As a 5 or 6 year old, I was wise enough to know Casey pretty much murdered Shredder there, even tho he shows up in the sequel. Casey didn't, maybe because he was on the run from the law lol
You should see the original black and white magazine size comic from before the got the toy and tv deal. It was absolutely brutal. The foot died like extras in the Wolverine 4 issue mini series.
Not really murder when killing is justified. Killing and murder are two different things. Murder is when you take an innocent life, shredder was not innocent, I as a kid did not bat an eye of the killing of shredder. Just as Darth Vader killing the Emperor was not murder. Killing is taking a life by justification, an evil person that kills others deserves to have their life taken away.
30 years later, I still shout "NINJA KICK THE DAMN RABBIT!" when I'm frustrated during sports or a video game. And the Jim Henson company special effects to bring the turtles to life still holds up.
OMG.. OMG.. I have NEVER seen a reaction to this movie.. and I have not watched this movie in years... THIS IS PERFECT!!!! Thank you soooo much for this you two!!!! Ready to watch!! :)
My kids were born in '83. My daughter was a Michelangelo fan and her twin brother was a Leonardo fan. They had all the accessories and went around karate chopping everything. For their 5th birthday they got individual TMNT cakes of Mikey and Leo. It took me almost 2 days to pipe icing on those suckers.
I was 84, I went through the exact same ma’am. For me though, it was Batman and the X-Men….couldn’t get enough as a kid….hell I still buy X-Men and Batman action figures etc….umm, for the kids…..
Same with me. I was born in 83 and my mom always made the ninja turtle birthday cakes with the piping. I always like Ralphael and my brother like Leonardo. Great memories of ninja turtle birthday cakes at bowling alley birthday parties. He-man too.
Having been born in 84, I was around the perfect age for TMNT & I obsessed with it. This movie has aged pretty well, the costumes still look great & I always found it pretty dark at times for a kid's film but then they did push it to the edge a lot more back then. The Witches came out the same year & I think that's still the scariest kids film ever made.
Thought I had to chime in as well as someone born in '84. My friends and I loved this, and we watched the cartoon everyday after school. I still have my VHS copy of this film.
Fun fact: The Turtles' actors (the guys in the costumes, not their voice actors (though Josh Pais was both)) also make appearances in the movie. Michelan Sisti (Michelangelo) is the pizza delivery man, Josh Pais (Raphael) is the passenger in the taxicab, Leif Tilden (Donatello) is the Foot Messenger that meets April in the subway station, and David Forman (Leonardo) is a gang member in the warehouse when Casey Jones defeats Tatsu.
The costumes an animatronics are simply amazing Watching this now vs when I was a child, I’m so much more in awe of what the Jim Henson workshop was able to create. It looks better than cgi would today
Emily actually caught what the turtles were ripping off. The Foot was a reference to the Daredevil villains The Hand, and Splinter is a reference to Daredevil's mentor Stick. In fact in the comic the ooze canister that mutates the turtles hits a kid holding the turtles in the eyes and breaks... I can't believe they weren't sued for so much "inspiration" lol This movie is a perfect blend of the original comic and the animated series "I thought he was doing lines of coke" Well it was the 90s I agree Elias Koteas and Bill Pullman do have similar vibes *Ninja* magic The creators were Eastman and Laird so "East... Lairdman" And now she understands turtle power In the original comic they actually did kill the shredder in issue 1. He became a recurring villain after it became successful My favorite turtle has always been Donatello Extra fun facts: All of the reporters have names which are months The Foot hideout is meant to be reminiscent of Pleasure Island from Pinocchio There are boxes in the hideout with the word Mirage on them, meaning the kids stole boxes of comics from Mirage Comics, the publishing name for the Ninja Turtles comics company
My understanding is that Eastman and Laird originally pitched TMNT to Marvel and they fully intended them to coexist alongside Daredevil... but Marvel was not having it. After the TMNT franchise took off, Marvel tried to cash in on the popularity with the Power Pachyderms parody. If it's true that Marvel passed on TMNT, they missed out on some lightning in a bottle.
@@acereporter73 That's not entirely true. The original TMNT comic book was meant as a standalone to be sold at comic book convention. Once the comic suddenly took off Laird and Eastman immediately recognized the importance of keeping full control over their IP. Handing it over to a bigger company like Marvel would mean they'd lose creative control, so they just decided to keep the IP to themselves.
I like your comment, just wanted to say, the coke thing is more of a 80s thing. I grew up in the 90s, coke was the 80s big thing, we would make comments like "well it was the 80s" when we'd see stuff that might be someone doin lines. Js
So I grew up with TMNT. I loved the shows and movies. However, it now affects me differently. Some years ago, I lost my son. When Splinter says "All fathers care for their sons", it gets to me every time.
The turtles spiritual meditation scene always gets to me because I lost my father when I was about 10yrs old and would love to speak him again if only for maybe 10 minutes.😢
The Foot are the Turtles' enemies. The Hand are a group of ninjas in Marvel Comics who often face off against Daredevil. The Turtles have a master named "Splinter", Daredevil had a mentor named "Stick". These are not coincidences.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the container of radioactive material which transforms the turtles and Splinter is cheekily hinted to be the same container which struck Matt Murdock and gave him the powers which made him Daredevil.
master Tatsu was played by Toshishiro Obata sensei, founder of the Japanese fencing school named "Shinkendo", he's a descendant of samurai Masamori Obata. He has wrote a number of books about Japanese samurai martial arts. I think they kinda waste the opportunity to make more combat scenes with him. Great video as always 🤗
I loved it as a kid. What struck me on rewatch as an adult was how emotionally affecting certain parts were. - Splinter's heart to heart with Raph - April watching her entire life literally go up in flames. - "All fathers care for their sons." - The Turtles' mediative vision of Splinter reaching their potential as ninjas as he tells them he loves them. I appreciated the Danny storyline in that he wasn't the human point of view of character (that's April) but a subplot that tied into the themes of fathers and sons. There was a bit of moralising in its OTT depiction of rebellious youth but it worked for me as a contrast between how Splinter and Shredder took their ninjitsu training and created their own families based on their own ideals.
Something I just got with this. Splinter trying to warn Raph about anger. Then on the roof, Shredder says "had a name." It's Leo that hasn't had much anger and almost dies because he couldn't control it.
This is the first movie my parents let my sister and I see without adult supervision. It marks one of my first steps into adulthood. (I was 10. Different time and a very verrrry small town.)
This movie was basically Jim Henson’s (the guy who created all the puppet work for Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, etc.) swan song, nobody was ever able to replicate this mode of practical effects work since. It was definitely a unique time to be a kid, and as a 10 year old at the time, I’m still nostalgic for it.
This film is actually incredible. It constantly gets hate, but everything down to the set design, fight choreography, the damn costumes, it was all so well done especially for an indie film.
I didn’t know it gets hate. To me it’s one of the best comic adaptations ever made. Great humour touching emotional moments, great score lightning animatronics and choreography. It had soul
At the time it got hate, but the kids grew up and still love it as adults, and the parents who hated it are grandparents now and wish the stuff kids watch now could be as decent and wholesome as this was.
This movie is the epitome of "better than it has any right to be". There's definitely a lot of deliberate cheese here, not that they had a lot of choice in some cases. It was a good call to lean-into, though, to go with some of the inherent silliness of the concept. The fact that the entire TMNT idea was a thinly-veiled parody of Daredevil and, to a degree, superhero/martial-arts comics in general dovetailed nicely with the tone of the film. The fighting in the suits is amazingly good. 70-80 lbs of weight is about the max most people can possibly handle and still be able to move (medieval armor tended to max out around this weight, and full expeditionary gear for modern infantry does, as well), and the actors in the suits were, AFAIK, smaller Asian folks. It's incredible they were able to walk, let alone do fight choreography including flying kicks, and that's without factoring in that those suits are saunas.
