TMNT (Kevin Munroe, 2007)

[Forrest Taft]

I know that a Criterion forum may not be an ideal place to find people who just can't wait for the new Turtles film, but there must be someone here who grew up with these pizza loving ninjas. Early reviews are quite promising, and I for one am really looking forward to this one. A little nostalgia is good for the soul once in a while. I truly hope this film breaks all box office records. Check out the review at DVD Times.

[CSM126]

Not to rain on the parade, but is this really a franchise that warranted another sequel? Have we all forgotten TMNT 3? (If you're lucky, you have)

And I have to wonder if there's even a market for the turtles these days, or a significant one anyway. Admittedly, I am way out of the pop culture loop, so for all I know the turtles might be the hottest thing going still (I doubt it, though). I mean, yeah, the cartoon was fun back in the day, when I was...four years old or so, but it has to be horribly dated by now (or do people still say cowabunga?).

[indiannamednobody]

Every time i'm eating pizza in a sewer ill belt out a 'Cowabunga' when im done.
Seriously, i'd check it out if it was live action. CGI makes them so cold and ugly.

[CSM126]

CGI makes everything so cold and ugly.

Fixed it for ya.

[Forrest Taft]

or do people still say cowabunga?

I don't think people ever said cowabunga, and I don't think there is a significant market for this film, but the Weinsteins seems to think so.

[Antoine Doinel]

I kinda like the look of the CGI turtles and the trailers for the film are about as goofy as I would expect them to be. I was a big TMNT fan as a kid, and I'm kind of tickled there is a new movie coming out. At the very least I'll probably rent it one evening, get myself some greasy pizza and relive my childhood for ninety minutes.

[Highway 61]

Yes, I'll at least rent it. I loved the turtles as a kid, and still occasionally play Turtles in Time for the SNES. If I can sucker someone to go with me, then I'll definitely see it in theaters.

[davebert]

I'll be seeing this in theaters, if I can find the time. TMNT ruled my childhood, and made me into a preadolescent snob towards my brothers' inferior craving of Power Rangers, which everyone knows couldn't fill a quarter-shell if they tried. Still a shame this isn't a John Woo-directed hard action film, as originally promised in the concept several years ago (and based on the original comics)...

[cdnchris]

Not to rain on the parade, but is this really a franchise that warranted another sequel? Have we all forgotten TMNT 3? (If you're lucky, you have)

Oh come on! 3 was a vastly superior when compared to 2!

[Cinesimilitude]

They just released the original '89 Turtles arcade game on Xbox Live Arcade and I've played through it 3 or 4 times already. I can remember watching the turtles films on VHS when I was younger and loving them. I will probably catch this when it gets to our cheap theater (A place in my town that gets every movie the expensive houses get once they are done with them, but charges a mere 2$ for a matinee).

[CSM126]

Not to rain on the parade, but is this really a franchise that warranted another sequel? Have we all forgotten TMNT 3? (If you're lucky, you have)

Oh come on! 3 was a vastly superior when compared to 2!

Oh fuck that. 2 was way better. 3 was confusing, had the worst make-up effects ever (the sock puppet-like mouths on the turtles, for example), and not only that, it had less action. 1 and 2 had more fight scenes than 3. And what else are you watching a ninja turtles movie for? It's all about the fight scenes, man. And not to mention 3 had time travel. What the fuck is that? They couldn't stick to the present? They had to go to ancient Japan and the wild west or whatever? What, was Krang too busy to do the movie, so they hired generic cowboy and vanilla samurai to be the baddies?

2 stinks, don't get me wrong, but 3 is bottom-of-the-barrel bad, resting alongside crapsterpieces like Manos: Hands of Fate and MAC and Me.

[lord_clyde]

Not to rain on the parade, but is this really a franchise that warranted another sequel? Have we all forgotten TMNT 3? (If you're lucky, you have)

Oh come on! 3 was a vastly superior when compared to 2!

Oh fuck that. 2 was way better. 3 was confusing, had the worst make-up effects ever (the sock puppet-like mouths on the turtles, for example), and not only that, it had less action. 1 and 2 had more fight scenes than 3. And what else are you watching a ninja turtles movie for? It's all about the fight scenes, man. And not to mention 3 had time travel. What the fuck is that? They couldn't stick to the present? They had to go to ancient Japan and the wild west or whatever? What, was Krang too busy to do the movie, so they hired generic cowboy and vanilla samurai to be the baddies?

2 stinks, don't get me wrong, but 3 is bottom-of-the-barrel bad, resting alongside crapsterpieces like Manos: Hands of Fate and MAC and Me.

For further proof of 3's shittiness just skip to the end where the British guy (can't remember his name for the life of me) falls off the cliff into the ocean. His body simply vanishes before hitting the water, followed by a splash two seconds later.

[Highway 61]

2 features Vanilla Ice performing "Ninja Rap." 2 wins by a landslide.

[toiletduck!]

Oh fuck that. 2 was way better. 3 was confusing, had the worst make-up effects ever (the sock puppet-like mouths on the turtles, for example), and not only that, it had less action. 1 and 2 had more fight scenes than 3. And what else are you watching a ninja turtles movie for? It's all about the fight scenes, man. And not to mention 3 had time travel. What the fuck is that? They couldn't stick to the present? They had to go to ancient Japan and the wild west or whatever? What, was Krang too busy to do the movie, so they hired generic cowboy and vanilla samurai to be the baddies?

