Power Rangers Jungle Fury: Into The Jungle Review

Rating:

Go, Go Power Rangers, Go! 

OMG! Talk about a trip down memory lane on this one.  I have loved watching  many a show with ninjas, mystic warriors and all things kung fu and this DVD is one that really shows how far the TV series has gone in the last 20 years. 

The series is back for the 2008 season with a action-packed 6 episode arc that gives us a new set of power rangers and a cool, if not zen-like master.  This season we have a new villain by the name of Dai Shi, a master of evil who is assisted by Camille,  chameleon and warrior.  The writing was good and the plots were not stupid. To my surprise, I found myself glued to the TV.

The 1st part of the DVD is all set up for the Jungle Fury line up.  The opening two part storyline gives a good background. It’s not your basic warrior story.  Six students are taking part in the annual choosing ceremony that will pick three warriors to become students of the master Chen Po. 

The students who make the cut are joined by a 4th after the oldest and most brash, Jarrod, shows his distaste for a fellow student.  That student displays tiger power and is also chosen as a warrior. 

While this is happening the master explains to the new warriors that they have a duty to protect an evil soul that has been trapped in mystic box.  The soul is that of Dai Shi.  The soul is accidently released by Jarrod and it takes over his body.

The three warriors are then told on the masters death bed that they must go to Ocean Bluff and seek out their new master.  The warriors at first mistake an older man as their new master. After being attacked, they realize that the young and somewhat dazed pizza shop owner is their new master.

The master then gives the three warriors sunglasses that are siphoned off of the morphing zone and thus makes them Power Rangers.  Casey, Lily and Theo are the new Power Rangers and their adventures begin.

The best part of the storyline is the rangers are pitted against a host of warriors sent by Dai Shi to keep them busy while he collects and grows his power base. 

I liked this part of the story a lot. It wasn’t your usual big, bad villain wanting to kill off the good warriors.  This story just wanted to help the bad guy get power, but not destroy the world. 

The costumes are not as bad as I remember and I could actually see what the powers were meant to be for each warrior.  The designs were very bold and yet simple, not like the old days of power rangers where it hurt the eyes to watch all of the shiny costumes and the silver weapons blinded you.  Watching an old episode was almost painful. 

As for extras on this DVD, there are none save for the usual trailers. That’s ok. It’s very watchable and I will definitely watch this DVD again and again.  So, with that said: Go Power Rangers.