1. Each has five members with five giant robot vehicles that join up to form super-huge giant robot with sword that appears from nowhere.
2. Single villain in huge castle on far-off planet who sends down monsters that grow huge and they have to defeat.
3. Life lessons are taught throughout the show's history.
The differences:
1. Rangers use spiffy yet often unrealistic weapons and flashy martial arts moves to defeat lots of goons that could be taken down by a third-grader with a slingshot while the Lion Force uses blasters on enemy soldiers who fire right back. Edge: Voltron.
2. King Zarkon lives in castle Doom with a freaky witch who crafts special and grotesque monsters for the Lion Force to fight, granting them various abilities. Dumb-looking Rita has odd-looking crony scuplt monsters out of clay, which are then brought to badly-done godzilla suit life and sent down to Earth to bumble around and annoy the rangers for a bit before growing huge and gets it's ass kicked in about a minute when the rangers get their act together. Edge: Voltron.
3. Sidekicks- Rangers: Annoying robot whose only purpose seems to be to alert Rangers when monster baddy is on way. Voltron: Vizier of old king who can actually man the defenses of the castle and occasionally a lion when the time is needed. Edge: Voltron.
4. Popularity- Rangers: Huge merchandise outflow, half-dozen variations in series, everything from lunch boxes to costumes produced. Still on TV today after continuous run from 1995. Voltron: Little merchandising, ran in mid eighties for three years before disappearing, only to reappear in late 1990's for Toonami run, where it has become part of the regular line-up. Edge: Rangers.
Now for some photos: Voltron-
Rangers-
Since Voltron was trotted out in 1986, and the Rangers a nearly a decade later, don't you agree that the Rangers are just a poorly done copy of a great yet not as widespread animated series?
MMPR sux
dont care who copied who MMPR SUX STILL
thank you
I always used to count the number of putty things BEFORE the battle and then count the number of times they showed someone hitting their Z's...the numbers were VASTLY different. 
For the next hour I stared blankly at the screen trying to figure that out.
"Come out of that castle you cowards!"
"FORM VOLTRON feet and legs, arms and body, and I'll form the HEAD blah blah"
"FORM blazing sword!"
SLASH, enemy is dead. Then the rest of the show deals with maintenance of the lions and the party they must have
Maybe Voltron can only be formed through the energy of getting one's ass thoroughly stomped.
Thats why.
quote:
Azrael/Cthon had this to say about Jimmy Carter:
Just realized how similar Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are to the first Japanese then US released animated show Voltron.
You just realized this?
What's the location of the rock you've been living under?
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
The beauty of Voltron was that it told mature storylines (people getting killed, going bad, rebel uprisings, etc) using the Sentai system to sort of bring things to points.
In fact a lot of pro-Voltron, anti-MMPR folks like the fact that the five lions would try handling things in lion modes without always going to Voltron, and in fact there have been times where one lion's out of commission and they CAN'T go to Voltron mode. The way Power Rangers was written, the question had to be asked why the UberMegaCalamityZord or whatever was even able to be broken down into separate parts. The only time you actually see the heroes use the Zords separately is in the first Power Ranger movie and in that Lightspeed Rescue series.
*shrugs* Voltron kicks booty.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:
Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael had this to say about (_|_):
They're both examples of Sentai (not Hentai). It's a formulaic system of storytelling that goes back as far as the old Ultraman series.
Would that be something along the lines of a beginning of episode, possibly foreshadowing and such, mid-episode, where the bad d00d puts their plan into action, fight part 1, where they, uh, fight, fight part 2, where they fight in robots, fight part 3, where they combine into one giant robot and kill the person, and end of episode, where anything set up in the beginning of episode is resolved?
...or is it something elseupo? (I'd guess it isn't, seeing as, if I remember Ultraman correctly - and I only saw one or twopo episodes - there weren't any giant combining robots...)
Disclaimer: I'm just kidding, I love all living things.
The fastest draw in the Crest.
