Summary: An strange flying shell comes towards Earth. As it nears, it opens and a weird blue creature stares out. The shell turns into a light and streaks towards Earth, closely followed by another light. On Earth, Kenta (Megared) is late to school again as he hurrys out. He wants his father to give him a ride, but his father says the car is still in the shop. After Kenta leaves, two people arrive, and the father is relieved that the car is finally back. The two people (Kyousuke and Youko, the Red and Pink Racers, even though their faces aren't shown) give the father a little something as an apology. It is Imo-Youkan from Imochou (a little in-joke). [OP Theme]
Kenta runs into class, and is promptly scolded by the teacher. Apparently, Kenta forgot that today was graduation pictures, and Miku (Megapink) makes a comment about Kenta's picture being in a little circle separate from the others had Kenta been absent that day. Koichirou (Megablack) notices a light and signals for the others to investigate by faking a stomachache. In a nearby field, the shell from outer space lands in Miku's hands. The other light lands nearby and reveals itself as Helmedor, a motorcyclist that wants the shell. When the others refuse, Helmedor blasts them retrieves the shell. He says to pour water on it and stroke twice to get a wish. The Megarangers do an off-screen henshin and grab the shell back. After a very brief fight in which Helmedor demonstrates his nifty force field, the Megarangers are beat. When Helmedor is about to destroy them, Yuusaku appears and throws his jacket over Helmedor's face. Yuusaku henshins into Megasilver and calls upon the Auto Slider, and performs the Blazer Impact on Helmedor. Helmedor grows, and the Megarangers call upon the Galaxy Mega (no word as to where Megasilver goes during this part; did he pull up a lawn chair and watch the action?). Helmedor's force field pisses the Megarangers off, so Megablack suggests using the Delta Mega to form the Super Galaxy Mega and break that annoying field. It works, and Helmedor gets his butt whupped (for now).
Somebody's prying around the Megarangers' school. Whoever it is has a Carnavic (which looks surprisingly big; was it always that big?). It locks on to something, and the man grins.
Dr. Kubota tells the Megarangers that INET intercepted a message a few days ago. It read, "Protect the light of hope from the space motorcycle guy, Dappu". Koichirou asks what the last word "Dappu" means, and Kubota says that he doesn't know but that INET is working on it. Meanwhile, Miku, who overheard what Helmedor said about getting a wish, uses the shell to get a big cake. While the others look at the cake, the mysterious prowler takes the shell!
The Megarangers run out and look for the thief, but all they see are four students outside. Kenta asks them where a man with a shell went, and a student (actually Natsumi, the Yellow Racer), points in another direction. The Megarangers think that everyone looks too old, and ask what class. When the fake students lie, they are caught. They turn around, and the viewers see the Carrangers' faces for the first time in the movie. After a brief interrogation from the Megarangers, the Carrangers catch them off guard by pushing Kenta and running. Once in their car, they ditch the school uniforms and leave. The Megarangers follow on the Cyber Sliders, in a scene that looks very realistic, especially when Megared slides next to the car. Kyousuke drives the car up a ramp and hits Megared's Cyber Slider, sending him flying (I wish I had a picture of this to show those of you who haven't seen this, 'cause it's hillarious!). Megared is furious, but Megayellow reveals that she used the Mega Sling to put a tracer mark on the car.
At the Pegasus Garage, the five Carrangers are relieved that they have recovered the light of hope, a wish-granting creature by the name of Picot. Kyousuke tries out the shell, and wishes for katsudon (a type of food). The shell promptly replies. The others get on his case, yelling that Picot will only grant five wishes, and that he should have wished for what they all wanted. Yugande appears, along with some Kune Kune and Kani Nejiraa (Crab Nejilar). As the Carrangers are beaten up, the Megarangers show up. As the Megarangers try to push the civilian Carrangers away, Kyousuke pulls out his Accel Changer. The others follow, and they henshin into Carranger! The Carrangers try to fight Crab Nejilar, who has gotten control of the shell, but they find that he is too hard. The Megarangers fight Kune Kune, and Megared and Yugande do their thing again. It amazes me how many times the two have fought, yet Megared never walked away with anything worse than a broken Drill Saber, while Yugande eventually had to get a new form (nothing to do with Megared, I know, but I'm using it to show just how lucky that son of a gun Megared is). Eventually, Carranger and Megaranger team up, and regain control of the shell. Nejirejia retreats for now.
Now un'henshin'ed, the two groups congratulates themselves as Picot comes out of hiding from his shell. Picot is a blue creature, and everybody comments on how cute he is. Though everyone is happy, the mood changes as Picot asks for the last three wishes. Everyone gangs up on Kyousuke and Miku, who apologize in a rather fake manner.
As Dr. Hinelar swears over the appearance of Carranger, Helmedor appears in the Nejirejia base, and proposes a deal. A team-up, and both of them share the wishes when they get back the shell.
The Carrangers and Megarangers eat some food from Gainamo's restaurant as they wait by the beach for Dappu's return. Kyousuke reveals the Carrangers' wish for a space ship to visit their friends on other planets. Miku remembers the graduation pictures, and the Megarangers swear at having forgotten. Then Dappu shows up, and the Carrangers meet him with Picot. Dappu grabs Picot, and then reveals his true form as Helmedor! Helmedor quickly flees, leaving the Megarangers and Carrangers to search for him at the nearby cliffs. Shiborena shows up and hypnotizes the Carrangers into fighting the Megarangers. Of course, a group of high-school students can't compete with adults, even if they all are slackers. Each Carranger takes on the corresponding Megaranger, with Green Racer beating the crap out of Megablack in a very violent fashion. As Megared goes flying, he crashes into a boarded-off section of the cliff. Inside is a tied-up real Dappu. He tells the Megarangers to use their strongest weapons, even though it could kill the Carrangers. When the Carrangers summon the Giga Booster, the Megarangers are left with no choice but to use the Drill Sniper Custom and the Multi Attack Rifle, combined with Dappu's magic. Success! The Carrangers are no longer under a spell.
