Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (Blu-ray Review)
Last month it was Ivan Ooze, now Shout! Factory is moving onward with the Power Rangers movies with TURBO. Personally, I can’t say I’m familiar with this one as the whole thing had passed me by and I was probably “too cool” for it when Turbo released in 1997. I recently spoke with Steve Cardenas about the films and VERY positive about the first Power Ranger movie and pretty mum about Turbo here. So we shall see. Anyway, this is the first time for the film to be on the Blu-ray format (Was not included in the big set from last year) and it looks to also contain some nice supplemental fun here as well. You’ll be able to add it to your collection of Zords, Discs and more when it arrives on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory on July 30th.
Film
Video
Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Layers: BD-50
Clarity/Detail: Turbo comes to Blu-ray and well, has that sorta 90s movie look to it with this transfer. Its a bit dimmer looking as a whole and the while its pretty sharp and crisp, its just not the prettiest looking image. The film looks better than a DVD upconvert, but it not going to wildly impress anyone. Solid, but that’s about all I can say.
Depth: Decent spacing here, though its more in the slightly above average category. Motion is cinematic and natural, with no issues regarding motion distortion.
Black Levels: Blacks are deep and on the slightly lighter and gray levels. No crushing witnessed.
Color Reproduction: Colors are okay and pop more with the more fantastical things like the Ranger costumes, Zords and monsters. Greens stand out pretty good in the more tropical looking scenes.
Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent for the duration of the film. Facial features and textures are good in close ups but a little more hit or miss the further its back.
Noise/Artifacts: Clean
Audio
Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles: English
Dynamics: Turbo has a nice, loud and rowdy 5.1 mix that will bring these silly hijinx to your viewing are with some nice thunder. The mix is free and kind of random at times. Its best asset is how loud and impacting it is during any sort of big action scene. That’s about all you could ask for here. There is a nice balance to it all, and none of the vocals, music or effects get in one another’s way.
Height: N/A
Low Frequency Extension: The subwoofer provides a pretty solid thump in a variety of ranges to make this a terrific bit of fun.
Surround Sound Presentation: This mix throws itself all over the room and really gets an effort for tossing sounds in random corners of the room to give you a little jolt as well as some nice traveling back and forth.
Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp. There’s a bit of a muffle with the Ranger costumed voices as to be expected.
Extras
Ranger Tales-Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (HD, 23:21) – Nakia Burrise, Catherine Sutherland and Justin Stewart reflect on making Turbo, with many stories from the set and about getting their roles and working with the other actors. Its not limited to just this movie as they talk a little about their time on the series and their relationships with fans via the conventions.
Turbo-A Power Rangers Movie Original Featurette (SD, 4:21) – A little EPK from when the film came out, featuring generic interviews and such with the cast.
Theatrical Trailer (SD, 1:06)
TV Spot (SD, :35)
Summary
Welp, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie is finally here on Blu-ray. For fans, it includes a really nice retrospective from the new cast members in this movie. The feature itself has a nice 5.1 mix but the video is just kinda bleh, but still solid. Despite that, this is the edition to have and the upgrade to make from you old DVD (or VHS?).