Ever since I started watching blu-ray last year, I had always wondered when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies would come out on blu-ray. They've been overdue for a remastering, and plus, their anniversary is this year, so what better timing? I saw this set pop up right here on Amazon and I saw that my wish had finally been fulfilled. The question is, though, did they get the remastering they deserved?Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles The classic that everyone knows and loves. It's darker in tone than the other three, thus capturing the original comic book feel that Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman gunned for back when they did the original comics. Of course, parents didn't like it, so the tone didn't stay in future sequels. However, the literal darkness of the film happens to be the achilles' heel of this release. There's grain all over the place. It looks as if they transferred some of it, but didn't bother to do it on some scenes. One scene where Raph wanders out in broad daylight wearing a trench coat is where the grain is at it's worst, believe it or not. The dark scenes ALL have grain all over them. Some scenes are entirely devoid of any grain, though. So, what gives Warner Bros.? Couldn't touch all of it up? Now, believe me when I say this: This is the best the movie has ever looked. However, it lacks the detail of better blu-ray releases (though some of the detail is noticeable in the costumes of the Turtles), and the grain was to be expected, considering how dark the movie originally was, and as well as it being rather low-budget when it was first shot. The animatronics still stand the test of time, and this is the best they've ever looked, but I still wish more effort was put into reducing the grain and enhancing the details in a lot of scenes. Overall, if you don't mind grain in your films, you'll be fine with it, but this could be better.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze My personal favorite of the collection. I've watched this countless times growing up on VHS. It looked rough then, but blu-ray has done it some justice. The grain isn't nearly as bad as the first movie, which is a plus, and it's not even noticeable much at all in brighter scenes. Plus, the detail has been enhanced to a fault. It's still not quite perfect in any regards, but I was satisfied overall withe visual quality. Tokka looks great with ever little greasy detail on his scaly body, and in the opening scene in the robbery, you can actually make out the faces of the robbers through their panty hose masks. This is also the best animatronics of the three live-action movies, and is timeless in it's execution. This is the best the movie has ever looked, though there are still some steps that could be made to better the picture just a little more. I was happy with it, though.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III I'm not typing "Turtles in Time" next to it because some idiot at Warner Bros. put that on the box. That is not the official subtitle to the movie, it's the name of the Arcade/SNES video game, and it's a very good one, at that. Anyways, this is the most hated of the series, and within good reason The plot features absolutely no key villains from the Turtles universe, the animatronics are terrible (their lips flap around like Big Mouth Billy Bass) as they weren't Jim Henson's work like the previous movies, and the plot overall is so-so. However, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I don't really remember watching it as a child, just the first two movies, so I'm really taking this viewing as a first, to my recollection. As for the transfer, it's the best of the three live-action movies by far. Besides a tiny bit of grain in the opening scene with the samurais riding in the sunrise, there's no more to be found. The Turtles looked highly detailed, right down to the pores on the costumes. The lush Japanese setting looks gorgeous in this transfer, and it really makes the movie that much more bearable to watch. While it lacks a sound plot and has laughably bad animatronics, it looks very well done. If only this much effort were put into the previous two, this would be the best package possible.
TMNT I actually saw this in theatres the day after it came out, I owned it on DVD first day, and I got it on blu-ray last Christmas, so this is actually a triple-dip retail buy, for me. The plot is solid, though it it is reminiscent of the goofy single episode plots they used to have in the 80's cartoons, mixed in with some internal struggle amongst the Turtles, especially Raph and Leo, of course. Some say Mike and Don play nothing but mere cameos, but they make a significant enough appearance to make an impact. There's enough laughs to know that at least Mikey is around in good quantity. As for the picture quality, it looks exactly as it did before on blu-ray, and that means there's nothing wrong with it. It is blu-ray perfection. Screenshots do not do it justice. Every turtle is brilliantly detailed, you can see every hair on Splinter, every detail in every wall, and don't even get me started on one key fight over halfway through the movie that I will not reveal due to possibly spoiling the movie. This fight, which takes place in the rain, is one of the single most gorgeous pieces of CG work I have ever seen. It's brilliantly animated, just as the rest of the movie is, and the amount of detail is mind-blowing. This movie is one of the greatest showpieces for the blu-rat format you will ever find, only to be rivaled by Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, which still stands as the most gorgeous movie of all time, in my eyes. A perfect picture for a great CG movie, overall.
As for extras, you get everything previous releases got. That's it. The only difference is that there's a trailer for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, coming to the Wii and PS2 next month, on the first movie's disc, but it's the very first trailer released, so its nothing new. It's just mastered in hi-def, though the actual game will look nothing like it, so what's the use? Overall, Warner did a terrible job for adding any special interviews, featurettes, or commentaries to commemorate the 25th Anniversary. I could personally care less about extra features, but those that are steamed about it are within good reason.
