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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1990
31 Plays15 days ago
EMAIL: MGTTMPODCAST@GMAIL.COM
https://linktr.ee/MattGoesToTheMovies
In New York, mysterious radioactive ooze has mutated four sewer turtles into talking, upright-walking, crime-fighting ninjas. The intrepid heroes -- Michelangelo (Robbie Rist), Donatello (Corey Feldman), Raphael (Josh Pais) and Leonardo (Brian Tochi) -- are trained in the Ninjutsu arts by their rat sensei, Splinter. When a villainous rogue ninja, who is a former pupil of Splinter, arrives and spreads lawlessness throughout the city, it's up to the plucky turtles to stop him.
Release date: March 30, 1990 (USA)
Director: Steve Barron
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Transcript
Return to Movie Reviews
00:00:01
Matthew Allison
What's going on, everybody? We are back reviewing movies um by popular demand. Maybe not by popular demand, but you know what? ah i said...
00:00:14
Matthew Allison
I don't care. I want to be back. ah um So very excited to actually be back talking about movies again. Rob, between our schedules and just everything that's going on, it really has kind of been difficult to, you know, actually do anything. But we were out.
00:00:34
Matthew Allison
Drinking a couple of beers and um the reason why we're starting with this is because i was so tempted to go see this in the theater that I said...
00:00:46
Matthew Allison
Maybe we start with this and then lo and behold, because let's just face it, that's exactly what happened. um My phone on my TikTok feed sent me something from this movie and i sent it to you and said, if this isn't a sign, this is the first movie that we do to get back into the podcast.
00:01:00
Rob
ah
00:01:06
Matthew Allison
I don't know what is.
Why the Hiatus?
00:01:08
Rob
Season two, baby, here we go. I mean, it's only been one year, four months, and 27 days since the last episode was published, but I mean, who's keeping track?
00:01:17
Matthew Allison
Yeah, and we were on Halo. Oh, God. um
00:01:21
Rob
Yeah, I actually it was Halo, but the same day that that episode released was the um all female Ghostbusters episode. And with all that time off, I secretly think it's funny that there is somebody out there who listened to the show regularly, who just assumes that because we said unkind things about that movie, that the show just got canceled.
00:01:30
Matthew Allison
Yes.
00:01:42
Matthew Allison
Yes, or we or we just hated ourselves so much that we were like, we can't do this anymore.
00:01:42
Rob
That that's why, because.
00:01:47
Matthew Allison
This movie's broke us. But...
00:01:48
Rob
Yeah, yeah. but It might be that too.
00:01:51
Matthew Allison
Now... It could be a mixture of things. And, you know, the funny thing is, is for any listeners that are going to be back from listening to this show in the past, welcome.
00:02:03
Matthew Allison
Any new listeners that might catch this, ah welcome to you as well. This is probably going to be a little different than maybe what people remember. ah Not saying that that's a good or a bad thing. Probably with all of that time in between episodes, there's...
00:02:18
Matthew Allison
maybe going to be some growing pains in how we discuss things and and what we do, but we're going to do our best to to keep you entertained um and and talk about these
Movie's Unexpected Success
00:02:29
Matthew Allison
movies. Now, you know, Rob, like I said, the one thing about this – This got re-released in theaters, actually did very well that they kept it for another week from the initial screening that they were going to do ah for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
00:02:46
Matthew Allison
It did so well, in fact, that they are doing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 next year for its anniversary. And that's a whole separate episode that we're going to do.
00:02:58
Matthew Allison
Yeah.
00:02:59
Rob
Oh, yeah.
00:03:00
Matthew Allison
But this is something that I particularly like. like I really like this. And I've always liked this. But I watched it today.
00:03:11
Matthew Allison
So it is very fresh. um In my mind, i got done about a realistically probably... 30, 35 minutes ago with this.
00:03:21
Matthew Allison
So a lot of things are fresh in my head.
00:03:22
Rob
Hmm.
00:03:24
Matthew Allison
And, you know, one thing about this movie that I never forgot, but what's interesting is, you know, this is not the cartoon.
00:03:35
Matthew Allison
If you watch the cartoon, um this is not it. This is a darker movie. It's not... You know, it's not like Dark Knight or anything like that, but this is not the bright colors and, you know, loving turtles from the cartoon show.
00:03:54
Matthew Allison
And that's not a bad thing because there's a lot of good moments in this movie, but this really works. And, you know, Rob, you mentioned this, so I'm going to let you...
00:04:07
Matthew Allison
take this part over, but we're just used to this in today's society. Everything gets adapted. Everything's got to be dark. Everything's got to be gritty.
00:04:19
Matthew Allison
um This certainly wasn't what Turtles was for kids that were watching the cartoon. um But in this case, I think this is one of the strongest suits of the movie.
00:04:33
Rob
Yes. um I kind of was in the same boat as you where I do remember that this was different from, you know, look, growing up in the early 80s into the 90s, you know, Ninja Turtles was was everything to to people of our generation.
Origins and Parallels with Daredevil
00:04:50
Rob
um this was This was all we wanted was Ninja Turtles. And, you know, we we were mostly familiar with the cartoons, which really... People kind of forget that in the 80s into the 90s, children's programming, especially cartoons, really served as infomercials for the toys.
00:05:08
Rob
Like, that's really what it was. You had to get. And actually, I remember seeing something about the Ninja Turtles like that was really part of how they got their toy deal was it had to be tied into like some of the changes that they made to the characters, because in the comics, because Turtles started as a comic series.
00:05:24
Rob
And it was very dark, 100% right.
00:05:25
Matthew Allison
Yes.
