This movie holds up incredibly well. Still great to watch.
I atill have this memorized because I watched my TMNT VHS so many times
I atill have this memorized because I watched my TMNT VHS so many times
Oh my god, I never thought of him like that.I particularly like this depiction of Shredder as a Fagin like figure taking in disillusioned kids and training them as members of the foot.
Mine was turtle green too! I'm sure I haven't thrown it out so I reckon it's still kicking about somewhere.Awesome movie. I watched the old green VHS countless times as a kid. Probably my most watched film of all time come to think of it.
It's not just the name his whole character was going to be whitewashed, so rather than being Japanese, he would have been a white American military Colonel.
Oh my god, I never thought of him like that.
Mine was turtle green too! I'm sure I haven't thrown it out so I reckon it's still kicking about somewhere.
My mind was blown when I found out the pizza delivery guy was the same guy who played Michaelangelo. Can't remember if it was his voice of body performer though.
I would like to see the supposed director's cut.
The 30th anniversary seems as good a time as any.
Just had thought when this gets it's 30th anniversary showing this year I am going to go see it in a cinema.
And it was originally written that he kills that guy. They added him breathing in ADR. The movie is just, I don't know, earnest. And if Henson knew how violent it was going to be we'd probably have those abominations from We Wish You A Turtle Christmas instead.All of this, the scene where Tatsu beats the shit out of the foot clan members after losing to the Turtles comes across like a drunken abusive father coming home and taking his anger out on his family.
Dang that's cheap. This was several years back. I didn't even know it existed at the time, that was one of the main reasons for its awesomeness to meIt's not super rare, I've seen it at my local Dollar General for $4.
Fun fact: The Japanese version of this film makes it so that the Turtles aren't Ninja and are from Korea.
There was an initial cut done by Sally Menke which the studio was so unhappy with they actually fired her for it (she would later go on to edit all of Quentin Tarantino's films).Is there a director's cut? Even if there isn't I'm fine with the uncensored theatrical cut.
WTF? Really? This is just for the movie, right? Could have sworn ninja was used in the cartoon. Other wise they would be the Teenage Mutant Taekwondo Turtles or something.
LOL i never noticed before!
this is a strange phenomenon i never understood as an American that seems incredibly culturally insensitive - although all Western things "Ninja" in the 80's were culturally insensitive.Yeah Michaelangelo's Nunchaku was heavily censored, same as how the cartoon was renamed Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles here, UK censors were really tough on all ninja related weaponry in the 80's/early 90's.
All restored now though thankfully.
You are also forgetting Danny's father. The whole movie is about fathers' caring for their sons.I would legit be surprised if you didn't enjoy it more as an adult. The themes went right over my head as a kid, of course. But, it is interesting to see it as an adult and get the idea that it is about two fathers and their children. One is an abusive piece of shit father who tells his children the world is this terrible place that only he can shelter them from. The other is the loving, albeit concerned, father who is trying to prepare his children to stand on their own, knowing that some day he will be gone.
I dig it.
Naaaah, I'm sure Jim Henson knew and was down for that and wanted to do a lot more than he could, he got the Dark Crystal made but IIRC he felt trapped by what his company's image had become.And it was originally written that he kills that guy. They added him breathing in ADR. The movie is just, I don't know, earnest. And if Henson knew how violent it was going to be we'd probably have those abominations from We Wish You A Turtle Christmas instead.
I recall reading the novel, and I'm pretty sure that's what happened in the book.And it was originally written that he kills that guy. They added him breathing in ADR. The movie is just, I don't know, earnest. And if Henson knew how violent it was going to be we'd probably have those abominations from We Wish You A Turtle Christmas instead.
If I can say one thing and one thing ONLY good about the new ones, it's that the second film is basically the 1990 cartoon in live action form.I basically just wanted to come here and say thank you for making this thread. I love the first movie so much.
Also, I still remember being disappointed in the turtle costumes in the second and third movies. They were perfect - why screw it up? (Don't even want to talk about the Michael Bay abominations)
This is a great post. I love how closely the movie keeps to the original Mirage run. It's such an elegant adaptation, skipping past the cosmic stuff right to the City at War/Return to New York arc and shifting the ICONIC rooftop showdown to the end. The Mirage books immediately go from gritty Miller pastiche to adorably amateurish Kirby-esque interstellar action, it's great stuff but they're like, battling Triceratons and chilling with Fugitoid before the cathartic return showdown with the Foot.YEah the movie is great because it largely follows the Volume 1 of the Eastman & Laird run.
Some important changes:
-Hamato Yoshi kills Oroku Nagi while defending Tang Shen's honor. He flees to America instead of facing death, the penalty for killing a fellow member of the Foot Clan. Oroku Saki grows up to take over the Foot at the age of 18 and avenge his brother, killing Yoshi. During the scuffle, that is when Splinter breaks free.
-Splinter trains the Turtles for the explicit purpose of getting revenge for his killed master, Yoshi. In the movie, the turtles saving April is their first mission; in the comics, the Turtles kill the Purple Dragon gang for their first mission.
-Splinter has Ralph deliver a message to the Foot. Open challenge. They take to the streets and the turtles—Leonardo specifically, defeats Shredder.
-It is Leonardo, not Ralphael, who gets ambushed later, and his body is thrown into the apartment that gets burned down, and they escape to Northampton to tend to their wounds.
-The Turtles actually stay exiled in Northampton for TWO YEARS. The movie makes it look like a day or week or two, lol. The "exile" ends with a "City at War" arc when the Turtles return to fight a bunch of shredder clones, Shredder's Elite Guard (who are arguably the most skillful of all), and Shredder's daughter, Karai.
-Casey Jones and April break up, and Casey actually moves across the country and gets another woman pregnant. She dies during childbirth and now- mellow Casey comes back to April with a daughter named Shadow.
The Mirage comics are amazing. I have to thank this guy's blog for getting me into the series, and into comics in general.
The "Video Nasties" (Google if you don't know) we're a lot to do with it. But generally 'Ninja' weapons were seen as weapons of assassination and not defence. So they were deemed inappropriate for kids, as well as Ninja in general being assassins. Unlike a lightsaber which is deadly, you could get real world versions of nunchucks, throwing stars etc.this is a strange phenomenon i never understood as an American that seems incredibly culturally insensitive - although all Western things "Ninja" in the 80's were culturally insensitive.
How did they land on the very concept of "ninjas" being a menace to society? Was it just because every straight-to-VHS violent action film in the 80's had Ninja in the title?
I was literally just thinking the same thing. Wasn't Corey Feldman in one of those suits?
Nah, he just did the voice for Donatello. He was "great" PR for them at the time after he got busted for possession before the premiere and was a dick to the guy who wore the suit.I was literally just thinking the same thing. Wasn't Corey Feldman in one of those suits?
The 2012 series re-enacted the scene of the Shredder being crushed in a garbage truck.