Arrow Video UK 4K UHD Synopsis: A shell-shocking saga of mutants, martial arts and New York mayhem, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy brought comic book grit, practival effects wizardry and pizza-fuelled fun to a generation of movie-goers, helping turn four sewer-dwelling brothers into global pop culture icons. Launching in 1990 with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, director Steve Barron's gritty, high-energy adaptation of the underground comic became a box office phenomenon, fusing martial arts action, streetwise humour and the groundbreaking animatronics of Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The 1991 sequel The Secret of the Ooze is an irresistibly fun second slice: a deep-dive into the turtles' origins where new mutant foes Tokka and Rahzar are thrown into the mix... double the stakes, double the pizza! Rounding out the trilogy, 1993's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III sends the heroes in a half shell back to feudal Japan in a time-travel adventure full of samurai showdowns, ancient legends and comic chaos. Restored in glorious 4K and packed with extras, this radical set celebrates the legacy of Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael in one of the most iconic franchises of the era, blending innovative effects, comic-book heart and early '90s attitude. (93/88/96 Mins)

 

Views: I was very lucky to grow up in the 80s and early 90s when children's TV, films, and entertainment were very special. While I never got into the actual comic books, I was totally hooked on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies and cartoon series. Turtle-mania had gripped the world and we just couldn't get enough. I remember spending a small fortune on the awesome four-player TMNT arcade game, collecting all the figures and rehiring the movies when I could. It was a great time to be young! But in my later years as a young adult, I could never really find the same joy in watching the films. I was deep into Hong Kong cinema and suddenly the videos and cheap DVDs did nothing for me. Now though – having watched this classic trilogy in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video – I have, once again, fallen in love again with the original movies. They looked amazing! Seeing them in their full glory, widescreen and gorgeously restored, was like watching them all again for the first time. I saw things I never ever knew were there in the first place, including the texture of the turtle costumes which was fun to spot. But the colours, the definition, and the sounds were next level – this was genuinely the best experience I've ever had with these movies!

 

One of the big things for me, and even seeing it as a kid, was knowing that Raymond Chow and Golden Harvest were behind it all. Seeing that big golden G at the start of any movie always excited me back then, and actually still does today. Of course, Golden Harvest were behind hundreds of Hong Kong cinema classics; many of which were from Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Jet Li's golden years – not to mention the legendary Bruce Lee's fight flicks. It's just a pity Chow didn't called on the talents of his A-listers at the time. However, of course, Jackie Chan has indeed voiced Master Splinter in the 2023 animated feature, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Oh, what could have been! The first live-action film was handled by prolific television and music video director Steve Barron, although this would be one of his earlier features. He would later direct Coneheads, but has pretty much continued with TV series and music videos since, and was never brought back for the sequels unfortunately. This would be the only film of the trilogy where Judith Hoag starred as April O'Neil and James Saito as Shredder. Around the same time, Hoag was starring in Cadillac Man with Robin Williams and is still acting today. Likewise, Saito has had a pretty lengthy career, both in film and television, and is still going strong today at 70 years of age. You'll also catch a young Sam Rockwell as one of the street gang thugs in his first film role, which I'd never noticed until now, and eagle-eyed viewers might be lucky to spot a young Skeet Ulrich and Scott Wolf in there too. Toshishiro Obata, who appeared with Richard Norton in The Sword of Bushido, as well as him and Cynthia Rothrock in China O'Brien 2 and Rage & Honour, co-stars as Shredder's right-hand man. You might know him from movies like Showdown in Little Tokyo, Rising Sun, The Shadow, and Christopher Lambert's awesome ninja-flick The Hunted.

 

Pat Johnson – who you would catch it films like Enter The Dragon, Good Guys Wear Black, Battle Creek Brawl and as the referee in all three original Karate Kid movies – handles the fight action here, aided by Hong Kong actor/choreographer Bill Liu Tak Wai who had worked with Donnie Yen in films such as Tiger Cage 2, Satan Returns, and Legend of the Wolf, as well as films like Tiger On The Beat, Skinny Tiger Fatty Dragon, Satanic Crystals and The Barefooted Kid. Assisting them both was the great Brandy Yuen, Yuen Mo and unofficial Jackie Chan Stunt Team member Alex Yip Choi Nam who lend their talents. And word is that the cute Enrie Reyes Jnr – scene-stealer and star of films like The Last Dragon, Red Sonja, and Surf Ninjas – was brought into don the suit as Donatello after one of the Hong Kong stuntmen were injured. Between them, they deliver some very fun fight action and stunt-work, with the fight between Raphael and Casey Jones leaving the stuntman inside with a broken nose after his animatronics caved in. Of course, the first film is undoubtedly the best of the series; dark and moody with some great action scenes and a strong use of weaponry from the Turtles. Of course, as many martial-arts films did back then, the UK and Irish versions of the film had all scenes of Michelangelo using his nunchakus removed. On another note, it's also crazy to think that they nearly went down the route of doing this like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, with animated turtles interacting with the actors...

