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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

post #1 of 158
11/26/07 at 4:46pm
Thread Starter 
Okay folks, I realize this topic won't engender any kind of in-depth criticism, but I watched this movie again over the weekend for the first time in many years, and I was genuinely entertained, not just in a "Hey, this was great when I was 12!" kind of way.

- It works great as an origin story. Sets things up nicely without getting bogged down in the machinations, and it was neat the way much of it was done in those stylized flashbacks, especially the scene where Splinter explains how he found the turtles to April.

- Elias Koteas as Casey Jones. I still can't look at him anymore without seeing Chris Meloni, but still, he brightens up the role.

- Voice casting. Josh Pais plays Raphael a bit too House of Pain, but Brian Tochi, Robbie Rist and even Corey Feldman are all top notch, and manage to make the turtle puppets engaging and likeable, particularly Rist as Michaelangelo.

- I like how the palette is colorful but not candy-coated. It's often muted, as much of the film is set in sewers or at night.

- The fight scenes are decent enough, but I just couldn't believe they pulled that off inside the costumes.

I've probably committed too many words to this already, but I was really surprised at how much I liked it as an adult.
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post #2 of 158
11/26/07 at 4:55pm
I should really see this again: the only 90s Turtles movie I have any solid recollections of is Secret of the Ooze.
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post #3 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:01pm
This is the part where I'm guilty of nostalgia in a huge, huge way. I can probably quote the whole goddamned movie if I thought about it. Love Casey Jones, love the fight scene in the antique store, love the final fight on the rooftop, love the underground arena of awesome that The Foot Clan has for it's teenagers (complete with a NARC machine, nice touch), love the Critters joke, love it all.

"Wise man say, forgiveness is divine but never pay full price for late pizza"

Also: Much more violent then you'd expect. This is one of those kids movies that felt like an actual action movie because it kept it's pandering very low-key.

"What the heck was that?"
"It looked like some sort of turtle...in a trenchcoat...you going to LaGuardia, right?"

I must have watched this 50 times on video growing up. Every frame has been permanently burned into my brain.

"Awesome!"
"Bodacious!"
"Bossa Nova!"
*They all look at Donatello*
"...Chevy Nova?"
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post #4 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:21pm
Thread Starter 
I should have mentioned above that I chuckled. A lot.

The throwaway bit at the farmhouse where Michaelangelo is humming "Old McDonald" and you see him jump, startled at some woodland critter. The way it's done in a long shot just kills me.

Also, when Donatello and Michaelangelo watching "Tortoise and the Hare" and yelling at the tortoise to "ninja kick the damn rabbit." And right after that they tiptoe out of the room when the other two start fighting. "Fight?" "Fight." "Kitchen?" "Kitchen."
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post #5 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:23pm
"Stop peeking!"
"I'm not peeking, I'm spelunking for pork rinds."
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post #6 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:26pm
"NINJA KICK THE DAMN RABBIT!!!"

Still love this one, especially the rooftop fight at the end where Shredder just manhandles all of them. And yes, it is amazing that they were able to have kung fu fights in those costumes (insert bitchy comment about Batman not being able to move his neck here).
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post #7 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:28pm
Went to see it for my 10th birthday party and even back then I was surprised at how dark it was. I also remember being pissed off that the ninja troopers weren't robots like in the cartoon. But I got over that quick enough. Probably one of my favorite movies when I was a kid, and yes, I cried every time Splinter appears in the fire.
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post #8 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:34pm
i remember reading that there was a darker cut of the film, and that the one we got to see in theaters was edited pretty heavy...any one else hear about this?
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post #9 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:40pm
Nothing about that on IMDB.
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post #10 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:43pm
I watched this a week ago at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, where they had an all-you-can-eat pizza party to go with it. Amazing experience. They even played a Masters of the Universe trailer beforehand to set the mood.

