While promoting Legend of the White Dragon, the passion project featuring the late Power Rangers icon Jason David Frank, action legend Mark Dacascos dropped a fascinating piece of Tokusatsu history: long before he ever fought John Wick or gave Iron Chef America contestants their ingredients, he starred in a Haim Saban pilot as the original Red Ranger.
Half a decade before Mighty Morphin Power Rangers exploded into a pop-culture juggernaut on Fox Kids, Haim Saban and Shuki Levy were pounding the pavement in 1980s Hollywood, pitching their crazy vision for an Americanized superhero show to various studios.
Their initial attempt cut together original US footage with scenes from Japan's 1984 Super Sentai entry, Choudenshi Bioman.
Titled simply Bio-Man, the pilot introduced a proto-Power Rangers lineup that featured:
- Victor Lee (Biorhythm Red): The team leader, portrayed by martial artist and actor Mark Dacascos.
- Zack Taylor (Biorhythm Green): The green-suited hero, portrayed by Miguel Núñez Jr.
- Billy Cranston (Biorhythm Blue): The blue-suited hero, portrayed by Tom Silardi.
- Trini Crystal (Biorhythm Yellow): The yellow-suited hero, portrayed by Tricia Leigh Fisher.
- Kimberly Harte (Biorhythm Pink): The pink-suited hero, portrayed by Rebecca Staples.
- Zadar: The main villain, an evil half-human, half-robot warlord attempting to conquer Earth
As you can see, Zack, Billy, Trini, and Kimberly would survive the transition from Bio-Man to Power Rangers, but Victor would ultimately turn into Jason.
Speaking to Screen Rant, Dascacos stated, "I was Red Ranger in Bio-Man, and I think when they took the pilot to the TV convention or something in Vegas, Saban Productions received very positive reviews, but at that time there was no precedent. Nobody had done any shows like that, and nobody was willing to take a chance on it. Yeah. So it didn't get picked up as a pilot, and then cut to maybe two or three years later, they tried again, and by that time, anime and manga had built up a little bit of a swell, and [Mighty Morphin Power Rangers] got picked up, and then it's been this huge thing ever since."
The first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers would utilize footage from the 16th season of Super Sentai, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger.
Believe it or not, a tiny sliver of Bioman actually made it onto American TV.
A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it clip from the show's premiere episode was tossed into the original pilot for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ("Day of the Dumpster"); you can catch it flashing briefly across the massive computer screen inside the Command Center.
While Legend of the White Dragon has wrapped up its limited run in theaters, you won't have to wait long to catch it at home.
The film hits Digital and VOD platforms on September 22, 2026, with Blu-ray and DVD physical releases following shortly after on October 20.