If you’re like me and you’ve grown up with the Americanized suit action series incarnation that is the “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers,” then chances are you share an equal fondness for its cast, including and especially actor Jason David Frank.
After several days of teasing fans with vague images and posts, Bat In The Sun is now all in with their latest Kickstarter now live for Legend Of The White Dragon. Fans who’ve eyed the buzz on this project so far will undoubtedly recognize its DNA – made obvious with the clear casting of talents like Jason David Frank and Johnny Yong Bosch, former stars of a certain long-running tokusatsu series. Of course, there’s also this:
This week’s Hit List was an absolute blast to help put together. We’ve got new action shorts and reels of all kinds to snack on this week in addition to some brief updates on major projects that are forthcoming!
For now though, let’s face it: The only way I’m starting off this Hit List is if I do it with one of the most popular videos online to date, and if you’re a Jason Statham fan, you’ll understand. It’s a supercut of every single punch Statham has ever thrown. Ever. And it needs no further introduction than that.
Beneath that will be the week’s stunt playlist with a slew of action, stunt and training reels by Noah Fleder, Awaken star Natalie Burn, stuntman Djibril Newik Chase, independent filmmaker Shahaub Roudbari, Mirkos Radas, John Renyolds, Uros Certic, Amiee Zannoni, Cornered webseries co-star, actor Bobby Hernandez and action actor Angel Vasquez.
Now we get to brings things here into focus just a bit with the latest installment of actor and Ameritoku mainstay Jason David Frank’s online doc series, My Morphin Life. For this, we venture into a behind-the-scenes look into the spectacular episode featuring Frank and action actors Peter Jang and Alvin Hsing in the epic duel between the Green Ranger and legendary Street Fighter character Ryu. As always, these things come with a few snags and Frank sure had his, but it didn’t stop him from powering through. Check it out!
Up next are a couple of other new director reels featuring a small variety of things, including action. The first comes with great revere for French action director Godefroy Ryckewaert who never ceases to impress, and his latest trailer for the new shortfilm, Hiro, samples that fact quite a bit with Alex Duong starring as a man forced back into the Yakuza underworld in order to save his daughter. Hiro is set to premiere at the Toronto Independent Film Festival and you can purchase your ticket by clicking right here for the screening.
The second video comes from Canadian cascadeur, actor and filmmaker Taz Garcia in the form of First Bust, a story of two odd couple undercover cops well on their way to their first major arrest, as long as they don’t get in each other’s way, and you can imagine the hilarity that ensues. The project was initially going to be a two-minute short story which eventually expanded into something slightly longer when more people got involved, and as it stands, it could very well present a meaty concept for television if things go favorably.
Check out both videos below!
Up next is a bit of a teaser from the folks over at EMC Monkeys who have been very busy working on their own individual projects and other obligations in the past couple of years. Such things tend to get in the way of content creation which is what they’ve largely been known for, and now the team’s teaser is officially circulating online with a number of exciting new projects that are either completed, still being filmed or already in post, including an upcoming collaboration with Corridor Digital, as well as the long-awaited Evolution Of Fight series, Vs. Ninjas series, and the upcoming Nerf Cops tete-a-tete sequel with the first part arriving on Friday, September 4 upon which fans can expect even more content every week thereafter. (If you haven’t seen the first Nerf Cops installment yet, your chance to do so is right here).
Also up for viewing are two other new director reels, including Desciple‘s latest reel full of action and dialogue gems, with snippets from two of his latest hyper-reality action shorts, Hetja and Hetja 2; The latter title is also being groomed for a possible award win at this year’s Action On Film Festival with acting nominations for two of its lead performers, Disavowed webseries star Will Yick, and The Stunt People’s own Bridger Fox.
The second reel comes from Darren Holmquist of Dardrex Productions with a new director’s reel full of long-awaited goods that are pending with planned releases before the end of 2015.
Time to pepper thing up a bit with some fighting, and following Holmquist‘s production reel is a fresh new fight featuring himself opposite Leonard Zhang, proceeded by some sweet Karambit/Gun choreo from director Evan Taylor, a quick little scene of action from Rising Tiger Films‘s own Leroy Nguyen and Edmond Shum, and a superb test fight from Jay Kwon with Alex Meglei and Brett Easton.
