Rangers?, despite the fact that the first film with Cruise was released only in ?96. But, of course, the influence of early Bond is also felt in Gorengers.

[TokuKnight89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

The original "Mission Impossible" of 1966 was cited as one of the sources of inspiration for the Gorengers. So we can safely say that ?Mission Impossible? inspired ?Power Rangers?, despite the fact that the first film with Cruise was released only in ?96. But, of course, the influence of early Bond is also felt in Gorengers.

When I was watching "Bomb Hurricane", the arguments between Ian Fleming and John Le Carre popped into my head. Fleming did an over-the-top and suave approach to spy-craft and Le Carre did a more grounded and dirty approach; one is overt and the other is covert. Thing is, the Bond Movies were popular in the '60s and '70s, and Gorenger is arguably one of the imitators which branched out from those origins and spawned something that was probably never intended. It took the basic elements already established by Kamen Rider, expanded on it, took some Mission Impossible and James Bond inspiration (which we kind of already saw in Rider with FBI Agent Taki) and started incorporating more sci-fi and superhero comic and anime elements to become the powerhouse that it is now.

Funny how these things work out.

[EpsilonX]

I watched the first episode of Boonboomger. It was a lot of fun, had cool designs, and was lots of deliciously cheesy moments. But I'm not sure if I feel inspired to continue.

As of right now, my overwhelming feeling is of "why should I watch this when I could instead continue Gekiranger, Kiramager, or Geats, or start KingOhger?"

My girlfriend seemed to really enjoy it, however.

[GuardianAngel87]

I have rewatched some more episodes of Timeranger and I am officially at the point where Time Fire makes his introduction into the series. Hopefully, I should be finished with revisiting the series very soon.

[EpsilonX]

My sudden craving for Sentai but slight disappointment with Boonboomger (I'll probably still continue it though) has led me to picking up where I left off on Kiramager, which is episode 30. I binged 3-4 episodes last night and gotta say this series has been really fun. It's pretty standard Sentai, but it's standard Sentai done very well. I also absolutely love the mech designs - Kiramaizin is actually probably one of my favorite designs in all of Sentai.

Also, the episode where the kid plays with the toys absolutely killed me

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EpsilonX

My sudden craving for Sentai but slight disappointment with Boonboomger (I'll probably still continue it though) has led me to picking up where I left off on Kiramager, which is episode 30. I binged 3-4 episodes last night and gotta say this series has been really fun. It's pretty standard Sentai, but it's standard Sentai done very well. I also absolutely love the mech designs - Kiramaizin is actually probably one of my favorite designs in all of Sentai.

Also, the episode where the kid plays with the toys absolutely killed me

After the blatant cash grab attempt that was Ryusoulger (which had its moments, and Asuna and Banba were my favorite rangers from the show), Kiramager was a decent and much-needed show for the series before going experimental with the three shows that followed.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

After the blatant cash grab attempt that was Ryusoulger (which had its moments, and Asuna and Banba were my favorite rangers from the show), Kiramager was a decent and much-needed show for the series before going experimental with the three shows that followed.

Based on first impression, I was also tricked in to cynicism by the superficial Kyoryugerness of Ryusoulger; the colors, the dino motif and even the Portuguese. So I have to praise Yoneoka for how he wrote the show with authenticity and drama that made me realize that deep down it's nothing like Kyoryuger at all. I'd be interested to see what else Yoneoka could write for Sentai, with some other theme.

Like the Masters and Nada, they have a major impact on the main characters, which ties in to the whole "make our souls one" thing, showing how people become stronger and kinder through connections, even with those who are no longer alive. It's surprisingly profound for a Sentai and takes the knight theme seriously. The dino motif is still there, but even that's part of the moral that the heroes are carrying the dinosaurs' wishes as well. It's honestly a clever way to mix those two motifs together in a way that makes a lot of sense.

I'd even say Koh is my favorite Red. While he may seem like your average daydreaming Red, he's seriously attuned to his team's individual strengths, like how he sees Melt's observation and deduction skills and encourages him to be assertive in his judgments. If Kyoryuger's Red stands above his team, then Ryusoulger's Red raises his team above him instead, which I think makes him stronger as a hero who's adept in both words and action.

Kiramager was good as well though, totally deserved more than 45 episodes.

[EpsilonX]

Just finished Kiramager 43 and I'm loving the end of this series. The individual motw episodes are insane (the Hangover-esque episode and the cat episode were both off-the-walls, I loved every second of both) and the story is, once again, standard Sentai done quite well.

My current sentai kick probably won't last long, but I'm already looking forward to what I'm going to watch next. I'm thinking I'll likely pick Geats and/or Gekiranger back up, as I've adored what I've seen of each so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Kiramager was good as well though, totally deserved more than 45 episodes.

I do think it's great, but I'm thankful that it's a few episodes shorter than usual - the full-length ones are just that much harder to get through, for me.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Based on first impression, I was also tricked in to cynicism by the superficial Kyoryugerness of Ryusoulger; the colors, the dino motif and even the Portuguese. So I have to praise Yoneoka for how he wrote the show with authenticity and drama that made me realize that deep down it's nothing like Kyoryuger at all. I'd be interested to see what else Yoneoka could write for Sentai, with some other theme.

Apologies if I came off as harsh. In retrospect I do understand if Bandai had no other choice at the time considering how sales were diminishing by the year and Kyoryuger just happened to be their latest show that did gangbusters, and I'm sure any other business would've done the same in a situation like that. At the end of the day, it's business, and I like to believe that they did it in hopes of trying to keep the series afloat.