Here's what you'd get if Michael Bay made a gritty Power Rangers movie

Remember how Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers starred a cast of plucky "teenagers with attitude" pulled into a zany war with a space witch and an evil emperor with no skin? What if you took that core concept and transformed those same teens into costumed child soldiers dragged into a bloody intergalactic war they had no real part in?

That's what producer Adi Shankar has done with his latest over-the-top short Power/Rangers, and, despite looking like a Michael Bay movie, it somehow manages to set a high bar for the upcoming Power Rangers film.

Power/Rangers stars Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff as former Pink Ranger Kimberly Hart and Dawson's Creek's James Van Der Beek as former Red Ranger you completely forgot Rocky DeSantos. Set in a dark future after the Machine Empire took over the planet, Rocky has since betrayed his former teammates to join forces with the machines. The 14-minute short shows what became of all the rangers in the years since the takeover, and their future is an extremely violent and tragic one, as even their incredible powers and Zords can't save them. Sure, it's a little cheesy, but it's the kind of nostalgia trip fans might love.

WHO CAN DEFEAT THE MACHINE EMPIRE?

Filmed by "Blank Space" director Joseph Kahn, the movie falls into Shankar's ever-growing Bootleg universe, which by now includes Venom: Truth in Journalismand The Punisher: Dirty Laundry. The producer also released Judge Dredd: Superfiendlast fall, an unofficial sequel series taking place after 2012's Dredd. Shankar insists the movie isn't a pitch, but given how well it does at subverting the source material, Lionsgate might want to take a few notes for its own adaptation.