Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Four teenage mutant ninja turtles emerge from the shadows to protect New York City from a gang of criminal ninjas.

Director:

Steve Barron

Writers:

Kevin Eastman (characters), Peter Laird (characters)

Stars:

Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Josh Pais

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Judith Hoag	...	April O'Neil
Elias Koteas	...	Casey Jones
Josh Pais	...	Raphael (voice) / Passenger In Cab
David Forman	...	Leonardo / Gang Member
Brian Tochi	...	Leonardo (voice)
Leif Tilden	...	Donatello / Foot Messenger
Corey Feldman	...	Donatello (voice)
Michelan Sisti	...	Michaelangelo / Pizza Man
Robbie Rist	...	Michaelangelo (voice)
Kevin Clash	...	Splinter (voice)
James Saito	...	The Shredder
David McCharen	...	The Shredder / Oroku Saki (voice)
Sam Rockwell	...	Head Thug
Toshishiro Obata	...	Tatsu
Michael McConnohie	...	Tatsu (voice)

Storyline

Through contact with a mysterious substance, called Ooze, 4 little turtles in the canalization of New York mutate to giant turtles. They can speak, walk upright and love pizza. The wise rat Splinter becomes their mentor and educates them to Ninja fighters. Their arch-enemy is the bad, bad guy Shredder, who struggles to gain power over the world. Of course the ninja turtles will do everything to stop him.

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Plot Keywords:

teenage mutant ninja turtles | turtle | ninja | mentor | rat | 

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Taglines:

This ain't no cartoon.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official TMNT site

Country:

USA Hong Kong

Language:

English French

Release Date:

30 March 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$135,270,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

888 Productions, Golden Harvest Company, Limelight Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

It took three puppeteers to operate the Splinter puppet. Kevin Clash performs the puppet while the facial expressions are remote controlled by another puppeteer and the arms are controlled by the puppeteer who works along with Kevin during the performances of the puppet.

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Goofs

Shortly after the pizza is delivered through the sewer grating, Donatello is seen with a napkin tucked under his chin. How can he do that if he isn't wearing a shirt to tuck it into?

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Quotes

[first lines]
April O'Neil: Much more than just a series of small, isolated incidents, it's now apparent that an organized criminal element is at work and at the moment, business is good. So good in fact that there appear to be no eyewitnesses to any of these crimes. With complaints ranging from purse snatching to breaking and entering, police switchboards have been swamped with the angry voices of more and more citizens who have fallen prey to the recent surge of crime that continues to plague the city. ...

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Crazy Credits

The film title appears from behind the corner of the sewer, just before the Turtles come around it and are fully seen for the first time.

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Connections

Referenced in Nostalgia Critic: Moulin Rouge (2011)

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Soundtracks

9.95
Written by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight
Performed by Spunkadelic
Courtesy of SBK Records

User Reviews

A cult classic.

Whether film buffs would ever admit it or not, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is a classic film, arguably way before its time. Although for the die-hard fans of the comic book this movie did lack the apparent actual violence it did instead have great dramatic scenes blended in with witty comedic lines.

With a dark tone and gritty cinematography filmed with fantastic sets and locations around New York this 90s movie is far from something to be pigeonholed 'just for kids' or a 'family movie'.

The aforementioned 'surfer dialogue' criticised in other reviews can be put down to personal taste, as the majority of fans do find this lingo both entertaining and quote-worthy. Who could forget Splinter exclaiming "I... have always liked... COWABUNGA!!" Casey Jones is one of the greatest characters in film for a long time and the performances given throughout, even though can be labelled slightly b-grade, are lovable all the same from Chief Sterns to Charles and Master Tatsu. The angst of Raphael to the cheekiness of Michelangelo there is nothing not to like about the characters in this movie.

The musical score is great and ranges from intense to comical - very fitting for a movie that is exactly that in its mood, without becoming corny unlike its follow-up films. MC Hammer creates the best songs of his career. Shameless fun.

All of the scenes are special in different ways to different fans of this cult classic; from Casey Jones vs Raphael in the park to the Antique Store battle.

Extremely under-rated. One of the best comic-book adaptations ever made and one of the defining films in a LOT of people's childhoods. A fantastic film for anyone with direction and storyline that remains highly enjoyable through the test of time.

Brilliant.