POWER RANGERS ONCE & ALWAYS Thoughts & Review | Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 30th Anniversary 

The most random scene that lives rent free in my mind is when Minh yells at Snizzard “your boss killed my mom,” and he was all “my boss is an intergalactic war criminal, you’ll need to be a lot more specific.” 😂 I really enjoyed the whole episode.

I also like that Minh couldn’t morph as long as she “used her powers for personal gain” which was against one of Zordon’s rules from episode 1

I enjoyed seeing Rita (albeit as Robo) actually engaging with the rangers 1v1 herself instead of running around screaming about her headaches & making her minions do it for her

Oh man, that last scene in Memory of Thuy and JDF hit me right in the feels ... My kids asked me why I was tearing up 😥

I loved "Come catch these hands" along with Alpha's "Im sensing a vibe" because they both had that air of "Hello fellow kids" that felt intentionally awkward

I have a theory the reason Rita was so dark compared to back in the 90s is because the old Rita had a little bit of good in her (which is why she was purified by the Z wave) this Rita was created from all the residual evil that was purged from Rita before so there's no trace of good

I cried like none before. Partially because the special was incredible and partly because it premiered on what would've been my dad's birthday (he passed unexpectedly in July of last year). I just lay in my bed with my pendant with his ashes around my neck and I was basically talking to him throughout the special (my dad was a HUGE Power Rangers nerd and he in turn, made me into one).

David Yost originally pitched it as a 8 part series but Netflix refused. Wish it was done that like that but regardless I'm glad this 55 minute special got made, it was awesome. I hope they make more after this with David and Walter

35 yrs old and brought to tears and screaming out loud in excitement when Zack started fighting. Only caught that scene and instantly became a kid again. Sleep in peace Trini and Tommy

Zack still got it. I was blown away when he pulled out the hip hop kito at 50! Damn, I wish they could greenlight this as a series for Netflix

The come catch these hands got me too. I was damn glad to see David Yost back. The tribute to Truy Trang and Jason David Frank at the end had me in tears.

Rita taunting a child and saying "Your mom's a first, I've never killed anyone twice" was wild. I loved the more mature take mixing with the camp, felt like the tone was right in between the first two turtle movies.

I bawled like a baby at the end when Kimberly was singing and it showed in memory of Thuy and JDF. I wish this film had the OG Goldar in it!

I enjoyed it. Really proud of David reprising his role. I loved the homage to Truy and Jason end.

I think seeing Robo Rita fight against the rangers was incredibly epic because we never really saw the original Rita battle the rangers. All she did was cast a spell or two, send an energy bolt from her wand on rare occasions or throw it down to earth to make her monsters grow. Bandora from Zyuranger had a few confrontations with the rangers that made her seem WAY more threatening than Rita.

As someone who grew up on the Disney Era with SPD being my first. The S.P.A and the Troobian Empire references made me quite happy and hoping they explore that side of things more in the future especially with cosmic fury coming.

It’s pretty cool that Bulk and Skull now own a food company. Last time we saw them (believe it was Power Rangers Samurai) Bulk was looking after Skull’s son and Skull was revealed to be rich so either Skull helped Bulk build “Bulk Food Co.” or it was actually Skull’s company and Bulk ended up becoming a part of it. Either way, it’s always awesome to see them again even if it’s a little cameo.

I love how quickly the Rangers slip into their old roles and rhythm once it's morphin' time, like they've been keeping sharp this entire time. And the friendly talk in the Command Center at the end tells me that they've continued to be close friends for these past 30 years, and that honestly makes me so happy to see their cameraderie on screen again.

Sometimes I watch this channel just to see someone be happy and excited about something they love, even if it's something I don't know anything about. I need those good vibes in my life. I have very minimal experience with Power Rangers but I loved this video!

I watched it two nights ago and it made me feel like saying hello to old friends WHILE paying tribute to the actors who played Trini and Tommy

Did you notice that they had Kathrine control "the crane" magnet to catch the monsters

I grew up watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as a kid.... man I won't even lie I was full of nostalgia and tears.

