Himitsu Sentai GoRanger: The Blue Fortress (1975)
Production: Toei Corporation
Duration: 25 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Following up close on the heels of the first GoRanger movie (just five months between releases) came GoRanger: The Blue Fortress, which was basically episode 15 from the TV run blown up for theater screens.

As with the previous film I knew I was in for a good time since I had already seen this episode before as part of the season one Laserdisc box , so I knew for a fact that this would be fun to watch.

The Story

"Black Cross’ new Commander Nichirin Kamen and agent Niji Kamen steal Go-Ranger’s super helicopter, Vari Balloon and use it to attack Tokyo. Ao Ranger attempts to single handedly retrieve back the Vari Balloon but gets in over his head." -- Jmaruyama's GoRanger: Blue Fortress Profile

Review

GoRanger the Blue Fortress is one awesome twenty five minute trip to Toei Hero-ville! While the formula was not perfected yet, we can start seeing the slow build up to what would eventually make this series such and unforgettable landmark in tokusatsu history. An example of this evolution can be seen in the upgrade to the GoRanger’s final team attack as the ball goes from being a simple silver-painted volleyball to being a colorful weapon that changed color as it was kicked by each of our heroes to match his/her color, culminating in its transformation to a spike -filled metal sphere.

The film is also more interesting than the previous one in that we are introduced to one of the first main generals of the series, Commander Nichirin Kamen, a sun-themed evil-doer, who will go on to haunt the GoRanger for several more episodes before being defeated and replaced.

Overall the story is a rather simple affair as we follow Ao Ranger in his quest to recover the stolen GoRanger mecha, which Nichirin Kamen and Niji Kamen and are now using to inflict major damage to major industrial areas of Japan. This is not to say that the overall execution is simple as it has many stand out moments that would make most fans of the genre take notice.

I think the special effects and model work are probably the most noteworthy aspect of this movie/episode as the action seemed a little bit slower this time out, albeit needless to say it made most of today’s more conservative, effect-laden, tokusatsu hand-to-hand combat scenes dull in comparison. I should note that these are however accompanied by some…how should I say this…rather silly dramatics as tree branches die explosive, spark- filled deaths by the mere touch of an arrow that goes by and our heroes dramatically struggle to escape what seems like silly string (!) and sparklers. Then again to me that’s a big part of the charm of these older hero programs.

Conclusion

What else can I say? Great movie and a definite most see for all Super Sentai fans. Some of it can be quite silly and some of the effects laughable by today’s standards BUT if you look at it free of a modern frame of reference and let yourself take part in this wonderful hero universe you will come to appreciate the work that went into the model work and small scale industrial complexes and buildings. It really doesn’t get better than this, this is the reason why sites like Japan Hero exists today to celebrate the brilliance that went into these programs.

Jeffrey Couto