00:05:25
Rob
And I don't know how many people know this, but it was kind of almost a riff on Daredevil. Like, it kind of exists parallel to Daredevil. Like, the same acid or the same slime that blinded Daredevil ends up in the Great, and that's what transforms and mutates the turtles, and how Daredevil fights the hand, so the Ninja Turtles fight the Foot Clan.
00:05:44
Rob
Like, its there's some tie-ins and things like that, but... You're right. the The original comic was very dark. All the guys had red masks. And the reason that they ended up with, you know, the iconic orange and blue and purple and red was so that kids could differentiate which ah which turtle was which.
00:06:02
Rob
And that was part of what was going to sell more toys. That was part of like all of the different things that got this thing going. um So there's... I do remember this movie being a little darker than what I was used to, but it's, it's weird because like it works like, and and the crazy thing, and I even remember this from being a kid, but like, I didn't expect them to like swear.
00:06:22
Rob
And it's not, there's no F bombs in this movie, but like, like minor swears, like damn and ass and things like that. i I was like, wow, this is based on a cartoon.
00:06:28
Matthew Allison
Mm-hmm.
00:06:29
Rob
I was kind of surprised as a kid that that was in there. And, And the end of the movie, it's got a kind of a dark bit there, too, that we'll talk about. But I, you know, i was kind of surprised. But you're right. it It wasn't gritty for the sake of trying to be gritty.
00:06:42
Rob
um It just actually kind of worked.
00:06:47
Matthew Allison
Yeah, and a lot of the things that work about this movie, and again, i I like this. One of the big things that is going to be different from what we were doing is, at the end, really kind of raiding it in popcorn buckets and things like that. Yeah.
00:07:04
Matthew Allison
you know, as movies have kind of evolved, reviews have evolved. It's more of, you know, do we like this movie? Do we not like this movie? You know, why, why is that going to be is how we're really going to go about
Portraying Bonds and Relationships
00:07:17
Matthew Allison
this.
00:07:17
Matthew Allison
But, but it not only does like the grittiness of this work and being a little bit darker, but man, one of the things that I did forget about this movie is how well they actually make these turtles feel like brothers in this movie, how connected splinter feels to them.
00:07:39
Matthew Allison
um And a movie that has a lot of strong parts, and I'm going to give this movie a lot of praise over the time that we talk about this. This, That is one of the biggest praises that I can give it is this movie really does make you feel like these turtles care about Splinter and Splinter cares about these turtles.
00:07:58
Matthew Allison
And when they're broken up and Splinter is captured, I really like, I feel something from that. Like, even though I know what this movie is and I know what's going to happen, rewatching it today, I was like, man, like this actually makes you feel for this situation. um and each character has a good personality, but again, they, they feel connected. They feel like they have grown up together, learn together, train together.
00:08:28
Matthew Allison
yeah, And in a movie that's short, I mean, this movie is a breeze. I think it's an hour and 45 minutes long. um If it's that, which by some today's standards is a very brisk movie, they make you feel that, you know, like they give you enough to feel for these characters.
00:08:53
Rob
yeah One of the things that you know I love about film and and TV shows, well-executed film and TV shows, is does this world feel lived in? does Does this film work on its own? Do we believe that these relationships exist without the movie having to hold our hands and show every piece of every backstory?
00:09:12
Rob
And you nailed it. These brothers feel like brothers. We can tell the tension that has existed for a long period of time between Raphael and Leonardo, for example.
00:09:23
Rob
We can tell that Mikey and Donnie have this maybe closer relationship between the two of them that they kind of do stuff differently on their own when the other two of their four are fighting are fighting with one another.
00:09:36
Rob
But when push comes to shove, those four guys know that they have each other's shells, like 100%. Like there's no doubt that they have it.
00:09:46
Rob
And we believe that without the movie having to hold our hand to see it. And when you were talking about, you know, the relationship with Splinter and everything like that, you know, like when he's captured, that bothers them.
00:09:58
Rob
And it bothers me as an audience member to see that. Like, it's like you you really buy into it. And I kind of remember this too, but you know, this is probably the first time I've seen this movie in 20 years at least.
00:10:08
Rob
but seeing splinter in chains when he's like captured by the foot clan. Oh my God, that still does something to me. And as a kid, I didn't, I just was watching the movie as an adult.
00:10:17
Matthew Allison
Yeah.
00:10:19
Rob
I know, i know I'm looking at a Muppet and I don't care because it's like, Oh my God, I just want to get in with the bolt cutters and let's go, let's, let's go get them now. Like that's the, it it evokes an emotion.
00:10:32
Rob
And I've complained about CG and bad CG a lot in the past. But like, go watch this movie again. Like for those feelings and go watch this movie again and tell me that you prefer cartoons over this, because this is actually pretty good.
00:10:41
Matthew Allison
Mm-hmm.
00:10:50
Rob
Like this is believable. There's actually something happening. And yeah, I know that at times when the turtles open their mouths a little too wide, you can see the eyeballs of the guy that's actually in the suit.
Stunts and Humor in the Film
00:11:01
Rob
Like, yeah, I know there's those memes that are out there. I've seen them.
00:11:04
Rob
And yeah, sometimes you can sort of see the seams of where like the cowl and the headpiece all kind of fit in together. Like you can kind of see that. But I would still prefer this over the CG version.
00:11:18
Rob
Like, i don't know, maybe I'm on an Island, maybe I'm crazy, but I, I think this held up unbelievably.
00:11:26
Matthew Allison
Yeah, no, I feel that this held up incredibly well. One of the other things too, like you must've been reading my mind was with splitter when he's captured, the thing that I didn't remember too about this when he's captured is you can see blood in his fur.
00:11:42
Matthew Allison
You can see almost bruises from when shredder has hit him.
