Super Sentai Series with Best & Worst Action

[Sentaifan'07 Xman]

Inspired by Kamen rider sol's forum: http://forums.henshinjustice.net/showthread.php?t=93128

I've decided to make a sister thread that follows the best and worst action in the Super Sentai series.

So, without a further a do.....let's get started!!

Best So Far...
-Gekiranger
-Magiranger
-Dekaranger
-Shinkenger
-Timeranger
-GoGo-V
-Dairanger
-Kakuranger
-Hurricaneger
-Jetman
-Gingaman
-Gokaiger

Worst So Far...
-Goseiger
-Go-Onger
-Fiveman

 

[Lynxara]

Goseiger has a lot of Shojiro Nakazawa fights toward the end of the series. If you're dismissing it as a worst, I would have to imagine it's based on the rather weak fights from the show's first quarter. I think Goseiger averages out to having basically average Sentai fight quality, myself. A few really memorable ones to mark off plot points, mostly forgettable or inoffensive ones.

(All that said, I can agree with Go-onger and Fiveman. Even Turboranger consistently had better fights than Fiveman.)

Dairanger is absolutely a best-of-series show when it comes to fights, and I can see putting Kakuranger and Dekaranger in the same tier. Otherwise, your "Best" list to me is just a lot of extremely average shows that had at best a handful of noteworthy fights, and otherwise a lot of action that was mediocre. As much as I like shows like Gingaman and Jetman, in particular, there's some really poorly-done action scenes in those shows.

This is kind of the thing with Sentai. The more formulaic approach means that the franchise rarely is extremely good or extremely bad. The vast majority of Sentai is about average, and will entertain you if the gimmick pushes your buttons, or it's just what you're in the mood to see. It's not like Rider where gimmick changes can give some years really distinctive action scenes.

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

Dynaman, Bioman, Changeman, Flashman, Ohranger -- Junji Yamaoka at his best. He always does such crazy, big action, he puts the performers through the wringer (regular performers AND the stunt guys), and he's also inventive in how the action LOOKS -- he can do frantic scenes with shaky cam and he can film personal fights with a cinematographer's eye, caring about the visuals, the location, the atmosphere. (As far as I'm concerned, Yamaoka pioneered toku's fondness for the whole "battle before sunset" thing that many tokusatsu have attempted to recreate.)

I mean, Yamaoka's great action is one of the only few things a show like Ohranger has going for it. Shows like Jiban and the Rescue Trilogy would be a hell of a lot less interesting without him, and they're more watchable because of Yamaoka's creativity and dedication to action scenes. A lot of Sentai action directors like Michihiro Takeda and even Kazuo Niibori imitate a lot of what Yamaoka brought to the franchise, but have never come close to matching him. Koichi Sakamoto with his shaky cam and super wire-fu is a joke compared to Yamaoka and his sensibilities.

Goseiger has a lot of Shojiro Nakazawa fights toward the end of the series.

You can't really credit Nakazawa, he's just a regular director who, while they can be present during fight scenes, usually leave action up to the action director and second unit for most of the show.

The regular director doesn't play much of a part. I mean...Ohranger and Megaranger had mostly the same director directors, but different action directors, and the difference is clear. Yamaoka's wild style is evident from the start of Ohranger -- even the opening credits have memorable action and Yamaoka's written all over them. Meanwhile, Megaranger has Michihiro Takeda as action director; Takeda's track record has always been spotty, but Megaranger doesn't have one memorable action scene. (Or even a good case of suit ACTING. Like, Takeda doesn't really do anything memorable with Hurricaneger, either, but there's at least good suit ACTING in that show.)

 

[Fantasy Leader]

Dairanger is absolutely a best-of-series show when it comes to fights, and I can see putting Kakuranger and Dekaranger in the same tier. Otherwise, your "Best" list to me is just a lot of extremely average shows that had at best a handful of noteworthy fights, and otherwise a lot of action that was mediocre. As much as I like shows like Gingaman and Jetman, in particular, there's some really poorly-done action scenes in those shows.

This is kind of the thing with Sentai. The more formulaic approach means that the franchise rarely is extremely good or extremely bad. The vast majority of Sentai is about average, and will entertain you if the gimmick pushes your buttons, or it's just what you're in the mood to see. It's not like Rider where gimmick changes can give some years really distinctive action scenes.

Gingaman is my #1 favorite Sentai, and even I have to agree that it's action wasn't really a standout. I mean, I don't think the action is bad, it's serviceable. But I find myself a lot more impressed with the suit acting, than the choreography itself. And while the Budoh vs GingaRed fight is probably one of my most favorite fights ever in the Sentai franchise, I owe that a lot to the energy of the build up to the fight, and how it finally climaxed.

Dynaman, Bioman, Changeman, Flashman, Ohranger -- Junji Yamaoka at his best.

I think he did a fantastic job with Carranger as well. I feel like with the weird motif and fighting style of Carranger, Yamaoka really helped bring a lot of the action to life with his unique camera angles.

 

[Shougo B'Stard]

Carranger has better action than a parody show has the right to have. That's the power of Yamaoka.

 

[Lynxara]

I think the action is one of the bit things that elevates Carranger above just being a Super Sentai parody, and makes it a pretty respectable Super Sentai series. Once the action starts, the actual fighting is approached in classic Sentai style. It's a very high-energy take on that style, of course, which suits a comedy.

And there might be some silly spots or some time made for silly dialogue, but there'll also be a lot of really classic back-and-forth. Toward the end of the show, you're seeing more spectacular and creative fights than you'd see again for quite some time in Sentai. I don't think there's a lot of Sentai seasons that have endings anywhere near as pitch-perfect as Carranger's.

(The other thing that really elevates Carranger is score. Carranger's score does have its share of comedic pieces, but also a lot of completely straight-faced pieces meant to emote grandeur or tension. Putting those over a scene with comedic elements happening just sort of nails the fact that Carranger is still Sentai, it's just coming at the franchise from a comedic angle.)

 

[Sentaifan'07 Xman]

Did Ohranger had some decent fight scenes?!?! I can't remember.