 

Unfortunately, the violence was toned down for part two where we saw less weapons-work and Casey Jones replaced with a young Asian teen, played out of costume this time by the kick-ass Ernie Reyes Jnr who got the job after they were impressed with him as Donatello previously. This time, Michael Pressman, who had made a number of forgetful titles throughout the 80s in the run-up to this, handles the directorial duties. He fell into television directing soon after this, which is what he still does today. While it was stripped of violence and darker tones somewhat, TMNT 2: Secret of the Ooze is still a lot of fun. Paige Turco takes over as April O'Neil and popular English actor David Warner stars as the scientist who creates the ooze. Francois Chau takes over as Shredder, although big-time wrestler Kevin Nash plays Super Shredder, then we get the addition of two new mutant monsters with Rahzar and Tokka since the original creators didn't want Bebop and Rocksteady to appear. At least we got Vanilla Ice I suppose! Pat Johnson returns as the fight choreographer along with Barbara Bernhardt who continued on part three and films like Mortal Kombat, Batman & Robin, and Punisher War Zone. I also must note that, Drunken Master 2 co-star and Lu Kang performer Ho Sung Pak, worked as a stunt-double in the Raphael suit. And then we have part three, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meets Shogun, which actually should have been the most slickest, darkest and violent of them all, but comes across like a live-action cartoon with silly writing and larger than life characters. Oh yeah, and Casey Jones makes his return but is held back from any action. It's a film that's never really been loved, but it definitely has something and this has been the most fun I've ever had watching it! The film was written and directed by TV director Stuart Gillard, and it shows. Although it was given a lower budget because Golden Harvest felt it was at the end of it's run, perhaps a more experienced film director could have done something stronger with it. As mentioned, Elias Koteas comes back to play Casey Jones, but also doubles up roles as a prisoner called Whit in feudal Japan. Page Turco is back as April O'Neil and a Corey Feldman returns as the voice of Donatello. While Jim Henson's Creature FX workshop handled the practical stuff in the first two films, All Effects Company takes over her, and it's kinda noticeable with the turtles looking a little different to some degree. On a good note, the film does offer quite a bit of fun fight action – mostly all set in feudal Japan of course. Pat Johnson returns as the fight choreographer again with Barbara Bernhardt, as does Ho Sung Pak who stunt-doubles Raphael in the suit again. Supposedly, the great Bruce Le pops up in there also. It's a film that should have been awesome considering it's setting and it's opening 60 seconds is still one of my favourite shots from any turtles movie! Regardless, this is all about the new 4K restorations and they are absolutely totally worth it!!

 

Now in terms of extra features, this is were this new collection really stands out! Fans can rejoice with an all new perfect bound collectors book, delivered in the style of a Roy's Pizza menu, as well as a Roy's Pizza loyalty card. There's a cool double-sided fold-out poster which features the original artwork and the 'Map of the Kappa Realm' on the other side, along with two additional double-sided posters featuring new and original artwork. We get reversible sleeves, and featuring new and original artwork, eight cool trading cards, and four character stickers. And then there's the special features on the discs, of course...

 

With part one, we get a great audio commentary with director Steve Barron, which I quite enjoyed listening to. There's another with comic book expert and podcaster Dave Baxter, which I didn't get to, and a few other audio options overall. There's a new 14 minute interview called Rising When We Fall, with the director who, I guess repeats some of the stuff you'll hear in the audio commentary, but if you haven't listened to that then it's absolutely worth the watch. Turtle Talk is a fantastic 19 minute piece that sees 'Turtle' actors Robbie Rist, Brian Tochi, Kenn Scott and Ernie Reyes Jr talk about their time on the films and the effect it had on a generation. Judith Hoag, who played April O'Neil in the first film, comes back for a new interview in O'Neil on the Beat – a 20 minute interview who reflects on her time on the production and reveals how Robin Williams was a huge fan of the original turtles comic book. Of course, Hoag, who still looks quite well today, has also starred in films like Cadillac Man with Robin Williams and Armageddon, as well as a host of TV shows. Wet Behind The Shells is an 11 minute interview with producer Simon Fields – a fun guy with an interesting background which makes for a great piece, and had some nice things to say about Golden Harvest. Beneath the Shell is a new featurette that explores the legendary Jim Henson Creature Shop's work on the films. This runs at 16 minutes with a focus on his son, Brian, and Splinter-puppeteer Rob Tygner. It's actually quite a nice feature that makes you appreciate the practical effects work even more, and totally worth watching! That's followed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turf, a location tour of certain North Carolina and New York spots that were used in the film. It runs for about 13 minutes and makes for a fun guide for fans who may just make it there one day.