"The Internet is MY critical thinking course." -Maradon
"Gambling for the husband, an abortion for the wife and fireworks for the kids they chose to keep? Fuck you, Disneyland. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the happiest place on Earth." -JooJooFlop
quote:
Check out the big brain on Kermitov!
The real question is this. If the lions got their asses whooped every time for half an hour before they formed Voltron, and then voltron always killed whatever it was fighting them in one hit then WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
First off, the lions were parked in different areas. Each had a different kind of element powering it, and was parked where it was exposed to that element. So, they had to get them out and together.
Second, the bad guys often had some small fighter ships to take out first. Those the lions were better at fighting. Voltron couldn't fight them as well, and not as many at one time.
Third (as Deth said), sometimes one of the lions would be disabled. So, no Voltron.
Also, Prince Lotor (bad guy) has been known to open fire on the lions WHILE THEY FORMED VOLTRON! Yes, he broke the golden rule of Giant Robot shows. Once, and only once. I think the director took away his dressing room for that, 'cause he never did it again.
quote:
Lyinar impressed everyone with:
You just realized this?What's the location of the rock you've been living under?
Re-realized more-like 
I haven't watched anything other than news on TV for seven years, so when I tuned into Cartoon Network today and watched a Voltron re-run, then flipped through to MMPR it re-dawned on me 
My minds been on other things, EQ and gf mainly 
....oh...oops.
quote:
first Japanese then US released animated show
Disclaimer: I'm just kidding, I love all living things.
The fastest draw in the Crest.
"The Internet is MY critical thinking course." -Maradon
"Gambling for the husband, an abortion for the wife and fireworks for the kids they chose to keep? Fuck you, Disneyland. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is the happiest place on Earth." -JooJooFlop
quote:
^Moogle-plush-doll^ had this to say about Punky Brewster:
I'm still curiousupo about what Sentai is exactly...
Your initial assumption was correct
Generally speaking, a sentai is a show with a team of superheroes, most often five of them, and each associated with a specific colour and planet/element. They sometimes involve giant robots which can be formed into a single, giant robot (who always, always wins).
As I recall, only live-action shows fit the sentai definition, but shows like Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (aka Ronin Warriors) and Sailor Moon do pretty much the same thing, only without the giant robots.
quote:
Talonus stumbled drunkenly to the keyboard and typed:
Small note, Voltron is definitely not the...
[QUOTE]first Japanese then US released animated show
[/QUOTE]Speed Racer
quote:
Palador ChibiDragon had this to say about Cuba:
First off, the lions were parked in different areas. Each had a different kind of element powering it, and was parked where it was exposed to that element. So, they had to get them out and together.Second, the bad guys often had some small fighter ships to take out first. Those the lions were better at fighting. Voltron couldn't fight them as well, and not as many at one time.
Third (as Deth said), sometimes one of the lions would be disabled. So, no Voltron.
Also, Prince Lotor (bad guy) has been known to open fire on the lions WHILE THEY FORMED VOLTRON! Yes, he broke the golden rule of Giant Robot shows. Once, and only once. I think the director took away his dressing room for that, 'cause he never did it again.
You take me too seriously. Nobody really wants to see 20 minutes of partying/lion maintenance. and of course I do remember when one or more lions was disabled. I remember when that evil prince stole blue lion and kidnapped the princess.
I just find it funny, in other shows also, not just Voltron when I find myself screaming out the obvious solution to a bunch of bumbling characters completely ignoring the fact that they are bumbling as a time killer
Yes I do know what formula means.
quote:
Sentow had this to say about Tron:
Your initial assumption was correctGenerally speaking, a sentai is a show with a team of superheroes, most often five of them, and each associated with a specific colour and planet/element. They sometimes involve giant robots which can be formed into a single, giant robot (who always, always wins).
As I recall, only live-action shows fit the sentai definition, but shows like Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (aka Ronin Warriors) and Sailor Moon do pretty much the same thing, only without the giant robots.
Did someone say "Captain Planet" yet?
same thing right?
Especially Deth.
quote:
Rodent King had this to say about Optimus Prime:
I don't know why you guys are comparing MMPR to Voltron when it's obvious that the biggest rip-off between cartoon shows would be Transformers and Beast Wars; I'll just go to their sites to get see more about the two of them and.......oh...oops.
