SABAN’S Power Rangers follows five ordinary teens who must become something extraordinary when they learn that their small town of Angel Grove – and the world – is on the verge of being obliterated by an alien threat. Chosen by destiny, our heroes quickly discover they are the only ones who can save the planet. But to do so, they will have to overcome their real-life issues and before it’s too late, band together as the Power Rangers.
We caught up with the film’s director Dean Israelite exclusively to discuss the film out March 24.
The Knockturnal: Project Almanac, we all the film you did back in 2015. It’s centered around young high school students who stumble upon something incredible. For you, do you have a special attraction to films about regular people and youth that break out of the norm?
Dean Israelite: I definitely have an attraction to films about sort of regular people, people that are disenfranchised in some way or another, which I think the characters in Project Almanac were … and kind of looking in from the outside. This film’s definitely about young characters who are also disenfranchised, so I’m attracted to that part of it. And I really enjoyed magical realist and I enjoy it in literature, and I enjoy it in film. To me, it’s sort of my attempt at kind of a magical realist world, where you’re bringing things that are larger than life and dramatizing it, and trying to keep it as grounded as possible.
The Knockturnal: What was one of your favorite scenes to film?
Dean Israelite: The water sequence is one of my favorites. It was story boarded before we ever wrote it. It was years in the making in terms of how we conceived it and it was incredibly difficult just from a technical standpoint. And I’m really proud of the way it turned out.
The Knockturnal: The film watching it you draw influences from The Avengers, Transformers, and even bit of Star Wars … Personally, I would describe this film as The Breakfast Club meets The Avengers. What was some of your inspirations, officially?
Dean Israelite: I mean, definitely, The Breakfast Club. I’m glad to hear you said that. The Breakfast Club, Stand By Me, The Goonies, and E.T. to some degree. I love movies … Movies from the ’80s that I think sort of taught us very interesting things. When you think about it, what you just said, Breakfast Club meets Avengers, that is sort of a real total exercise, an experiment, and I agree.
The Knockturnal: Amazing. How was it working with the cast? You had a really awesome cast. What did you do to help bring them together and make them feel like a real group of friends?
Dean Israelite: Experience with the cast was great. They are really talented. They are very committed. It was very hard with a very ambitious schedule and they had to work really, really hard. We had around two weeks of rehearsal, before we started the movie, and part of the goal was to get them to become friends off camera as well as on camera and that sort of really paid off. The rapport that you see in press now is real. It’s genuine. Those guys are best friends now and it’s just nice how the arc of the movie has reflected itself in real life because they are such a tight group now. And I think it shows on screen.
The Knockturnal: While we’re on the cast, how important was it for you to have such a diverse cast from all standpoints? Even on sexual orientation, how was it important for you to bring diversity to this picture?
Dean Israelite: It was incredibly important for the film to have diverse characters. What I’m proud of is that, when you have characters in a movie that don’t often have a voice, that often aren’t represented … in a film like this, I think that’s really great. From the very beginning, you have to remember, the series is an international brand and it was very diverse from the very first episode. We needed to retain that. It was important to us. That was always the goal.
The Knockturnal: With such an iconic brand, were you nervous or afraid of the task of bringing it back to the big screen and bringing it to a whole new generation?
Dean Israelite: Listen, you’re always nervous making a movie because you invest so much of your ambition, your creativity, and your life into the scenes. You always hope that people are going to appreciate it. But I wasn’t nervous, I was always excited. I was excited to reimagine things, to re-invent things … and I really believed in what I’m doing. So that’s sort of two years of passion rather than fear.
The Knockturnal: Did you see the original movie or were you a fan of the TV show originally?
Dean Israelite: Yeah. I was the right age when it came out. So I was a fan of the movies … that and Ninja Turtles kind of defined my young childhood.
The Knockturnal: Likewise. What do you think makes a Power Ranger?
Dean Israelite: What I think makes a power ranger? In the movie, what I think makes a power ranger … is someone who can share their own world and finally accept who they are so they can fit into the skin that they belong in. In the movie, that metaphor is played out with them able to finally fit into the power ranger suit. Get there and get in those suits. That is them finally owning who they are as characters. For better or worse, with all of their imperfections, finding where they belong or feel comfortable in themselves, feeling comfortable in this team … so dramatically in the movie, that’s what it means to be a power ranger — to grow up.
The Knockturnal: The film end very open endedly. I’m sure you’ve been asked a million times. What kind of future do you see, sequel wise, with the rangers, and their missions, and how they go forward?
Dean Israelite: We did such a big, rich universe and I think there’s so many directions it could go. We were kicking around a few and trying to see what that might be, but there’s just a lot of options.
The Knockturnal: Yes, so many. It’s such a big universe. And lastly, I have to ask you. It was so fun to see. When the red ranger destroys a Camaro, was it sort of nod to Transformers?
Dean Israelite: Yeah, absolutely. I think you got to be a little mischievous as a film maker. We have big machines running around and I think that we’re gonna get comparisons to Transformers and it’s sort of us acknowledging that and having fun with it. And in that moment, not taking ourselves too seriously.
The Knockturnal: Amazing. Well, congratulations on all your success. Everyone should definitely see this film.
Dean Israelite: Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