The extras we DO get, however, is part of the packaging. As you can see in the pictures one member nicely posted, it comes in a pizza box-esque design. I love it. It's actually much sturdier than you'd think, and the discs hold into their trays rather tightly. You also get 8 collectible cards, a reproduction sketch signed by Peter Laird (though it's printed, not actually signed), a reproduction of the original comic by Eastman and Laird that is based off of the original movie, an a beanie hat, which looks like it'd fit a younger head rather than an adult head, though I haven't unpackaged it for collectible reasons. It's a nice package overall, though many have complained about it not being in normal elite cases. You can always do custom cases, but this works perfectly fine and suits the collection well.
You may be wondering "Why the 4 stars?" after the first two movies weren't done as well as they could have been, but it's simple: This is the best they've looked. If you want a better picture for all of them, this is the only way to go, and they all look better, especially the last two. I did knock off a star because they didn't go the extra mile for the release by adding extra bonus features nor remastering the first two movies as thoroughly as they should have. However, hardcore Turtle fans like me will love it, I can say that much. It's worth the $60, in my eyes, but if you're only particular of getting the first movie (which I have found many are), wait up on this release. One can hope that it will get a re-release down the line from Warner like 300 and The Matrix have gotten, and hopefully, with better quality, as it's the one that got the short end of the stick, and the one most people will likely not be that satisfied with. However, if you want Turtles II and onward, they all look good to fantastic, so it's worth the purchase.
*a mini reprinting of the full Mirage Studios 62-page black and white comic adaptation of the first film made by TMNT co-creators Peter Laird (script) and Kevin Eastman (layouts) who also ink--along with the very talented Eric Talbot--the exceptional pencils by Jim Lawson
*a black beanie with the old school cartoon and movie Ninja Turtles logo printed on the front
*an envelope with a cool drawing of the Turtles on front, the contents inside being some pretty neat character cards, but the coolest item being a small reproduction of a drawing penciled and signed by Peter Laird
But the biggest aspects of this Blu-ray set to get excited about are the quality transfers of the films, the main reason for buying a Blu-ray Disc. All four films are recreated accurately in the digital medium with a great level of grain and detail on the first three films, and an understandably sharp, grain-free image for the CGI film.
From now on I'll only focus on the first film, released in 1990, as that is by far my favorite of the four.
Taking into account the low-budget nature of this film and its use of soft light, the Blu-ray accurately brings the look of this film into the living room, as if a film reel were being projected onto your HDTV. A nice layer of natural grain, exceptional detail, accurate color reproduction, and so on--this movie looks beautiful, and alone is worth the purchase of this box set if you're a hardcore fan of the film. The review by Kenneth Brown strikes me as odd, as I do not notice grain zapping/reduction and heavy use of edge enhancing to compensate. I've seen plenty of such HD transfers, and this looks NOTHING like what the reviewer describes. The grain is very natural. And the "inconsistent contrast" and "poorly resolved blacks" are due more to the nature of the lower quality film stock as well as the soft lighting. Do these "professional" Blu-ray reviewers not know anything about film???
Being now a fan of the original Mirage Studios comics by Eastman and Laird, I appreciate this film even more now than I did as a kid considering how faithful it is to the source material. The tone is decidedly more adult, though not something that kids aren't welcomed into enjoying (most of the comics were the same way, barring some exceptions like Eastman and Simon Bisley's "Bodycount" miniseries); the story follows closely a select few issues, with any additions and changes gelling with the source material exceptionally well and being necessary for the plot to carry on without hampering (e.g., April O'Neil being a news reporter a la the cartoon series, rather than a computer programmer working for Baxter Stockman--that whole plot would not have worked here in 90 minutes for what they aimed for, and is ultimately unnecessary in this telling); Raphael is the main protagonist, with his journey to quell his anger and understand himself, standing out amongst his brothers, and his hard-shelled loyalty to his brothers and master as well as his meeting and friendship with Casey Jones driving the plot forward (after all, in the comics, Raphael in the "Return to New York" series is the one who drove the other Turtles to go after Shredder after their defeat at April's store/apartment); implementing the Turtles' and Splinter's origin story in the comics real closely with, again, some necessary changes to keep the plot and film pacing flowing; and, man, I could go on and on!
What I'm trying to say is, it's faithful to the source material, it doesn't pander to the kiddies (though again is a great movie for kids) unlike the two live-action sequels did, and in addition to that, it's written, directed, acted, photographed, scored, and edited exceptionally well. There's also those cuh-ray-zee special effects by Jim Henson and company, which are a marvel to behold.