My friend Holly did a lot of acting extra work in the 80’s and 90’s, so when we watch these movies we always play the game “Spot the Holly”. She was in this movie, TMNT 2:Secret of the Ooze, Sleeping With the Enemy, etc. Basically most of the movies that were filmed in the Wilmington NC area during those years.
@@Horrorlover1978 She's blonde, so she should be easy to spot. I don't remember the scene from this movie, but in TMNT2, she is in the big dance scene near the end of the movie. She's in the center of the crowd, so she's easy to spot. In Sleeping with the Enemy, she is in the party scene that Julia's and Patrick's characters go to at the beginning of the movie. I think she opens the door to let them in and welcomes them.
More fun facts: Splinter was voiced by Kevin Clash (who's notably known as the voice of Elmo) Donatello was voiced by Corey Feldman (most known from The Lost Boys, The Goonies, The Burbs and part of the Two Coreys) Raphael was voiced & physically played by Josh Pais (who also played the guy in the back of the cab)
Leonardo is voiced by Brian Tochi, who played Takashi from the "Revenge Of The Nerds" films. Michaelangelo is voiced by Robbie Rist, who played the heavily disliked Cousin Oliver in the last season of "The Brady Bunch".
Every First Time is a great time with Emily & Matthew! So happy that someone is finally reacting to the original TMNT movie, and I’m doubly happy that it’s you guys 😁 So much to love about this movie, and not least because although it is a kids’ movie, it’s not a slave to it. They could’ve gone so much more camp and cartoony and kid-centric, but they actually made it a character-driven story and played things about as real as a thing about mutant turtles could be! As Emily said, it knows exactly what it is and what it’s doing, and like all really good kids films, they weren’t afraid to throw in a few things that cater to an older audience (yeah, the massage scene was hawt!). I remember at the time being pleased to have a film that didn’t talk down to me! Okay, my titbits… 1: The movie was perfectly timed, coming out right when Turtlemania was hitting its peak. This is something that Masters of the Universe failed to do! Over here in England especially, we were just getting the cartoon for the first time and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (yes, they changed the title of the cartoon over here! They even changed the lyrics of the theme song!) were eeeeevvvvvverywhere. The song on the end credits of the movie even hit number one in the charts! I also remember that the toys were like hens’ teeth, nigh impossible to find over here. I did finally get a Mikey, but my favourite was Leonardo… until I saw the movie! Ahhhhh, what a time to be alive! 2: The UK version of the film had all the nunchuk shots cut out, because the BBFC had banned them from being shown onscreen (we never got to see Bruce Lee’s chukker scene in Enter The Dragon, either). The rule was finally changed in 1999, so I only saw the full version when I got the film on DVD. It was a mini revelation, seein all that, aand especially the full Shredder vs Splinter fight at the end. In the UK version, Splinter just looks like he dodges Shredder’s attack and Shredder falls straight off the roof. I even think that the shot of Mikey getting the Turtle Wax was cut out… 3: Jim Henson was very reluctant for his company to be involved in the project due to the violence in the story, but his son Brian, who supervised the effects, changed his mind. And the animatronic FX are awesome, even now! I think that’s it… apart from stating here and now that Emily needs a T-shirt of Splinter saying “I made a funny!”
YES YES YES One of the 90's best movie!!!!! I love that the Turtles in this are a bit closer to their comic book roots( where its really much more Darker) but is still "family friendly". The effects are great for the time and din't age too bad. The action is amazing and the dialogues/banter is AMAZING, very organic, funny and even hearthwarming. It is one of my all time favorites
That's not murder! They're fighting to the death. The bad guy is trying to kill people and won't stop, so you have to kill him the first chance you get. It's a killing blow in a fight. What are they supposed to do, let him go??? Read the room, people. The turtle costumes are crazy good. You totally forget that there's people in them. The actors in the suits do an incredible job acting in the suits too. If they went all out on a sequel, I'd be all in!
Even here in Sweden TMNT was _the_ big thing for young boys in the early 90's. I remember going to see a live Turtles concert in Stockholm Globe arena when I was a kid.
Haven't watched this since I was a little kid. Actually made me shed a few tears on some of those scenes, from the nostalgic feeling and my memory of the feelings I had as a child as I watched those specific scenes.
The Hand were the ninja clan from Marvel Comics, Daredevil typically. The creators of TMNT maintained that the gunk that blinded Matt Murdoch was the very same canister that caused the Turtles to mutate!
It was supposed to be part of the continuity, but Marvel Comics said no to co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. DC Comics also said no. So the two borrowed money from friends and family to create their own publishing company, and the rest is history.
This will always be one of my all time favorites. I saw this in the theater when I was 5. And if I get hype about this now I can only imagine how hype I was back then.
This movie came at the perfect time, right after the cartoon, their toys, and their two video games became insanely popular. It could have been done badly, and even though the tone is different from the cartoon and the toys and lacked those goofy characters, it still worked. A lot of thanks go to Jim Henson's workshop.
For me living in Germany the "most shocking" moment came when I watched this movie in the original English version for the first time as an adult. The German version (at least on tv, don't know about the theaters) had cartoon sound effects on all the hits in the fighting scenes. So color me surprised when I realized, that the movie had a more adult presentation than I thought. But to make it more child friendly, they also edited the fight scenes here and there, especially in a certain scene, that made so much more sense in the uncut version: When Shredder rushes Splinter and Splinter catches him with the Nunchaku, his lines to Shredder, that he will die without honor, brings the story to a fitting closure. In the German version (and that always sat badly with me as a child), they edited the scene, so that Splinter just side steps and Shredder just does a flip (with another cartoon noise) and immediately falls from the building like the biggest silliest moron. No Splinter using the Nunchaku, no holding Shredder there to give him the speech, no Shredder sealing his own fate by throwing that dart/knife that makes Splinter let go. It was an incredibly lame end. Therefore I appreciate the more adult tone and the overall theme of troubled teenagers human and turtle both struggling with issues while having to grow up.
@@tommymclaughlin-artist Well, it does suck, if you learn what you have been missing all these years. When I was a kid and didn't know anything about regional differences and movie rating boards, it was a fun time. Just the part when the menacing super boss Shredder basically tripped over Splinter's foot like a dumb schoolyard bully left me like: "What? That's it?! Damn..." :D
Some of that may be your countries morals. I had a friend that is a big turtle fan. She had gotten Japanese versions of the movies. I had a copy. I think the first move just had Japanese subtitles. 2nd and third had Japanese voice actors. Though rather than "Ninja vanish" was "warriors vanish." And rather than being from Japan, they were from Korea. Also, the first cartoon in England, they thought ninja would evoke violent images. So, they renamed it Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.
All the major plot points and scenes in this movie were adapted from the first five years of TMNT comics. I think that's why it holds up so well, and remains one of the most faithful comic book movies of all time. No movie since has even come close to capturing the spirit of the Turtles like this one did.
Nothing will ever beat this version!! Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop absolutely knocked it out of the park with the animatronics on this. A real testament to his design team’s creative vision & the fabrication team over here in London.
I was born in 86, and I grew up on the cartoon, and some of my earliest memories was going to an event for the release of the toys. I don't really think the cartoon holds up as well, but this movie is still in my Top 20 Favorite Films, and I still have a lot of the toys stored somewhere.
