Movies You Gotta Catch: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Name: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Directed By: Steve Barron
Year: 1990
Genre: Action/Comedy/Comic Book
Starring: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Josh Pais, Brian Tochi ,Corey Feldman ,Robbie Rist ,Kevin Clash

Plot:
An ancient ninja brotherhood of thieves and criminals known as “the Foot” lead by the Shredder, are wreaking havoc on New York. A group of mutated Teenage Ninja Turtles have been training for this fight their whole lives!

What’s So Good About It:
This is a movie from before the “Hollywood-ization” of comic book licenses. The creators stuck to the original story of what TMNT was all about and that made the film that much more enjoyable. This movie came hot on the tails of a very popular cartoon series and toy release. The makers of the film seemed to understand that was the source of the draw for kids and didn’t stray from that formula. It wasn’t overly sweet and even has some dark and introspective moments, just like the darker Eastman and Laird comic book series. Obvious product placements aside, it’s still a good effort! April O’Neil wore her signature yellow rain coat,  Casey Jones had a hockey mask, was a little nuts, and carried a bag of sports equipment to kick ass with. Michelangelo was a wise cracking surfer dude, Ralph had a chip on his shoulder, and Splinter was a 4-foot talking Rat in a bathrobe and that was okay too. The puppet and costume work for this film is masterful! Even the background music sounded like it came straight off of the cartoon soundtrack. There were a few sequels to this franchise and each had its own special twist, Rocksteady and Beebop appear in the sequel as well as the Turtles time traveling to feudal Japan, which are true to the cartoons and comics.

Overall:
Order up a Pizza, hold the anchovies, and enjoy this Geek classic alone or with friends, you can’t go wrong! It has a high replay value and would be a good one to have in your Blu-ray collection!

Quotable lines:

“Wise man say: forgiveness is define, but never pay full price for late pizza!”

“Oh a fellow chucker, eh?”

“Cricket? No one understands Cricket! You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand Cricket!”

“Why don’t I ever dream of Harrison Ford?”

“When exactly did we lose control here?”