Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 movie) (Exclusive Series) (HBO Max)
- Matt Palmer
- Aug 30, 2021
- 3 min read
Initial release date: March 30, 1990
Studios: New Line Cinema/Golden Harvest
Tagline: Lean, Green And On The Screen
Heroes in a half shell!
Plot: In New York, mysterious radioactive ooze has mutated four sewer turtles into talking, upright-walking, crime-fighting ninjas. The intrepid heroes - Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo - 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 them.
Cast
Judith Hoag (Finding You) - April O’Neill
Elias Koteas (NBCs Chicago P.D.) - Casey Jones
Josh Pais (Joker; Motherless Brooklyn) - Raphael
Brian Tochi - Leonardo
Corey Feldman - Donatello
Robbie Rist - Michelangelo
Kevin Clash - Splinter
James Saito (Always Be My Maybe) - Shredder (voiced by David McCharon
Writer(s): Todd W. Langen (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze)
Bobby Herbeck
Director: Steve Barron (Coneheads)
Rated PG (93 min)
Before Paramount and Nickelodeon released the two CGI ‘Turtles’ movies from producer Michael Bay, there were three live-action ‘Turtles’ movies that a whole generation grew up with. And, it’s also hard to believe that the first movie was released 31 years ago!!
The 1990 movie delivers quite a few quirky humorous moments and some really cool action. It’s a great live-action adaptation of the 1980s cartoon that aired on Saturday mornings and the comics.
There are a few moments in the movie that can be a little on the dark side. But, out of the three live action movies that are in the series, this one is definitely the best! This fun, high-spirited version of the ‘Turtles’ is one not to be missed (if you haven’t seen it before).
You can find the 1990 ‘Turtles’ movie and the other two streaming on HBO Max.
FYI - Once again, this movie is 31 years old!!! I definitely feel a little old lol!
Here are some interesting tidbits about 1990s ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’:
Robin Williams, who was a big fan of the franchise, provided Judith Hoag info regarding her character through his comic book collection; the two were co-starring in 1990s ‘Cadillac Man’ when the Turtles movie went into production.
This was the highest-grossing independent film until ‘The Blair Witch Project’, having made $135 million in the domestic box office and $66 million in the foreign box office.
Judith Hoag wasn’t asked to reprise her role as April in the film’s sequels due to her own personal complaining - particularly about the six day schedule and the amount of violence in the movie.
The movie was set in NYC, but actually much of the filming took place in North Carolina, with only a couple of location shoots done in NYC to capture famous landmark areas.
The last theatrical film that Jim Henson was associated with, he died about a month and a half after the movie’s release.
Henson, whose workshop provided the movie’s turtle costumes, was reportedly upset about the level of violence in the finished movie. While he was proud to have helped advance the art of animatronics, he viewed the violence as “excessive, pointless, and not his style.” However, as director Steve Barron had directed the pilot episode of ‘The Storyteller’ (created by Henson) which set the tone for the entire series, Henson agreed to do it as sort of a favor to Barron.
The Foot Clan is a parody of the Hand, a clan of Ninjas from the Daredevil comics from Marvel.
Many major studios such as Disney, Columbia, MGM/UA, Orion Pictures, Paramount (whose parent company Viacom would require the property in 2009) and WB turned down the film for distribution as they were worried that despite the popularity of the cartoon and the toy line the film would be a box office disappointment like 1987s ‘Masters of the Universe’ was just a couple years prior. The film finally found distribution roughly halfway through the initial production of the then small and independent production company New Line Cinema which at that point had been known for distributing low budget B movies and art-house fare.
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