1990's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is an incredibly well-made low-budget film which became a smashing success, understandably so due to the popularity of the Turtles at the time, but I believe also because of how competently made it is. Call me crazy, but I think it's one of the absolute finest films ever made, and I thought that even before I got all nutty over the original Mirage comics. It's not just some old flick to enjoy for nostalgia factor or to tout around on college campus while wearing a TMNT T-shirt, fondly joking about how "Radical!" the Turtles are; this is expert filmmaking at its finest, and the Blu-ray of the film is beautiful and totally faithful to the low-budget film source.
One thing that I'm a little disappointed about--and this isn't enough to bring it down a star or anything, it's still a 5-star product regardless--is that there are no alternate or deleted scenes. The movie was originally supposed to end differently, and there were some censorship issues as well. These missing scenes and edits would be great to see. I love having the theatrical cut of the film, but I hope that someday in the future we'll see a proper Steve Barron director's cut.
As said in the beginning: Extremely, highly recommended! While I'm not as big of a fan of the other movies, and really kind of despise the third, I'm happy to own all four of them in the best quality possible; and really, the rest of the three look as faithful as the first.
If you're familiar with the live-action films but not the CGI one and are looking for an opinion on that: It's a good film. If you follow the 2003 cartoon series at all, it's a welcome addition to that, with some cool designs and animation. It's a whole lotta fun, and definitely my second favorite Ninja Turtles movie (with third being "Turtles Forever", fourth "Secret of the Ooze", and fifth the dreaded turd/third movie).**WARNING TMNT FANS**
--This set contains absolutely nothing new from the previous 2 releases of the live action films and the cgi movie is simply a port of the standalone disc with regards to special features and the transfer--
I'm not sure what all of the 5 star reviews are all about for this so called 25th anniversary boxset so far, but let me be the first to offer a counter to those "generous" scores with a dose of the reality of the situation.
This set offers nothing new from what is already available on the standalone dvds, safe for a few cheap gimmicks like 4 cloth masks and some temporary tattoos. The only thing new here is the package art and believe me it isn't worth $30, which is actually Amazon's price, the MSRP is actually more. There is no commentary on any of the movies except the most recent one which is simply ported over from the other single disc release. The transfers are the same that was used for the initial 1998 dvd releases of the 3 movies and the age really shows on the films, especially that of the live action ones. No deleted scenes or making of featurettes talking about Jim Henson's creature shop for the live action films. No Elias Koteas (Casey Jones) interview or anything. Nothing but the theatrical trailers.
Here's a fun fact for all of you turtles fans. The director of the 1st turtles movie (the best one) has come out publicly and stated that he has deleted and extended scenes in his possession that he would like to contribute to a special edition of the 1st movie along with contributing directors commentary if WB were interested. Apparently they are not. They would rather whore out this franchise and continue to kick loyal fans in the face. The only shellebration going on here is one of greed and laziness on behalf of WB Studio with there franchise. This franchise deserved much better for it's 25th anniversary than a cheaply slapped together rerelease. One can only hope that for the 30th anniversary and no doubt next "shellebration" that WB will decide to put together a real boxset as opposed to expecting fans to "shell" out more money for nothing new. I hope if anything that the 1st movie gets an eventual 2 disc special edition that it so richly deserves with a new hi def transfer and all the special features that the director has and wants to contribute because it is the only one that really holds up anyway today. Thanks for nothing WB.
1 out of 5 stars for the piss poor effort by WB for this storied franchise that deserves better. For those of you who already have 1 of the 2 prior releases of the live action movies, stick with your previous copies and don't contribute a dime to Warner Bros. Studio. They put no effort into this boxset. For those of you who don't own any of the movies yet, I urge you to go and pick up the standalone movies for dirt cheap. You can find them for $5 a piece on most retail sites and brick and morter stores and you'd be getting the exact same content on them that is on this boxset as well as the same transfer so you're not missing a thing and saving your money. Don't contribute to WB's lazy and cheap triple dip. Show them we expect more for this franchise and maybe they will listen for the next go round.Ok, I admit, I'm a bit biased as I grew up watching TMNT on saturday mornings, playing with the action figures, and dressing up as Mikey on halloween. Yes, I'm a teenage mutant ninja turtles fan-boy. This package is everything a turtle fan could ask for. All films look great on Blu-ray, especially TMNT (when Raph and Leo are fighting in the rain, the detail is amazing!). You even get some cool gear like a comic, photos, pictures, even a beanie hat! But that's all just icing on the cake. Just all 4 movies on blu-ray is awesome enough. Buy it, you won't be disappointed. Turtle power!Below is a review of this product: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Collection (alt listing). Amazon may display this review on the page of another version of this product, for which this review may not apply. After reading this review, please click on the link so that you can be assured that the product this review applies to is the same one you thought it was for.