00:11:43
Rob
Yes.
00:11:47
Matthew Allison
and, And then even at the end, when he's up on the roof and he's talking, you can see blood on his teeth. Like, he's still hurt. He's still injured. um And I had forgotten about all of that. And I'm like, man, watching this as an adult, like, this is really good. Like, I can see why I like this as a kid.
00:12:10
Matthew Allison
And I see why i like it as an adult. And sometimes when you go back and watch some of these movies, you don't get both effects anymore. um It just doesn't hold up the same, or you know especially whether it be looks, CGI, things like that.
00:12:24
Matthew Allison
um But again, this movie holds up incredibly well. And not only do you believe the Turtles, one...
00:12:35
Matthew Allison
um The way they portray Shredder in this, I really like first seeing him watching the TV screens, the first scene where he's walking into the hall to address the Foot Clan, him coming around the corner when he smacks Splinter to ask what the turtles are.
00:12:56
Matthew Allison
introducing him for the final battle like this is and intimidating villain he is very well done but even the side characters april has something to do casey has something to do you and they're all done well even the side character danny and his dad who is april's boss i feel like they're utilized well and that's a rare thing because you know compare this to teenage mutant in turtles out of the shadows which we talked about casey jones feels like an afterthought in that movie
00:13:37
Matthew Allison
April, whatever, she's there in the opening scene to look Megan Fox hot, and that's really it. Like, and that's, yeah, and not saying, you know, the person who plays April O'Neil in this is, I think she's actually, ah she's very good looking in this movie.
00:13:45
Rob
That's her job.
00:13:54
Matthew Allison
oh But, like, they're all done very well. um And even, too, with these side characters, and Rob, we've talked about this in so many movies that we've talked about,
00:14:06
Matthew Allison
The people that get together almost out of nowhere. But yet at the end of this movie, I actually believe that April's like, just shut up and kiss me. I have to go do an interview.
00:14:17
Matthew Allison
ah Like, it feels like these two over the course of this time, like actually did kind of like each other and whether or not it's a fling or whatever, but it didn't feel like, so wait, what why would she do that?
00:14:17
Rob
Yeah.
00:14:30
Matthew Allison
It makes no sense. Every single side character to me in this movie actually, they fit and they have enough to do where you like them.
00:14:42
Rob
Even the police chief who feels at times ah bit like a caricature really also isn't like he works like every one of those side pieces.
00:14:52
Matthew Allison
Uh-huh.
00:14:54
Rob
um and And your point about unearned, and like last seen kisses that happen in movies like way too often. It is very bothersome. Like, wait, where did this come from?
00:15:06
Rob
But in this one, you can actually kind of see that. you know, when they're on the farm and they're having that argument. And, um, but at the same time, like there's, there's like a little bit of a, Hey, what's this? Like, uh, you know, it,
00:15:19
Rob
we don't get to the end and she has that line to him and it's just like, ah wait, where did that come from? ah We don't feel that way at all about this, but, and I want to go back to talking about shredder for just a second because his entrance, when he comes in and he's got the Cape on and Tatsu comes over and like, has to like roll the Cape off of him and it exposes all the blades underrated movie villain.
00:15:37
Matthew Allison
Mm-hmm. Well, even the sound effect there, like, sorry, like, like even the sound effect when he takes back the shoulder pad and exposes the blade, just like that little music cue in that is so well done, but continue.
00:15:42
Rob
Oh yeah.
00:15:52
Rob
Yeah.
00:15:55
Rob
Yeah, i I think we kind of sleep on Shredder in this movie as an all time great movie villain, just because we don't really like if I say to you, Shredder, you think of all of the other ways that we consume Ninja Turtles. You don't really think about him in this movie the same way you do.
00:16:12
Rob
his cartoon appearances and video game appearances and and like those things. No, this is like, dude is scary. Dude is very intimidating. You believe him as like a guy that all of these teenagers are looking up to is like, Oh, we want to be like him. He's the ringleader. Like when he's, when he's talking about how they're miss cat, you know, they're outcasts and they're miscreants and all this other stuff.
00:16:37
Rob
And, you know, he's going to provide them family. Like if you're a troubled teenager in New York city and this dude comes out and says, he's going to take care of you. you You just kind of want to be like, dude, I just want to grow up. And I want to be you when I grow up, like you can understand where that comes from.
00:16:52
Rob
And when they have their fight on the rooftop, it's, it's so well done. it executes very well. is just terrifying. um Yeah.
00:17:03
Rob
An all time great movie villain that I don't think gets enough credit.
00:17:07
Matthew Allison
No, re-watching this today, I was like, boy, why don't I think of this version of Shredder? um Because ah he's a good villain, but he also doesn't feel like a villain. He doesn't have clunky exposition. he You know what mean?
00:17:26
Matthew Allison
He just feels... He just feels real. He doesn't really monologue to the turtles. Like he has that one thing where, you know, he talks about like the three of you might've overpowered me, but like, he's not, he's not explaining his plan at the end just to be able to get, you know, distracted.
00:17:46
Matthew Allison
um it It just, he feels so well placed in this universe. And yeah, you can see where these people, the way that they depict New York and everything like that, how these kids and, you know, growing up and everything, like how he would amass a group of of kids and teenagers and the Foot Clan, whether he brought some of them over from Japan or whatever, like, you know, whatever the case may be.
00:18:16
Matthew Allison
ah You can sense that, yeah, it makes sense that he would have these people following him.
00:18:22
Rob
So can we just talk for a second? How sweet was the Foot Clan hideout? Like go back to the 90s as a kid and and think about that hideout.
00:18:29
Matthew Allison
Right? Right?