2 stinks, don't get me wrong, but 3 is bottom-of-the-barrel bad, resting alongside crapsterpieces like Manos: Hands of Fate and MAC and Me.

Best rant I've read/heard in months!

My contribution?

"It's Raphael."
"Yeah, a little too Raphael."

2 by a landslide.

-Toilet Dcuk

[cdnchris]

This all reminds me of a Simpsons bit (of course) where Lenny and Carl were arguing over whether Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones sucked more.

I still think 2 sucked way more, so screw you guys (there, I win!) But I haven't seen either one since they first came out on VHS. All I remember after viewing the third is thinking "at least it didn't suck as much that last one." I could watch them again, but even at 14 they weren't pleasant.

[Forrest Taft]

For further proof of 3's shittiness just skip to the end where the British guy (can't remember his name for the life of me) falls off the cliff into the ocean. His body simply vanishes before hitting the water, followed by a splash two seconds later.

Just rewatched Polanski's wonderful DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (Criterion candidate). Sigourney Waever's husband was played by that British guy. Going from TURTLES 3 to DEATH AND THE MAIDEN in one year must be one of the more impressive leaps in cinema history.

2 features Vanilla Ice performing "Ninja Rap." 2 wins by a landslide.

This scene is followed by the scene where Shredder turns into Super-Shredder. 2 does indeed win by a landslide, eventhough neither Shredder nor Tatsu appear in 3.

I think Peter Laird (creator of the franchise) hates 2 and 3 more than any on this forum though. This new film starts after the end of the first film. Laird also hates the old cartoons, which is kind of silly. Had it not been for that series, there is no way Turtles would have ever become popular. There would be no films, and Laird would not have had millions of dollars in his pockets.

[indiannamednobody]

2 dominates. From the beginning of the fight in the mall to the end of Vanilla Ice's career, TMNT2 captured a certain 90's moment that most films at that time failed to grasp, unless Cool as Ice also had a fight scene in a mall.

[Len]

Somewhat offtopic, but I'd like to offer my deep appreciation for this forum. The only forum about cinema I know where a topic about TMNT co-exists with debates about the work of Woody Allen and discussions about the Tulse Luper Suitcases.

As for the 2 vs. 3 debate, speaking as someone to whom Turtles were (even though they were called Teenage Mutant HERO Turtles here in europe 'cause apparently japanese assasins were too evil) a big thing when growing up, I'm firmly in the "no.2 wasn't that bad"-camp. Then again, it was at time when the Turtlefever had reached it's peak here and I was a huge fan, so I'm not exactly eager to replace my fond memories of the film with potentially massive disappointment by watching it again.

[davebert]

I just rewatched the first one at work, and was surprised at the high quality of the rap soundtrack--I think they outclass Vanilla Ice's TMNT2 contribution by leaps and bounds. Shame April O'Neill's so ugly, though.

The cartoons are available on DVD now, slowly trickling out in seasons (disguised as "volumes") for the past few years. The cartoon series is well-written and features a really great cast of characters--no doubt to get those action figures going--that puts all the films too shame.

Oh and I also downloaded the TMNT arcade game, and it is a blast from the past--but nowhere near as good as Turtles in Time. I'm hoping that either comes to Xbox Live via the arcade version, or Wii via the SNES Virtual Console. THAT is time travel done right!

[Schkura]

I have a feeling they will. I think that's why they slapped "1989" on the filename.

[lord_clyde]

I saw it last night and was mostly impressed. Even though at least 80 minutes of its 90 minute running time is violence, it felt less like a video game than 300. The story is about what you would expect from one of the old cartoon episodes, which is disappointing in a feature film, but the top notch animation (seriously the best the turtles have ever looked) and high quality of the cinematography and fight choreography won me over.
I can recommend this to turtles fans only, but fans of Michaelangelo and Donatello be wary - this is strictly Leo and Raph's movie.

[colinr0380]

For further proof of 3's shittiness just skip to the end where the British guy (can't remember his name for the life of me) falls off the cliff into the ocean. His body simply vanishes before hitting the water, followed by a splash two seconds later.

Just rewatched Polanski's wonderful DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (Criterion candidate). Sigourney Waever's husband was played by that British guy. Going from TURTLES 3 to DEATH AND THE MAIDEN in one year must be one of the more impressive leaps in cinema history.

Stuart Wilson. Interesting career he's had. He was also in The Age of Innocence the same year! He must be used to going from one extreme to the other - according to his filmography he was in both I, Claudius and an episode of Space: 1999 in 1976!

A nice mix of films though - I see he was in The Luzhin Defence, Prime Suspect 4, the sci-fi prison film No Escape with Ray Liotta and Lance Henriksen, was a General in The Rock and was the hissable Don Rafael in The Mask of Zorro! And he is apparently in Hot Fuzz!

[Cinesimilitude]

Oh and I also downloaded the TMNT arcade game, and it is a blast from the past--but nowhere near as good as Turtles in Time. I'm hoping that either comes to Xbox Live via the arcade version, or Wii via the SNES Virtual Console. THAT is time travel done right!

Turtles in time kicked ass, I also hope to see it on XBLA.