Carranger Vs. Ohranger Review

It gives me great joy to review this movie. It was the first taste of Sentai I ever had, and I must say that it impressed me a great deal. The picture above is the first picture I scanned with my new scanner! There was no doubt in my mind which picture should be scanned first. NOTE: I bought this tape at a store, not subbed from Ctenosaur, so there may be errors in the summary. Also note that this summary is a tad longer than usual. I am not embarassed to say that I have watched this movie so many times that I can recite sound for sound what each character says (someday, I may even recite word for word).

Summary: The movie begins with a standard Carranger opening (new version, verse 1, but with the picture sequence used from Carranger #32 onward). The scene begins at the Pegasus Garage, where the Carrangers in civilian form discuss daily matters. Kyousuke (Red Racer) seems confused that the Borzock aren't attacking lately (perhaps relieved as well).

Scene shifts to the Baribarian, where life is also normal (Gainamo kissing up to Zonette, etc.). Exhaus shows up and presents three tanks of gasoline and tells the Borzock to put them into Earth's cars. The Borzock send down SS Sutatanza, who is equipped with a gasoline tank. He proceeds to put the gas into cars that he encounters, allowing them to fly, and reusing footage from Carranger #2.

As usual, the claxon sounds in the Pegasus Garage. The Carrangers henshin and drive out with the Pegasus Thunder and Dragon Cruiser. On the way, they pass by Signalman, who apparently sees them breaking some minor law. As the Carrangers arrive, Signalman comes up to them, but even he sees that the flying cars are more of a problem at the moment. SS Sutatanza appears and explains his plot (all the while talking like a crazed auctioneer; I'm surprised anyone could understand him, he was talking so fast). The basic Wampa fight scene ensues. Signalman pulls Red Racer over and recalls a time when he successfully disbanded a bunch of space loiterers by singing a really sad song. Both of them climb into the Pegasus Thunder and fly up to the cars. Signalman's sad song persuades the cars to come down. And there was much rejoicing.

Kyousuke makes a delivery at a resort (?), and decides to drop by the spa. As he approaches, he finds a monster there already. He thinks it's a Borzock, but after he summons the others, he realizes that his Accel Changer is not responding to it. He realizes that it must not be a Borzock after all. Then he notices two men in blue searching for something. Gorou and Yuuji (Ohred and Ohblue, respectively) notice the monster and chase after it. Kyousuke tries to stop them to tell them the monster is not a threat (seeing as how he's not a Borzock), but the UAOH officers just run over him (literally).

The two Ohrangers catch up with the monster near a beach, and Gorou calls him the last son of Baranoia, Bara Mobile. Kyousuke comes up to them and argue for a little bit, then Bara Mobile tells him that these two men are trying to hurt him. Bara Mobile shows Kyousuke the wound to prove his point. Surprisingly, Kyousuke sides with Bara Mobile! The other Carrangers show up as Shouhei and Juri (Ohgreen and Ohyellow) back up Gorou and Yuuji. Shouhei's military talk leads Naoki (Blue Racer) to question who these people are. Gorou proclaims them as the Super Power TaskForce Ohranger. After some arguing, both teams henshin into their respective teams. Green Racer seems to say something about how the fight would be five Carrangers versus four Ohrangers, and the other Carrangers clap. Momo (Ohpink) shows up late, but henshins as well, showing the Carrangers all five Ohrangers.

A brawl breaks out! Each ranger takes on the ranger of the opposing team with the same color. Naturally, Ohranger gets the lead because they are military trained and Carranger is a bunch of car mechanics. Blue Racer gets a bop on the head from Ohblue, but also from his teammates Pink and Green Racers! That has to suck. Eventually, both teams call for their mecha, and the OhrangerRobo and the RV Robo face off (OhrangerRobo is considerably shorter than the RV Robo, BTW). Finally, Ohred remembers Bara Mobile, whose making tracks. He jumps down to intercept him, but Red Racer also comes down. The two have a fierce duel, Red Racer armed with the Viblade and Ohred armed with the Star Riser. Ohred knocks Red Racer off the side of the platform they were on, and Red Racer uses his Fender Sword for a little bit. Then, they both rely on firearms, the Auto Blaster and King Blaster. Eventually, Bara Mobile catches up to Red Racer and hides behind him once again.

Now, the Borzock show up. They think Ohranger is their ally against Carranger. When they attack Carranger, Ohred ponders this situation. Meanwhile, Red Racer holds his own, but it isn't enough. He calls on the Pegasus Thunder and Bara Mobile climbs in the passenger seat. Ohred follows the chase on the Red Jetter, while the Borzock get into three funny-looking cars.

The chase is on, with highlights including Ohred and the Red Jetter jumping over a car, and the three Borzock cars teleporting beneath a truck so they don't crash. Eventually, the Borzock cause Ohred to crash with a stray beam, and the Borzock crash themselves, allowing Pegasus Thunder to get a gigantic lead. Red Racer takes this time to question Bara Mobile, first asking why Ohranger is after him. He replies that he was trying to brainwash somebody when the Ohrangers interfered. His goal is to create a new empire full of brainwashed people (the brainwashed people have small cars for heads). Red Racer realizes that this is the enemy and brakes. When Ohred catches up, Red Racer turns Bara Mobile over. Now, when the Borzock arrive, they are united. The other Carrangers appear on the scene to help attack the Borzock.

