Power Rangers Lost Galaxy Has A Connection To A Classic Sci-Fi Satire

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"Power Rangers" was not just one of the biggest cultural phenomena of the 1990s, but it was also part of a wave of shows that made Japanese pop culture huge in the U.S. together with "Pokémon," "Sailor Moon" and "Dragon Ball Z." The show, created by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy in collaboration with Shotaro Ishinomori, was mostly composed of reused footage from Ishinomori's hugely influential and long-running tokusatsu series "Super Sentai." The series revolves around a team of youths trained to morph into superheroes known as Rangers, who fight evildoers and occasionally pilot giant mecha called Zords (which can combine to form even bigger mecha). As /Film decided in our previous reassessment, "Power Rangers" is good, actually, even setting our nostalgia aside.

Part of what made the show interesting in its early years was that the first six seasons of "Power Rangers" told a serialized story. This started with "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" and continued all the way to "Power Rangers In Space," as part of what fans have taken to calling "The Zordon Era." During this period, the titular team had an ever-changing cast, with actors coming aboard and later passing their Ranger mantles onto new teenagers with attitude. Meanwhile, "Power Rangers" evolved from a narrative about superheroes existing in our reality (and residing in an everyday small town) to one about humanity colonizing the stars in "Power Rangers In Space" (a show that, let's not forget, takes place in 1998).

"Power Rangers Lost Galaxy" was the first season of the show that fell outside the serialized "Zordon Era," and it took the action from Angel Grove on Earth to the faraway space colony of Terra Venture. Notably, this was also the first "Power Rangers" series to kill off a main Ranger on-screen (albeit it didn't stick for long). The show had intricate bug-themed monsters as well, which was fitting given that the most prominent armor costumes featured in "Lost Galaxy" (outside of the main Ranger outsits) were taken from a classic sci-fi film that solidified Paul Verhoeven as one of our greatest satirists. That's right, "Lost Galaxy" has a direct link to "Starship Troopers." Would you like to know more?  

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In "Lost Galaxy," the crew of Terra Venture embark on an interstellar voyage to find a new human settlement on a distant planet, forcing the colonists to do battle with bug-themed alien armies from Trakeena. The costumes that the colonists use as armor when fighting off the Trakeenans are indeed the same prop costumes used by the United Citizen Federation army in "Starship Troopers." (See also: the photo above.)

"Starship Troopers," of course, is the Verhoeven-directed satirical 1997 sci-fi action flick starring Casper Van Dien as Johnny Rico, a teen sports buff who, along with his friends, joins a futuristic fascistic military to fight an interstellar war against a bug-themed alien species known as the Arachnids. Contrary to its thrilling B-movie premise, the film's brilliance comes from the way Verhoeven took its story seriously, using it to create a satirical portrait of a militaristic, fascistic federation where only those who go through military service earn the right to vote and have children. Sadly, "Starship Troopers" was too smart for its own good, and the satire continues to fly over the heads of audiences (specifically those who fail to realize you're not supposed to root for the fascistic human army).

As for the "Starship Trooper" costumes, they were actually rather popular and used in many a production in their time. They can also be seen in the 1999 Gundam movie "G-Saviour," as well as the cult TV show "Firefly."