I loved the small Easter eggs. Like when Katherine was given a copy of the pink power coin and they reference the "Too much pink energy is dangerous" line.

I loved this movie! It was a huge love letter to the 90s era ! Thank you very much Netflix 💚🖤💖💙💛❤️😎

Hearing Tommy’s voice at the beginning say “DRAGONZORD” hit me hard

There were 2 Minh moments that I really liked: 1. When she tried to morph against the Putties at the Juice Bar and failed. As a 90s kid, I think we all had that feeling of screaming 'It's morphin time!' only to NOT morph because we had the TOY morpher 🤣 2. I just really loved the moment at the house between her & Zack as they were preparing to visit Trini's grave. Also, when those two walking through the cemetery was a somber moment right before they overheard the other rangers morphin into action. Now, I did LOVE the mentor/student moment when Zack had a talk with Minh at the command center regarding justice vs. revenge and what it meant to be a HERO not just a ranger. You could tell that decades later, Zordon's teachings still had meaning to his rangers. However, all of that was completely undercut when Minh took the cloaking device & morpher just a few moments later to confront the villains trapped to the magnet. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! The morpher didn't work at the Juice Bar, you got a scolding about not being ready and then you just act surprised when the morpher STILL DIDN'T WORK!

When Billy stabbed Rita with the lance, it got me to audibly gasp. I straight up did not expect that to happen, especially mid monologue!

2 words for me: not enough. This was a love letter and tribute, tied into an anniversary special. There's no perfect way to tackle the loss of Thuy and JDF, especially with one being decades ago. But the fact that this was even made and the song at the end paying respects to the two lost rangers was beyond heartbreaking. I just wish there was more. I felt like the writing and acting was slightly subdued. Almost like they were holding back. I was also bummed that Aisha and Adam were just there for 2 scenes. With how much this meant to everyone, it was saddening to not get more of the rangers come in. "You want other rangers??? Here they are as TOYS". Really?? I am still happy that they gave more time to Billy and Zach. They deserved it, especially knowing how David was treated on set. Don't think I didn't miss the boyfriend in trouble scene. A little hint. Otherwise this was a good special. I hope the rangers can come together again someday.

Really enjoyed Once and Always. It lived up to and went beyond my expectations. Not the perfect reunion as you’ve said Andre, but so grateful this was even made, let alone be as good as it was. ⚡️ Walter Jones and David Yost really brought it here. So glad to see them back again, particularly Yost who went through a really terrible time during the show and for a number of years afterwards. So to see him again giving such a wonderful performance as Billy is just awesome! Like most things, your review was the only one that mattered to me though. 😅

Only thing that really bugged me is because all the filming is now done in New Zealand, it makes it hard for some perfectly viable characters to return. Amy Jo Johnson has always wanted to return, and being in New Zealand for like, a month, is a lot (she did say she'd have done it if it wasn't for having to travel all the way out there for such a long time). Really loved the use of her song at the end though!

You made me spit out my drink when you asked if Rocky was a firefighter or a Magic Mike 🤣

I'm glad to see Billy in the lead (red) chair in the zord. David originally audtiotoned for Jason, but Saban felt he would be more closer to be Billy, and Walter originally audtioned for Billy and was moved to be Zack.

Considering the runtime, it actually long enough to be a 3 part miniseries. Still, I hope we get another sequel at some point. Loved the movie... zero complaints. You can feel the love and care put into this work of art.

I wonder how the special would have went in a perfect world had Tommy, Trini, Kim, and Jason been involved

Billy has always been my favorite! I’m so happy he got to be the lead

Honestly this was literally the best event to come out in years! I honestly felt like a kid again watching this!!!!

It felt like cobra Kai. As a 90s kid I enjoyed it. They definitely had to navigate the hard waters. It was still nostalgic to see.

Literally the only thing missing was an actual Bulk and Skull cameo. I wanted to see them at Ernie's Bar. This special hits so different with JDF passing away. It hurt, it hit me in the feels. I also noticed they used some Gen-Z slang at times, like "Catch these hands." This was definitely made for the grown up fans.