00:18:31
Rob
What kid in the 90s didn't want to live there? Like you can skateboard, you can play arcade games, you get to do karate all day. Like it was like the coolest thing in the entire world. There's music playing everywhere. There's nobody telling you what to do.
00:18:46
Rob
All right. So here's my question for you.
00:18:46
Matthew Allison
and And cigarettes. and like Because, again, for like for for listeners, though, maybe that are younger than us and don't really understand it, it is crazy for me because we were talking about this, um me and a couple of people, ah like a week ago or whatever at work, and it was like...
00:18:49
Rob
Right. Just everywhere.
00:19:08
Matthew Allison
the difference in not really smelling cigarettes anymore, like cigarette smoke with like vaping and everything, but like for somebody that wasn't around, it's so hard to describe how dominating cigarette smoke was and your everyday life.
00:19:12
Rob
Right.
00:19:28
Matthew Allison
And I never, but, but man, you go back and you look every movie, like, holy cow.
00:19:28
Rob
It was everywhere.
00:19:35
Matthew Allison
So yeah, like, In that era, oh my god. Like, I can hang out, play cards, play video games, skateboards, spray paint, smoke cigarettes.
00:19:48
Matthew Allison
Like, for somebody who doesn't know, yeah, that was, like, oh my god.
00:19:51
Rob
It would have been deal.
00:19:55
Matthew Allison
Like,
00:19:56
Rob
Like if you're just an average suburban kid in the nineties, who probably doesn't really get into a lot of trouble, like really doesn't want to get in trouble. That place seemed like the coolest thing you could, you could ever imagine.
00:20:07
Rob
The only thing that I came up with that's on par with that.
00:20:08
Matthew Allison
Yep.
00:20:10
Rob
And I want to, I want to know what your answer is. If you could pick one place that would be the coolest place possible to hang out. If you're back in the nineties as a kid, would you want to hang out at the foot clan warehouse or
Nostalgia and 90s Settings
00:20:22
Matthew Allison
Mm-hmm.
00:20:22
Rob
the lost boys tree house from hook?
00:20:27
Matthew Allison
Hmm. Probably the Foot Clan. God, I...
00:20:31
Rob
Yeah.
00:20:32
Matthew Allison
god ah I gotta watch Hook. I love that movie. Oh, man.
00:20:36
Rob
That's a good movie too.
00:20:36
Matthew Allison
I was obsessed with Hook. um
00:20:40
Rob
Yeah. But like when you see the last boys, like tree house, like that's, that's kind of the same sort of vibe.
00:20:42
Matthew Allison
So good.
00:20:46
Rob
Like it just seems like the coolest place ever.
00:20:49
Matthew Allison
Right? You could probably imagine yourself in the Foot Clan while you're with the Lost... But, anyway.
00:20:58
Rob
The slasher fanfic we never knew we needed.
00:20:59
Matthew Allison
But... Right. Exactly. Now, the one thing that I will say is, again, just because like I laughed about this more now just because of of of how it is and seeing movies and.
00:21:15
Matthew Allison
The Foot Clan feels real. This New York feels real. You said lived-in universe. you know does Does this universe feel lived-in? Does it feel like the Foot Clan could exist? does it you know The muggings, the stealing, um all of that feels real.
00:21:36
Matthew Allison
And i just I kind of had to laugh at the... turtle in a trench coat and a, you know, in ah and and a hat that could go to the damn movies that his whole turtle face is still freaking showing.
00:21:51
Matthew Allison
And he just walks by people. And there's scenes where Raphael just walks by humans. And it's like,
00:22:00
Matthew Allison
So wait a minute, like, because you, you, you get in this movie that they need to hide in the shadows and things like that.
00:22:02
Rob
yeah
00:22:09
Matthew Allison
But it's like, that part did make me laugh. And again, it's such a small little thing, but being the way that I am now, that just made me laugh because I'm like, how does nobody actually just out of nowhere just go,
00:22:24
Matthew Allison
Jesus freaking Christ, what the fuck? Like, and just, right?
00:22:27
Rob
What are you, dude?
00:22:30
Matthew Allison
And just freak out and stop him.
00:22:33
Rob
um I had noticed the exact same thing. um And the crazy thing is it's not like the first time he's done this. He's like, I'm going to a movie. And he just like grows and grabs his going to a movie disguise.
00:22:41
Matthew Allison
Right?
00:22:44
Rob
It's just like, oh my God.
00:22:44
Matthew Allison
Yeah.
00:22:46
Rob
Like I know it's New York and everything and there's a lot of freaky looking people, but I think that one was a, be a little bit different.
00:22:46
Matthew Allison
Right?
00:22:52
Rob
Like the wideness of the face, the greenness of the skin. but And that's kind of maybe the one thing that is, you got to just kind of like go with your suspension of disbelief because in general, um people who spend a lot of time worrying about being in the shadows and being hidden really kind of suck at it because the foot clan attacks with all of their gear on yeah in an area where it's very easy to see them.
00:23:16
Matthew Allison
Right.
00:23:18
Rob
the turtles really do almost nothing to conceal themselves. Like when they're out on the rooftops and things like that, like people can just kind of see them. Like when Raph goes to the, to the roof of the building and Casey sees them from across the way, like more than Casey would have been able to see them.
00:23:27
Matthew Allison
Right.
00:23:35
Rob
Like that's, they really kind of suck at this kind of like ninja thing.
00:23:36
Matthew Allison
Right.
00:23:41
Matthew Allison
Yeah. And you know, the, the one thing though is, you know, and again, that's like my only real nitpick about this movie.
00:23:47
Rob
Oh yeah.
00:23:50
Matthew Allison
Um, but the, you know, the fight scenes, even like, yes. Um, are they the greatest choreographed things? No, they're not. We've certainly seen better fights choreographed in movies. We've seen, we've seen worse.
