( CNN ) These are not your older brother 's Power Rangers . Yeah , there are some helmeted costumes and martial arts in `` Power/Rangers , '' the 14-minute short inspired by the 1990s children 's TV series . But there are also some grim postapocalyptic settings , terse dialogue and violence . Lots and lots of bloody , graphic violence . The `` bootleg , '' in producer Adi Shankar 's term , is the product of a thought experiment : How would fighting an intergalactic war really affect some high schoolers ? ( In the original candy-colored show -- which reused some campy Japanese programming -- a group of teens gets drafted to battle aliens . ) `` How is that any different from child soldiers , man ? That 's super f***ed-up , '' Shankar , the producer of `` The Grey '' and `` Dredd , '' says in an accompanying video . `` They 're going to have PTSD , and they 're going have the most f***ed-up lives . '' Hence , `` Power/Rangers , '' which has been buzzed about all over the Internet . The less-violent version has picked up more than 6 million YouTube views in less than two days ; the NSFW version has just slightly fewer . The video stars James Van Der Beek and Katee Sackhoff . Director Joseph Kahn , known as a music video powerhouse ( Taylor Swift 's `` Blank Space , '' Britney Spears ' `` Toxic '' ) , told HitFix that he was unfamiliar with the nuts and bolts of the Power Rangers universe but liked the challenge . `` The trick that I really wanted to do with this was to make that dark and gritty version that everybody keeps talking about , but really do it , '' he said . `` Really see if I could totally accomplish it with essentially a really incredible incredibly silly property . '' The Internet was gobsmacked , of course . `` Holy Hell This 'Power Rangers ' Reboot Is Dark As F*ck , '' headlined Io9.com . But the video may be in for a legal battle . According to Kahn , the producer of the other `` Power Rangers , '' Haim Saban , is `` trying to shut 'Power/Rangers ' down . '' A new theatrical film version is scheduled for 2016 . Vimeo took down the NSFW video Tuesday , and Deadline Hollywood reported that it was at the behest of a copyright infringement claim . Kahn has fought back on Twitter . `` Every image in 'Power/Rangers ' is original footage , '' he posted in a series of tweets . `` Nothing was pre-existing . There is no copyrighted footage in the short . I am not making any money on it and I refuse to accept any from anyone . It was not even kickstarted , I paid for it myself . ''
` ` Power / Power , '' rethinking of pop culture , is a huge online hit . The 14-minute episode is grim and violent . The show may be facing legal issues .