But, Zelmoda takes Bara Mobile. Ohred is determined to get Bara Mobile and gets on his Red Jetter to give chase. But he flies into the air instead! The Carrangers recognize this plot and begin to sing Signalman's song, but instead of merely floating, the Red Jetter (and Ohred) disappear among the clouds. SS Sutatanza reappears, showing the Carrangers his new speed-up booster. He demonstrates by spraying gasoline on the Carrangers and igniting it. As you can guess, huge explosions follow. Red Racer uses Pegasus Thunder's Final Burning to temporarily stop Sutatanza. Then, the other Ohrangers show up, and they want to know where Ohred is. Red Racer must admit that the Borzock captured him. Ohpink then tells him that this constitutes a court martial (I think - please correct me if I'm wrong).

On the Baribarian, Bara Mobile agrees to build a brainwashing device for the Borzock, and decides to test it on Gorou, who is de"henshin"ed.

While the Carrangers in civilian form are eating, Chief Counselor Muira shows up. He calls them Carrangers, to the utter shock of the Carrangers. He tells them that Red Racer must be court-martialed. But, if the Carrangers all go through the same tests that the Ohrangers had to, they can pilot the OhrangerRobo and fly to the Baribarian to rescue Ohred and avoid the court-martial. (I don't know if this is absolutely true or not - I heard about Red Racer's court-martialing, but the rest is all inference from what I've seen).

The training begins. Apparently, the format is that everybody takes the test at the same time. The first person to fulfill the test passes, and the rest fail. If a person passes a test, he or she doesn't have to take another test. Youko (Pink Racer) passes the first test, hill-climbing, when she sees a spider and freaks out and runs to the top. Minoru (Green Racer) passes the next test (somebody PLEASE tell me what the test is). Natsumi (Yellow Racer) passes the crawling test. Naoki's test is apparently one of endurance. Kyousuke failed miserably at all four tests. The final test, wall-climbing, he fails as well. However, some carefully placed dynamite during the second try encourages him . . . to break straight through the wall. Muira accepts this attempt (as well he should - the test is about getting to the other side, isn't it?). All five Carrangers have passed the tests and can now pilot the OhrangerRobo.

Four Carrangers take one route through the Baribarian, while Red Racer takes a different route. The four Carrangers find Gorou, who is unconscious, underneath the gigantic brainwashing machine. When they approach, a device comes down from the ceiling and blasts them, acting much like a tazer in that the Carrangers cannot control their movements. They are also hooked up to the brainwashing machine. As the brainwashing begins, Red Racer uses his new-found wall-bashing skill to break in and rescue them. Once free, Gorou henshins into Ohred. All six of them escape through the OhrangerRobo back to Earth. Ohred is greeted by all his teammates.

But the fun isn't over yet. SS Sutatanza and Bara Mobile come to Earth, bringing a platoon of Wampas with them. The two teams do their opening poses and take on the Wampas, with same-color rangers pairing up. Eventually, Carranger calls on the Giga Booster and Ohranger calls on the Ohre Bazooka, and together they destroy the two monsters. But wait! Sutatanza pulls out some Imo-Youkan, and Bara Mobile spins some wheel on his shoulder. Both grow.

Out comes the heavy artillery! VRV Robo and OhrangerRobo enter the arena (excuse me, city). Out of nowhere, a red robot comes from the sky and attacks the two robos, knocking them back. It is a red version of the Norishiron 12, with the label "Extra" in Kanji on its chest instead of 12. It is called (no surprise here) Norishiron Extra. Signalman returns to help out in Sirender. As usual, all three enemies are quickly destroyed.

Carranger and Ohranger, now de"henshin"ed, go to the beach to celebrate. I don't like commenting on this scene because the actors on both teams are obviously tired and need a break. Nobody in this last scene looks like they mean what they say (or act). Basically, they all run around and laugh and play like idiots to the tune of the Carranger ED.

Review: Surprisingly good, even after a year of watching it for me.

The Good: Nobody is omnipotent. That is to say, nobody knows what the heck's going on. I think Gainamo once comments that Ohranger is their ally, to which Ohred simply has to kind of bob his head in confusion. It's rather hillarious how everybody thinks the wrong people are the enemy. This is probably the one thing that keeps me coming back to the movie, and I regret that this small paragraph does not adequately describe just how good this one plot device makes the movie.

Side-splitting scenes are abound when the Carrangers are going through testing. Muira keeps threatening Kyousuke with weapons if he doesn't shape up. First, it was some kind of staff. Then, a sword, a gun, an obviously fake minibazooka, and finally a bunch of dynamite.

Speaking of humor, this movie brings over much of Carranger's cool humor. While there are a few stinkers (see below), much of the humor is actually funny.

A great improvement over the previous year's Ohre Vs. Kakuranger. Ohranger has a good deal of plot time. They are integral to the plot (they are the ones chasing Bara Mobile, after all).

The Bad: Well, for one thing, it has Ohranger in it. But, to be fair, let me note that their personalities seem different than in the series (different in the sense that they are not annoying). It was because of this movie that I thought Ohranger was so great (later, I found out the cold, harsh truth that Ohranger sucks).

No Kingranger! Though Riki himself isn't quite that cool, I love the costume. When I first saw this movie, I was majorly disappointed when I didn't see the guy I knew as Gold Ranger. The reason he wasn't in it, of course, is that this is still primarily a Carranger movie.

The "Signalman brings down cars by singing to them" sucks. It is probably the worst joke in the movie. Thankfully, it stays pretty much in the background. I'd hate to see that song as part of the actual plot!

Final Grade: A
A good, solid movie that is entertaining up to the last minute (when it turns slightly sour).

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