That said, I'm not sure I'm as taken by the movie as you guys are. It's a ton of fun, and I really like how the entire criminal operation centers on kids (selling them cigarettes, etc.). Also, I think it's pretty great that Raphael says "damn" so much. It seemed like anytime they had to make a character seem cool or tough they just had him say damn. That said, though, there are multiple moments that just completely perplexed me, such as when the turtles hop out of the back of a crowded truck and Raphael says:

"Now I know what it's like to travel without a green card!"
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post #11 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Venkman
i remember reading that there was a darker cut of the film, and that the one we got to see in theaters was edited pretty heavy...any one else hear about this?
Funny you mention that seeing how from what I've heard that the original comic was pretty violent and dark compared to the kids show and I imagine movies.

Interestingly enough I always looked at that stuff differently ever since someone told me that TMNT was essentially a satire of Daredevil.
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post #12 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:51pm
I have nothing but sincere love for TMNT, I've seen it millions and millions of times and rewatch it every year or so. It's really funny and really dark for a kids movie. There were all these little references and jokes that I didn't understand when I was a kid that cracked me up as I got older. I like Secret of the Ooze too but I hate the 3rd one with a passion, it sucked monkey balls.

Also, I've had a crush on Raphael ever since before I knew there were rules against inter-species dating. He was such a badass.
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post #13 of 158
11/26/07 at 5:56pm
I always remember laughing my ass off every time Raphael swore.

Not to mention Sam Rockwell plays the guide to the Teen Runaway hideaway.
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post #14 of 158
11/26/07 at 6:00pm
Fuck, now I'm going to have to get some pizza and alcohol and watch the first two later. And here I was thinking I was going to have a nice quiet Monday night.
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post #15 of 158
11/26/07 at 6:05pm
I love this movie. My favorite scene is when Michaelangelo is in the "chuck-off" with the foot soldier.

"Ahhh, a fellow chucker, eh?" followed by the smalll music cue as he reaches for them behind his back.
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post #16 of 158
11/26/07 at 6:29pm
Thread Starter 
Wow, I'm (very pleasantly) surprised at the response so far. I had no idea there was so much love for this movie.

About the darker cut, Wikipedia does mention some scenes that were cut. I didn't realize just how big the box office was for this thing ($200 mil worldwide; wow). There must be a market for a special release, right?
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post #17 of 158
11/26/07 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Werewolf Girl
Also, I've had a crush on Raphael ever since before I knew there were rules against inter-species dating. He was such a badass.
I've always said that you can learn everything you need to know about a person by finding out who their favorite Ninja Turtle is.

And, for the record, I've always been a Raph fan myself.
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post #18 of 158
11/26/07 at 6:41pm
There are two moments in this movie that always make me laugh:

-Donatello making a three stooges n'yuk-n'yuk noise when Shredder suddenly shows up on the rooftop

-Splinter's insane laughter at the end.
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post #19 of 158
11/26/07 at 6:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aaron Abolt
That said, though, there are multiple moments that just completely perplexed me, such as when the turtles hop out of the back of a crowded truck and Raphael says:

"Now I know what it's like to travel without a green card!"
I know it's not the funniest joke ever, but perplexed? Seriously?
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post #20 of 158
11/26/07 at 6:50pm
Thread Starter 
To be fair, Raph was the Charles Grodin of the group.
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post #21 of 158
11/26/07 at 6:54pm
I'm pretty sure Grodin's got more Raph in 'im than Raph does Grodin.
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post #22 of 158
11/26/07 at 7:18pm
i remember reading something about the director making this for a college crowd then a kid one. as for the comic, it's bloody as all hell..it's great in that classic black and white
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post #23 of 158
11/26/07 at 7:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaPabLe
I'm pretty sure Grodin's got more Raph in 'im than Raph does Grodin.
I don't remember Charles Grodin using sais, unless that was in some deleted scene of Beethoven that I was unaware of.
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post #24 of 158
11/26/07 at 7:51pm
I wrote this in the "Practical Effects" thread:

Quote:
Originally Posted by BTSMGL
I dunno if it's been mentioned in this thread (didn't red through it, but remembered it after seeing the example I'm gonna mention), but Jim Henson's work in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is amazing, even almost 20 years later. I'd seen the movie before (I named my pet turtle Tokka after the bad guy in the sequel), but I caught it on TV this weekend and was genuinely impressed with the quality of the creature effects and the "acting" by the characters. I got a whole new appreciation for it!
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post #25 of 158
11/26/07 at 7:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by EdHocken