 

One of my favourite extras is the Alternate UK version – the censored version that removes any scenes with Michelangelo using nunchukas and uses alternate takes instead. As the note beforehand explains, there is a shift in quality when these particular scenes come into play. But more importantly, it starts with that glorious golden G from Golden Harvest which gave me tingles when it first kicked off, rather than the logo for New Line Cinema logo that opens up every film in the set. Another alternate ending follows – this one, presumed to be long lost, is from a VHS workprint with raw audio. It runs for just over 2 minutes and, yeah, it's pretty fun but it's quality is a great reminder at how far we have come in the last 30 years from that to this new stunning 4K print. There's about 1 minute of alternate footage from the Korean version. This starts with a note explaining how, according to South Korean law, the original version had to be re-dubbed to remove any reference to Japan – including the word, ninja. This also saw it retitled as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, which is oddly what our animated series was retitled here in the UK. We get four trailers after that – the US theatrical, UK teaser, UK theatrical and the UK re-release trailer - and although they are presented in HD, these are mostly unrestored and a great place to start so you can appreciate the 4K clean-up even more. And finally, the image gallery gives us 27 fun stills and BTS stills to enjoy at our own pace!

 

For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze, we get another directors commentary. That said, film-maker Gillian Wallace Horvat joins Michael Pressman as a moderator of sorts. It's a bit slow moving to begin with, but it does have some revealing moments throughout. A piece called John Du Prez to the Rescue is a 13 minute interview with the composer behind all 3 films. Interesting guy who talks about his upbringing, background and life in music – who also worked with Monty Python. Pretty cool! Hard Cores is an interview with Kenny Wilson, the former mould supervisor at Jim Henson's Creature Shop, who gives us an 8 minute breakdown of his work and involvement with the turtles movies. Following that we get The Secret of the Edit, a 15 minute piece with co-editor Steve Mirkovich on the challenges of editing the sequel and help bring it to life. Quite the career and worth a watch if film-making is of interest. Behind the Shells is a behind-the-scenes look at TMNT 2 from 1991. It runs for close to half an hour, is presented in 4:3 and has the turtles hosting. I loved it! Although it's of lower quality, it's still presented in HD and is a fascinating reminder of how big turtle-mania actually was. There's also interviews with the original comic book creators and a great look at how the animatronics work. Finally, a 2 minute theatrical trailer and 21 slide image gallery finish off that disc.

 

We get another directors commentary on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 – this time with Stuart Gillard who makes for an interesting listen. Then we have the lovely Vivian Wu who gives a great interview in Rebel Rebel, a 14 minute piece that sees her look back at her career and time on this final movie. It's a great feature and I'd love to have seen more. She talks about Golden Harvest flying a legendary fight choreographer to the set for a short time to train them and, legend has it, that this was indeed the late Lau Kar Leung which is just amazing to have that connection. Daimyos & Demons is a 10 minute interview with the great Sab Shimono, who played Lord Nori Naga in the film – an Japanese-American who has quite the career behind him. While he's quite a bit on in years now, he still looks great and makes for a fun interview. Sab also appeared in films like The Shadow, Waterworld, Kirk Wong's The Big Hit and was the voice of the Uncle in the awesome Jackie Chan Adventures animated show, which is just brilliant to know. We get an Alternate UK opening, once again, removing any use of the nunchukas – this one running for about 2 minutes, presented in 4:3 SD quality and is just ridiculous to think of the lengths these feckin censors went to. We all made nunchuks as kids out of brush poles, rope and screws, so their effort was hardly worth it! And as before, finally. A cool 2 minute theatrical trailer and image gallery finish things off...

 

Overall: What an epic release! Packed full of goodies, extra features, and three stunning restorations in glorious 4K, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy finally gets the love it deserves!