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This set consists of the three original live-action Turtles films from the early-to-mid 1990s, and the computer-animated TMNT film from 2007, along with a sheet of temporary tattoos all packaged in a standard plastic keepcase, with two double-sided pages inside, one disc per side. The tattoos are stored under the literature clips on the inside cover, and there's nothing on the inside back cover.
Each of the four discs is a bit-for-bit copy (a "disc image") of a previous DVD release. All four movies are 16:9 widescreen, with Turtles 2 & 3 also containing 4:3 fullscreen versions. (Full disc specs are below.) Apparently in the original releases, Turtles 1 & TMNT were dual-sided discs with widescreen on one side and fullscreen on the other and they only used the widescreen sides for this re-release. That's fine with me.
These same four discs (with the same disc art) and temporary tattoos are also available in a "25th Anniversary Collector's Edition" box set, which adds in some cloth masks and puts the discs in what appears to be a round CD holder, which is then apparently stored in an outer cardboard box with the masks. I bought this for 25 bucks at Walmart, which had a sticker on front proclaiming "Only At Wal*Mart Includes Turtle Tattoos". Since the tattoos are available in the "25th Anniversary Collector's Edition" box set, it must be the standard packaging that's exclusive to Walmart.
I like that it's in standard packaging, and doesn't include the masks and CD holder that I have no desire to buy, but I wish the price were significantly cheaper. What hurts even more is that less than a year after I bought it, Warner Bros. put out the 4 Film Favorites Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles two-disc set, which includes all of the same video content (one "disc image" per disc side), but usually sells in Target for 9.99 two and a half times LESS than what I paid!
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
* Year: 1990
* Runtime: 1:33:23
* Video Format: 16:9 Widescreen
* DVD Production Date: February 27, 2003 (Nero InfoTool gives this date, but it should be 1998 or 1999)
* Region: 1
* Layers: 1
* Audio Languages: English, French
* Subtitle Languages: English, Spanish, French
* Extras: The T-Files (character biographies of Donatello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Splinter, The Shredder), Theatrical Trailer, "Sewer Maze" Game, "Monkey Trouble" Trailer, "The Adventures Of Pinocchio" Trailer, "Theodore Rex" Trailer.
* Notes: This is a live-action movie.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II: THE SECRET OF THE OOZE
* Year: 1991
* Runtime: 1:28:19
* Video Format: 16:9 Widescreen, 4:3 Fullscreen
* DVD Production Date: July 2, 2002 (Nero InfoTool gives this date, but it should be 1998 or 1999)
* Region: 1
* Layers: 2
* Audio Languages: English
* Subtitle Languages: English
* Extras: Theatrical Trailer, "Pick That Flick" Game.
* Notes: This is a live-action movie.
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III
* Year: 1993
* Runtime: 1:35:33
* Video Format: 16:9 Widescreen, 4:3 Fullscreen
* DVD Production Date: July 18, 2002 (Nero InfoTool gives this date, but it should be 1998 or 1999)
* Region: 1
* Layers: 2
* Audio Languages: English
* Subtitle Languages: English
* Extras: Theatrical Trailer, "Pick That Flick" Game.
* Notes: This is a live-action movie.
TMNT
* Year: 2007
* Runtime: 1:26:45
* Video Format: 16:9 Widescreen
* DVD Production Date: May 18, 2007
* Region: 1
* Layers: 1
* Audio Languages: English, Spanish, French
* Subtitle Languages: English, Spanish, French
* Extras: Commentary with writer/director Kevin Munroe, Alternate Opening (with forced commentary by Kevin Munroe), Alternate Ending Temp/Scratch Test (with forced commentary by Kevin Munroe), "Mikey's Birthday Party" Full Sequence (with forced commentary by Kevin Munroe), "Raphael's Rough House Fight" Test (with forced commentary by Kevin Munroe), "Monsters Come Alive" Storyboard Comparison (with forced commentary by Kevin Munroe), "Donny's Digital Data Files" Featurette, "Rooftop Workout" Rough Scene (with forced commentary by Kevin Munroe), "Still Wanna Fight" Temp/Scratch Test (with forced commentary by Kevin Munroe), "Splinter Gets Cake" Additional Scene (with forced commentary by Kevin Munroe), Internet Reel, "Voice Talent First Look" Featurette
* Notes: This is a computer-animated movie. The back of the case incorrectly lists a Fullscreen copy, in addition to the Widescreen copy.
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