There’s tons of Easter eggs and nods to previous Rangers, but the one that I especially the one that caught my attention was when Aisha mentions the troobian war, which is a nod to emperor Gruumm, since we’re two years away from the year SPD takes place (2025). It would be great seeing a special centered in SPD and see Gruumm once more. Also in the comics Tommy and Cat’s son (JJ) becomes the SPD Green Ranger.

I really appreciated that Billy was the de facto team leader here. It felt appropriate, considering he's got more screentime than any other ranger actor.

It was indeed pretty wild. It was on par with what I usually expect on from Power Rangers but committing completely to making Rita as deadly as she was pretty ambitious. If they made more of these I would watch.

The new Command Center looks AMAZING! I absolutely love how its designed

If they do a sequel special, I hope they stick to Mighty Morphin. Maybe it's just because I had grown out of it by the time Zeo started, but it is definitely the most iconic series. Cameos from other series' characters are fine, but Zach and Billy (and Minh too really) were the heart of the story. Also, was nice to see Rocky and Kat again. It was stated that Jason and Kim were the ones that were captured, so keeps the originals in their role, but pays respect to the replacement characters too. That was cool. Over all, quite happy. :)

I loved how Minh broke out the mantis kung fu at one point that her mom learned way back in Season 1 for just one episode. Now that I think about it, the return of the mantis kung fu seems so appropriate for Minh, because as her mom learned mantis kung fu, she too struggled with approaching fights the appropriate way. With Trini, she doubted herself because the Mantis monster accused her of having no honor when her friends showed up, and the fight was no longer 1 against 1. With Minh, she kept approaching fights with a desire for revenge in her heart instead of a desire for justice, so her mom’s Power Coin wouldn’t respond to her. A small change that was made to the Dinozords, which I didn’t notice until I saw a side-by-side comparison of the original footage to the CGI, is that the CGI Tigerzord appears before the CGI Triceratops, whereas the order is reversed in the original footage. I thought that was a lovely tribute to Trini that the visual effects artists tucked in there. Edit: Andre, I just want to thank you for saying a little something about feeling alone as a Power Rangers fan. Back in grade school, I had a friend who was into Power Rangers, but like so many other fans of MMPR, he lost interest early on, leaving me on my own for the majority of the show’s history. Because the popular kids at school made fun of Power Rangers, I felt so embarrassed about being a fan that I actually turned my dad down when he offered to take me to see the original MMPR movie in the theater, for fear of being seen at the theater by kids from school. I’ve kicked myself for doing that ever since. One of my classmates had all of the Thunderzords (including Tor), but for whatever reason, we didn’t become friends. I watched the VHS of Day of the Dumpster with a neighbor’s visiting grandson because I missed the original premiere of MMPR, but again, we didn’t become friends.

When you said that about never thinking we would get something like this and you're really happy that we did, that hit me deep. I said some of the exact same things last year when Hocus Pocus 2 hit and people were blasting it for "what should have happened." I felt the exact same way as you about that AND about this special. Holy crap it was SO GOOD. I had a watch party with my buddy for the Power Rangers special and we were laughing, crying, and screaming through it all. We had so much fun! This was a very fun and very nice thing that happened for us! Once a Ranger, always a Ranger!

This was actually a great special, it caters to the fans and that's very hard to do

Thank you for the energy as growing up watching it I'm born in 1989 this was everything.

I love how it ended with a new MMPR style opening with the lineup used in this special

Rocky being in his feelings because he had just heated up his noodles and his lunch was interrupted was an entire mood 😂 Even worse was that Alpha 9 threw them away while he was saving the world! Nah, bot did Rocky a favor because noodles don't taste as good if you have to reheat them after reheating them haha

Despite obvious continuity issues, I liked this special. Beautiful fan service to the Power Ranger fans.

Robot Rita was COLD. She really said "Does getting squashed like a bug run in the family? Hahahaha" to the daughter of the woman she killed. I was like DAMN RITA YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO HER LIKE THAT. There were so many lines in this that caught me off guard, but in a good way.