I thought this movie blinded me with nostalgia (I saw it in theaters when I was 5) but all my nephew's love this movie more than the newer films. Still holds up. Has stuff for kids and enough of an "edge" for adults. Kids smoking and drinking... Lax safety rules... It was the 80's (filmed in the 80's) I knew 11 year olds who smoked and drank.. different times. Also, fantastic closing credits song.
I saw this in a movie theater in St. Petersburg, Florida, the summer of 1990. My uncle and Dad took myself and my same-age cousin to see it while we were down at my grandmother's house. Of course my uncle and Dad *hated* it, but I thought it was amazing (and I still have much love for it) being a major fan of the TMNT franchise, which was really the last "toy" I got into headed into my pre-teen years. I always like that the voice of Donatello was played by Corey Feldman, Leonardo's voice was Brian Tochi (of Revenge of the Nerds/Police Academy movies) and Robbie Rist (cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch, Milo in Iron Eagle, and Whiz from Kidd Video - an 80's cartoon hardly anyone remembers) was the voice of Michaelangelo. Oh and favorite line, hands down: "Wise man say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
the Pizza Dude trying to figure out where to deliver the Pizza IS actually the same actor playing Michelangelo. "wise man say, forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for a late pizza!"
That's true! All 4 of the actors who wore the Turtle suits had cameos as other characters. Michelangelo's actor, as you mentioned, played the pizza delivery man. Leonardo's actor played a gang member, Donatello's actor played a messenger for The Foot, and Raphael's actor, who was the only in-suit actor to also voice his character, played a guy riding in a taxi.
Turtle Power! There is a new TMNT videogame ot called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge". Up to 6 players can be on the screen at once in an arcade-style beat 'em up. Edit: Nevermind about the videogame recommendation! You got it covered.
I faked crying when I was a kid to force my Dad to get this movie..muhahaha..lol. Oh, and does anyone remember the Pizza Hut commercials with the Turtles?
I remember the Pizza Hut commercial before the beginning of the movie, on the VHS...the one with the kid eating it on the baseball diamond, then going to get pizza to console himself.
OMG!!! Massive Nostalgia. I grew up watching the 80's cartoons with my little brother. I was 11 & he was 9 years old when the movie came out. We loved it so much. Had the VHS📼. I went to see the sequel 'TMNT, The Secret of the Ooze' in theaters. It was actually the first movies I ever saw in theaters. It's my favorite of the three. I had the soundtrack. On cassette . Can't wait for your reaction to the sequel. 🐢🐢🐢🐢🍕🍕🍕🍕
This movie is so freaking underrated. Sure, it's generally known as the best TMNT movie, but IMO this is one of the best comic book movies ever made. The cinematography and score alone, on top of that you got a great story with a lot of heart and all the actors are wonderful. Also, these suits just hold the fuck up. This movie still looks better than any TMNT movie that came after it. Especially the latest ones.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Batman, and this are my earliest theater experiences that I remember. The scene of The Foot Clan’s sick hangout with all the arcade cabinets, skateboarding, and smoking is only rivaled by the monster world in ‘Little Monsters’. Y’all should put that one on your list! :)
as a kid and as an adult I LOVE this film. I was always into romance so even as a kid I was really into Casey Jones and April's little romance arc ( I was a 9 year old girl when it came out, haha). OMG i was so OBSESSED with the cartoon and this film for years. Ugh now i need a green pie from Hostess and a Dominos pizza. EDIT: I don't acknowledge the existence of the other films. Yikes, no.
The advice Judith Hoag got reminded me of Henry Cavill giving advice and suggestion for the showrunners and actors in "The Witcher" based on his knowledge of the video games and books.
I like that when he says " ugg where do they come up with this stuff." and its critters on the marquee behind him. It's always funny to me when movies shit on other movies.
This was my favorite movie when I was a child. I literally knew every word and every sound in the movie. In third grade, my best friend and I reenacted the entire movie over the course of several days while waiting for the school bus at the bus stop.
I live in Europe in the late 80s and early 90s. Going to a movie theater to watch an English release was hard. The only theater on Base only showed one movie at a time. Most of the time it was at least 3 or 4 months later. So it was actually faster for us to rent movies. My dad actually rented this movie without my knowledge, he was 25 at the time as i was 5. This movie brings back amazing memories of just of how huge TMNT was and the fact, i got to enjoy this is my father. I think he enjoyed the movie just as much as myself.
Having grown up with these movies on the shelf, they have a special place in my heart. I think I've seen the first two... 20 times each? NEVER clocked the actor inside the suit lol.
We all knew who Emily’s favorite turtle was going to be (at least in the movie). I’m a Raphael kind-of-guy. Red’s always been my favorite color and I loved Raph’s “crude ‘tude”. I also thought his twin sai were the coolest of the turtles’ main weapons.
"Never lower your eyes to an enemy". I was born in 82 grew up on TMNT and that line stuck with me forever. Love the TMNT trilogy. I refused to watch the new CGI movies but I finally caved and I actually liked them a lot but this will always be my favorite just like 1980s Batman.
I saw this in theaters on opening weekend. Second time I'd ever seen a line going out to the door at a movie theater (the first being Back to the Future, Part 2). Watched it all the way up in the front row, back when I could still do something like that without my eyes exploding. A week or so later I wasn't feeling well and ended up staying home from school one day with my uncle watching me. I started to feel better around lunch time, so he took me to the theater again to watch it a second time. I grew up on the 80s TMNT animated series and kept with it well into the early 90s. Also collected the Archie comics loosely based on the show, as well as some of the later era Mirage and even the rare Image comic issues, up through part of the 2003 animated series. But this movie, the first one specifically, is my "go to" when I think of TMNT. Still one of my favorite 5, maybe even favorite 3, comic book films. Originally, this movie was meant to skew very young, based off more simplified premises from the cartoon until Steve Barron came on board as the film's new director. He nixed the kiddified version of the film and sought to make it as close to the original comics as possible. Several distribution companies declined to pick up the film and ultimately New Line Cinema, which was mostly known for the Nightmare on Elm Street films at the time, came to the rescue. After release, the film dethroned 'Halloween' as the most successful independently produced film and became the last project that Jim Henson worked on. The studios decided to tone done and "brighten up" the sequel, making things more colorful, reducing the action and replacing the actress playing April our of fear of parent groups who had complained about the first movie. The third movie was then made on a reduced budget and without the participation of Jim Henson's company. After the third movie barely made back twice its production, plans for a 4th movie were scrapped and a few years later, Saban (of Power Rangers fan) produced a single-season live action series based around the premise that the turtles had a fifth member, a missing sister. Although that show received high ratings, production costs kept it from being picked up. Then, in the early 2000s, co-creator Peter Laird and the original director, Steve Barron, had planned to develop a TMNT new movie or 4-hour miniseries for the Hallmark Channel that would have disregarded the second and third film and brought back Judith Hoag, who was the original April O'Neil. Although development of the miniseries ended up getting pretty well into the pre-production phase, it was ultimately put on hiatus and later cancelled outright.
Don't forget the 2007 cgi TMNT. Which might have or might not have been a continuation of the live action movies, depending on who you ask: "TMNT co-creator Peter Laird stated it takes place in its own universe separate from the previous films, but director Munroe says the film exists in the same continuity as the other films, which was supported by the memento wall at the end of the film."
These original turtle movies blow all the newer crap out of the water. Like, no competition, no comparison. The amount of work and love that went into these movies is extremely obvious. Also, fun fact, the original creators of the tmnt comics LOVED this movie because it was darker and closer to their original vision. The first two turtle movies are true classics. Hell, I even love the third one which is arguably the weakest entry.
