While I have never been a fan of the Power Rangers — I was in high school during its original release and knew better — I went to a screening of the gritty remake a year or so ago, mostly disappointed and dismayed how they got rid of everything that made the original even remotely watchable: the bright colors, the cheap monsters and the generally jovial atmosphere.

As a matter of fact, when the Black Ranger shoved his sword into Rita Repulsa’s chest and said, “Eat Zord, space bitch!” I walked out of the theater in disgust.

But, settling in to watch the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, I was taken back to a time where I sat in the living room, agitated, trying to coerce my brother through bribes and threats into changing the channel to What’s Happening!! Youth truly is wasted on the young, isn’t it?

As the 1995 film starts, immediately we’re introduced to the fun teenage heroes — all in their signature Power Ranger colors, natch — about to skydive as a part of the Angel Grove Jump-a-Thon to benefit the observatory, which will probably come in to play later, right? (Oddly enough, the gang is jumping with the two local bullies, Skull and Bulk, who they’re always hanging out with, for some reason.) As the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ version of “Higher Ground” blasts on the soundtrack, rest assured we’re not in Fox Kids territory anymore, thank Zordon.

After landing at the drop point, they all immediately go rollerblading through a dangerous construction site, when, as they pass by, the hardhats find a mysterious sewer cover with a lion’s head on it; you know it’s something important because the operatic chorus unleashes an important swell in Latin. Instead of calling the experts at the local college to help them figure out what it is, the workers get a crane and open it themselves, unleashing a glowing purple egg.

A couple of the film’s monsters break the egg and unleash a 6,000-year-old demon named Ivan Ooze, who both resembles and acts like a tween-friendly version of notorious child murderer Freddy Krueger, right up to saying “Welcome … to my nightmare!” during a fight scene. Ready for war against the Power Rangers, Ooze launches an all-out early CGI-filled assault.

After a punch-up in a parking garage with the Ecto-Monsters (or whatever they’re called), the Power Rangers lose their super-ninja powers and, when their father figure Zordon lay dying, they decide to go to a distant planet that looks like the California desert to get said powers back. On that planet, a half-naked warrior woman named Dulcea shows up to help and gives its intended audience their first real erections.

The special effects are state-of-the-art (mostly terrible) computer graphics — Ivan Ooze and his liquidic sequences are ghastly even for a kids’ movie — but the Power Rangers themselves, here not replaced by their Japanese Super Sentai variations, remarkably, pull off some impressive fight moves that the children of the ’90s really didn’t deserve and probably didn’t know what to do with in the elementary school playground.

Regardless, it’s still far more watchable than the aforementioned reboot, Saban’s Power Rangers, but probably not as good as the official sequel, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, I’m guessing. —Louis Fowler

Get it at Amazon.

If you thought America has the market on dystopic futures mostly cornered, here’s White Chamber, a surprisingly non-YA tale of Great Britain under civil war (I think mostly because of Nigel Farage).

Waking up inside a white room (with, sadly, no black curtains), Dr. Elle Chrystler (Shauna Macdonald, The Descent) is slowly tortured by the mysterious room, which generously has the ability to heat up, freeze down and, gunkiest of all, drop acid for a sprinkler system. The man holding her hostage is apparently rebel leader Zakarian (Oded Fehr, 1999’s The Mummy), who we thought in the first few minutes of the film was a reputable leader of the people.

Then, surprise, the film backtracks five days and we learn that, originally, it was Zakarian who was the prisoner, with a whole team of scientists controlling the white chamber. They aren’t torturing him for fun and games — instead, they’re testing a wide variety of drugs to see what works and what doesn’t in order to create the latest and greatest of super-soldiers to make Britain safe for those who supported Brexit. Science!

As much as I like the idea of White Chamber, for the most part, it’s a little too repetitive given its two-room budget. We’re either in the chamber or the lab, making the film very rinse, torture and repeat for its own good. Additionally, it has a believability-pushing ending that almost made me feel like this might turn into a notorious comedy of manners, right down to the mistaken identities. Gorblimey, luv! —Louis Fowler

Get it at Amazon.