Power/Rangers Is an R-Rated Deboot Fan Film From the Director of Torque

Power/Rangers, a short fan film directed by Joseph Kahn (Torque, Detention) and produced by Adi Shankar’s Bootleg Universe, reimagines the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers premise as a dark, war-torn future in which the Machine Empire has taken over and the heroes have fallen. Kahn co-wrote the film with Dutch Southern and lead actor James Van Der Beek, stripping away the franchise’s kid-friendly tone in favor of a violent, R-rated take released around the same time Lionsgate and Saban were developing their own theatrical Power Rangers feature.

Kahn’s director’s statement described the project as a “deboot” rather than a pilot or series: a bootleg experiment made strictly for exhibition, not affiliated with or endorsed by Saban Entertainment or Lionsgate, claiming no rights to the characters and selling no product. A separate, less graphic cut was made available on YouTube alongside the NSFW version.

The cast includes Katee Sackhoff, James Van Der Beek, Gichi Gamba, Russ Bain, and Will Yun Lee, with fight choreography by Don Thai Theerathada and the stunt team 87Eleven. Coverage of the film credited an exclusive writeup by Drew McWeeny at HitFix and the tip to Film Combat Syndicate.