Customer Reviews
Good for the times! - By: Blue, 11 Oct 2007 
Considering that this film was made at the very start of the 1990s, the technology used for the characters of the turtles is outstanding. Having been a Ninja Turtles fan for most of my life, I've always felt that the film does the series justice; the karate experts, the actors & the voice artists work together to make the turtles come to life. Judith Hoag is impressive in her role as April O'Neil, as is Elias Koteas in his role as Casey Jones. New characters, including Danny Pennington, make for an interesting background cast & a good subplot that does not manage to dominate the main focus of the film.
I think one of the most impressive elements of this film was the stormy relationship between Leo & Raph in the middle, which ensured that the plot's progress did not begin to slow down & become uninteresting. After having seen the innocent cartoon series for so long, it made a real change to have a more complex relationship between the turtle bros.
The film isn't fantastic, but the plot is workable & the action sequences are not too dull. I recommend it to anyone who has ever been a Ninja Turtles fan. :)
Never pay full price for late pizza! - By: Mr. T. A. Williams, 30 Mar 2007 
In my opinion, this is a great film & one of the best comic book adaptations ever. It sticks a lot more closely to the original material than the 1990's animated series did, although there are a couple of minor references to the cartoon, such as April O Neill being a news reporter & the Turtles love of pizza. The film is also much more watchable nowadays, as when it was originallly released in UK cinemas (and later on VHS), almost every scene with Mikey's nunchukus was either edited or blurred out.....which is very noticeable in the fight scenes & makes a huge difference to the confrontation with Shredder at the end....but the BBFC have now seen sense & the censored footage has now been restored for the DVD.
Basicallly, the plot is a simple one of good versus evil & old vendettas....Shredder (a Darth Vader style bad guy, alll scary mask & gruff voice) is attempting to take over New York with his clan of ninja thieves & the Ninja Turtles are out to stop him under the guidance of Splinter, a rat who's master was killed by Shredder many years before. But it is unusuallly dark & emotional for a film that is perceived to be aimed primarily at children. All kinds of themes are dealt with....coping with isolation from the outside world, anger, loss, & generallly growing up & coming of age...and the characters are explored in a fair amount of detail & shown to be unique personalities who deal with situations in their own way. The fight scenes are also a lot of fun too, the restored scene where Mikey takes on a `fellow `chucker' is particularly amusing, as well as being a prime example of just how much the BBFC ruined the overalll feel of the film by censoring it so much back in 1990.
The acting, well it's not going to win any Oscars, but Corey Feldman lends himself well to the voice of Donatello, Kevin Clash does manage to portray Splinter as a wise & venerable creature & Elias Koteas puts in a solid performance as Casey Jones. Judith Hoag is a little weak as April O' Neill but she was replaced by Paige Turco (of American Gothic fame) for the 2 sequels.
But for entertainment value, laughs, & memorable quotes, Cowabunga says it alll.
One Of The Most Underated Movies Of A Generation - By: Scott Layfield, 29 Mar 2007 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, not to be confused by the 1986 cartoon series was a masterpiece of it's time. Highlighting on its more dark & edgy early comic days, this film certainly had it alll. Action, comedy, thrills & spills it was packed for 90 minutes of enjoyable entertainment that on it's release sparked a media frenzy worldwide for it's violent content. Although the film was categorised as PG & certainly not aimed at the children. The story is strong & the true meaning of combat is highlighted. Their master come father Splinter trying to enlighten their teenage mind in the art of ninjitsu as a way of life, fighting the forces of evil, whist still trying to make them understand the reality that is the surface of modern day America & that their lives would always be different of that of normal average Human.
The budget was not the biggest in the world, but I think that only aids to the film. Jim Hensons workshop were involved on the animatronics & special effect which undoubtedly added to the films success. the movement of the puppets aimed with the character vocals worked a treat
The film is dark, quite edgy & at times strikes a blow. The script is clever with catchphrases & styles of the time Full or sarcasm, great action spots, fantastic martial arts scenes & an ending that surely couldn't be considered for children? You'll see when you see?
If you simply think it would be a bad remake of a cartoon, think again. This certainly is a film for the older market. Although I first saw this movie at the age of 9, 16 years later this remains one of my alll time favourite moves & only now did I see the more depth in the meaning of the writing that could never have been touched on in the children's cartoon. The concept of fitting in, being different & the people of society in their ways & thinking.
Even said, it's still a fun movie, full of one liners & a good little movie that seems to have stood the sand of time. Even if you never saw the cartoon, or knew what the craze was alll about, the film covers alll that in detail
A good little movie, try it, even sceptics changed their mind about it.
Alright but Wholly Rather Boring and Slow - By: P. J. Aspel, 25 Sep 2006 
I first saw this when I was about ten, & it was reallly quite fun. These days, though, you look at it & realise that it was made solely for children of that age.
The script relies singly on hip catchphrases & silly, sterile situations such as anodyne street battles & predictable rescues, but, I suppose ten year olds like me at the time, might enjoy it now.
If you, like I have done, rent this for a bit of nostalgic fun then, don't go any further as you'd be wasting a good tenner.
cowabunga!!!!!! - By: D. Robinson, 03 Jun 2006 the best movie of the nineties,everyone loved this as a child & it was an epic moment in cinema history when they made the movie.its got martial arts that will make chuck norris blush, & fantastic comedy moments. its also got some of the best phrases ever said in a movie e.g "wise men say, forgiveness is devine but never pay full price for late pizza!". so order this movie & relive your school yard break times!!! & also check out the soundtrack (if you can find it) its radical!!! awesome dudes