00:24:05
Matthew Allison
Um, But you just root for, like, you just root for these guys. So when these things are happening, um you know, that scene where Raph gets attacked on the roof and then gets thrown through the sky, you know, through the through the sky window.
00:24:20
Matthew Allison
Like, I love all of that. Then it's too heavy. More Foot Clan drops in. They drop into the basement. Casey shows up. Um... I just, I just love all of it. I was, I was hooked. I was just sitting there intently watching this movie. And that's, I just think another thing that is just, is a test to, is it a good movie still? Does it hold up? Do you like it is now, again, like you said, i haven't seen this in forever, you know, maybe, ah maybe the same amount of time as you, maybe not.
00:24:57
Matthew Allison
Um, But it was, no, I'm locked in. Like, I'm watching this.
00:25:02
Rob
Yeah.
00:25:02
Matthew Allison
Because there's movies that, like, I've watched when we were doing this show. And I don't have to completely pay attention to because I just remember it. And it's like, whatever. I know what's happening here. I'll you know i'll remember what I want to talk about. I don't need to to see this scene. But, like, I wanted to watch every part of this. Nothing had me distracted.
00:25:24
Matthew Allison
watching this movie and to me that's the ultimate sign is something that came out that I've seen multiple times no matter how long it's been in between I wanted to watch this
00:25:37
Rob
I've seen this so many times that I can't even begin to tell you because, and this is kind of the the funny thing, like, you know, millennials, Gen X, like those listeners will know what I'm talking about.
00:25:48
Rob
um You know, younger millennials and and Gen Z, Gen Alpha, they won't really understand this, but like pre everything is streaming all the time. You really only had, like, if you wanted to watch a movie, you had to have it in your house.
00:25:59
Matthew Allison
Yeah. huh
00:26:04
Rob
Yeah. So this was one of the ones that we had as a kid that my brother, Eric, and I could just go to.
00:26:05
Matthew Allison
yeah
00:26:12
Rob
It was on VHS even ah had to go to where the videotapes were. And anytime we wanted to watch something, we had like, you know, maybe 30 options or so. um But it's not like today where you can scroll Netflix for two hours and not still find anything you're ready to commit to.
00:26:28
Rob
You know, it's just like, oh, yeah, that looks good.
00:26:29
Matthew Allison
Right.
00:26:30
Rob
That's good. That looks good. Yeah, it wasn't like that. And so this was one of the ones that we had. So I have seen this reliably dozens of times when in my in my younger days.
00:26:41
Rob
And so I i knew ah lot. Like once I kind of got into the movie, I started remembering all the parts that were coming. I remembered a lot of the lines. I remembered a lot of the scenes. And yet and yet.
00:26:54
Rob
I never felt compelled to just like drift out and like grab my phone, check Instagram. Like I didn't feel like I needed to do any of that. I wanted to continue to see this. And you talked a little bit about the fights and I was really wanting to pay close attention to how they make this work because Trying to and and really, this is another thing this movie doesn't get enough credit for trying to execute these stunts and these fights in a turtle costume where the extra weight that you're carrying around and the fact that you can't really see quite as well as you would if you didn't have all of that extra stuff on like that throws like the way to jump and flip and do all this other stuff like the balance is off. Imagine carrying like a really heavy backpack.
00:27:35
Rob
And then trying to do all this stuff.
00:27:36
Matthew Allison
Right.
00:27:37
Rob
So I was really paying attention. What I really noticed was that the editing was so crisp and sharp and the cinematography, the the choices of where to set the camera, the choices of where to cut, what to show, the distance that you set the camera up. There was never anything that was too far away except for the parts that needed to be far away.
00:27:56
Rob
Everything else was close enough where it never felt like the Foot Clan were all standing around waiting to get their ass kicked, which Long term listeners know that's one of my biggest pet peeves of fight scenes in movies is when guys are literally just standing around. There's a little bit you can see in the background if you really look for it.
00:28:13
Rob
But overall, the editing and the and the overall technical production of these fight scenes was incredibly well done and not just incredibly well done. Funny, like a movie about teenage mutant Ninja Turtles, which is the craziest four letter, four words that anybody's ever put together in a sentence that became a multi-billion dollar property.
00:28:23
Matthew Allison
Mm-hmm. huh
00:28:34
Rob
it's it's It's kind of supposed to be goofy. And the parts that needed to be funny were really funny. And when Raph is getting absolutely slaughtered, mean, he is getting his ass kicked. And that's that's kind of a dark moment. But yet, they balance it with some of the humor of the rest of the fight. And it all still really works. Like, everything that's going on between the foot in April, um as that, you know, antique shop is getting attacked. And then as all the extra guys come in, like, it's...
00:29:04
Rob
It's hysterical. I loved it.
00:29:07
Matthew Allison
Yeah, like the the, oh, a fellow Chucker, hey? Like, okay, i can I can wait for you guys to not fight to do that.
00:29:10
Rob
Yeah.
00:29:15
Matthew Allison
Like, that's perfectly fine. I'll take, I'll i'll accept it.
00:29:19
Rob
And Mikey running around hitting everybody with the symbols. It's hysterical. Like that's still funny right now. I'm laughing about it. Just thinking of it.
00:29:27
Matthew Allison
Yeah, just so many things about this movie. just They just work. um But, you know, one of the things, and I'm pretty sure that this is what you ah were referring to, but, man, you get to that ending, and I think the standing around is something we'll talk about much more with the second movie, but I think that's one of the things that they didn't hide as well in that one compared to this one, because there are some shots from, from memory to me that I'm like,
00:29:59
Matthew Allison
So why are they just standing there? But, um man, you get to that ending, and let's just be blunt, and again, I think this is what you're talking about.