This came out when I was in college and I adored it: the fun, the fighting, the feels and the music. I told at least a dozen skeptical friends to go and see it and, if they didn't enjoy it, I'd pay them back for their tickets. Never had to shell out a single refund. "I was all set to watch a free movie on you, but... yeah, I had fun." #TurtlePower
This movie was filmed in my hometown Wilmington, North Carolina. This is just one of the comic book movies filmed here. The Crow(1994) & Iron Man 3(2013) were also filmed here.
I love this Ninja Turtles movie so much. The rooftop fight with The Shredder is really tense and amazingly choreographed, if not one-sided. The Turtles only get one shot in on The Shredder. Still blows my mind back Splinter was puppeteered and voiced by the same man who originally puppeteered and voiced Elmo on Sesame Street, Kevin Clash. Also you cannot hate Elias Koteas playing Casey Jones.
One of my favorite childhood memories was in 5th grade we watched this and had a pizza party. I had already seen the film 2 in theaters at the time though.
I would watch this on repeat as a kid and eventually my mom had to hide the VHS tape from me because she had an insane fear of mice and hated looking at master splinter LOL
I was eight when this movie came out and I loved it with that first viewing. My favourite Turtle and scene go together and that's Michaelangelo's nunchuck scene, "Ahh, a fellow chucker, eh?" but the "Ninja kick the damn rabbit," one is pretty funny too. Glad that you enjoyed it.
Emily was sleeeeeepy, but her reaction to Casey Jones' "OOOOPS!" was pretty good, lol. The turtle suits were definitely sweat-soaked - they filmed the majority of this movie in North Carolina during the summer, which is partly why the surviving suits from the shoot are in horrible condition today; sweat+heat+time = disintegration for foam latex. I was born in '82, and being a huge TMNT fan growing up I remember being so excited seeing the rooftop finale, as it was a toned down but suitable tribute to the actual showdown between the turtles and Shredder as it took place in the Mirage comics. That aside, Casey's 'Primatene' line always makes me laugh and I quote it whenever someone coughs or clears their throat. Also - Raph all day for movie, cartoon, comics, and video game.
Did you guys know that the stuntmen in the Turtle suits and the Foot soldier with the nunchucks were the original characters for the Mortal Kombat video game. Ho Sung Pak(Lui Kang), Johnny Cage(Daniel Pesina), Kano(Richard Divizio).
This is a genuinely good and objectively well made film. It's tarnished by the goofy sequels, but there is so much love and heart put into this first movie.
Couldn't agree more. So much personality, comedy, and even heart. I mean, what other movie could capture Michelangelo perfectly, and yet somehow have him believably *cry?* Even with all the fun, it wasn't afraid to take itself seriously when it needed to, and be *about* something. No other Turtles movie is in the same league.
Like many, this was a staple of my childhood. I think it's the first movie I ever saw in theaters, at 7... In my 20's, I ran into a childhood friend I hadn't seen in almost a decade. We planned a get together and though I don't remember why exactly, decided it was Ninja Turtle themed. We spent the weekend watching all three movies, after making some green turtles out of chocolate. Just to give another story of how influential this actually was, haha
When I was about 10 they had a Jim Henson exhibit in San Francisco, and they had a "touch it" exhibit. One of the things they had there was one of the turtle masks so I got to try it on.
Fun fact: Before April did the sketch of Leonardo, he held out his bandana to her and said "April, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls, wearing this. Wearing ONLY this."
Such a classic, my favorite scene even to this day in my 30's when you first see Shredder one of if not the best introse to a villain EVER. Favorite turtle probably Mikey. Favorite scene the kids at that underground acrade
"The Foot or The Hand, IDK." Funny since TMNT was basically inspired by Marvel Comics Daredevil's 80's run. Eastman & Laird just twisted some stuff to come up with their own ideas/concepts. The actual incident that caused the mutagen to fall into the sewers was supposed to be from when Matt Murdock's eyes got exposed with the radioactive material that fell off the truck. That was the turtles & daredevil's connection...at least in the TMNT comics side of things back in the day.
This is one of my favorite films. This is how a Live Action TMNT Film is supposed to be made! No CGI! The reaction Matthew made at the end when saying about murdering through the compactor was perfect. lol Also I think Emily needed a nap. lol
If the animatronics are her favorite thing, you should show her the behind the scenes, especially where Leo, in full suit, is doing the multiple air kick. Amazing.
Man, this takes me back. I don't think I've watched it since the 90s. My brother and I LOVED this and the show - we had the toys, pjs, slippers, bedsheets, lunchboxes. Always loved Michelangelo haha
Still the best portrayal of Casey Jones. Elias Koteas nailed it.
Didn't realize he was Al in Chicago PD.
AGREED TOTALLY AND RADICAL DUDE.
@@marianchicago4002 He also played a recovering addict in The Sopranos, who was at Chris's intervention.
@@marianchicago4002 his face and name in the credits didn't tip you off?
My other favorite role of Koteas was Duncan in Some Kind of Wonderful.
Casey Jones’ “ooops” as he casually murders someone is just hilarious
Really just self-defense for the sake of the city. ;)
As a 5 or 6 year old, I was wise enough to know Casey pretty much murdered Shredder there, even tho he shows up in the sequel. Casey didn't, maybe because he was on the run from the law lol
You should see the original black and white magazine size comic from before the got the toy and tv deal.
It was absolutely brutal.
The foot died like extras in the Wolverine 4 issue mini series.
Not really Murder since he did survive this and plus in real life the fall from that high would have killed him.
Not really murder when killing is justified. Killing and murder are two different things. Murder is when you take an innocent life, shredder was not innocent, I as a kid did not bat an eye of the killing of shredder. Just as Darth Vader killing the Emperor was not murder. Killing is taking a life by justification, an evil person that kills others deserves to have their life taken away.
Way better than the newer films! 😊👍
I couldn't agree more, but I didn't hate Out of the Shadows.
They are not even worthy to be mentioned in the same sentence.
Yes I agree 👍💯
yeah fr cgi don't make it better it's about good characters and a good story
@@Weeeman47 I kinda agree with u on that, since that sequel AT LEAST tried to be SOMEWHAT adapted from the cartoon (more than the first film).
30 years later, I still shout "NINJA KICK THE DAMN RABBIT!" when I'm frustrated during sports or a video game. And the Jim Henson company special effects to bring the turtles to life still holds up.
It's solid advice honestly
My friend has been shouting it whenever we play against Bugs Bunny in Multiversus
OMG.. OMG.. I have NEVER seen a reaction to this movie.. and I have not watched this movie in years... THIS IS PERFECT!!!! Thank you soooo much for this you two!!!! Ready to watch!! :)
Yeah, so happy to see this, and that it’s Matthew and Emily doing it!
@@Daveyboy100880 1000% agree.. so much fun!!
Same
My kids were born in '83. My daughter was a Michelangelo fan and her twin brother was a Leonardo fan. They had all the accessories and went around karate chopping everything. For their 5th birthday they got individual TMNT cakes of Mikey and Leo. It took me almost 2 days to pipe icing on those suckers.
That's very sad. Wish they were Raphael fans.
I was 84, I went through the exact same ma’am. For me though, it was Batman and the X-Men….couldn’t get enough as a kid….hell I still buy X-Men and Batman action figures etc….umm, for the kids…..
Same with me. I was born in 83 and my mom always made the ninja turtle birthday cakes with the piping. I always like Ralphael and my brother like Leonardo. Great memories of ninja turtle birthday cakes at bowling alley birthday parties. He-man too.
@@stephensmith8316 my kids were more into Thundercats than He-Man.
Good stuff😀
Having been born in 84, I was around the perfect age for TMNT & I obsessed with it. This movie has aged pretty well, the costumes still look great & I always found it pretty dark at times for a kid's film but then they did push it to the edge a lot more back then. The Witches came out the same year & I think that's still the scariest kids film ever made.