And lastly, it’s been a long and incredible journey for independent filmmaker and film student Anthony Pellino for his latest labor of love, Mortal Kombat: The Chosen One. Inspired by the popular fighting game of the same name, and featuring fight design by Cinematic Fight Studio’s own Lawrence Yip, this one takes a slightly derivative approach to the source material. Jonathan Lee, David Chen and Craig Zisel are joined by lead actor Kage Yami in the role of former Shaolin monk, Liu Kang who is about to receive the most unexpected visit of his life.
Pellino’s goal was originally to create something more than a fan film, which is why it took so long to finish, aside from school, two crowdfunders, reshoots and other hurdles. Fan film or not, a project like this is just what we need to help keep the pulse beating among fans as a new webseries season is still pending, in addition to further details regarding the revived hopes for a film as recently as the top of last month. It’s a great case for more similar content with dozens of characters to experiment and play with, and I hope this isn’t the last we see from the creative field we have today in that regard.
Mortal Kombat: The Chosen One can now be viewed on YouTube in the player below, as well as on Vimeo!
Further worth mentioning is the current completion post-production of independent action director Eric Nguyen with the new short, Of Martial Arts And Men, with a September airing planned, and it just so happens that his Spring actioner, El Guerrero, has been nominated with a mention among a slew of other shortfilms for this year’s Action On Film Festival which kicks off on September 18 through 26.
Other news includes the upcoming comic-book fan film sequel, Black Panther And Deadpool: The Gauntlet, which just finished filming over the weekend, and a trailer can be viewed here as well in case you missed it. In addition, further pending are updates for Robot Underdog’s forthcoming episodes for the Dragon Ball Z: Light Of Hope webseries with actor Tim Neff (Flowers Of The Night) set to play Trunks. Major creative differences have currently invoked restructuring of the original script, while Dragon Ball Z enthusiast and former series writer Derek Padula has since made his case in a recent blog post after announcing his departure from the project; As pot-stirring as these things tend to be, the least we can do is hope for a great sequel after this year’s stellar offering, which you can check out here.
Indeed, this week is another loaded one with more to come, and hopefully you’ve been able to keep up with all the craziness as last week’s Hit List is just as awesome. Beyond that, subscribe to the channels above and by all means, if you or someone you know creates exciting, QUALITY content, just hit us with an e-mail filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com.
The project is expected to kick off with a crowdfunding campaign by January 2015. Superhero fan platform and entertainment channel Bat In The Sun are behind the new project, and links to their Facebook page can be found upon opening the description of the video below in a new tab. Take a look!
If there’s at least one thing that can be said about Jason David Frank, it is that he is consistent. The 41-year old actor, martial artist and American tokusatsu favorite has been a mainstay among fans since his heyday as Tommy Oliver/The Green Ranger in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV-series and feature-films, and the fanbase is clammoring for news on whether or not he’ll be appearing in the upcoming movie from Saban Brands and Lionsgate.
Point in fact, The Green Ranger is a persona he still takes on in the show’s current run, in addition to his on-going Bat In The Sun reality series, My Morphin Life. That said, in lieu of the film’s development, Frank has since spoken out on whether or not his participation will happen. “I probably will be involved.”, says Frank. “They talked to me about it. I don’t know how much I am involved, but for sure cameos at least in the reboot movie.”
Frank also added a bit more on what he knew at the time late last month, regarding what previous plans were prior to the film’s announcement back in May. “No, I haven’t heard anything, except for what Roberto released.”, he stated. “They are so tight-lipped on that project, it’s ridiculous. I don’t even know my involvement into it. They talked to me about being involved, and the fans would love to see me involved. You know, we were originally talking about a Green Ranger series, but unfortunately just due to the Lionsgate movie, they don’t want to overshadow anything or suppress the appetite of the fans, which is a little disappointing, but there’s still possibilities of it. It’s just I think they are trying to save…honestly, I think they are trying to save my appearance for the Lionsgate movie.”
Frank currently has a few other gems lined up with Bat In The Sun, including the new Winter 2014 webseries Taz Kayden: Operation Black Unicorn with former wrestler-turned-actor John Morrison and underground Batman performer, actor Jim Porter. As for the upcoming Power Rangers movie, while Green wasn’t the only color Frank has worn throughout his presence in much of the twenty years he’s been on the show, it’s what most of the fans are identify with and could be a key factor in selling the reboot. In this aspect, Frank has starpower, which could pave the way for other potential cameos, if things work out.
Of course, that’s just heresay and opinion, so time is on our side at the moment while X-Men: First Class and Thor scribes Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz get the script polished and ready without Star Trek 3 helmer Roberto Orci’s involvement. In the meantime, Saban Brands’ Brian Casentini and Lionsgate’s Allison Shearmur are producing the film for its expected release date set for July 22, 2016. Stay tuned for more info!