Interestingly enough I always looked at that stuff differently ever since someone told me that TMNT was essentially a satire of Daredevil.
Care to elaborate on this? Not familiar with the comics, or most likely the Daredevil ones it was riffing on.
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post #26 of 158
11/26/07 at 8:34pm
IIRC, one of the things that TMNT riffed on Daredevil was that the evil ninja organzation was called "The Foot" while it was called "The Hand" in Daredevil. That and in the origin story line Matt Murdock was carrying a fishbowl of turtles before being struck by the toxic waste truck thereby indicating that the same toxin created Daredevil and the Turtles.
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post #27 of 158
11/26/07 at 8:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaPabLe
I know it's not the funniest joke ever, but perplexed? Seriously?
I just wasn't expecting such a topical immigration joke from a Ninja Turtle. You know that shit wouldn't fly in a movie today.
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post #28 of 158
11/26/07 at 10:45pm
...
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post #29 of 158
11/26/07 at 11:45pm
I took a few dvds to med school, Ninja Turtles was one of them. I used to draw insane amounts, and can still draw them.

The original movie was the best interepration I think for a mass audience, and even the comics get a little more outthere with uptrom, triceratons, battle nexsus and stuff like that.
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post #30 of 158
11/26/07 at 11:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll
This is the part where I'm guilty of nostalgia in a huge, huge way. I can probably quote the whole goddamned movie if I thought about it. Love Casey Jones, love the fight scene in the antique store, love the final fight on the rooftop, love the underground arena of awesome that The Foot Clan has for it's teenagers (complete with a NARC machine, nice touch), love the Critters joke, love it all.

"Wise man say, forgiveness is divine but never pay full price for late pizza"

Also: Much more violent then you'd expect. This is one of those kids movies that felt like an actual action movie because it kept it's pandering very low-key.

"What the heck was that?"
"It looked like some sort of turtle...in a trenchcoat...you going to LaGuardia, right?"

I must have watched this 50 times on video growing up. Every frame has been permanently burned into my brain.

"Awesome!"
"Bodacious!"
"Bossa Nova!"
*They all look at Donatello*
"...Chevy Nova?"
Porkrind?
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post #31 of 158
11/26/07 at 11:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Graynadian
Porkrind?
Porkrind (chews)
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post #32 of 158
11/27/07 at 12:42am
Laugh at me all you want, but the Archie TMNT Adventures were great comics. The first half-a-dozen issues were straight adaptations of the cartoon, but it quickly started its own continuity and the stories were surprisingly decent. And once in a while it even got into serious and dark themes and plots, the kind you can appreciate and be engrossed by even as an adult. The art was pretty fantastic at times, too, especially considering it's an Archie comic.

Actually, scratch that, the Sonic the Hedgehog comic with its own continuity was pretty much the same as well. A BIT more comical, but it got pretty dark at times* and the art got to be serious eye candy.

Those two books really stood as taking über-childish concepts and making them into the kind of literature you'd find yourself picking up monthly.

* yeah, Sonic the Hedgehog! It seems silly now, but they actually pulled it off somehow.
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post #33 of 158
11/27/07 at 1:24pm
"Leo? What's a guy got to do to get some food around here?"
Makes me choke up every time. not really.
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post #34 of 158
11/27/07 at 1:31pm
Thread Starter 
"Pizza dude's got thirty seconds."

One question: Can someone tell me where the fuck they got the money to pay for the pizza?

ETA: Michaelangelo's a cheap tipper.
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post #35 of 158
11/27/07 at 1:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathan Banks is my hero
"Pizza dude's got thirty seconds."

One question: Can someone tell me where the fuck they got the money to pay for the pizza?
They recycle a lot, and in TMNT Mike was himself at costume parties. It has been a running joke on where they get money, where they got their weapons etc.
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post #36 of 158
11/27/07 at 2:03pm
Raph's always been my fave, guess I was one of those kids who looked up to the scrappy loner with a big chip on his shoulder.

I've had more discussions about why Raph is the best turtle than any grown man should ever experience. I nearly jumped out of my seat cheering when Raph shattered Leo's swords and "won" their fight in the new TMNT movie, and no, I don't care how lame that makes me sound.

