Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)

The turtles find themselves transported back in time to ancient Japan.

Director:

Stuart Gillard

Writers:

Kevin Eastman (based on characters created by), Peter Laird (based on characters created by)

Stars:

Elias Koteas, Paige Turco, Stuart Wilson

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elias Koteas	...	Casey Jones / Whit
Paige Turco	...	April O'Neil
Stuart Wilson	...	Walker
Sab Shimono	...	Lord Norinaga
Vivian Wu	...	Mitsu
Mark Caso	...	Leonardo
Matt Hill	...	Raphael
Jim Raposa	...	Donatello
David Fraser	...	Michaelangelo
James Murray	...	Splinter
Eidan Hanzei	...	Kenshin (as Henry Hayashi)
John Aylward	...	Niles
Mak Takano	...	Benkei - Honor Guard #1
Steve Akahoshi	...	Honor Guard #2 (as Steven Getson Akahoshi)
Kent Kim	...	Honor Guard #3

Storyline

When a magic scepter accidentally transports April back through time to 17th Century Japan, the boys take-off in hot pursuit, cowabungling their way out of the sewers right into Samurai-O-Rama! Now they must battle the evil Lord Norinaga to reclaim the magic scepter that will bring them back below the subways of New York City.

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Plot Keywords:

raphael character | splinter character | michelangelo character | donatello character | leonardo character | 

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Taglines:

The Most Exciting Adventure in 400 Years

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for swashbuckling violence and mild language

Details

Country:

USA Hong Kong

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 March 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Sacred Scroll of Death

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$17,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$42,660,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Golden Harvest Company, Clearwater Holdings

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This film was originally going to be followed by a fourth installment in the franchise "TMNT: The Next Mutation". In this concept the Ooze that transformed the Turtles and Splinter was still in their bodies causing a much more drastic second mutation. Another plan that was discussed was to add a fifth turtle named Kirby (named after comic artist Jack Kirby). However, the project got stuck in development and plans for a fourth theatrical live action movie was nixed. The concept of having the Turtles mutate into creatures did see the light of day in the 'New Mutation' saga of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) cartoon. Later the live action "Next Mutation" installment moved to television in a live-action series produced by Saban titled, Saban's Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997). This series delivered on the promise of a fifth turtle, but changed it to a female turtle named Venus Di Milo.

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Goofs

Yoshi's mouth moves alot during the CPR scene.

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Quotes

Casey Jones: Hey, guys! So, when do we get together and bust some skulls?
Leonardo: Hang on, Casey, you're not gonna be doing any head breaking this time, pal, sorry.
Casey Jones: What was that? You wanna run that by me again?
Raphael: We need someone to remain here to make sure the time bandit here doesn't get out of hand.
Casey Jones: Gotcha.

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Alternate Versions

The depiction of chainsticks on screen was rarely allowed in the UK, so the movie was heavily cut or reframed to remove every last trace of them. In total 7 secs were removed from the reframed print with most of the edits made to the opening scene where Michaelangelo practices with the nunchakus and hits a punching ball (this was replaced with images of the turtles dancing). The cuts were fully waived in 2002 for the DVD.

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Connections

Referenced in Board James: Dream Phone (2013)

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Soundtracks

William Tell Overture
(uncredited)
Written by Gioachino Rossini
Performed by Arthur Fiedler

User Reviews

Not the best, but still a laugh

Originally when I saw this movie, it had only just come out in theaters and I was just a kid. At the time, I thought the movie was a steaming pile of crap, no where near in comparison tot he first two. Hell, I overlooked the inclusion of Vanilla Ice for YEARS, insisting that even if he was in the second movie, it was still better than the third. However, now that I am older and a touch wiser, I've gone back and watched all three movies (I've been on a serious TMNT-a-Thon ever since I heard a new movie was in the making). While I admit the third is indeed the worst of the three, it is far from the travesty I originally thought (and thought for years). Aside from the silly story and the poor quality turtle costumes, the dialog is given several moments to shine with some surprisingly funny jokes and one-liners and minor giggles. I'm not saying every TMNT fan should go out and buy this. I don't even own it myself. However, I think you should get a few friends together, grab some snacks, some source of caffeine, order a pizza, and rent TMNT III for a night of absurdity and laughs. That's what my friends and I did <3