LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - The latest reboot of the 1990s Power Rangers children's television series held its world premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday night (March 22).

Directed by Dean Israelite, the film tells the backstories of the five teenage characters - a misfit, a loner, a school bully, an intellectual and a drop-out - and their transformation into action heroes.

"It's like an instruction manual of how to become a Power Ranger because you go through the kids' journey... these inadequate, insecure little kids, and how they become superheroes," said actor Ludi Lin, who plays the Black Ranger.

As in the television series, the Rangers' mission is to stop arch villain Rita Repulsa, played in the rebooted film version by American actress Elizabeth Banks.

"It's hard work. I will say that but it was really fun to yell at everyone," Banks said. "It's fun to feel like I was invincible."

Banks said she found freedom in playing her character, but that the experience was also "surreal" with green screens and special effects equipment on set.

She also admitted that having to use contact lenses for her character's costume left her "nearly blind".

Power Rangers creator and producer Haim Saban received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday for his achievements in television.

The TV series that debuted as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1993 is now in its 24th season, making it one of the longest running children's action series in television history.

It also spawned three theatrical films, with the latest, Saban's Power Rangers, having opened in US theatres on Friday (March 24).