Top 10 Bad CGI Effects in Power Rangers

Top 10 Worst CGI Effects on Power Rangers

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at some of the roughest, most embarrassing uses of special effects in the Rangers’ series and movies.

#10: The Abominable T-Rex

“Power Rangers Time Force” (2001)
Wes and Eric have ended up in Prehistoric times and find themselves being hunted by an angry mother T-Rex. This would be terrifying for anyone…. If the big, scary dinosaur was more convincing. The T-Rex was brought to life using mostly stop-motion and digitally rendered into the live-action scenes. The stop-motion is decent, but the rendering looks cheaply done and fails to convince us that our duo is in any real danger. With the show’s budget, we’re not expecting something out of “Jurassic Park,” but a little more time to cook in the editing room could’ve done this sequence more justice.

#9: Roxy’s Bad Wiring

“Power Rangers Beast Morphers” (2019-20)
Bad wiring can be hazardous when you’re working with lights, but even WORSE when you’re trying to make a convincing fight scene. During the first episode of “Beast Morphers,” Roxy and Blaze’s evil avatars are born and already putting our heroes through the wringer. Roxy summons a whip of wires to wrap the Rangers up, but the wires are obvious CG props. They stand out in the worst way and ruin the illusion of the Rangers being all tied up, despite the actors’ best efforts to fake it. While fake wires might be good for safety concerns, it’s not so good for creating tension during a fight.

#8: The Janky Robo Rangers

“Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel” (2018)
In the 25th anniversary team-up, “Dimensions in Danger,” the evil Lord Draven plans to invade the multiverse with a massive army of Robo Ranger clones. The army’s very impressive... as long as they’re in their Ranger suits. The actual robots are stiffly animated with no real textures. In addition, what should’ve been an awesome shot of Draven’s army standing behind him looks awkward with the lineup of CGI rangers marching stiffly behind him. Most of them look like they were just copy-and-pasted over and over to create the illusion of an army, and it’s hard to ignore when they start moving. Thankfully, the actual fights between the Rangers and Doppelgangers are beautifully practical.

#7: The Awkward Sinkhole

“Power Rangers Zeo” (1996-97)
While searching through the rubble of the destroyed Command Center, the Rangers find the Zeo Crystal. They place the Crystal on the ground, and it creates a glowing circle around them. We’re forced to watch in terror as a cheap green-screen effect swallows our heroes. At this point, chroma keying in television hadn’t been perfected yet, resulting in an embarrassingly amateur cave-in sequence. It gets even worse when the teens start falling and we zoom in on the hole; the camera shaking only makes it worse. It’s a good thing the Rangers’ acting was up to par since the special effects team was asleep at the wheel today.

#6: The Digital Animation

“Power Rangers Samurai” (2011) & “Power Rangers Super Samurai” (2012)
Both seasons of “Samurai,” Nickelodeon’s first major “Ranger” series, had a rough start. Part of that roughness came from the digital animation for certain scenes. The Zords, finishing attacks, props, and even silly moments had to be rendered in CGI. But the effects were so cartoony that they stuck out in the most obvious way. While “Power Rangers” has plenty of goofy moments, it’s hard to digest when we’re supposed to take the effects seriously. The Super Sentai series is the source material for Power Rangers, and the Samurai Sentai series, “Shinkenger,” also had famously bad effects. Believe it or not, some claimed that “Samurai” handled their animation better than “Shinkenger”... but that’s pretty faint praise.

#5: Tommy vs. the Dinosaur

“Power Rangers Dino Thunder” (2004)
The great Tommy Oliver has been out of action for quite some time. But in the first episode of “Dino Thunder,” he comes face to face with his most terrifying foe to date – a poorly-rendered CGI Dinosaur! We should be worried for Tommy’s safety, but how can we take this cheap-looking T-Rex seriously? To add insult to injury, it has THREE fingers instead of two. On the one hand, seeing Tommy not hesitate to kick a dinosaur in its snout is awesome. On the other hand, it’s not as impressive when the dino doesn’t look real enough. The robot is so cheap, all it takes is bumping its head on a bridge to make it fall apart.

#4: Dated Rendering

“Power Rangers Lost Galaxy” (1999)
In terms of writing, “Lost Galaxy” is a fantastic opener to a whole new era for our multicolored heroes. As for special effects, the season didn’t age as gracefully. For starters, the dramatic scene where the people of Mirinoi turn to stone feels less intense when you realize it’s an obvious photo filter. Additionally, the mighty Terra Venture’s CG render feels unfinished and low-quality compared to its actual model. The Galactabeasts’ CG models are no better as the untextured, stiff beasts heavily stand out next to the costumed and puppet ones. To be fair, we can’t blame “Lost Galaxy” for this last one. The original Sentai “Gingaman” had the same problem since CGI was relatively new at the time.

#3: Megazord Moon Fight

“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always” (2023)
The 30th anniversary special felt like a genuine love letter to “Mighty Morphin” fans. It brought back so many beloved elements – including the Dinozords. They fully recreated the Megazord transformation sequence in CG, leading to an animated smackdown between the iconic mecha and Robo-Snizzard. While the models look morphenomenal, the animation isn’t as impressive – the movements are stiff, and Robo-Snizzard looks more cartoony than threatening. It's still heaps better than the Rangers’ first cinematic experience, but what was wrong with just having two guys duking it out in practical robot costumes? Isn’t that part of why we loved the Rangers in the first place?

#2: Serpentera’s Return

“Power Rangers Wild Force” (2002)
Let’s be honest, CG animation wasn’t “Wild Force’s” strong suit, considering how low quality Master Org’s vines are or how cartoony the Wild Zords were when separated. But nothing compares to the embarrassing return of Serpentera in “Forever Red.” When we last saw the mighty dragon, it towered over its foes as one of the tallest Zords in history. Being stuck on the moon for so long made it shrink, and its color palette kept switching from green to purple... does this mean Serpentera is part chameleon? Worst of all, it got taken out by a SINGLE Red Ranger and his flying motorcycle. While “Forever Red” is one of the series’ best team-ups, this was too goofy to overlook.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Warped Betty, “Power Rangers Beast Morphers” (2019-20)
This Distortion Effect Is Really Hard on the Eyes

Victor & Monty’s Fart Balloon, “Power Rangers Ninja Steel” (2017)
The Gag Is Bad Enough, Don’t Add to It with Hokey Special Effects

Mack Slices the Vulturus, “Power Rangers Operation Overdrive” (2007)
As If the Finisher Wasn’t Overpowered Enough, the Special Effects Make It Worse

#1: The Final Showdown

“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie” (1995)
The Rangers’ very first movie boasted of having a much larger budget than the show. That budget clearly didn’t go into the final showdown. The Ninjazords and Ectomorphicon Titans were created using CGI... and the results aren’t pretty. The models have no textures and look like they’re made of water instead of metal. Think the Zords will look better when they’re combined? Think again. The Movie’s Ninja Megazord is a hideous monstrosity that barely even looks like the mecha it’s based on, and its most impressive finishing move is a knee to the groin. Thankfully, the TV version of the Ninja Megazord helps us forget its big-screen counterpart, and CGI in “Power Rangers” can only go up from here.


Where do you think “Power Rangers” fell flat with special effects? Let us know in the comments.