00:30:11
Matthew Allison
Yo, they straight up in, again, the second movie, but man, Casey Jones just straight up wants to turn into mashed potatoes.
00:30:19
Rob
yeah
00:30:22
Matthew Allison
Like, that guy it in real life that every single bone in his body is broken that guy is dead and not just dead that is a mortal combat fatality and i was like jesus like remember
00:30:42
Rob
Dead in a horrific way.
00:30:45
Matthew Allison
Yeah, like, I remember that he was in there, but, like, just thinking about it, I was like, holy shit. Like, they straight up murdered this dude in this movie.
00:30:57
Rob
i yeah I love this part, actually, because, again, we talked to this movie is a little darker maybe than what we thought. How many times? So growing up as a kid, watching Disney movies, watching you know cartoons in general, like the number one way that almost all villains in children's movies die is falling off a cliff.
00:31:18
Matthew Allison
Right.
00:31:18
Rob
All of them, they all fall off a cliff, like Gaston, like all of them fall off a cliff. And it's because, you know, the hero can't be the one that actually like killed the bad guy. Right. It almost like never happens. They all fall off cliffs.
00:31:32
Rob
And in this one, Shredder falls off the roof, kind of a cliff, in case he's just like, do-do-do-do-do, and murder.
00:31:32
Matthew Allison
right
00:31:39
Rob
And I kind of just love that um that they chose to do that here. Which, by the way, the one thing I was trying to figure out, why is there a garbage truck just randomly in the middle of the street with the doors open and the keys in the ignition?
00:31:44
Matthew Allison
what
00:31:52
Matthew Allison
Cause it was the nineties, dude.
00:31:53
Rob
Like, why is that there?
00:31:54
Matthew Allison
Everybody left their keys.
00:31:55
Rob
I guess.
00:31:56
Matthew Allison
Like, that's just how that happened. But even before that though, it's like ah Splinter was just going to kill this dude because like Splinter's got him hanging over the edge and he's like, yeah, death comes to us all, but like, you're going to die. And it's, you know, like he says, like without honor after he falls, but it's like, yeah, Splinter's just ready to like toss this guy off the side of the, like off the side of the roof and kill him.
00:32:21
Rob
Yeah, there was no like lesson to the turtles about, you know, forgiveness and, you know, taking the higher path and help him up. And, you know, hey, guys, come over and and grab him. We'll we'll make him face justice. Now he's like, bye.
00:32:35
Matthew Allison
Right, yeah. you know No, this is... You're you're dead, dude. but ah you you'll You'll think twice before chaining up another rat. Like...
00:32:45
Rob
It's almost like he took that personally.
00:32:47
Matthew Allison
Right, exactly. Like, holy cow. um So, Rob, any other, you know, quick notes or anything about this movie before we get into some, you know, some facts about this movie, some box office um and how this thing did back in the day?
00:33:07
Rob
So a couple other quick things. um Can we just talk about how weird it is that April's boss just shows up at her apartment, not once, but twice in this movie, like just without even calling Santa.
00:33:18
Rob
He just shows up at her apartment with his son in tow.
00:33:21
Matthew Allison
Right.
00:33:22
Rob
Can we talk about just how weird that is? Can you imagine like randomly your boss just knocking on your door and walking into your house? Yeah. How weird is that? Like, I just, yeah. I mean, I, know that there's kind of like a thing and they talk about this lot with a show, like the big bang theory that nobody ever just like calls or texts each other. They just show up at each other's house. Cause you kind of have to have the two people in the scene. Like I get it, but it's just, it was so bizarre and weird.
00:33:46
Rob
Um, I just had to, I had to mention it. um There's a couple of things in this movie that are so legitimately funny that I do want to mention them specifically. The whole scene where Casey and Donnie are exchanging insults alphabetically is a legitimately funny scene.
00:33:59
Matthew Allison
Yes.
00:34:01
Rob
I had forgotten about it. And then when it got started, I was like, Oh, how did I forget about this? Like, it was legitimately funny. Um, and Donnie's got a line about, ah when they find, uh, the leftover pizza that they were all excited about. And then Donnie opens it and obviously it's got mold, all of it all over. And he talks about only if you want penicillin on your pizza, like just another example of,
00:34:26
Rob
a movie that goes dark, but really doesn't take itself too seriously at any one time where it can't come back and still be legitimately funny. um The other one thing that I'd like to just kind of touch on the origin story In the cartoons, which is kind of what ah I think most canon sort of uses as their origin point, too, is that Hamato Yoshi was a human because he touched rats.
00:34:55
Rob
And before he got mutated, that was the last thing animal that he touched. And that's why he became Splinter, because the turtles had touched him. The last thing they had touched was a human.
00:35:03
Matthew Allison
Mm-hmm.
00:35:03
Rob
They became, you know, kind of like a human hybrid sort of thing.
Splinter's Origin Story
00:35:07
Rob
Which when you kind of like explain it, it doesn't really make any sense at all. The fact that they that he was a rat to begin with.
00:35:14
Rob
I actually like this. I think this change from the origin story that we were kind of accustomed to actually makes more sense. And sometimes I think adaptions try to get too cute almost with, oh, we have to change something for the sake of changing something.
00:35:29
Rob
But this is one that I actually really liked and I think made sense.
00:35:33
Matthew Allison
Yeah, no, absolutely. I totally agree with you. um i definitely did. One thing, because this isn't like a... This is just in it. it But man, I laughed, and again, i know in this day and age...