Sai > Sword
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post #37 of 158
11/27/07 at 2:27pm
I knew I liked Michelangelo long before I ever sparked my first blunt. Fate?
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post #38 of 158
11/27/07 at 2:46pm
2006
"Hey, let's make a new Turtles movie!"
"Yeah"
"Without Shredder!"
"Yea.. hey, what?"

I still don't understand why there was no Shredder in TMNT.
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post #39 of 158
11/27/07 at 2:58pm
Quote:
Makes me choke up every time.
Me to man, me to.

Quote:
not really.
Fuck.
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post #40 of 158
11/27/07 at 4:27pm
DONATELLO all the way. Always been a fan of the weapons, and the uh...voice work.
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post #41 of 158
11/27/07 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 
He was OK but he always looked too young to be wielding those kitanas.

I'd have to go with Donatello too, just because the bo staff was my favorite weapon of the group, and I'm down with the nerds.
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post #42 of 158
11/27/07 at 6:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quarant
Man, was Leonardo anybody's favourite?
Leonardo leads baby, Leonardo leads. Any leader who loved blue and big swords/guns was my idol back in the day. Lion-O, Questar from Dino Riders, etc.

FYI: when I was five, I thought all the Ninja Turtles were named Harmonchello. True story.
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post #43 of 158
11/27/07 at 6:24pm
One of my friends loves Leo. Me, I've always loved Mikie.

As for the movie, by far one of the seminal flicks of my childhood. Heck, Ninja Turtles in general were one of the defining toys/cartoons much moreso than stuff like Transformers or Thundercats and such. Like most kids, I'm sure, it got me and my friends totally hooked on eating pizza as often as we could. And count me in the camp that is still impressed with what they pulled off with the Turtle suits, both in terms of action and expression.

Also, who else jumped for joy when they found out they could download the original Ninja Turtles arcade game on Xbox Live Arcade?
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post #44 of 158
11/27/07 at 6:28pm
1000% Turco. Going from Yellow Jumpsuit April in the cartoons to Skinny Blonde Hoag in the first movie almost broke my heart. Honestly, that was horrible casting, April O'Neil is supposed to be so hot that she turns on reptiles. Hoag looks like a T.A.
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post #45 of 158
11/27/07 at 6:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Myers
2006
"Hey, let's make a new Turtles movie!"
"Yeah"
"Without Shredder!"
"Yea.. hey, what?"

I still don't understand why there was no Shredder in TMNT.
It was supposedly based on the original comics, and in said comics they kill Shredder early on.
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post #46 of 158
11/27/07 at 6:32pm
Quote:
Judit Hoag or Paige Turco.
Ain't no choice at all. I jerko to Turco.

And I was just looking at the IMDB page for this flick and you know who's in it? Sam motherfuckin Rockwell. He plays the "head thug." Definitely checking this out again soon.
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post #47 of 158
11/27/07 at 6:40pm
Glad this thread exists. Easily one of the ten best comic book movies, and everyone has nailed the greatest elements of it. And hey, there was another one, which I haven't seen, but how many franchises could survive "Ninja Rap"?

Is the animated version anywhere near as good? I owned about a hundred of those figures growing up, so it's always been a part of me, and I feel like some sort of traitor for not seeing it yet.
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post #48 of 158
11/27/07 at 7:04pm
Well, the series didn't really survive Ninja Rap, did it? I mean, the final "fight" between the Turtles and Super Shredder was super lame and then most people pretend the third movie didn't even exist.

As for the the new animated movie, I loved the hell out of it.
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post #49 of 158
11/27/07 at 7:10pm
I actually prefer the sequel to the original, as it felt more like the cartoon to me. The 2nd film matched the goofy tone a lot better than the 1st one, although considering how dark it is I doubt they even attempted to make it like the show. I've only seen the original a couple times though, whereas the sequel is the one I watched a million times as a kid. All this talk however is making me want to check it out again. One thing that the sequel certainly did lack however, was the awesomeness of Casey Jones. I've never been able to see Elias Koteas and not see Casey Jones.
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post #50 of 158
11/27/07 at 7:18pm
The second movie is worth watching just for this scene. But it's not even close to being as good as the first one.
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