Episode 74: Chris Cooke vs. ‘Power Rangers’ (2017)

The Monster Island Film Vault

Hello, Kaiju Lovers! “Ameri-kaiju” continues with a bit of an unusual entry; one that, serendipitously, Nate also covered around the same time on his other podcast, The Power Trip: the controversial Power Rangers (2017). While Nate has grown to appreciate this film quite a bit, he intentionally brought on Chris Cooke (co-host of One Cross Radio, Radio Arcade, and Powerbombs and Piledrivers) to discuss it because he does not. However, these two find more common ground than you’d think. That was surprisingly true in today’s Toku Topic, which is a discussion of representation in media. This serves as a great companion to the Power Trip episode.

Before today’s broadcast, Nate entered his office to find sitting in his chair none other than Mr. Gold. After a thinly veiled threat of “termination,” Nate divulges a secret about Jimmy to him. Afterward, the infamous “Not-Goldar” attacks Monster Island out of nowhere—but help arrives in the form of a newly powered-up Karone! But even Nate, Chris, and Jimmy get in on the monster-fighting action thanks to Mechani-Kong Mk. 2.

The prologue and epilogue, “With Friends Like You,” was written by Nathan Marchand with Michael Hamilton.

Guest Cast

• Michael Hamilton as Mr. Gold
• Celeste Mora as Karone

Additional music:

• “Evil Rising” by David Fesliyan
• “Pacific Rim,” “Power Rangers Lost Galaxy,” and “Go, Go, Power Rangers” by Niall Stenson
• “Chant My Name!” by Masaaki Endo

Sound effects sourced from Freesound.org, including those by InspectorJ.

Check out Nathan’s spinoff podcasts, The Henshin Men and The Power Trip.

We’d like to give a shout-out to our MIFV MAX patrons Travis Alexander; Danny DiManna (author/creator of the Godzilla Novelization Project); Eli Harris (elizilla13); Chris Cooke (host of One Cross Radio); Bex from Redeemed Otaku; Damon Noyes, The Cel Cast, TofuFury, Eric Anderson of Nerd Chapel, Ted Williams, Wynja the Ninja, Brad “Batman” Eddleman, Christopher Riner, and The Indiscrite One! Thanks for your support!

You, too, can join MIFV MAX on Patreon to get this and other perks starting at only $3 a month! (https://www.patreon.com/monsterislandfilmvault)

Buy official MIFV merch on TeePublic! (https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-monster-island-gift-shop)

This episode is approved by Cameron Winter and the Monster Island Board of Directors.

Timestamps:

• Prologue: 0:00-5:49
• Intro: 5:49-14:49
• Entertaining Info Dump: 14:49-23:31
• Toku Talk: 23:31-1:43:51
• Promo: 1:43:31-1:46:37
• Toku Topic: 1:46:37-2:27:20
• Housekeeping & Outro: 2:27:20-2:42:24
• Epilogue: 2:42:24-end

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Bibliography/Further Reading:

• Copes, Casira. “Why All Representation in Media is Flawed.” Medium. Sept. 30, 2021. https://medium.com/blk-ink/why-all-representation-in-media-is-flawed-e4068a5268fa.
• Du, Catherine. “We Care Too Much about Representation.” Big Straw Magazine. https://www.bigstrawmagazine.com/home/media-representation.
• “How Many Boxes Need To Be Checked For A Hollywood Movie? - Chris Gore.” YouTube. Uploaded by Film Courage, March 7, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsrTtzO1mHU.
• Huang, Nicole. “On the Limits of Representation.” The McGill Daily. Oct. 5, 2020. https://www.mcgilldaily.com/2020/10/on-the-limits-of-representation/.
• “Power Rangers (2017).” IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3717490/.
• “Power Rangers (2017). RangerWiki. https://powerrangers.fandom.com/wiki/Power_Rangers_(2017).
• “Power Rangers and Diversity.” YouTube. Uploaded by Second Chance, Oct. 18, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6gsMD-8t80.
• “Power Rangers (film).” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Rangers_(film).
• Power Trip, The: A Journey through the Power Rangers Franchise, Episode 22: Saban’s Power Rangers (2017) | Ft. Jack ‘GMan’ Hudgens. Published Oct. 25, 2022. https://powertrippod.podbean.com/e/episode-22-saban-s-power-rangers-2017-ft-jack-gman-hudgens/.
• Saban’s Power Rangers blu-ray special features (Lionsgate)
  • “Rangers Then and Now”
  • “Building the Team”
  • “Beyond the Rangers”
  • “Suiting Up”
  • “Rangers, Welcome to Training”
  • “Rangers in the Wild”
  • “It’s Morphin Time”
  • “Power Ballad: Music and Sound”
  • “This is Your Destiny”
  • Commentary by Director Dean Israelite and Writer John Gatins