The Weirdest Power Rangers Episode I've Ever Watched Had No Right Being This Good

Summary Power Rangers Time Force's "Movie Madness" episode is one of the weirdest yet best in the franchise.

The episode features standout hand-to-hand fight scenes with Rangers in alternate realities.

Despite the lack of morphed Rangers, "Movie Madness" showcases 40 minutes of non-stop action.

Having watched all seasons of Power Rangers more than once, I’m surprised by how great the show’s weirdest episode is. Power Rangers is based on Super Sentai, meaning that the tone and the aesthetic of the American show are very much defined by what the Japanese franchise does. One of Super Sentai’s defining traits is comedy, from jokes that get lost in translation and cannot be incorporated into the localized version to visual gags that are often reutilized in Power Rangers.

The best thing about watching Power Rangers in chronological order is to see how certain aspects of the show evolve with time. For example, from Power Rangers in Space onward, the show started to spend a little more time developing the characters and giving them actual personalities. The late 1990s and the early 2000s also saw a major improvement in the American action sequences, with seasons like Lightspeed Rescue and Time Force delivering great fights even when the Rangers were unmorphed. This is what happened in Time Force’s “Movie Madness.”

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Timo Force’s “Movie Madness” Is One Of Power Rangers’ Weirdest Episodes

The Power Rangers Were Fighting… A Movie Director?

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Power Rangers Time Force episodes 24 and 25 were a two-part story called “Movie Madness.” The premise of the episode was a monster, Cinecon, who could send the Rangers to alternate movie dimensions. After being tricked into appearing as extras and stunt performers in a movie starring Jen’s favorite action stars, the Rangers are split up and sent to different alternate realities. For example, the Red and Green Rangers were sent to a Western film, whereas the Quantum Ranger was sent to a Tarzan parody. As absurd as this premise was, it delivered one of my favorite Time Force episodes.

Power Rangers Time Force's Team Character Color Jen Scotts Pink Ranger Wes Collins Red Ranger Lucas Kendall Blue Ranger Trip Green Ranger Katie Walker Yellow Ranger Eric Myers Red/Quantum Ranger Alex Drake First Red Ranger

The Rangers could not morph in these alternate realities, meaning that most of the fight scenes in the episode featured the characters without their costumes. Instead of reducing the number of fight scenes so that the episode would not have to worry about teaching the actors the choreography or changing between the stars and the stunt performers in every shot, Time Force doubled down on this unusual premise. Each Ranger had to fight their way out of these alternate universes using nothing but their fists and whatever was available in the movie sets.

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Despite Its Bizarre Plot, “Movie Madness” Has Some Of Power Rangers’ Best Fights

The Hand-To-Hand Fight Scenes Were A Standout Of Time Force’s “Movie Madness”

Once “Movie Madness” started, I assumed it was just a filler episode to make up for the lack of Super Sentai footage. Given that the Rangers could not morph, I thought there would only be a couple of fight scenes here and there before the eventual showdown between the Megazord and the monster of the week. However, I could not have been more wrong. From the “fake fight” between in-universe movie star Frankie Chang and Wes to all the battles that happened across the two-part episode, “Movie Madness” had some of the best civilian fights in the franchise.

Parts of Time Force's "Movie Madness" were filmed at the Universal Studios lot.

Action sequences, particularly hand-to-hand fights, had always been the heart and soul of Super Sentai and Power Rangers. This is something Time Force’s “Movie Madness” captured incredibly well and even acknowledged in a meta way. The episode starts with Wes joyfully offering himself to act as a stuntman in Chang’s latest action film, followed by the first of many incredible hand-to-hand combat scenes. While I always expect to see well-choreographed fights in Power Rangers, moments like Jen proving herself worthy of the scroll or Lucas' samurai movie action were just too impressive.

“Movie Madness” Is Strangely One Of The Best Power Rangers Episodes Of All Time

Each Ranger Gets A Cool Moment In “Movie Madness”

Despite the silliness of seeing the Quantum Ranger dressed as Tarzan or Wes faking an accent to be in a Western, “Movie Madness” might be one of the greatest Power Rangers episodes of all time. Considering it is a two-part episode, it delivers 40 minutes of non-stop, well-choreographed action that captures the essence of Power Rangers. I barely noticed that the Rangers were not using their powers for most of the episode since all the fights were so awesome. “Movie Madness” is a love letter to Power Rangers that highlights what the show does best.

Time Force is a fan-favorite Power Rangers season, and “Movie Madness” is a great example of why.

Many of the action sequences featured the main cast doing their own stunts, which was also remarkable. By the time “Movie Madness” came back to Sentai footage to show the giant monster and the Megazords, I wished it had spent even more time with the Rangers unmorphed. Time Force is a fan-favorite Power Rangers season, and “Movie Madness” is a great example of why. Silly and weird Power Rangers storylines were nothing new, but Time Force would often make the most of its weekly premises with great episodes.