The emotion on their faces hit me so hard this was an amazing goodbye to their friend. Also I hope this leads to more mighty Morphin personally, I'd watch another couple of seasons

My head canon for Bulk and Skull is after their reunion in Samurai Skull helped Bulk start a Food joint since he's rich by Samurai and the two became partners and that's how we get the Bulk and Skull moment in this special

Zack hitting Minh with the Mufasa line "You deliberately disobeyed me." was my favorite part. I loved seeing hip hop kido, I loved seeing Billy and Zack leading the team, I loved seeing Zack interact with Cat, Rocky, Adam, and Aisha like they had been on the same squad even though they weren't. My favorite Power Rangers moment is the time Zack got to wear the Dragon Shield, so him getting to say it's Morphin Time, made me from 30 years ago want to cry with happiness. I even loved Minh Despite the fact thar there were only 2 of the OG rangers in the special, I still loved this, I loved hearing Alpha's and Rita's voices again. I hope they do more of these specials, and hope Amy Jo Johnson returns and I'd love to see Tanya make a return as well. The only thing I didn't like was Tommy and Cat being together, it's not even that I think Tommy and Kim should've ended up together, and it's not that I don't like Cat because despite Kimberly being one of my three favorite rangers, I've never had a problem with Cat. The Tommy and Cat thing just always felt forced and not natural, but it was still good to see her again.

I feel the same way man! All the feels came back with this reunion movie! I hope they make more with this crew! Bring everyone that’s able to come back! I’m here for it! May the power protect you!

When I first saw Robo Rita in this, my first thought was literally "She really went overboard with the Snapchat filters". 😂😂 But this was really well done. Cheesy dialogue, great action, so much nostalgia and a simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking tribute to Thuy and JDF at the end. I do wish we had actually seen Bulk and Skull instead of just their pictures on a sign. Also, I love the commentary from Kat on the Putties sounding like angry turkeys. 😆😅😂 I had the honor of meeting JDF at a convention here in Phoenix. He was a stand-up dude. I gave him some artwork that I drew and he autographed my Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic book free. Tommy was my favorite Ranger growing up, even when he was brainwashed by Rita. Out of the six MMPR season 1/early season two zords, my number one favorite has always been the Dragonzord. I did not want to believe that he died when it was announced on social media. I looked it up, and I was devastated. May the power protect you on the other side, Jason David Frank.

There are certain topic I always want Andre's opinion on, and the Power Rangers is one of them.

They managed to perfectly capture the same energy from the classic show. Kudos.

I think they did trinis death perfectly, making her sacrifice as a mighty morphin power Ranger. That shows that she truelly was one of the true original Rangers. RIP thuy tran

I’d love to see this special spin off into a TV series, but with a bigger budget. Having past rangers show up every episode to help out would be great.

They could’ve brought Nakia Burrise to reprise Tanya in a small cameo to play Adam’s wife. Also, it would’ve been cool to bring back Blake Foster as Justin to mentor Trini’s daughter. They didn’t explain the peace conference either lol😂 but I still really enjoyed this

One of my favorite lines was when they actually (and FINALLY) swore! Billy: "Dammit Snizzard! If you don't turn our friends back to normal right now, it's curtains for you!" Snizzard: [Laughs/Cackles] "Like we actually give a sssssshit! That's hardly a threat!" --- Such a hype moment, that I nearly dropped my fone outta disbelief! 😆

I’ve been a fan of your channel for a very long time. You did an amazing job on this review. I too hope that maybe they see how much positive recognition that is coming off the Anniversary special and decide to do more! It’s a wonderful amazing story. The ending tribute was very sweet and emotional and I cried too! This was truly a passion project for all the long time fans! That’s really cool how you feel a great connection to Zack. You do indeed have some wonderful points above what could’ve been done with the classic cast but I’m very happy with the story we got too! Thank you for continuing to do more Power Rangers content and for sharing your memories and experiences with us! Truly respectful and open! You did a marvelous job here and you’re still one of my favorite RU-vidrs!