For me, it was getting to ride my bike ACROSS the street, instead of just around the block. Oh sweet freedom…
I was born in 84 also!!! And I loved this movie :)))
The 84 club! 😎
Carl I haven't been this excited since I saw this movie on vhs I was 6 in 1990 my family member rented it at our grocery store in pawtucket ri 😊
Thought I had to chime in as well as someone born in '84. My friends and I loved this, and we watched the cartoon everyday after school. I still have my VHS copy of this film.
Fun fact: The Turtles' actors (the guys in the costumes, not their voice actors (though Josh Pais was both)) also make appearances in the movie. Michelan Sisti (Michelangelo) is the pizza delivery man, Josh Pais (Raphael) is the passenger in the taxicab, Leif Tilden (Donatello) is the Foot Messenger that meets April in the subway station, and David Forman (Leonardo) is a gang member in the warehouse when Casey Jones defeats Tatsu.
So Michelangelo was talking to himself and Donatello was hitting on April long before the Nickelodeon show.
@@legionaireb No, the voice actors and the actual stunt men were different people
@@saagisharon8595 Yeah, he was talking about the other characters that the voice actors had played during a scene in the movie.
The costumes an animatronics are simply amazing
Watching this now vs when I was a child, I’m so much more in awe of what the Jim Henson workshop was able to create. It looks better than cgi would today
A heart-warming movie that has held up well over the decades.
Emily actually caught what the turtles were ripping off. The Foot was a reference to the Daredevil villains The Hand, and Splinter is a reference to Daredevil's mentor Stick. In fact in the comic the ooze canister that mutates the turtles hits a kid holding the turtles in the eyes and breaks... I can't believe they weren't sued for so much "inspiration" lol
This movie is a perfect blend of the original comic and the animated series
"I thought he was doing lines of coke"
Well it was the 90s
I agree Elias Koteas and Bill Pullman do have similar vibes
*Ninja* magic
The creators were Eastman and Laird so "East... Lairdman"
And now she understands turtle power
In the original comic they actually did kill the shredder in issue 1. He became a recurring villain after it became successful
My favorite turtle has always been Donatello
Extra fun facts:
All of the reporters have names which are months
The Foot hideout is meant to be reminiscent of Pleasure Island from Pinocchio
There are boxes in the hideout with the word Mirage on them, meaning the kids stole boxes of comics from Mirage Comics, the publishing name for the Ninja Turtles comics company
My understanding is that Eastman and Laird originally pitched TMNT to Marvel and they fully intended them to coexist alongside Daredevil... but Marvel was not having it.
After the TMNT franchise took off, Marvel tried to cash in on the popularity with the Power Pachyderms parody. If it's true that Marvel passed on TMNT, they missed out on some lightning in a bottle.
@@acereporter73 That's not entirely true. The original TMNT comic book was meant as a standalone to be sold at comic book convention. Once the comic suddenly took off Laird and Eastman immediately recognized the importance of keeping full control over their IP. Handing it over to a bigger company like Marvel would mean they'd lose creative control, so they just decided to keep the IP to themselves.
I like your comment, just wanted to say, the coke thing is more of a 80s thing. I grew up in the 90s, coke was the 80s big thing, we would make comments like "well it was the 80s" when we'd see stuff that might be someone doin lines. Js
@@biggains1 the coke line, your both right, keep in mind this movie was filmed in the 80's and released in the 90's
@@JohnMiller-zn9pf true, good call.
So I grew up with TMNT. I loved the shows and movies. However, it now affects me differently. Some years ago, I lost my son. When Splinter says "All fathers care for their sons", it gets to me every time.
I half expected to hear Emily say (about Shredder's helmet) "Vader's helmet is cool, but that helmet is SHARP".
This movie practically defined me as a kid. So close to my heart. “I have always liked…………Cowabunga.”
I remember as a kid hearing Raphael say "Damn" was a big thing for a kids move back then.
You should watch The Transformers film from 1986.
The turtles spiritual meditation scene always gets to me because I lost my father when I was about 10yrs old and would love to speak him again if only for maybe 10 minutes.😢
Lost mine was when I nine and I couldn't agree more I wish this was possible
The Foot are the Turtles' enemies. The Hand are a group of ninjas in Marvel Comics who often face off against Daredevil.
The Turtles have a master named "Splinter", Daredevil had a mentor named "Stick".
These are not coincidences.
and if you think Marvel Hand ninjas look like Cobra red ninjas from G.I. Joe, they were drawn by the same Marvel comics artist
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the container of radioactive material which transforms the turtles and Splinter is cheekily hinted to be the same container which struck Matt Murdock and gave him the powers which made him Daredevil.
master Tatsu was played by Toshishiro Obata sensei, founder of the Japanese fencing school named "Shinkendo", he's a descendant of samurai Masamori Obata. He has wrote a number of books about Japanese samurai martial arts. I think they kinda waste the opportunity to make more combat scenes with him. Great video as always 🤗
That is AWESOME! I had no idea, that is a kool fun fact, they sure did waist that opportunity.
I loved it as a kid.
What struck me on rewatch as an adult was how emotionally affecting certain parts were.
- Splinter's heart to heart with Raph
- April watching her entire life literally go up in flames.
- "All fathers care for their sons."
- The Turtles' mediative vision of Splinter reaching their potential as ninjas as he tells them he loves them.
I appreciated the Danny storyline in that he wasn't the human point of view of character (that's April) but a subplot that tied into the themes of fathers and sons.
There was a bit of moralising in its OTT depiction of rebellious youth but it worked for me as a contrast between how Splinter and Shredder took their ninjitsu training and created their own families based on their own ideals.
Something I just got with this. Splinter trying to warn Raph about anger. Then on the roof, Shredder says "had a name." It's Leo that hasn't had much anger and almost dies because he couldn't control it.
That Shredder intro is still epic and intimidating as hell. Nostalgia or not, this movie still holds up for me to this day.
This is the first movie my parents let my sister and I see without adult supervision. It marks one of my first steps into adulthood. (I was 10. Different time and a very verrrry small town.)
Seen a fan mad Casey Jones was pretty good
This movie was basically Jim Henson’s (the guy who created all the puppet work for Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, etc.) swan song, nobody was ever able to replicate this mode of practical effects work since. It was definitely a unique time to be a kid, and as a 10 year old at the time, I’m still nostalgic for it.
This film is actually incredible. It constantly gets hate, but everything down to the set design, fight choreography, the damn costumes, it was all so well done especially for an indie film.
I didn’t know it gets hate. To me it’s one of the best comic adaptations ever made. Great humour touching emotional moments, great score lightning animatronics and choreography. It had soul
At the time it got hate, but the kids grew up and still love it as adults, and the parents who hated it are grandparents now and wish the stuff kids watch now could be as decent and wholesome as this was.
Another fun fact: Splinter's voice was provided by Kevin Clash... who also played Elmo.
Also he was the voice of Baby Sinclair on the TV show Dinosaurs.
This movie is the epitome of "better than it has any right to be".
There's definitely a lot of deliberate cheese here, not that they had a lot of choice in some cases. It was a good call to lean-into, though, to go with some of the inherent silliness of the concept. The fact that the entire TMNT idea was a thinly-veiled parody of Daredevil and, to a degree, superhero/martial-arts comics in general dovetailed nicely with the tone of the film.
The fighting in the suits is amazingly good. 70-80 lbs of weight is about the max most people can possibly handle and still be able to move (medieval armor tended to max out around this weight, and full expeditionary gear for modern infantry does, as well), and the actors in the suits were, AFAIK, smaller Asian folks. It's incredible they were able to walk, let alone do fight choreography including flying kicks, and that's without factoring in that those suits are saunas.