*sends his cat after the rodent king. Thou shalt not take the Transformers name in vain, unless you speak of the Robots in Disguise series. That one hurts..*
[ 01-13-2002: Message edited by: Uniformed BoyToy ]
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Uniformed BoyToy had this to say about Tron:
Specially when they came out with Voltron 2, something around 20 vehicles that created the new Voltron.
15 Vehicles. Five on each team of Air, Ground, and Sea.
Each 5 vehicle team could also link their vehicles together into a super vehicle.
Yes, I had the large versions of BOTH Voltron toys at one time. But neither of them was as cool as my SDF-1 (but my cat chewed the tips off of the main cannon).
quote:
KaLourin DthBlayde had this to say about Jimmy Carter:
*sends his cat after the rodent king. Thou shalt not take the Transformers name in vain, unless you speak of the Robots in Disguise series. That one hurts..*
KaLourin is my hero.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
Voltron is from the 80s. Transformers is from the 80s.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is from the 90s
How the hell could that come out first?
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
Power Rangers is older than its appearance in the United States. I'd like to see some official dates as to when the source shows for Power Rangers come out before I buy into the notion that Power Rangers came out before Transformers. Doing live action shows can be more expensive than doing animation, and after the success of shows like Macross (Robotech in the US), one would think that they would have stuck to a formula that works.
By the way, for those of you bringing up cartoons like Eight Man, Astro-Boy, etc. There's a difference between Anime superhero cartoons and anime Sentai. Sentai was also, by the way, not just a medium of live action. It reflects a sub-genre. In Japan, success is based on the team rather than the individual generally, and they favor certain notions like harmony of the elements. Thus Sentai reflects achievement over diversity through unity, rather than doing it solo (Wolverine of X-Men fame, believe it or not, is considerably less popular in Japan because of his loner attitude). Even in series like Macross/Robotech, the hero seldom succeeded alone (Rick had Max and the Skull Squadron).
Sentai is marked, usually, by Voltron/MMPR qualities. Multiple pilots in vehicles that are powerful alone and link up to become even more powerful. While the element vehicles often have some elemental connection (Steel, Wood, Wind, Fire, Water generally), that's not a universal trait. Good Sentai (from a storytelling element) uses the sentai team traits as a metaphor to progress the story, and villains generally are intelligent or cunning. Neither of those elements crops up in the Power Rangers series, and thus is generally considered "bad" sentai.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
Lyinar Ka`Bael, Piney Fresh Druidess - Luclin
quote:
Lyinar had this to say about Optimus Prime:
The live action series that's widely known and that spurred spin-offs and movies is from the 90s. What was the history in Japan? Was there a cartoon or another live action series that came out before Fox made the one with American teens popular?
There was never one with American teenagers in it in Japan. Saban took chunks of the footage, sliced them apart, and spliced in their own stuff. They also took completely unrelated series and threaded them together, Robotech style.
Well, that and I wonder why if she could throw her staff down to Earth, why they didn't just bombbard the town with fireballs or something
And how did she get it back?
quote:
Zephyer had this to say about Robocop:
I loved Voltron...haven't seen it in ages...I had the big one that comes apart into lions when I was a kid...He used to fight my big Transformers...
So did I. And so did I!
Thinking about your posts
(and billing you for it) since 2001
quote:
Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael impressed everyone with:
*A bunch of shit I read in the first post, and skipped in the second*
SHUT THE FUCK UP!
Sorry, that was my initial reaction. My second, and more thought out reaction is this..
If we admit you are smarter than us, and all knowing, and better worded, will you please SHUT THE FUCK UP???
I mean really, Every time I see you post, its just to show off that you know more about some obscure cultural differance between tribes of prairie dogs on the sarengeti, or the differance in color shades between The partridge family bus, and the camoflage pattern of the french foriegn legion.
You're like Cliff Clavin, without the charm, or humor.
If yer offended, who fucking cares? If anybody else is offended, lighten the fuck up.
