Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

1990
PG
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

108K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,447

Corey Feldman, David Forman, Josh Pais, Robbie Rist, Michelan Sisti, Leif Tilden, and Brian Tochi in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

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Animal Adventure Martial Arts Superhero Urban Adventure Action Adventure Comedy Family Sci-Fi

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

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

108K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

1,447

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 3 wins & 3 nominations total

Trivia
Robin Williams, who was a big fan of the franchise, provided Judith Hoag with information regarding her character through his comic book collection; the two were co-starring in Cadillac Man (1990) when the Turtles film went into production.

Goofs
When Raph and Leo are arguing in April's apartment, there is a crew member with an orange baseball hat on trying to hide under the table.

Quotes
Donatello: You're a claustrophobic.
Casey Jones: You want a fist in the mouth? I've never even looked at another guy before.

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.

Alternate versions
German theatrical version was based on the cut British version. In addition it was heavily dimmed and cartoon-like sound effects were added to the fight scenes. This version was also used for TV airings and VHS home video releases. Only in 2010 the film was released uncut on DVD.

Connections
Edited into To Tell the Truth: Yulia Sukhanova/Thomas DeMarco/Josh Price (1990)

Soundtracks
Tequila
Written by Danny Flores
Courtesy of Mask, Inc.

User reviews315

Featured review

7/10

An Understated Masterpiece of Sorts

A quartet of mutated humanoid turtles clash with an uprising criminal gang of ninjas.

First of all, it is worth noting that the late editor Sally Menke (1953-2010) worked on this film before going on to make some of Quentin Tarantino's best work. When watching Tarantino, it is hard to imagine that the same hand was responsible for the Turtles, and yet this is the case.

Growing up in the 1980s, the two big influences on my childhood were the Turtles and He-Man. Both received feature films. The Turtles received this -- a clever, dark and yet humorous story along with a worthy sequel. He-Man had some bizarre alternate dimension story. (Let us not even talk about Super Mario Brothers.) Not only is this film great, but it is even better when you realize how horribly wrong it could have gone.

Further, for me, this was a defining role for Elias Koteas. He has been in many big films, but this was his breakout role and still the role I picture him in despite the added decades and receding hairline...