I wish Austin St. John was in the 30th anniversary special on Netflix he will always be my childhood favorite OG Red Ranger of all time.

Yes! It does feel like they wanna make more and I'm game for it.

Never realized Rocky's Turbo kick! Great catch!

This is the year of nostalgia. Power Rangers, Star Trek TNG in Picard, a proper Mario movie... What a time to be alive!

You put that really well, it was tough enough getting all these pieces together, and just having what we have is enough. I would love to hear your thoughts on the new Hyperforce comic coming out too. Maybe even a review when it drops like you did the Disney+ Marvel shows. Thanks for being awesome!

I would love for this special to show the audience has fun seeing older characters (people past college-age) being rangers, especially a cast of mixed ages. It is one reason I enjoy Lightspeed, it has older professional adults being rangers. There are the seasons with mentors being rangers mixed in, sometimes long-term and sometimes just specific episodes. But I would like to see a season do stories about the different dynamics of what it means to be ranger at different points in life and how a team deals with those differences between themselves.

I wish it could have had an extra 20 minutes of run time to help with the pacing, felt too rushed with barely anytime to slow down and breathe, but otherwise, yeah well said very well done special. I hope we get one or two of these hour long specials a year

Thanks for alway being so positive. I saw so many negative reviews on this, the mario movie, and many other things. And you're just always so positive and hyped.

It was a great birthday present. I LOVED the scene with Billy and Zack in the beginning discussing how to tell Minh about Trini

😂😂😂😂 Thank you for pointing that out! “Come catch these hands”!!! Every time I heard that I lost it!

It's been a year since this came out, and I just watched it again. I grew up with MMPR, and the Rangers hold a very special place in my heart. When this first came out, I cried my heart out. Every tribute brought tears knowing that Ernie, Trini, Tommy, and more couldn't come back. Yeah, it was filmed before the passing of JDF, but still. It was a fantastic anniversary special and felt as if it could have aired in the 90s. Watching it again today, I cried again. Not as much as before, but the tributes to Thuy made me cry yet again. I'm so happy they made this special. And since it opens it up to a potential new generation of MMPR, I'd be very excited to see this continue. Maybe with Zach and Billy acting as the mentors. That would be awesome.

I loved it, but I also think they set the bar for Cosmic Fury

I hope they continue this series! Fantastic review and fantastic mmpr once a ranger episode

I do really miss this 90's vibe movies. Sometimes you don't need to related nowadays conflict or theme in way to make audiences acceptable. You just want to sit down and enjoy the movie with your family. And Power Ranger Once & Always are one of the movies that I need it right now.

A bittersweet special its sad we couldn't see Jason Frank and Austin St. John

I cried 🥹 It was a love letter to long time Power Rangers fans.

There was a missed opportunity to form the Power Blaster at the end, but otherwise I had a lot of fun watching this. Here's hoping Hasbro and Netflix team up to make more specials like this in the future.

Was awesome had a blast! Billy being so central was logical

I feel like there’s gonna be more after this. Because why would Billy be looking for Zordon randomly for a 30th anniversary special? Especially when we all thought Zordon was gone for good.

I would have definitely like to have seen more of Aisha and Adam but other than that I loved it. I like how every ranger had something to do even though the episode was focused more on Zack,Billy, and Minh.

It made sense for Billy to be captain of the megazord as he was the only one heavily involved with the tech for ages even after he left the Power Rangers thanks to having the Cranston Tech company. Not a huge spoiler, and I think the series actually already addressed this honestly in a way how he was always the big scientist who was heavily involved behind the scenes involving the power ranger tech. Basically the Donnie of the series.

i want more of these specials. it was so good. makes me excited as ever for power rangers and what netflix is gonna do with it as well.

I finally got round to watching the film on Bank Holiday weekend and absolutely loved every single moment of it! It definitely had that whole vibe of "we know what the adults who watched the show as kids are here for" and it more than delivered. Plus it had that perfect blend of acknowledging the cheesy humour but knowing when to be serious. I also loved the cheeky nod to Zyuranger with the Bandora Protocol. If you know the whole history behind MMPR, you get the little in joke. I'm glad that they didn't re-create Thuy Trang through CG and just showed Trini morphed in the beginning. I personally feel that would have been pretty disrespectful if they did. And I loved the tribute to Thuy and Jason Frank.