00:35:49
Matthew Allison
But man, I laughed when they go back down to the sewer, um, and they're going to get ready to, to go after Shredder and, you know, try and figure out where Splinter is. And well, at this point, they don't even know who Shredder is, um, actually. So, but they're going to try and go back and they're going to try and find Splinter, um.
00:36:09
Matthew Allison
And Casey's like, so what are what are we talking about spending the night down here? And Donatello says you're claustrophobic. I'm sorry. Like, I cracked up when he's like, you want a fist in the mouth? I've never even looked at another guy. Like, I just laughed.
00:36:23
Matthew Allison
Like...
00:36:23
Rob
I never caught that joke as a kid and I only caught it for the first time on this rewatch. I was like, Oh wow.
00:36:29
Matthew Allison
Yeah, I was just like, yeah, that's funny. Like, I'm sorry, it is. Like, it's just, like, it made me laugh.
00:36:34
Rob
Yeah.
00:36:37
Matthew Allison
But, um yeah, so, I mean, Rob, we both established, you know, this is a win. that This is a movie that I don't just like.
00:36:48
Matthew Allison
I love this movie.
00:36:50
Rob
Yeah. um As we were kind of discussing this, you know, you had said, yeah, it's going to be back out in theaters. And I, I said to you with apprehension, oh geez, I haven't seen it in a long time.
00:37:03
Rob
I'm worried that it doesn't hold up. Those were almost my exact words.
00:37:06
Matthew Allison
Yeah.
00:37:08
Rob
And very quickly when I turned this on the other night, I was like, why the hell did I worry about that? This does hold up. This is still fun. This is something that I'm like, why have i waited almost 20 years to watch this again? This is actually but really good. Like even by today's standards, i um so I watched this with my son, who's now 12 years old.
00:37:30
Rob
And I wasn't sure if he'd be into it or not, you know, because most of what he's seen has been a different production level. It's been more CG. You know, he's definitely seen all, you know, it's it's a lot more of that is what he's used to.
00:37:44
Rob
And I asked him, I was like, hey, what did you think of this? Did you like it? He's like, oh, yeah, this was great. So, yeah, this will this will still hold up to kids today, I think.
00:37:53
Matthew Allison
Yeah, no, it certainly does. So ah we're going to get into some some box office, some behind-the-scenes stuff. ah Just a quick little recap on this movie.
Financial Success and Near Miss
00:38:02
Matthew Allison
So, ah you know, this was released March 30th, 1990.
00:38:06
Matthew Allison
um Almost two lifetimes ago for me and you, Rob. I mean...
00:38:10
Rob
Feels that way.
00:38:11
Matthew Allison
you know we We were kids, and then we turned into teenagers and young adults, and and now we're just full-grown adults. um So this is a long time ago in our in our life. But you know back then, $13.8 million dollars for the budget and huge turnaround. You think about $202 million.
00:38:33
Matthew Allison
two hundred and two million dollars worldwide um that's a huge turnaround you think about two hundred and two million dollars in 1990 and again like maybe you don't think about that now but man that that's a lot of money um you know this was this was a hit um in every sense of the word this was a bona fide success that almost didn't happen um because actually because of howard the duck um howard the duck came out and
00:39:11
Matthew Allison
that's a movie where to me it's so bad. It's good. i love it, but it was so poorly received and did so bad that this movie almost didn't happen because of it.
00:39:22
Matthew Allison
Um, which you never know, you know, do we, you know, 1990, I mean, geez, we got, we talked about this earlier.
00:39:32
Matthew Allison
We got super Mario brothers three years after this, like you, you think about the contrast of,
00:39:36
Rob
Oh, jeez.
00:39:41
Matthew Allison
this to Mario Brothers. And, you know, you you talk about just ah the start difference in overall quality, but, you know, with this too, one of the cool things is each...
00:39:44
Rob
Ugh.
00:39:56
Matthew Allison
um Each character, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and leonard Leonardo, each actor gets another part in the movie.
00:40:06
Matthew Allison
um they They have a physical appearance inside of there, which is is really cool. um Each one of them has their own little, you know, placement here in the movie.
00:40:18
Matthew Allison
um I did not realize that Corey Feldman is the voice of Donatello.
00:40:24
Rob
I saw that for the first time and actually recognize that on this watch through as well.
00:40:29
Matthew Allison
I was just like, wait, what? Like, I'm...
00:40:36
Matthew Allison
like what um they did switch like one of the things too like this movie is rated pg but they did some things with the lighting that actually allowed them to stay a pg rating because in you know like high definition now and things like that you can see a little bit more and rob like i don't know if you noticed this but like one of the things like when the turtles come back and find their layer busted up they
00:40:38
Rob
Yeah.
00:41:04
Matthew Allison
There's actually a really huge puddle of blood in the middle of the floor that you can clearly see now. Yeah.
00:41:15
Matthew Allison
But because of the lighting back, like how it was filmed back in the 90s and it was darker and grainier than like an HD transfer nowadays, like you really couldn't pick up on it.
00:41:26
Matthew Allison
um So they use some, you know, well, maybe not use, but they just realized that there were some things that they could get away with because it wasn't really shown.
00:41:41
Matthew Allison
But and then, you know, Again, at the time, back in you know the 90s, this was an independent film.
00:41:51
Matthew Allison
The highest grossing independent film of all time then. um Where, again, it was big, but you don't think of that. You don't think that this is going to be this big of a hit.
00:42:09
Rob
Well, everybody went and saw it. I mean, I distinctly remember seeing this in theaters. Everybody that I grew up with went and saw this in theaters. Um, this was just like the biggest thing that could possibly have happened to us as kids.
Ninja Turtles' Lasting Impact
00:42:23
Rob
And I think what gets lost is there's so many more options today. There's, there's never been more options for entertainment and people have never been more upset at the same time.
