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30 yrs ago : TMNT the Movie


Coliseum1972

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Shaolivevil

It's hard to believe that was 30 years ago. I remember going to see it in the theater with my big brother and a couple of friends. That was junior high...

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I was a huge turtle fan as a child. This movie was and still is awesome! I loved that it had a certain "darkness" to it. Storytelling, costumes, sets, actors... Not to mention the best looking splinter ever, period! It's a real shame that everything that followed would eventually tarnish this first effort. Although I admit Part 2 isn't all that bad either.

If rumours are true... again these been around forever. There should be a workprint which gives it even a grittier feel to it. Something I'd love to watch eventually. But yeah if it's a new 4K release with *fingers crossed* some fresh extras... I'm all in. Cowabunga!

Edited by laagi
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13 hours ago, Killer Meteor said:

It was a huge deal in 2004 when we finally got an uncensored release in the UK.

 

 

Let me guess... This had nothing to do with the nunchucks, right!?

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A little trivia for the original TMNT:

This would be the final film for Jim Henson, who designed the animatronic suits as he sadly passed away on May 16, 1990 at the age of 53. Golden Harvest and New Line Cinema dedicated the sequel, Secret of the Ooze, in his memory.

22-year old Judith Hoag played April O'Neil in the film. However, she wasn't too happy with the six-day shoots and the action scenes' level of violence at the time. (Interview with Variety) So, she was never asked to reprise her role for the two sequels, instead with Paige Turco replacing Hoag as April. Hoag though would become famous for her role as Gwen Cromwell Piper, the daughter of Debbie Reynolds' character in Disney's Halloweentown franchise from 1998 to 2006, which lasted four films. 

Ernie Reyes Jr. would play Donatello when it comes to the film's action sequences. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, he would play a new character in pizza delivery boy Keno and as a result, Steven Ho, best known at the time for his championships in kata and had done two films with Jet Li, would play Donatello in the fight scenes. On the other hand, Kenn Troum, today known as Kenn Scott of Showdown, was the martial arts double for Raphael in both this and the 1991 sequel, the latter upgraded to main suit performer.  

The actors playing the Turtles made appearances outside the suits in the film:

Michelan Sisti (Michaelangelo) played the Domino's Pizza delivery guy who conversed with his alter ego outside the sewers shortly after the film begins. 
Josh Pais (Raphael) was the taxi passenger who asked the driver "What the heck was that?" after the cab hit Raphael, who was chasing Casey Jones.
Leif Tilden (Donatello) played a member of the Foot Clan.
David Forman (Leonardo) played a member of the street gang.

Playing the street gang leader who works for The Shredder is a young Sam Rockwell, who only made his second feature film after working in TV (the 1989 horror film Clownhouse was his feature film debut)

Brandy Yuen, brother of the legendary Yuen Woo-Ping, headed the martial arts stunt team, with assistance from Billy Lui Tak-Wai and Ip Choi-Nam and Yuen Mo-Chow serving as stunt doubles. 

Edited by AlbertV
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Killer Meteor

I have the junior novelisation which had very dark and grainy B&W stills in it which made the film look downright creepy! It contains an extra violent scene with Shredder (which you can tell was cut last minute from the final film), and a silly epilogue at a comic book publisher.

 

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4 hours ago, Killer Meteor said:

I have the junior novelisation which had very dark and grainy B&W stills in it which made the film look downright creepy! It contains an extra violent scene with Shredder (which you can tell was cut last minute from the final film), and a silly epilogue at a comic book publisher.

I had that book. I used to read it all the time.

It was the first film I saw twice in the movie theater.

And it introduced the world to the unsung heroes of the ninja hierarchy: the axe distributors.

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I enjoyed Elias Koteas' casting as Casey Jones.  So much more believable than pretty-boy Stephen Amell (Casey Jones in Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows).  After the 1990 movie, my friends and I ordered pizza.

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Coliseum1972

Shame Koteas wouldnt let them use his likeness for toys , Eastwood is the same :/

“They had all these stunt people who came in from Hong Kong, who had no union protections. They were getting hurt. As soon as they were injured, they were shipped out of there. It was not the safest set to be on. That’s a little distressing. People are doing the movie, doing the best they can on the budget and I think producers lose sight sometimes there are actual human beings involved.”

 

Sounds very much like working for WWE , Vince just throws people on the metaphoric garbage dump once their "flavour" is gone , he treats them like animals that can be disposed of.

Still , if not for Chow paying the difference there would be no TMNT movie.

Edited by Coliseum1972
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Cognoscente
On 5/21/2020 at 4:46 AM, Coliseum1972 said:

“They had all these stunt people who came in from Hong Kong, who had no union protections. They were getting hurt. As soon as they were injured, they were shipped out of there. It was not the safest set to be on. That’s a little distressing. People are doing the movie, doing the best they can on the budget and I think producers lose sight sometimes there are actual human beings involved.”

...said Judith Hoag.

I wish that Pat Johnson wasn't involved because the fights haven't aged all that well.

The below images are from the July 1990 issue of Next Magazine.
 

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I would kill to watch that supposed workprint. I always loved the kind of dark theme of this first part. It had it's fair amount of laughs but I always felt it had a pretty serious overall tone. 

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This comic has skyrocketed in value in recent years. Unfortunately, mine is a 3rd printing but still glad I have one.

Image3.jpg

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38 minutes ago, teako170 said:

This comic has skyrocketed in value in recent years. Unfortunately, mine is a 3rd printing but still glad I have one.

Image3.jpg

Nice! 

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Australian-based Umbrella Entertainment will release a bluray reissue (their first release dates from 2015) of the movie, labeled the Stink-O-Vision edition, on April 5. It will most likely use an old HD scan, and feature both DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo, and 5.1 tracks.

https://shop.umbrellaent.com.au/products/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-stink-o-vision-version-blu-ray-1989

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I recently got the Umbrella bluray reissue, and skimmed through the disc.

Video and audio is great, the video is probably the same HD scan as the German bluray, and the audio is in both DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (for purists), and 5.1, and the movie comes with English subtitles. I will watch the movie next weekend. But to summarize the bluray: It's the definite edition of the movie to date until we get a remastered bluray or 4K UHD release.

Edited by DiP
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I still have my original VHS tape that I had gotten for Christmas in 1990. And using my VCR last year, it still holds up well....remembering having a Pizza Hut ad before the movie begins. 

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