Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)

For the 2007 film, see TMNT (film).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Directed by	Steve Barron
Written by	Comic Book: Kevin Eastman Peter Laird Story: Bobby Herbeck Screenplay: Todd W. Langen Bobby Herbeck
Produced by	Simon Fields Kim Dawson David Chan Co-Producer: Graham Cottle Executive Producer: Raymond Chow
Starring	Judith Hoag Elias Koteas
Cinematography	John Fenner
Edited by	William D. Gordean Sally Menke James R. Symons
Music by	John Du Prez
Production company	Golden Harvest
Distributed by	New Line Cinema (US)
Release dates	United States: March 30, 1990 Hong Kong: April, 1990 Japan: March, 1991
Running time	93 min.
Countries	United States Hong Kong Japan
Language	English
Budget	$13,500,000
Box office	$201,965,915

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the 1990 American live-action film based on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. The film was followed by three sequels, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze in 1991, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III in 1993, and TMNT in 2007. This film presents the origin story of Splinter and the Turtles, the initial meeting between them, April O'Neil and Casey Jones, and their first confrontation with Shredder and his Foot Clan. The film's core plot closely follows that of the first published TMNT stories, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1,10-11, Raphael#1, as well as the Return To New York storyline (#19-21). This movie is distributed by New Line Cinema and outside the United States is internationally distributed by 20th Century Fox.

When the NYPD is unable to stop a severe crime wave caused by the Foot Clan, four new vigilantes, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, come forth to save the city. Under the leadership of Splinter and together with their new-found allies April O'Neil and Casey Jones, they fight back and take the battle to Shredder. The film kept very close to the dark feel of the original comics with several elements also taken from the animated series that was airing at the time, such as April being a news reporter, and the turtles having different-colored masks, as opposed to the uniform red masks of the comic. The film was the highest-grossing independent film of all time when it was released, and became the fifth highest grossing film worldwide of 1990 and the most successful TMNT film.

Plot

As an unsolved crime wave rises in New York City, April O'Neil (Judith Hoag), reporter for Channel 3 Eyewitness News, covers the reports and rumors of a mysterious 'Foot Clan,' which seems to be the organization that is plaguing the city, much to the ire of Chief of Police Chief Sterns (Raymond Serra), who refuses to acknowledge that they exist. April is attacked in an alley by a group of punks who are quickly taken down when a weapon flies through the air, knocking out the street light. While police are investigating the attack, April finds the sai responsible for knocking out the street light and takes it. One of her rescuers, from the cover of the sewers, watches this and curses himself for his bad luck.

While celebrating, the four mutated teenage turtles, Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael, reunite with their master, Splinter, to recount their first true battle. In a huff, Raphael leaves to go see a movie. After Raph leaves the theater, he chases muggers into the park and encounters Casey Jones (Elias Koteas), a hockey masked vigilante whose brutal attacks on the muggers forces the turtle to stand up for them. After a brief scuffle, Casey escapes Raph, leaving him in a humiliating defeat further fueling his anger. Raph later comes to April's defense after her reports on the Foot Clan draw out a few members who attack her, knocking her out. Raph retrieves his sai and, now at full fighting strength, easily fights them off - unaware that he is leading one of them back to their sewer den. April revives in the den and, after being calmed down, is told the story of Splinter and the Turtles' origins. After some time there, the Turtles head to her home at 11th and Bleecker Street, her apartment home built on top of her family antique store. They spend some time over frozen pizzas telling jokes and stories before they decide they have to head back. Upon their return, the Turtles find that their home has been utterly destroyed and their master taken.

With nowhere else to go, the four return to April's apartment and spend the night. Meanwhile, Sterns discovers that April's boss Charles Pennington's (Jay Patterson) son Danny (Michael Turney) is in custody, arrested for trying to steal a car stereo, and uses it as leverage to talk to Pennington about other matters. The following morning, Charles warns April not to press any buttons with Sterns, and Danny becomes suspicious when he thinks he sees the Turtles in the apartment. En route to his school, Charles and Danny have an argument and Danny runs away, fleeing to a hideout outside of town where many delinquents and punks have gathered over skateboard ramps, arcade games and other personal pleasures. They are joined into a meeting with The Shredder a man in a black cloak and metal mask who urges them to find the turtles. Danny stands out and relinquishes the location he thinks he saw the Turtles.

