"TMNT: 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
DVD EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars)
Available on DVD August 11
www.WBshop.com
Studio: Warner Bros.
It’s hard to believe that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have been kicking their way through our pop culture for the past 25 years. It is an awesome DVD set like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition” that helps remind us of this.
All four “Turtles” movies are packaged together in this limited edition collector’s set. Rather than coming in your basic cases, all four films are contained in a special DVD sleeve case in the shape of a sewer. What you give up in terms of individual storage, you gain with some wicked-cool additions to the set.
First, there are several sheets of temporary tattoos that can be enjoyed by the kids in your family. Plus, the box set comes with four ninja masks in the Turtles’ colors. I wouldn’t advise doing any ninja moves with them – or even watching the movies with them. They are, after all, a bit hard to see out of. However, for the clever value to the box set, these were real winners.
The DVDs come with the special features from their original releases. This includes only the trailers and trivia games for the first three films from the 1990s. However, the fourth and most recent film, the CGI “TMNT” includes a slate of DVD features that include a commentary tack, alternate scenes and deleted scenes, storyboard comparisons and interviews with the voice talent.
In short, this is a great collectable compilation for any “Turtles” fan to enjoy.
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"TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Judith Hoag as APRIL O’NEIL Elias Koteas as CASEY JONES Josh Pais as RAPHAEL Robbie Rist as MICHAELANGELO Corey Feldman as DONATELLO Brian Tochi as LEONARDO Kevin Clash as SPLINTER James Saito as THE SHREDDER Rated PG Directed by: Steve Barron Back to DVD Review Home |  |
This film was the first time the Turtles leapt from comic books and television to the silver screen. It pre-dated full-blown digital effects, instead utilizing the animatronic suits made by the Jim Henson company. I was just a bit too old to really get into the Turtles. The previous year’s “Batman” adaptation was more my speed. However, I can appreciate the Turtles coming to life on the big screen.
Of the three live-action films, this one is the best. The characters are fresh, and the adventure has a great start to the franchise. The story follows three turtles and their ninja master, a rat named Splinter, all of whom have been mutated by a mysterious green ooze. They now have grown to human size and possess the skills of a ninja. When Splinter is kidnapped by the villain Shredder, the four turtle brothers use their powers together to save him.
I have shown all the films to my kids, and they absolutely love the franchise. What do you expect from kids ages 6 and 8. However, there’s still something to enjoy in these movies as adults. Sure, the dialogue is corny for grown-up viewing, but it still is a higher quality than a cartoon. This film, and the three that follow it, is a bit darker than the original television series, and that gives it some grown-up appeal.
However, the sprit of the cartoon is kept in this movie, and the fight sequences are pretty impressive for guys in turtle suits. The other great thing about this movie is that it highlights the classic villain of the Shredder rather than dipping into more obscure characters.
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"TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II: THE SECRET OF THE OOZE" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Paige Turco as APRIL O’NEIL David Warner as PROFESSOR JORDAN PERRY Laurie Faso as RAPHAEL Robbie Rist as MICHAELANGELO Adam Carl as DONATELLO Brian Tochi as LEONARDO Kevin Clash as SPLINTER David McCharen as THE SHREDDER Rated PG Directed by: Michael Pressman Back to DVD Review Home |  |
In this sequel, which was rushed into theaters the year after the first film, the Turtles get in touch with a scientist named Jordan Perry (David Warner), who has access to the mysterious ooze that originally transformed them. Unfortunately, the Shredder has returned, and he wants the ooze to transform himself into an unbeatable opponent. The Turtles work to keep the Shredder from using the ooze.
This is one of those rare sequels that actually lives up quite nicely to the original. While it’s not as good as the first, it really had a shot to be almost its equal. In fact, I enjoyed this movie better than the first, until it swerved into this goofy night club dance sequence with Vanilla Ice.
Still, the spirit of the comics and the cartoon is alive and well in “The Secret of the Ooze.” It’s also a good TMNT movie because it deals with the Turtles’ origins, which always makes for some great storytelling.
Plus, the prettier Paige Turco takes over the role of April O’Neil, and we get some decent interaction with her and the Turtles as she tries to wean them out of the sewers.
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"TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III: TURTLES IN TIME" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Paige Turco as APRIL O’NEIL Elias Koteas as CASEY JONES Vivian Wu as MISTU Sab Shimono as LORD NORINAGA Stuart Wilson as WALKER Tim Kelleher as RAPHAEL Robbie Rist as MICHAELANGELO Corey Feldman as DONATELLO Brian Tochi as LEONARDO James Murray as SPLINTER Rated PG Directed by: Stuart Gillard Back to DVD Review Home |  |
Sadly, this is the installment that killed the franchise for more than ten years. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III” see the four turtle brothers thrust back in time to help April O’Neil (Paige Turco) after she is sent back to 17th century Japan. There, the Turtles learn the way of the samurai while they try to bring their friend – and themselves – back to the modern age.
This third film is easily the weakest of the bunch, but I can’t say it’s terrible. I know it gets maligned by die-hard TMNT fans, but since I never was in that group, I can be more forgiving. For kids like mine, who have only recently discovered the Turtles and are still under the age of ten, this movie works fine.
Some downfalls to the picture includes a weird storyline that doesn’t seem to draw very much from the original source material. The Shredder is gone as the main villain, and the time travel aspect seems very forced. It’s as if the studio executives mandated a story, and the filmmakers just ginned and bore it.
Still, you get some decent fighting action, even though the animatronics have taken a step down in quality.
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"TMNT" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: **** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Chris Evans as CASEY JONES Sarah Michelle Gellar as APRIL O’NEIL Make as SPLINTER Kevin Smith as DINER Patrick Stewart as MAX WINTERS Laurence Fishburne as NARRATOR Ziyi Zhang as KARAI Mitchell Whitfield as DONATELLO James Arnold Taylor as LEONARDO Mikey Kelley as MICHAELANGELO Nolan North as RAPHAEL Rated PG Directed by: Kevin Munroe Back to DVD Review Home |  |
After more than a decade in the can (or rather, in the sewer), the Turtles returned to the big screen in 2007 in full CGI glory for “TMNT.” The story found the turtles estranged from each other with a threat in New York of an immortal soldier trying to resurrect his army. In the process, he releases a group of wild creatures into the world. The Turtles come together to capture the creatures and thwart the immortal’s plan.
What was great about this film is that the technology had reached a level that allowed a fully-realized TMNT motion picture. The characters were no longer constrained by rubber suits or the laws of physics. They could literally do whatever the animators imagined. And with the CGI technology having become so sophisticated, this was actually a better animated flick than any of the original cartoons.
Not having been a fan of the Turtles growing up, I was hooked with this film. There was the lightness of the original comic books and television series still in the characters. However, there was a slight darkness and a serious tone that made the movie more than just a kids’ flick.
I enjoyed the action, as well as the relatively simplistic storyline. And, as they did with the previous films, my kids absolutely loved this movie... so much so, my 8-year-old son is now bugging me to find out when this next rumored TMNT movie will be hitting the big screen.