Loved the special had so much fun watching it too.

I really liked this special. I barely remember watching Mighty Morphing and the last season I saw was Dino Thunder, but I was pretty much hooked the moment I watched the trailer. I think it just hit the right amount of nostalgia for me and the trailer itself was just that good. The special itself was really great. It still had that goofy Power Rangers charm, but also had a more serious and dark feel to it. Not just with an on-screen death, but just dealing with grief through Minh. Even just saying kill was a pretty big deal for this franchise. Rita was a lot more brutal and evil than I remember her too. I also really liked that the focus was on Billy and Zack. They haven't been in the series in years, so keeping the main focus on them, along with Minh, felt pretty nice. It also felt refreshing given that from what I remember and seen/heard from other seasons, most characters that aren't the Red Rangers, sixth Ranger and maybe the Pink Ranger in some cases don't seem to get a lot of attention. Or at least those seem to be the more popular/marketable Rangers out there. I thought it was really touching how they wanted to honor Truy through her character Trini. She passed away years ago and I just assumed that they would have had her character pass away off-screen prior to the trailer, but instead, they made her character sacrifice herself to save Billy and had her daughter learn how to become a hero by nearly making the same sacrifice. It just felt like a nice way to pay respect to the actress since Trini's presence was felt throughout the entire special. The ending tribute to both Truy and Jason David Frank was touching too. I also feel like this is a potential pilot for a series or at least maybe more specials. It wraps up nicely, but I don't know if they'd introduce a new character like Minh just for this special either. It felt like they could still have more adventures for the Mighty Morphing team at least. Having more specials for other teams that want to come back would be pretty cool too. There are a lot of fan favorite teams out there over the course of the franchise's history, but I could understand if they want to focus more on the more iconic Mighty Morphing team at least for the time being. It was a lot of fun for me as someone who hasn't watched the series in ages, so I'm sure it was even more fun for hardcore fans or people more familiar with the early seasons. I'd definitely be interested in watching more specials and hopefully Netlfix/Hasbro will consider making them in the future. There's definitely an audience for slightly more serious Power Rangers content while still retaining its cheesy goofy charm out there.

I love the new effects with the teleportation and the morphing, and I also love how Zach jumped and morphed in mid air ❤

It was even better than i hoped, got me in the feels not just because of nostalgia but because i was invested in the story. Awesome moments and beautiful homage in the end

That was a beautiful tribute to both Thuy Trang and Jason David Frank.

I am a longtime follower of your videos, I can’t think of a better articulated and more appropriate response to something I love, so, dear! Andre, you are one of the coolest RU-vidrs that I have ever had the pleasure of watching and if I ever got the chance to meet you I would nerd out so hard that we would become the next bulk and skull lol! Thank you for everything and helping this franchise as well as so many of the others. I care about blossom with your RU-vid power! May the power protect you always!

“Came catch these hands” - The most calm Billy Voice possible. 😂

I wanted to see President Zack while being a ranger. That would have been awesome. But I do enjoy how Billy became the Bill Gates of the rangers plus I love the tribute they gave to both JDF and Thuy

Ive watched it over 5 times already🔥 love it!

One little thing I would've liked; if someone at the end brought up the peace conference (maybe Minh), only for Zach to go "Yeah, about thst.."

This special made me appreciate just how great a villain Rita is, and always was. Bless Barbara Goodson for making her so iconic.

My only complaint was there was not enough Adam because Johnny Young Basch is a great actor

It was an awesome special the fights were great cinematography beautiful thoughtful story just a great tribute Billy had me hollering with catch these hands rest in power to our fallen rangers ❤

This was so much cooler than i expected. I feel off of Power Rangers after In Space, but I come back every so often for specials and certain series, like Dino Thunder or Ninja Storm. I want more of this