April deliberately disobeys Charles' orders and continues to insult Sterns' competency for the job and ignorance to the fact that the Foot Clan exists. After returning home, April gives the turtles a tour of the shop while Raph, after a heated argument with Leo, goes and practices on the roof. He is spotted by Casey, but only seconds before he is attacked by numerous Foot Clan members. Brutally beaten, Raph makes a re-entrance to the house through the skylight window and the turtles fight the remaining Foot members.Seriously outnumbered, things look bleak until the intervention of Casey Jones.Together, they fight off the remaining members of the Foot clan. The building is destroyed, and the group escapes, forcing Tatsu and the Foot to leave. They head to a farm that belongs to April's family, and Casey sparks anger with her when he says he heard Charles' message as they got out of the house that she had been fired for her comments that day. Raph soon recovers from his coma, and the four of them practice until it is time for them to return to New York and find Splinter and reunite their family. Danny meets Splinter and is for the first time in turmoil about his decision to leave his family. Leonardo makes meditative contact with Splinter and for the first time is sure that he is alive. After the four of them each encounter him in a shared vision, they decide to return.

Danny had been living for a few days in the Den and makes formal introductions with the Turtles and Casey. But that night he decides to return to Shredder's hideout and speak with Splinter. Splinter tells him the story of his master Hamato Yoshi being killed by another ninja named Oroku Saki, and Danny realizes that the Oroku Saki is infact Shredder. He overhears Shredder telling Tatsu to have Splinter killed. Danny runs into Casey, who followed him, and the pair face off against Tatsu. After Casey defeats the ninja master, the three of them express the importance of family before leaving.

Meanwhile the Foot, who had set up an attack against the Turtles at their Den were surprised when they had been ambushed by the waiting Turtles.The fight escalates up into the streets above and eventually up on a rooftop where the Turtles finally face off against Shredder. Shredder easily out maneuvers the four of them in combat, though Leonardo eventually wounds him. He later takes Leonardo hostage in a threat to have the Turtles throw their weapons away. As he is about to kill them anyway, Splinter appears and challenges Saki to a fight. Shredder remembers the old rat who he injured years prior and charges him with a lance. Using a nunchaku that, Splinter dangles Shredder precariously over the roof's ledge.In a final attempt to kill Splinter, Shredder throws a a knife, which Splinter catches. However, the rat's grip on the lance is released and the ninja falls into the back of a garbage truck. Casey "accidentally" throws the switch, crushing him in a compactor. Danny pays April back a $20 bill that he had stolen from her earlier and reunites with his father and insists that he be called "Dan" from then on. Charles then pleads April to cover the story offering her a raise and a corner office without breaking a sweat to her demands. Casey approaches her, expecting sympathy for his injuries and trying to flatter her before she gets ready for her interview.April retorts with "Shut up and kiss me, I got a report to do." Casey gladly complies. Upstairs, the turtles reunite with their father figure and while trying to come up with a proper word to cheer to, he suggests the phrase "Cowabunga," a catch phrase from their '80s animated series, concluding with the phrase "I made a funny!" and laughing as the credits roll.

