Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

1990
PG
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

6.8/10

107K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

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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

107K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

2,153

771

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 reviews312

Review

Featured review

This makes it clear...darker is better

On your first read of the title, you may think "Ah...the Ninja Turtles...kid's stuff". That conclusion is partially understandable, considering the fact that most people's minds drift towards the Saturday morning cartoon show, which was made for little kids. But if you are one of the handful of people who remembers the original TMNT comic book and how dark it was, you will probably think more of the name. This live-action version of the Teenaged Turtles reaches back into its comic book origins and sacrifices the kiddie stuff in favor of a darker, more brooding film. This is the key to this movie's greatness. It shows the Turtles how they were meant to be shown. The movie is still fun, though, supplying the viewer with all the early 90's teenager slang and ass-kicking that you can squeeze onto celuloid. The only problem is that the whole Ninja Turtles franchise has come with a love it or hate it tag attached to it, often times giving it a bad rap that it really doesn't deserve. The film is no Blade Runner or Spiderman by any means, but it's still a great little piece of cinema that you can just sit down with a bowl of popcorn (or maybe a pizza) and enjoy without much thought. Sadly, this is as good as the series gets (not that this movie could get much better). The sequels (TMNT 2: Secret of the Ooze and TMNT 3) aren't really that great. TMNT 2 lacks the gritty edge that makes this movie good (having Vanilla Ice on the soundtrack doesn't help much either) and TMNT 3 is obviously aimed directly for the little ones. This is the great little movie. COWABUNGA!!!