“Wise men say .. “Forgiveness is divine , but never pay full price for late pizza “.
Line has stayed with me since the first time I saw this movie
My friend Holly did a lot of acting extra work in the 80’s and 90’s, so when we watch these movies we always play the game “Spot the Holly”. She was in this movie, TMNT 2:Secret of the Ooze, Sleeping With the Enemy, etc. Basically most of the movies that were filmed in the Wilmington NC area during those years.
That’s so cool. What scene(s) is she in in this?
@@Horrorlover1978 She's blonde, so she should be easy to spot. I don't remember the scene from this movie, but in TMNT2, she is in the big dance scene near the end of the movie. She's in the center of the crowd, so she's easy to spot. In Sleeping with the Enemy, she is in the party scene that Julia's and Patrick's characters go to at the beginning of the movie. I think she opens the door to let them in and welcomes them.
Hands down the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles live action film adaptation. Give guys in suits anyday instead of mini hulks.
More fun facts:
Splinter was voiced by Kevin Clash (who's notably known as the voice of Elmo)
Donatello was voiced by Corey Feldman (most known from The Lost Boys, The Goonies, The Burbs and part of the Two Coreys)
Raphael was voiced & physically played by Josh Pais (who also played the guy in the back of the cab)
Leonardo is voiced by Brian Tochi, who played Takashi from the "Revenge Of The Nerds" films. Michaelangelo is voiced by Robbie Rist, who played the heavily disliked Cousin Oliver in the last season of "The Brady Bunch".
Every First Time is a great time with Emily & Matthew! So happy that someone is finally reacting to the original TMNT movie, and I’m doubly happy that it’s you guys 😁
So much to love about this movie, and not least because although it is a kids’ movie, it’s not a slave to it. They could’ve gone so much more camp and cartoony and kid-centric, but they actually made it a character-driven story and played things about as real as a thing about mutant turtles could be! As Emily said, it knows exactly what it is and what it’s doing, and like all really good kids films, they weren’t afraid to throw in a few things that cater to an older audience (yeah, the massage scene was hawt!). I remember at the time being pleased to have a film that didn’t talk down to me!
Okay, my titbits…
1: The movie was perfectly timed, coming out right when Turtlemania was hitting its peak. This is something that Masters of the Universe failed to do! Over here in England especially, we were just getting the cartoon for the first time and Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (yes, they changed the title of the cartoon over here! They even changed the lyrics of the theme song!) were eeeeevvvvvverywhere. The song on the end credits of the movie even hit number one in the charts! I also remember that the toys were like hens’ teeth, nigh impossible to find over here. I did finally get a Mikey, but my favourite was Leonardo… until I saw the movie! Ahhhhh, what a time to be alive!
2: The UK version of the film had all the nunchuk shots cut out, because the BBFC had banned them from being shown onscreen (we never got to see Bruce Lee’s chukker scene in Enter The Dragon, either). The rule was finally changed in 1999, so I only saw the full version when I got the film on DVD. It was a mini revelation, seein all that, aand especially the full Shredder vs Splinter fight at the end. In the UK version, Splinter just looks like he dodges Shredder’s attack and Shredder falls straight off the roof. I even think that the shot of Mikey getting the Turtle Wax was cut out…
3: Jim Henson was very reluctant for his company to be involved in the project due to the violence in the story, but his son Brian, who supervised the effects, changed his mind. And the animatronic FX are awesome, even now!
I think that’s it… apart from stating here and now that Emily needs a T-shirt of Splinter saying “I made a funny!”
YES YES YES
One of the 90's best movie!!!!!
I love that the Turtles in this are a bit closer to their comic book roots( where its really much more Darker) but is still "family friendly".
The effects are great for the time and din't age too bad.
The action is amazing and the dialogues/banter is AMAZING, very organic, funny and even hearthwarming.
It is one of my all time favorites
It's an interesting compromise between the syndicated animated series and the original comic book (a fun parody of Frank Miller's Daredevil run).
Can someone explain to me why they changed the ambush to Raphael from Leo
That's not murder! They're fighting to the death. The bad guy is trying to kill people and won't stop, so you have to kill him the first chance you get. It's a killing blow in a fight. What are they supposed to do, let him go??? Read the room, people.
The turtle costumes are crazy good. You totally forget that there's people in them. The actors in the suits do an incredible job acting in the suits too. If they went all out on a sequel, I'd be all in!
Fun fact: The voice of Raphael was done by Arthur Fleck's boss at the clown agency in Joker.
What a shame he was in that shite after this
The older I get the more emotional I get with the heavier scenes, like when Splinter was waiting up for Raphael to come home
Even here in Sweden TMNT was _the_ big thing for young boys in the early 90's. I remember going to see a live Turtles concert in Stockholm Globe arena when I was a kid.
Haven't watched this since I was a little kid. Actually made me shed a few tears on some of those scenes, from the nostalgic feeling and my memory of the feelings I had as a child as I watched those specific scenes.
The Hand were the ninja clan from Marvel Comics, Daredevil typically. The creators of TMNT maintained that the gunk that blinded Matt Murdoch was the very same canister that caused the Turtles to mutate!
It was supposed to be part of the continuity, but Marvel Comics said no to co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. DC Comics also said no. So the two borrowed money from friends and family to create their own publishing company, and the rest is history.
This will always be one of my all time favorites. I saw this in the theater when I was 5. And if I get hype about this now I can only imagine how hype I was back then.
This movie came at the perfect time, right after the cartoon, their toys, and their two video games became insanely popular. It could have been done badly, and even though the tone is different from the cartoon and the toys and lacked those goofy characters, it still worked. A lot of thanks go to Jim Henson's workshop.
For me living in Germany the "most shocking" moment came when I watched this movie in the original English version for the first time as an adult. The German version (at least on tv, don't know about the theaters) had cartoon sound effects on all the hits in the fighting scenes. So color me surprised when I realized, that the movie had a more adult presentation than I thought. But to make it more child friendly, they also edited the fight scenes here and there, especially in a certain scene, that made so much more sense in the uncut version: When Shredder rushes Splinter and Splinter catches him with the Nunchaku, his lines to Shredder, that he will die without honor, brings the story to a fitting closure. In the German version (and that always sat badly with me as a child), they edited the scene, so that Splinter just side steps and Shredder just does a flip (with another cartoon noise) and immediately falls from the building like the biggest silliest moron. No Splinter using the Nunchaku, no holding Shredder there to give him the speech, no Shredder sealing his own fate by throwing that dart/knife that makes Splinter let go. It was an incredibly lame end. Therefore I appreciate the more adult tone and the overall theme of troubled teenagers human and turtle both struggling with issues while having to grow up.
Wow that version sounds like it sucks. Sorry you had to experience this movie that way.
@@tommymclaughlin-artist Well, it does suck, if you learn what you have been missing all these years. When I was a kid and didn't know anything about regional differences and movie rating boards, it was a fun time. Just the part when the menacing super boss Shredder basically tripped over Splinter's foot like a dumb schoolyard bully left me like: "What? That's it?! Damn..." :D
The German dubbing industry is responsible for a great many crimes against culture
Some of that may be your countries morals. I had a friend that is a big turtle fan. She had gotten Japanese versions of the movies. I had a copy. I think the first move just had Japanese subtitles. 2nd and third had Japanese voice actors. Though rather than "Ninja vanish" was "warriors vanish." And rather than being from Japan, they were from Korea.
Also, the first cartoon in England, they thought ninja would evoke violent images. So, they renamed it Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.
