Huievest
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Buks Terblanche
I have seen this movie 14+times and every time it makes me smile.It is funny and cool.OK sometimes it is corny.But it is good acting and you can see the director try to give us something new,fun, original and very lovable.The animatronics looks super real and fantastic.It looks 100% more real than today's fake CGI moves.It is something you can touch.That is way it looks so real and cool.You love the teenage Turtles the first time you see them.The world in the movie feels real and I loved it as a kid and still do!It is a fun classic.
The Grand Master
My younger brother and I were big fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon when it was on TV and watched it religiously. The both of us also owned all 4 of the turtle figures. However we weren't sure what the movie was going to be like given the dark content matter when it was first released in 1990. When I was able to hire the movie out on video as an 8 year old back in 1992 I absolutely loved it and for the 7 days that I had the movie my brother and I watched the movie countless times. Although we didn't buy the movie, whenever the movie was screened on TV we always watched it. I hadn't seen the movie in over 20 years, thinking that the movie would be disappointing and simply one of those movies that I liked as a child but not as an adult. Upon buying the movie on Blu-Ray and finally watching it, it's all coming back to me as to why this was one of my favourite movies as a child and as a 33 year old, I had a great time revisiting old childhood memories.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wastes no time getting started as New York City is being plagued by a crime wave where mysterious thefts are taking place and the perpetrators have not been seen. Covering the story is Channel 3 reporter April O'Neil (Judith Hoag) who has uncovered that the mysterious Foot Clan is behind the crime wave. Chief Sterns (Raymond Serra) is increasingly frustrated as to why the NYPD have not been able to stop the crime wave. Unbeknownst to the citizens of New York City, four mutated vigilante turtles trained in the art of ninjuitsu are stepping up to battle the crime wave. The four turtles are affectionately named Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Rachel. Master Splinter acts as a father figure to the turtles as well as guiding them in the ways of the ninja. The turtles find themselves heading towards a collision course toward the mastermind behind the crime wave Master Shredder (James Saito) and his right hand man Tatsu (Toshishiro Obata). Aiding the turtles in their war against the crime wave is the masked hockey-loving vigilante Casey Jones (Elias Koteas).While Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stays faithful to the cartoon and the comics, the tone is noticeable darker similar to Batman (1989) although it has plenty of light moments. The action is fun and keeps the story moving along. There also brief moments of humour which the series is well known for.I loved how Jim Henson's Creature Shop (well known for their work with the Muppets on Sesame Street) brought the turtles to life through puppetry and life like animatronics. Their work was amazing! There was no such thing as Computer Generated Imagery many years ago, which nowadays dominates many movies and television shows.Director Steve Barron, who cut his teeth directing music videos for A-Ha, Bryan Adams, and The Human League does a terrific job bringing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to life on the big screen.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of the best movies of my childhood, and now as an adult I still appreciate that it is still an enjoyable movie. I thought I'd be cringing through some of the one liners that I used to emulate, however I just had to accept the fact that I was just a child and that's the way I was. Glad to see that my childhood memories are still preserved.8/10.
byson5186
First off, it amazes me to think of how old this movie is. It's already a quarter of a century old, from 1990. While watching this movie, it will take you back to that time which we could consider simpler. I mean back when CGI effects weren't as good, so the turtles were stuntmen in costumes. It also takes us back to a time when computers weren't everyday devices, before we really had the internet, and when we could get around without cellphones. A lot of people who remember when this movie came out, remember the different experience it was to go to movie theaters back then. I've seen that in the IMDb message boards. Now, continuing there have been 5 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies that have been released. There were the first 3, there was a computer animated movie that came out in 2007, and one that came out last year with Megan Fox as April O' Neil, and the sequel for the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is in the works. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have long since been popular super heroes. I have a 4-year old nephew that is like obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and even watches the 1987 cartoon. The cartoon was on TV when this movie came out along with the other two. I believe a newer version of that cartoon came on TV in 2003, and there's even a newer version since then. I used to watch that show when I was a kid, and it seems like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have stood the test of time, forever remembered and known even by kids today. More so then other TV shows around the same era, like Transformers or G.I. Joe which also have been made into movies with today's special effects. It seems like a lot of reviews for those movies, especially the later transformers movies have been bad.So, this cartoon and comic became a movie. I notice as I'm sure a lot of you, how sometimes things that work really well as a cartoon, do not work well as a live-action movie. This is an example of something that was well written and works for a live action movie. It doesn't have Krang, Bebop, Rocksteady, the Technodrome, Or Dimension X. Shredder is a dark sinister-man who reminds me of Darth Vader, yet he is a character from Japan and his name is Oroku Saki. Also, the action from the movie isn't the kind of action we are used to seeing in a lot of action movies from today, but seems more comical and slapstick humor.What else is also great about this movie, I like the way the Foot Clan is presented. This movie doesn't deal with the turtles fighting off an alien invasion, but dealing with crime in New York City because of Shredder. It's cool seeing the Secret Crime Wave in the opening scene and how it is effecting boys. Also, the ways guys entertained themselves back then are clearly shown in this movie.Now, to talk about the simplicity of the movie. Well, this movie has been reported as being dark which it has a dark atmosphere to the movie. A lot of the scenes seem to take place at night in isolated not well lit areas of the city. But, despite that this movie focuses on simplicity like more than any other TMNT movie has, enough where the actress April seems to change in the later movies. She also seems older than Megan Fox as April 'O Neil even though Megan Fox was older when she took the role. I mean April in this movie shows signs of appreciation of antiquity. Both the cars they drive in the movie are very old cars, and she shows interest in the antique store along with drawings. Her apartment doesn't seem as nice or organized in this one as it is in the next one. There are also slower scenes showing the turtles outside their urban environment and instead in an abandoned isolated house in a rural area.The two sequels that came after this one didn't entirely seem canon even though they were entertaining. I mean, Casey Jones isn't in the second one. Danny who was a main character in this one, along with her boss Charles were not in any of the later movies. When I first saw this movie, I thought at first that Charles was supposed to be her husband and Danny was supposed to be her son, as she looked mature enough to be his mom despite only being 6-years older. They also show different locations not seen in this movie.So, yeah this movie will always be remembered with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and we can remember the simpler time when this movie was made.Oh, and one other thing I want to say is I've always noticed if you watch this on Blu-Ray and DVD how if you skip scenes, a couple of scenes will only be a minute apart. But, there is one long chapter that lasts 13 minutes going from 36 minutes in the film to 49 minutes if you hit the skip button. That's a long chapter considering some were only a minute.