While the Carrangers recover from the blast, the Megarangers run into Helmedor and Crab Nejilar, who are fighting over Picot. Helmedor has already gained control of Picot and has wished for a huge laser to destroy planets. After this wish, Crab Nejilar gains control of Picot and wishes for the Psycho-Nejilars previously destroyed by Megaranger to become resurrected. Lion, Porcupine, Condor, Mantis, and Lizard Nejilar attack the Megarangers. Meanwhile, Crab Nejilar is wishing for everything to become twisted, but the Carrangers stop him. When Picot is dropped, he reverts to a shell form. The Carrangers launch the shell over a roof, sending Helmedor and Crab Nejilar running for it.
Meanwhile, the resurrected Psycho-Nejilars have caused Megaranger to de"henshin", and have beat them up plenty. The Carrangers come to the rescue and show them Picot (Cut to a short scene where Crab Nejilar discovers a bowl of food where the shell used to be. Shibolena casts a spell on Helmedor to get the shell for Nejirejia.). Red Racer wants the Megarangers to use the last wish, but they refuse, saying that the Carrangers' dream won't be accomplished if they use up the last wish. Red Racer replies that they will do it on their own. Miku's gratifying tears provide water for Picot, and Kenta wishes for new power to fight. They receive the Megatector armor.
Now united against Nejirejia and Helmedor, the rangers do their opening poses. Then they fight to the Megaranger English theme. After the enemies are defeated, Bibidebi makes both Helmedor and Crab Nejilar grow. The rangers summon the RV Robo and the Mega Voyager. Helmedor grabs his gigantic laser (the one wished with the third wish). Megared realizes that they would be instantly destroyed by a planet-destroying cannon. Luckily, Megasilver and the Mega Winger save them (I guess he got tired of sitting in that lawn chair). Helmedor is destroyed by the Violent Dash Slash, and Crab Nejilar by the Winger Spartan.
Picot goes to the next planet after saying good-bye. Kyousuke suggests taking pictures at the beach where they originally waited for Dappu. They go, and the ending credits roll in a scene based on the original Megaranger ED theme, with both teams getting into the bus, getting off, goofing around, and getting a picture taken. A final shot is added of their graduation pictures with five smiling Megaranger teens in little circles separate from the class picture.
Review: Excellent. A perfect starting point for newcomers to Sentai.
The Good: Combines the best of both worlds (Car and Mega). A major complaint I have about the previous two crossovers is that both do not feature both teams. For instance, Oh Vs. Kaku was very blatantly the Ohranger Movie guest-starring Kakuranger. Car Vs. Oh was better, but still the Ohrangers never got a scene that did not also have a Carranger there. Mega Vs. Car has both teams firmly integrated into the plot, so it doesn't seem like they were thrown in for the heck of it.
The characters interact well. Carranger is a group of slackers and goof-offs. Megaranger is a group of teenagers, which basically means the same thing. The interaction between Kyousuke and Kenta in particular was very realistic and is very likely to happen in real life that way. One only need to know the basics of Car, Oh, and Kaku to know that the previous two crossovers did not feature two similar teams.
I like how they kept the faces of the Carrangers off-camera for the first half of the movie. It's a cool suspense feature, even if anybody who has interest in the movie already knows what they look like.
Music . . . combining the best of Carranger and Megaranger BGM. Incredible. Carranger, I believe, has the best BGM of any series ever. Megaranger has above-average BGM that still never fails to please. Not a lot of "songs"; the inclusion of the Mega English OP was a nice touch and one I did not see coming.
I liked the Gainamo's restaurant bit. Adds a nice sense of continuity.
The Bad: First and foremost, where the hell did Megasilver go? He helps out for a few minutes, then leaves. The Megarangers are having trouble with Helmedor there! Maybe you could pitch in a little? And don't tell me the time limit. He has Mega Winger, which means the time limit is history. The best explanation is that he pulled up a lawn chair and watched the fun until the big fight at the end, when Prof. Kubota finally told him to get his lazy butt over to Mega Winger and make himself useful.
Seriously, the most annoying bit in this special is that the villains aren't very inspiring. Helmedor is very blatantly a one-dimensional character. Even most monsters of the week have more of a personality than him. Nothing new about Nejirejia, either. Nothing. Just more of the same. Even Oh Vs. Kaku had something new (the competition between Bakkasfundo and Buldont). Car Vs. Oh had the villains very messed up about who was a good guy and who was a bad guy. While I'm on the topic of villains, who told Crab Nejilar how to get wishes?
That brings me to my next point. A creature that grants wishes. There's something original. It's always an interesting concept, but just a creature that grants wishes, no strings attached or anything, isn't my idea of a geniusly creative plot.
Granted, these are all extremely small plot details that really don't detract from the movie a lot. Only goes to show that this movie rocked.
Final Grade: A+
One of the finest Sentai viewings of the '90s. Much improved over the
previous two crossovers (quite an accomplishment considering I loved Car Vs.
Oh). Anybody who is a fan of Sentai or Power Rangers should watch this.
And PR fans, don't tell me you don't have the money. There are plenty
of dealers out there willing to sell for practically nothing. Ctenosaur's
subtitled it and selling it for only $13, too; that's the version I have.
I recommend getting it, because the subtitles are generally pretty faithful,
and you understand what's going on.