Power Rangers Dino Thunder returns with a fifth, and probably final DVD containing five more consecutive episodes from the popular TV show.  This disc really moves the story forward with Mesogog's origin being revealed, the White Ranger making his final decision as to which side he's on, and Dr. Oliver and Zeltrax battling to the death.

The volume starts out with It's a Mad Mad Mackerel.  Kira gets an intern position at a local TV station helping out on the"The Funky Fisherman Show."  When Elsa sees the show, she thinks that the fisherman's sidekick, Marty the Mackerel would make a good monster and transforms him into a fishing monster.

Also in this episode, the White Ranger, now a part of Mesogog's gang, challenges Zeltrax to a battle for the position of 2nd in command.  Zeltrax thinks his victory will be easy, but the White Rangers is more powerful than he expects.

A lot happens in the next episode, Copy That.  Zeltrax creates a monster that is a cross between a Bell Pepper and a Xerox machine.  He can throw explosive vegtables and that's not all.  He has the ability to copy anything that he sees, including the Rangers weapons and attacks.

We find out Mesogog's origin, and something happens to the White Ranger.  Mesogog finds his lab destroyed and the White Rangers sword in the wreckage.  Surmising that the evil Ranger was responsible, he straps Trent into a device that is supposed to kill him, but he manages to escape before it finishes.  All the machine was able to do is extract the evilness from Trent's White Dino Gem.

The evil clone of the White Ranger makes his appearance In Triassic Triumph.  Zeltrax creates the White Terrorsaurus from the White Ranger copy, and the three of them attack the Dino Rangers.  Even with the White Ranger on their side, the rangers have trouble, so Dr. O and Trent go to retrieve an artifact that has been hidden for centuries; the Shield of Triumph.

Kira finally gets her shot to be a big time pop singer and Zeltrax releases one of the cooler monsters of the series in A Star is Torn.  Kira is excited when a big time producer wants to sign her, but she soon gets disappointed when she finds out that he wants to change both her look and her sound.

That's not the only problem the rangers face though.  Zeltrax updates the Arial Assault Craft, and sends it to attack Earth.  While the Rangers take it on with the help of the new Triassic Mega Rover, The Black Ranger heads up to the command ship to have it out with Zeltax once and for all.  It's a battle that only one of them will walk away from.

The DVD ends up with A Ranger Exclusive.  Elsa has a brilliant.  She wants to transmit a signal to Jupiter's red spot that will cause the giant planet to explode.  This will kill all human life on Earth, leaving Mesogog free to repopulate the planet with dinosaurs.  To do this Elsa and the evil White Ranger plant a virus in Channel 3's computer system that will allow them to take over the station's satellite.  Can the Rangers stop their plan before the signal is sent off?

This was another good disc.   Power Rangers Dino Thunder has a lot of action and enough continuity and background story to keep things interesting.   With all the major events that happen in these shows, this disc are sure to please Ranger fans.

This DVD contains an ample five episodes.  The beginning and closing credits are shown once, at the beginning and ending of the disc, they are not shown between the episodes. The title of each show is left on, so it's very easy to tell where one episode ends and the next begins.

Audio:

The show is presented in surround sound. It sounds fairly average for a TV show. The levels of the rear speakers are pretty low, and are not used much. The explosions are not loud or booming, but the dialog is clear. There are English subtitles available.

Video:

Presented in full frame, as it was originally broadcast, the show looks all right.  The colors are not bright and vivid, nor are they muted. There is a fair amount of aliasing in the image of this disc, but it doesn't distract from the show.  An average presentation.

Extras:

The extras on this disc are almost identical to the bonus material on volume 4.

The highlight of the extras section of this disc is the 7 minute preview of next season's Ranger show, SPD (Space Patrol Delta) Rangers.  It includes clips of the rangers in action, as well as their new zords.  The basic plot of the show is discussed too.  The rangers out of costume weren't shown.

There is also a four minute featurette, Return of the Ranger.  Jason David Frank (Dr. Oliver) talks, in character, about his history as a Power Ranger.  This sounds like it was made at the beginning of the series as an introduction.

There is also a masked person performing a kata in the Ninja Moves extra. It's the The Warrior Kata.  The Sensei from Ninja Storm talks over it, (I have no idea why they didn't get Jason Frank to provide the narration) and you can select watching it in real time, or one move at a time. It didn't do much for me, and I can't really see anyone trying to ape the moves, which are pretty basic.

Final Thoughts:

Another good set of Power Ranger shows.  There was a lot that happened in these episodes, and none of the shows are really filler.   There are 14 episodes after this one (15 if you count the onet they skipped) which would fit nicely on three more discs.  I hope that Buena Vista releases the rest of the shows.  I have my doubts though.  The new season of Power Ranger shows starts in February, and in the past they haven't put out DVDs of previous season once the new one has started.  They also only released 5 DVDs worth of Ninja Storm episodes.  We'll have to see.  In any case, this disc is Recommended.