00:42:29
Matthew Allison
Mm-hmm.
00:42:33
Rob
It's wild, right? Like people are more angry and more upset when there's more stuff to do than there ever has been. um But there's I don't know that we'll see anything that rivals like what a chokehold the Ninja Turtles had on the ninety s like the late eighty s into the ninety s
00:42:52
Matthew Allison
and And this movie, whether good or bad, I mean, it spawned two sequels. um It spawned, and Rob, you had sent me the clip, and funny enough, I had just watched it, but it spawned like almost like a Disney on ice type thing, except they weren't on skates. But this movie, with how well it did, man, it took over. Yeah.
00:43:17
Matthew Allison
you know, the video games, the toy, like, man, this thing came out and it really did. And, you know, you you think about it nowadays. And again, like,
00:43:29
Matthew Allison
it doesn't seem like a big deal, but back in the nineties, it's like, no, this was a, this was a big deal. and And it's hard to truly grasp it.
00:43:41
Matthew Allison
If you weren't around in that time when now everything's a big deal, everything gets a toy lineup, everything gets a sequel. Um, You know, regardless of whether or not it's good or, you know, just barely makes enough money back. Most things get a sequel. But, you know, back in the 90s, like, this was a huge achievement.
00:44:04
Rob
I mean, think we're talking about something. This film came out 30 years ago, but the the cartoon and the toys predate that by several years. What can you even really think of that's still relevant and not just relevant, but very relevant today that's lasted 30 years?
00:44:11
Matthew Allison
Right.
00:44:18
Rob
I mean, like G.I. i Joe, not anywhere near the level of popularity as it was in the 80s and the 90s, you know, like. My Little Pony, you know, like any of that stuff, like even Power Rangers, that's still relevant today, never really had the peaks of, of, you know, just the, in the zeitgeist is what Ninja Turtles did at its peak.
00:44:39
Rob
And still like, it's, it kind of has, it's kind of dropped off a little bit, but like turtles have kind of just stuck around. There's maybe been a few years where we don't really get a lot of turtles content, but But like you can just release a Turtles video game and people are going to be super excited about it in ways that I don't know i guess maybe Batman, you know, Batman has been around for over 100 years now. Superman's been around forever now, too. Like, I guess kind of that might be the comic book characters that have been around for that that period of time is about what I could think of. But just the way that this blew up and stayed relevant, I'm I'm struggling to think of anything else that that rivals that.
00:45:18
Matthew Allison
No, it's ah it's a very, very big deal how long this has stayed around, for sure. So, um yeah, I mean, we're going to wrap this up, but this will lead into um ah going into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Secret of the Ooze.
Preview of Next Episode
00:45:38
Matthew Allison
um That is one that I have watched probably more than the first Turtles.
00:45:45
Matthew Allison
um But... I remember liking it, but again, it's going to be very interesting because there are some key things that I remember from that.
00:45:56
Matthew Allison
Um, and even things that they had to change from this movie, because there were some parents that were very upset with the nature of this movie where they made major changes to the second one.
00:46:08
Matthew Allison
Um, I don't think we'll get to the third turtles movie. I tend to not want to watch that one.
00:46:12
Rob
but
00:46:16
Matthew Allison
Um, I, I,
00:46:17
Rob
disavow its existence.
00:46:19
Matthew Allison
Like, yeah, really. and And Rob, you know I'm a guy who doesn't do that. um Like, I don't not watch something because it's bad. Like, I almost...
00:46:28
Rob
You made me watch Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, so yeah.
00:46:31
Matthew Allison
Yeah, like I almost want to watch it more when it's bad, but yeah, like Turtles 3, I don't think that'll be one that we review.
00:46:32
Rob
Yeah.
00:46:39
Matthew Allison
um Well, definitely, we're going to do Turtles 2, and I'm going to be very interested to go back, kind of recap some of the things that were had to be changed because of this movie, even though it was such a big success, um that had to be switched in Turtles 2.
00:46:55
Rob
I'm definitely looking forward to the second one again. It's been quite a while. I kind of like you, I feel like remembering back to like being, you know, preteen into my teens and, you know, that kind of timeframe, like,
00:47:10
Rob
I remember probably enjoying the second one more because I think it was a little less dark. It was a little more fun from what I remember.
00:47:18
Matthew Allison
Mm-hmm.
00:47:18
Rob
um But I'll be curious to see if I still feel that way now, because like i said, this original one from 1990, it's remarkably well done and still holds up and is still worth a watch today in 2025.
00:47:35
Matthew Allison
Absolutely. So listen, everybody, thank you so much for everybody that is going to listen to this episode. Now, Facebook page is back up, Instagram page is back up, TikTok page is back up. We still have the email.
00:47:51
Matthew Allison
Every single one of those links is going to be in the description that is attached to this. So Just like in the past, send us emails, what movies you'd like to see, your thoughts, put it in the comments on the Facebook page, Instagram page, you know, what you thought of this review, you know, how fondly do you remember this? Did you like it? Do you not like it?
00:48:12
Matthew Allison
And, you know, we are excited to be back, excited to continue to talk about movies and just, yeah, Rob, all I can say is, you know, thanks.
00:48:25
Rob
Season two, here we go. Yes, please. Please send in your suggestions because if you, the listener, don't send in suggestions, eventually we'll get to the point where Matt is going to make me watch Madam Web so we can talk about it. And I would rather not do that. So please, listeners, send in your suggestions for my sake um so that we never get to the point where Matt thinks that's a good idea.
00:48:47
Matthew Allison
Yeah, absolutely. So, all right, everybody, thank you so much for tuning in. Join us for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Secret of the Ooze, next week when we go to the movies.