Cast

Actor	Role
Judith Hoag	April O'Neil
Elias Koteas	Casey Jones
Michelan Sisti	Michelangelo
Leif Tilden	Donatello
Josh Pais	Raphael
David Forman	Leonardo
Michael Turney	Danny Pennington
Jay Patterson	Charles Pennington
Raymond Serra	Chief Sterns
James Saito	The Shredder
Toshishiro Obata	Master Tatsu
Sam Rockwell	Head Thug
Kitty Fitzgibbon	June
Louis Cantarini	Cab Driver
Joe D'Onofrio	Movie Hoodlum #1
Rene Paragas	Movie Hoodlum #2 Also, all four actors who played the turtles also appeared in cameos as minor characters, with Sisti (Michelangelo) as a pizza delivery man, Pais (Raphael) as a passenger in a taxi, Tilden (Donatello) as a messenger of The Foot, and Foreman (Leonardo) as a gang member. Voice cast Actor Role Corey Feldman Donatello Brian Tochi Leonardo Robbie Rist Michelangelo Josh Pais Raphael Kevin Clash Splinter David McCharen Shredder Michael McConnohie Master Tatsu Josh Pais, who portrayed Raphael is the only actor to portray a turtle on screen and provide his voice. Production Filming took place from July to September 1989. The film's budget was $13.5 million. A lot of the production took place in North Carolina (With a couple of location shoots in New York City during the summer of 1989 to capture famous landmark areas such as Times Square and the Hudson River), at the North Carolina Film Studios, where New York rooftop sets were created. Production designer Roy Forge Smith and his art director, Gary Wissner, went to New York City four months prior to filming and took still photographs of rooftops and other various locations. While in NYC, Smith and Rissner were allowed to explore an abandoned Brooklyn subway line, as they could not gain access to a city sewer, but the structure of the subway had the same principle as a sewer. They also went to a water tunnel which had large pipes running through it. After design sketches were created, the construction team used the studios' backlot to create some of the sets. There were problems with the manholes that led to the Turtles' home, in that an eight-foot square room had to be constructed beneath them, but found water at about five-feet, and thus had to pour concrete into the underground rooms to keep the water out. In order to make the sewer authentic, a tide-mark was given, and it was covered with brick, plaster and stucco paint to give the walls a realistic look. The Turtles themselves were done by Jim Henson's Creature Shop in London. Jim Henson said that the creatures were the most advanced that he had ever worked with. The creatures were first made out of clay, which were then rebuilt out of fiberglass. They were produced as moulds to cast the whole body in foam rubber latex. Work was then done on mechanizing the fiberglass. The work at the Shop was completed within 18 weeks. Reception The film did exceedingly well at the box office. It holds a 46% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave it 2½ stars out of 4, saying, "this movie is nowhere near as bad as it might have been, and probably is the best possible Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie. It supplies, in other words, more or less what Turtle fans will expect." The film was also somewhat looked down upon for its level of violence, but it was mostly stylized and not graphic. The film was praised for largely staying loyal to the original comics while also integrating several elements from the cartoon series. The film opened at the box office in North America on March 30, 1990. It opened at #1 over the weekend, taking in more than $25 million. The film turned out to be a huge success at the box office, eventually making over $135 million in North America, and over $66 million outside North America for a worldwide total of over $200 million, making it the ninth highest grossing film of 1990 worldwide. The film was also nominated for Best Costumes and Best Fantasy Film at the 1991 Saturn Awards, as well as the Most Entertaining Family Youth Motion Picture - Drama at the Young Artist Awards. DVD The film was released to DVD in Region 1 on September 3, 2002; it includes only minor special features such as a trailer and interactive menus. The film was also released in the MiniDVD format. On August 11, 2009, the film was included in a special 25th-anniversary boxset, released to both DVD and Blu-Ray formats. It also contains Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, and 2007's animated release, TMNT. No additional features, other than theatical trailers, were included. In Germany however a"Special Edition" was released on March 12, 2010 with additional features, including Audio commentary to the Film by director Steve Barron, an alternate Ending, and alternate takes from the original German release where Michelangelo's nunchaku had been edited out. Soundtrack Main article: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (soundtrack) Legacy Following the huge success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at the box office, several sequels were created. Only a year later, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze was released in theatres, and in 1993, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III was released in theatres. The sequels made less money and were less well-received than the first film. After a 14 year absence from the theatres (due to development hell), a fourth film was released in 2007, though unlike the first three, this was a CGI animated film. References External links TMNT I on the Official Ninja Turtles website. TMNT I at the Internet Movie Database TMNT I at Rotten Tomatoes. TMNT movie soundtrack information at the Official Ninja Turtles website. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at AllMovie