All the major plot points and scenes in this movie were adapted from the first five years of TMNT comics. I think that's why it holds up so well, and remains one of the most faithful comic book movies of all time. No movie since has even come close to capturing the spirit of the Turtles like this one did.
sadly that's because the parents lost their shit over this movie, Hollywood decided to cave in and made the future movies cornier and lighthearted.
@@UltimateGamerCC heh, i remember when the film came out all the kids in school could talk about was how many times Raph said "Damn". lol
Nothing will ever beat this version!! Jim Henson’s Creature Workshop absolutely knocked it out of the park with the animatronics on this. A real testament to his design team’s creative vision & the fabrication team over here in London.
I was born in 86, and I grew up on the cartoon, and some of my earliest memories was going to an event for the release of the toys. I don't really think the cartoon holds up as well, but this movie is still in my Top 20 Favorite Films, and I still have a lot of the toys stored somewhere.
I thought this movie blinded me with nostalgia (I saw it in theaters when I was 5) but all my nephew's love this movie more than the newer films.
Still holds up. Has stuff for kids and enough of an "edge" for adults.
Kids smoking and drinking... Lax safety rules... It was the 80's (filmed in the 80's)
I knew 11 year olds who smoked and drank.. different times.
Also, fantastic closing credits song.
I kind of cringed when Emily didn't react to "It's a Kodak moment." Dated. But I love the movie that's all that matters.
I saw this in a movie theater in St. Petersburg, Florida, the summer of 1990. My uncle and Dad took myself and my same-age cousin to see it while we were down at my grandmother's house. Of course my uncle and Dad *hated* it, but I thought it was amazing (and I still have much love for it) being a major fan of the TMNT franchise, which was really the last "toy" I got into headed into my pre-teen years. I always like that the voice of Donatello was played by Corey Feldman, Leonardo's voice was Brian Tochi (of Revenge of the Nerds/Police Academy movies) and Robbie Rist (cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch, Milo in Iron Eagle, and Whiz from Kidd Video - an 80's cartoon hardly anyone remembers) was the voice of Michaelangelo.
Oh and favorite line, hands down: "Wise man say forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
I remember Kidd Video.
the Pizza Dude trying to figure out where to deliver the Pizza IS actually the same actor playing Michelangelo.
"wise man say, forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for a late pizza!"
That's true! All 4 of the actors who wore the Turtle suits had cameos as other characters. Michelangelo's actor, as you mentioned, played the pizza delivery man. Leonardo's actor played a gang member, Donatello's actor played a messenger for The Foot, and Raphael's actor, who was the only in-suit actor to also voice his character, played a guy riding in a taxi.
Turtle Power!
There is a new TMNT videogame ot called "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge". Up to 6 players can be on the screen at once in an arcade-style beat 'em up.
Edit: Nevermind about the videogame recommendation! You got it covered.
I faked crying when I was a kid to force my Dad to get this movie..muhahaha..lol. Oh, and does anyone remember the Pizza Hut commercials with the Turtles?
That confused me because the product placement in the movie is Domino's
I remember the Pizza Hut commercial before the beginning of the movie, on the VHS...the one with the kid eating it on the baseball diamond, then going to get pizza to console himself.
OMG!!! Massive Nostalgia. I grew up watching the 80's cartoons with my little brother. I was 11 & he was 9 years old when the movie came out. We loved it so much. Had the VHS📼.
I went to see the sequel 'TMNT, The Secret of the Ooze' in theaters. It was actually the first movies I ever saw in theaters. It's my favorite of the three. I had the soundtrack. On cassette .
Can't wait for your reaction to the sequel. 🐢🐢🐢🐢🍕🍕🍕🍕
This movie is so freaking underrated. Sure, it's generally known as the best TMNT movie, but IMO this is one of the best comic book movies ever made. The cinematography and score alone, on top of that you got a great story with a lot of heart and all the actors are wonderful. Also, these suits just hold the fuck up. This movie still looks better than any TMNT movie that came after it. Especially the latest ones.
Still one of my absolute favorite movies to this day. I even once got to (briefly) meet Elias Koteas, who played Casey Jones. Cool guy. :)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Batman, and this are my earliest theater experiences that I remember. The scene of The Foot Clan’s sick hangout with all the arcade cabinets, skateboarding, and smoking is only rivaled by the monster world in ‘Little Monsters’. Y’all should put that one on your list! :)
as a kid and as an adult I LOVE this film. I was always into romance so even as a kid I was really into Casey Jones and April's little romance arc ( I was a 9 year old girl when it came out, haha). OMG i was so OBSESSED with the cartoon and this film for years. Ugh now i need a green pie from Hostess and a Dominos pizza. EDIT: I don't acknowledge the existence of the other films. Yikes, no.
The advice Judith Hoag got reminded me of Henry Cavill giving advice and suggestion for the showrunners and actors in "The Witcher" based on his knowledge of the video games and books.
I remember seeing this in theatres when I was 10 and to say that it was insanely popular would be putting it mildly.
I like that when he says " ugg where do they come up with this stuff." and its critters on the marquee behind him. It's always funny to me when movies shit on other movies.
As a child of the early 80s, I feel like this movie help define a generation.
This was my favorite movie when I was a child. I literally knew every word and every sound in the movie. In third grade, my best friend and I reenacted the entire movie over the course of several days while waiting for the school bus at the bus stop.
I live in Europe in the late 80s and early 90s. Going to a movie theater to watch an English release was hard. The only theater on Base only showed one movie at a time. Most of the time it was at least 3 or 4 months later. So it was actually faster for us to rent movies. My dad actually rented this movie without my knowledge, he was 25 at the time as i was 5. This movie brings back amazing memories of just of how huge TMNT was and the fact, i got to enjoy this is my father. I think he enjoyed the movie just as much as myself.
Having grown up with these movies on the shelf, they have a special place in my heart. I think I've seen the first two... 20 times each? NEVER clocked the actor inside the suit lol.
We all knew who Emily’s favorite turtle was going to be (at least in the movie).
I’m a Raphael kind-of-guy. Red’s always been my favorite color and I loved Raph’s “crude ‘tude”. I also thought his twin sai were the coolest of the turtles’ main weapons.
"Never lower your eyes to an enemy". I was born in 82 grew up on TMNT and that line stuck with me forever. Love the TMNT trilogy. I refused to watch the new CGI movies but I finally caved and I actually liked them a lot but this will always be my favorite just like 1980s Batman.
I saw this in theaters on opening weekend. Second time I'd ever seen a line going out to the door at a movie theater (the first being Back to the Future, Part 2). Watched it all the way up in the front row, back when I could still do something like that without my eyes exploding. A week or so later I wasn't feeling well and ended up staying home from school one day with my uncle watching me. I started to feel better around lunch time, so he took me to the theater again to watch it a second time.
I grew up on the 80s TMNT animated series and kept with it well into the early 90s. Also collected the Archie comics loosely based on the show, as well as some of the later era Mirage and even the rare Image comic issues, up through part of the 2003 animated series. But this movie, the first one specifically, is my "go to" when I think of TMNT. Still one of my favorite 5, maybe even favorite 3, comic book films.
Originally, this movie was meant to skew very young, based off more simplified premises from the cartoon until Steve Barron came on board as the film's new director. He nixed the kiddified version of the film and sought to make it as close to the original comics as possible. Several distribution companies declined to pick up the film and ultimately New Line Cinema, which was mostly known for the Nightmare on Elm Street films at the time, came to the rescue. After release, the film dethroned 'Halloween' as the most successful independently produced film and became the last project that Jim Henson worked on.
