HEROES IN A HALF SHELL. TURTLE POWER. Ninja Turtles Film Orgy. Being an 80's Baby there were a certain set of popular cartoons. G.I. Joe, Transformers and He-Man to name a few. But there were these 4 green Ninja Turtles, A Rat and a Sexy Reporter that took 80's babies by storm. The Animated Series in the 80's is Legendary. Once the films came out it was Turtle mania. I decided to take a trip down Memory lane and Watch the original Trilogy before I saw the new Reboot:
(GRADE A ) Leo, Mikey, Raph and Don get the Live Action Treatment with Legendary Jim Henson in this Live action film adaptation of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles". It's basically an origin of the Turtles and how they came to be. It features a dark and gritty NYC in the late 80's/90's. I loved this movie when I was young as it came out when I was about 10 years old but watching older I love it more. It's actually a very solid film. It was pretty violent too for a kids movie. Of course Splinter, April and Casey Jones joined the fight with the Turtles. Old School New York looks so amazing and so different from now. The Shredder fight was Classic. Overall the movie has held up all these years later. Classic.
(GRADE B) After the original became a Blockbuster they rushed out the sequel a year later. "The Secret of the Ooze" literally picks up where the last film left off. It introduced some new characters also. This one had way more action but it was almost a comedy of shorts. The movie was funny as hell all the way up to the "Go Ninja Go" Vanilla Ice Concert. Basically the Turtles fight a new and improved Shredder in this one. "Honest Trailers" recently disected the film and said it was bad cause it was basically appealing to kids. I don't agree as that review was told through an Adults eyes. The movie hit all the right notes which is why it's a guilty pleasure for 80's and 90's babies. Very good sequel.
(GRADE C ) The last and final film of the Trilogy was "Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time". Not related to the game but uses a time travel plot that takes the Turtles back to Feudal Japan. I think the concept was actually good as the Turtles ended up fighting REAL Ninja's and Samurai's. The movie failed cause the delivery of that plot just wasn't good. The Humor didn't mix well in the Japanese setting. It's clearly the weakest film of the trilogy. And with them time traveling, None of the main Turtles Villians show up. It would of been better if one of their enemies traveled back with them. Overall again worst of the Trilogy.
(GRADE B ) The Ninja Turtles are Back on the Big Screen for the 1st time in Live Action in 21 years after "Turtles III". Legendary Blockbuster Director/Producer Michael Bay brings another 80's Cartoon Classic back to the Big Screen after his "Transformers" series is now one of the highest grossing franchises ever. This time no Jim Henson suits as the Turtles and Splinter are all done in CGI. Megan Fox takes on the title role as April. Despite all the Hate this movie received before a single shot was even showed. Michael Bay got the Job done. This was a very solid reboot. The Turtles personalities really shined through.
I love how each Turtle had a distinctive Look to match their personalities. Mike was the Surfer/party Dude. Leo was the strong Leader so he had like tribal sh!t on. Raphael had a different look. And Don had on all this computer science wiz stuff. They slightly altered the origin story to give April O'neil a bigger role. Megan Fox didn't do that bad, she basically carried the movie as the Lead but she obviously isn't the greatest actress. The action was off the chain. The Snow Mountain sequence was great. Also Shredder doesn't talk much but he's hard body. He gave the Turtles and Spilnter hell. The Plot and Acting from the human characters wasn't great but the movie got what it needed to get right. The Turtles were fantastic and this brought me back my childhood watching it. Can't wait for the sequel in 2 years.
So there you have it. As the Ninja Turtles celebrated their 30th Anniversary This year in 2014. It's amazing to look back and know I'm apart of the Ninja Turtles Generation. Cowabunga Forever Dudes, lol.