I vaguely remember seeing "Space Rangers" the first time in 1993. I forget how many episodes aired, but I felt keen disappointment when it was canceled. Now that I've seen all 6 episodes on DVD 22 years later, the show had so much potential! I think it hit the ground running with acting and story plots worthy of a series' 2nd or more season. All the cast interacted with each other like they had been doing it for years. I remember Linda Hunt from her role in "Dune" and enjoyed her acting very much. Of course Clint Howard was the alien "Balok" in the original "Star Trek" series and I also remember his guest appearance in Star Trek: "Deep Space 9" two years after "Space Rangers". But they were the only two cast members I was familiar with. Since then I have seen Gottfried John in "GoldenEye" and liked his portrayal very much. His part as Colonel Weiss in "Space Rangers" just increases my appreciation of the series even more. The other cast members were unknown to me at the time but I feel that they did justice and were very well matched to their respective characters.
I think "Space Rangers" walked the line between Sci-Fi seriousness and levity just right. When it strayed to one side or the other, it did it with style without getting too deep or too silly. One character who handled this situation well was "Ringer", an android played by Keith Berger in 2 episodes. His knack of ending a display of logic or a lightening fast calibration of a space rifle with a quick little disarming smile is reminiscent of Jeremy Brett's similar trait when he played Sherlock Holmes. The comic side to Ringer's character is that the only task the Ranger crew or most of the command staff of Fort Hope felt comfortable giving him was making coffee.
6 episodes were barely enough to go into the background and lives of the main characters, but again I say the potential was there for many more interesting story plots on each of them. The special effects in "Space Rangers" are very similar to those in "The Last Starfighter", a movie made 9 years prior, so they are not that sophisticated. I'm sure that if "Space Rangers" endured into multiple seasons, the special effects as well as the story writing, would have evolved into an even more fun and entertaining series.
I think "Space Rangers" walked the line between Sci-Fi seriousness and levity just right. When it strayed to one side or the other, it did it with style without getting too deep or too silly. One character who handled this situation well was "Ringer", an android played by Keith Berger in 2 episodes. His knack of ending a display of logic or a lightening fast calibration of a space rifle with a quick little disarming smile is reminiscent of Jeremy Brett's similar trait when he played Sherlock Holmes. The comic side to Ringer's character is that the only task the Ranger crew or most of the command staff of Fort Hope felt comfortable giving him was making coffee.
6 episodes were barely enough to go into the background and lives of the main characters, but again I say the potential was there for many more interesting story plots on each of them. The special effects in "Space Rangers" are very similar to those in "The Last Starfighter", a movie made 9 years prior, so they are not that sophisticated. I'm sure that if "Space Rangers" endured into multiple seasons, the special effects as well as the story writing, would have evolved into an even more fun and entertaining series.