The studios decided to tone done and "brighten up" the sequel, making things more colorful, reducing the action and replacing the actress playing April our of fear of parent groups who had complained about the first movie. The third movie was then made on a reduced budget and without the participation of Jim Henson's company. After the third movie barely made back twice its production, plans for a 4th movie were scrapped and a few years later, Saban (of Power Rangers fan) produced a single-season live action series based around the premise that the turtles had a fifth member, a missing sister. Although that show received high ratings, production costs kept it from being picked up.
Then, in the early 2000s, co-creator Peter Laird and the original director, Steve Barron, had planned to develop a TMNT new movie or 4-hour miniseries for the Hallmark Channel that would have disregarded the second and third film and brought back Judith Hoag, who was the original April O'Neil. Although development of the miniseries ended up getting pretty well into the pre-production phase, it was ultimately put on hiatus and later cancelled outright.
I should point out that I started typing as the movie was playing, so some of this is later covered as well in the post-video commentary.
Don't forget the 2007 cgi TMNT. Which might have or might not have been a continuation of the live action movies, depending on who you ask:
"TMNT co-creator Peter Laird stated it takes place in its own universe separate from the previous films, but director Munroe says the film exists in the same continuity as the other films, which was supported by the memento wall at the end of the film."
These original turtle movies blow all the newer crap out of the water. Like, no competition, no comparison. The amount of work and love that went into these movies is extremely obvious. Also, fun fact, the original creators of the tmnt comics LOVED this movie because it was darker and closer to their original vision. The first two turtle movies are true classics. Hell, I even love the third one which is arguably the weakest entry.
This came out when I was in college and I adored it: the fun, the fighting, the feels and the music. I told at least a dozen skeptical friends to go and see it and, if they didn't enjoy it, I'd pay them back for their tickets. Never had to shell out a single refund. "I was all set to watch a free movie on you, but... yeah, I had fun." #TurtlePower
This movie was filmed in my hometown Wilmington, North Carolina. This is just one of the comic book movies filmed here. The Crow(1994) & Iron Man 3(2013) were also filmed here.
The best TMNT movie ever. Great reaction! 👍🏿
I love this Ninja Turtles movie so much. The rooftop fight with The Shredder is really tense and amazingly choreographed, if not one-sided. The Turtles only get one shot in on The Shredder. Still blows my mind back Splinter was puppeteered and voiced by the same man who originally puppeteered and voiced Elmo on Sesame Street, Kevin Clash.
Also you cannot hate Elias Koteas playing Casey Jones.
One of my favorite childhood memories was in 5th grade we watched this and had a pizza party.
I had already seen the film 2 in theaters at the time though.
I would watch this on repeat as a kid and eventually my mom had to hide the VHS tape from me because she had an insane fear of mice and hated looking at master splinter LOL
I saw this movie sooooooo many times as a kid. Havent thought about it in years! ETA - "Ninja kick the damn rabbit" was my favorite line too.
I was eight when this movie came out and I loved it with that first viewing. My favourite Turtle and scene go together and that's Michaelangelo's nunchuck scene, "Ahh, a fellow chucker, eh?" but the "Ninja kick the damn rabbit," one is pretty funny too. Glad that you enjoyed it.
Emily was sleeeeeepy, but her reaction to Casey Jones' "OOOOPS!" was pretty good, lol.
The turtle suits were definitely sweat-soaked - they filmed the majority of this movie in North Carolina during the summer, which is partly why the surviving suits from the shoot are in horrible condition today; sweat+heat+time = disintegration for foam latex.
I was born in '82, and being a huge TMNT fan growing up I remember being so excited seeing the rooftop finale, as it was a toned down but suitable tribute to the actual showdown between the turtles and Shredder as it took place in the Mirage comics.
That aside, Casey's 'Primatene' line always makes me laugh and I quote it whenever someone coughs or clears their throat.
Also - Raph all day for movie, cartoon, comics, and video game.
"I mean c'mon how do guys expect to beat me?"
(All start moving in)
"Good answer, good answer."
Why do I suddenly want Emily to react to either Tank Girl or Warriors Of Virtue?
Did you guys know that the stuntmen in the Turtle suits and the Foot soldier with the nunchucks were the original characters for the Mortal Kombat video game. Ho Sung Pak(Lui Kang), Johnny Cage(Daniel Pesina), Kano(Richard Divizio).
This is a genuinely good and objectively well made film. It's tarnished by the goofy sequels, but there is so much love and heart put into this first movie.
Couldn't agree more. So much personality, comedy, and even heart. I mean, what other movie could capture Michelangelo perfectly, and yet somehow have him believably *cry?* Even with all the fun, it wasn't afraid to take itself seriously when it needed to, and be *about* something. No other Turtles movie is in the same league.
Like many, this was a staple of my childhood. I think it's the first movie I ever saw in theaters, at 7... In my 20's, I ran into a childhood friend I hadn't seen in almost a decade. We planned a get together and though I don't remember why exactly, decided it was Ninja Turtle themed. We spent the weekend watching all three movies, after making some green turtles out of chocolate. Just to give another story of how influential this actually was, haha
COWABUNGA!!!
When I was about 10 they had a Jim Henson exhibit in San Francisco, and they had a "touch it" exhibit. One of the things they had there was one of the turtle masks so I got to try it on.
“ God, I love being a TMNT Fan”
Fun fact: Before April did the sketch of Leonardo, he held out his bandana to her and said "April, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls, wearing this. Wearing ONLY this."
What a wonderful surprise! And a great reaction! I loved “Ninja kick the damn rabbit!” as a kid
I just saw this a few hours ago with my nephew. Great reaction and of course the 80s/early 90s humor is always a fun to watch now.
I love the 80's cartoon series! 🐢 🐢🐢🐢 🐀 🥰
Such a classic, my favorite scene even to this day in my 30's when you first see Shredder one of if not the best introse to a villain EVER.
Favorite turtle probably Mikey.
Favorite scene the kids at that underground acrade
I loved this movie as a kid and watched it a lot. I still have it on VHS. I'm glad Emily enjoyed it. 🐢💙🐢❤️🐢💜🐢🧡
"The Foot or The Hand, IDK." Funny since TMNT was basically inspired by Marvel Comics Daredevil's 80's run. Eastman & Laird just twisted some stuff to come up with their own ideas/concepts. The actual incident that caused the mutagen to fall into the sewers was supposed to be from when Matt Murdock's eyes got exposed with the radioactive material that fell off the truck. That was the turtles & daredevil's connection...at least in the TMNT comics side of things back in the day.
The 80's are built different 🔥🔥🔥🔥
The guy who did the voice and puppetry for Splinter is also the one who does Elmo.
I was 10 when this came out. Its a masterpiece in my book. Everything is so gritty and dirty, and sweaty and sticky. Its great.
agree a very overlooked masterpiece
Mikey saying "Hi" like that was how I picked up saying "Hi" to people.😁♥️
This is the GOAT film of my Childhood!!!
Hope ya'll do TMNT II: the Secret of the Ooze
This is one of my favorite films. This is how a Live Action TMNT Film is supposed to be made! No CGI! The reaction Matthew made at the end when saying about murdering through the compactor was perfect. lol Also I think Emily needed a nap. lol
This is actually a great movie hiding in the half shell
If the animatronics are her favorite thing, you should show her the behind the scenes, especially where Leo, in full suit, is doing the multiple air kick. Amazing.
Please watch the STAR TREK movies! 🖖😊
"Catabunga" was almost as good as "that rug really ties the room together."
YEAH, The OG Turtles!
Man, this takes me back. I don't think I've watched it since the 90s. My brother and I LOVED this and the show - we had the toys, pjs, slippers, bedsheets, lunchboxes. Always loved Michelangelo haha