H/T: Anime News Network
Interestingly enough, Ryons goes on to say a little more about how the latter actor, famously known for his prolific performances under several ‘Ranger’ iterations as the series character, “Tommy Oliver”, saying in part “…At first it was all about his fight scenes. To me, he really brought it in the fight scenes and I thought that he should have been doing martial arts movies back then. I did some research on him and his martial arts background and that kinda nailed it for me as far as studying martial arts and wanting to make fight scenes and such. I forever credit him as the reason ‘Fighter’s High’ was created.”.
Independent filmmakers Aaron and Sean Schoenke have been building some major hype over the past couple of months regarding their upcoming action shortfilm from their popular production company, Bat In The Sun productions. Responsible for some of the most entertaining, spectacular content ever to hit the internet, Bat In The Sun brings a visionary milestone in breathing life into some of the most beloved superheroes ever to hit comic book pages, video game platforms and television, with nearly no limit to their potential.
On Thursday thanks to Machinima, Aaron and Sean are unleashing their most highly anticipated fight scene shortfilm to date, pitting two classic characters from separate franchises in the form of The White Ranger vs. Scorpion. Actor Alvin Hsing (Death Grip) takes the mantle inheriting the iconic costume made popular by martial arts superstar Jason David Frank for the popular Americanized Tokusatsu family-friendly action series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, opposite actor Peter Jang (Grayson: Earth One) reclaiming the role once more since killing a nerd in a promotional short for the second season of Mortal Kombat Legacy, based on the hit game from Midway.
The clip also features co-hosts, voice actor Matt Mercer and actor Frank debating their cases for each character’s victory, a victory already predetermined by a vote at their official website. Frank is also set to reappear back in uniform as the Green Ranger in the 2014 debut of Power Rangers: Super Megaforce.
Watch the new fight clip, and remember to open up the description to find out how you can follow Bat In The Sun for more exciting content!
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Actor, mixed martial artist and veteran Power Rangers cast member Jason David Frank made headlines this week regarding his interest in a donning the Green Ranger outfit for darker, standalone PG13 feature-length film.
In a statement made to Complex quoted at IGN, Frank enthused his own aspirations for a self-titled spin-off of the highly successful 20 year television franchise. “I’m talking to Saban about making a PG-13 Green Ranger movie,” he tells Complex. “It’s just a matter of Saban stepping behind it. I was an X-Men fan growing up; I loved Wolverine. I feel like the Green Ranger can step outside the box and be like the Wolverine of Power Rangers. That’s why I think he can handle his own movie.”
Frank’s sentiments are nothing new as this week’s news comes a year after he expressed his thoughts on a hopeful development of a Power Rangers feature film in the essence of Christopher Nolan’s latest vision realized for his Batman trilogy, telling a Power Rangers Zeo panel attendee at the 2012 Lexington Toy & Comic Convention, “I think Haim Saban is very silly not to take those Rangers that we were and make a Dark Knight series out of it for you guys.”
The vision Frank discusses here is currently the one in play, somewhat similiar to the non-profit fanfilm being crafted by NYC independent filmmaker Dominick Sivili and producer/co-writer Louis Maldarelli for the upcoming release of MMPR. Ironically though, as interpreted by writer Matt Leslie over at Morphin Legacy, Frank has since rescinded from partaking on the project, citing his own creative differences on the character’s approach for the fanfilm, although it is reported that Sivili still intends to hopefully cast him.
Popularized through the Japanese tokusatsu action genre, the highly acclaimed television series is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week. And Frank has been with the franchise ever since, being one of the most vocally active and fan-devoted veteran cast members since he first debuted as the character, Tommy Oliver, a.k.a. The Green Ranger, in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993. In subsequent seasons thereafter, Frank became a solid foundation throughout the show, reappearing in 1994 as the White Ranger, and in future seasons in Power Rangers Zeo (1996), Power Rangers Turbo (1997) and Power Rangers DinoThunder (2004). He also starred in both Hollywood theatrical adaptations in Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997).
Frank is set to appear among an ensemble cast in next year’s debut of Power Rangers: Super Megaforce, returning as the Green Ranger. Frank will also make an appearance at this year’s Rhode Island ComicCon between November 2nd and 3rd with other former cast members, along with MMPR director Sivili who will be debuting a teaser for his upcoming fan film.
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