![]() ![]() Subscribe The Jim Henson Creature Shop Did Spectacular WorkĪs for the Turtles and Splinter, they are remarkable, brought to life in impressive fashion by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. It couldn’t possibly look less like the hyper-stylized worlds of comic book movie contemporaries Batmanor Dick Tracy, or the CGI-assisted blockbuster sheen of the 2014 reboot or its sequel. In fact, the Foot were mostly comprised of teenagers who had fallen under the sway of the Shredder, who runs their hideout like its Pleasure Island in Pinocchio.īasically, the Turtles are mostly whupping the asses of misguided juvenile delinquents in the movie, although I figure that the ones who were actually bad enough to wear the full Foot Clan uniform were probably fairly hardened criminals by that point.ĭirector Steve Barron (probably best known for A-Ha’s memorable “Take on Me” live-action/animation hybrid video) and cinematographer John Fenner opted for a grainy, low-budget look for much of the film, while also not shying away from natural daylight and outdoor shots. The movie stuck to flesh-and-blood (and decidedly non-mutated) adversaries. The show’s sensible solution was to turn the Foot Clan into robots. The animated Turtles weren’t permitted to use their martial arts skills or their weapons to actually hit anyone. Which brings us to… It’s surprisingly dark. While the movie Turtles display considerably more regard for human life than their comic book counterparts, they also were able to deploy their martial arts skills a little more effectively than their animated brethren, who were prohibited by TV’s Standards and Practices departments from actually using their weapons in properly offensive ways. Watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Amazon This may not seem like much of a big deal, but keep in mind that the early black and white TMNT comics were fairly bleak, violent affairs. Here’s the short version, though.ĭespite the fact that the TMNT were winning fans on a daily basis at this point with an animated series and toy line that were both impossible to escape, the movie chose to go back to the original source material for its story inspiration. ![]() So much so that I wrote an entire article about exactly that. It’s extraordinarily faithful to the original comics. ![]() Watching the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live-action movie today, over 25 years after its release, and in the wake of two blockbuster movies that are considerably more expensive than the modest $13 million that the original cost, there are a few amazing details worth pointing out. Their final frontier was live action, something which seemed more than a little ambitious considering the limitations of special effects technology of the day. With an animated series bringing in millions of viewers entering its third season, the most popular boys’ toy line on the market, breakfast cereals, frozen pizzas, video games… the world belonged to the TMNT. Still, viewers able to put that aside will likely find a surprisingly captivating story that has laughs as well as emotional twists and turns along the way.In 1990 the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were at the absolute peak of their popularity. This could feel like a watered-down version of the characters for longtime fans of the Ninjas. In this version, all of the Turtles seem to have Mikey (Brandon Mychal Smith)-like silliness, with little hints here and there about their special abilities such as Donnie's (Josh Brener) genius-level intelligence and Raph's superior strength. In previous versions of the franchise, the Ninja Turtles have more distinct characteristics that help to pinpoint who's who and their strengths and weaknesses. Though time travel plays a part in the film, it's more of a side note it doesn't make things confusing like in many time-travel movies. The characters have to learn to set their egos aside to help each other and save the world. The brothers argue, as many siblings do, but when push comes to shove, they'll do anything to have each other's backs. But the heart-grabbing story of family bonds manages to pack a punch of its own. Action drives the movie from beginning to end, and violence is a big part of that. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie has an impressive bright and colorful 2D animation style that's above and beyond what viewers see in the television series. Though this is a dark and at times frightening story, it's also thrilling and exciting for longtime fans of the iconic characters. ![]()
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