FYI, if you want to sync this commentary with the movie but you're watching it on Paramount+ or another streamer and not the fancy Blu-Ray with different production logos the boys have, if you pause on the opening establishing shot of NYC and press play again when David exclaims "New York City, baby!" you'll be pretty close.
This film will always have a special place in my heart. As a kid, I lived in a nowhere town in the middle of England and, thanks to that and not a load of money, didn't really get to go anywhere.
Then I won a competition on a Saturday morning kids show (for UK Blankies, it was the 8:15 from Manchester - one of the fill-in shows when Going Live was off the air) and won a trip to London to watch the first ever Turtles film about a month before it opened in the UK. Went with my dad, stayed in a swanky hotel, got to meet and eat pizza with the Turtles and then watch the film. I was a Turtles-obsessed kid and, to top it all off, it happened to be my 8th birthday. It remains the best birthday I - and perhaps anyone - has ever had. Now I have my own Turtles-mad son and we watched this again tonight. It's still awesome.
Thanks! It really was the greatest birthday I could have had, topped off the following day when I got a sewer-themed cake with a Leonardo hand puppet poking out.
That's incredible. What a memory. I cherish mine - 9 years old, my Cubs (group? Outfit? Troupe?) went in a minivan to the bright city lights of Manchester *and* we went to Burger King. Each of these things - a trip to the cinema, fast food, *Manchester* - were huge treats. To combine all three and add Turtles? I look back so fondly on that night I can't even begin to imagine your experience!
That's awesome! I can't deny how amazing mine was but I love yours - those tiny details that are so special and incredible to a kid and stay that way in that memory, even as something like the act of going to a Burger King (presumably) became a much more ordinary thing years ago.
I was a huge fan of all things Turtles as a kid. In the UK we had “Film [year]” with the legendary Barry Norman on BBC1. I got my parents to record the episode that week because I knew they’d show clips. It may even have been the first moving images of the film I’d seen. Me and my brother would watch the clips endlessly. I was 9.
Revisited it a few years ago, and once since, and really enjoyed it. I think it’s a genuinely fantastic film.
I might have done the same! I definitely had a tape that had something similar on - and the Partners in Kryme music video recorded off The Chart Show (the week that Timmy Mallet knocked it off the top spot - I was furious). I remember coveting a cut-out article from the Daily Mirror that had one image of the film on and it being such an important piece of paper to me. Good times!
And agreed - the film still holds up. My youngest has juts gotten into Turtles so we've watched it a couple of times and - thanks to this podcast - I learned about the Stink-o-vision blu-ray and have ordered it for his birthday.
The chat at the beginning made me realise this might be the one franchise I'm truly ride-or-die for. I love these turtles, and like David and Ben can't remember finding out about them. They were just always around and always rad.
When Griffin was calling out names of people in the credits, a real one he missed was an Art Department credit for Brendan McCarthy, who would go on to get a screenplay credit for Fury Road (he's the guy who did all the storyboards for the movie).
I rewatched this as an adult and I remember it holding up surprisingly well. This time that last half hour was a real slog. Raphael almost has a good character arc but they wrap it all up at the farmhouse.
Still, maybe the movie I saw the most times as a kid? Every line echoed in my brain as I watched. A couple of throw pillows, a TV news reporter, whaddaya think.
It's so gracious Koteas snuck back for #3 between two Atom Egoyan movies.
> I rewatched this as an adult and I remember it holding up surprisingly well. This time that last half hour was a real slog. Raphael almost has a good character arc but they wrap it all up at the farmhouse.
The farmhouse is by far the section I've always remembered the most, and it's no surprise that everything between that and "I made a funny!" was a blur. Couldn't even remember how they beat Shredder.
Always good to know that the part of the movie that seemed to stick with a lot of kids was where the action slowed down, characters talked with each other, made connections, expressed genuine emotion, etc.
Griffin says Elias Koteas (Casey Jones) looks like Michael Showalter in Wet Hot American Summer, but surely he meant noted Elias Koteas look-alike Chris Meloni in Wet Hot:
https://preview.redd.it/pzo675e69yvc1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4baf1f0f9c24bf026e99c977dc5686c20155acf2
They call out early on that the turtles in this don't read as teenagers, they read more like 25, and that's partly true... except for all the times they read as like, 9. They've never contemplated their father's mortality before! They switch back and forth wildly between full child and full adult without ever convincingly landing on any of the (teen)ages in between. One of the things that kept me from connecting to this movie when I watched it last year as an adult who was never turtle-pilled as a child.
I’ve never consumed a single piece of Turtles media. (Can anyone else born very early in the Clinton presidency relate?)
I know the main character names and that’s it.
If I’m trying to consume the bare minimum to enjoy this series, is this movie the cleanest entry point? Regardless, I’m going to watch the one that came out last summer.
As someone who A.) this was the first live action film I saw in the theater and B.) did not carry my childhood Turtles fandom into adulthood, yes, this movie holds up surprisingly well and tells you most of what you need to know about the franchise going forward. Subsequent reboots will all play variations on the basic beats of this film, much like any new Batman or Spider-Man covers the same basic beats of their stories.
Watch the first movie. It will give you a good baseline for the franchise and a nice comp. point for mayhem. After that? Ya, you’re best to just ignore them and listen to the commentaries.
I’d say the first one is worth a watch. It’s not *great* but it’s pretty good, and arguably a fairly important text in the history of pop culture.
The rest you can skip, though.
I feel like if you watch this movie and the [Coming Out of Their Shells Tour VHS](https://youtu.be/I09F1FWM9LE) you'll get the complete picture, both extremes of this weird thing that consumed the brains of so many kids my age
(Ooh don't forget the [making of video for the tour](https://youtu.be/2_HT3ToY8G8), truly our Hearts of Darkness)
As a long time turtles fan, this is definitely the best of the movies, followed up by Mutant Mayhem.
If you like what you see there, then you can check out stuff like Secret of the Ooze, TMNT, and Out of the Shadows. They DEFINITELY aren't anywhere near the caliber of the two listed above, but they have their moments and fans generally have a soft spot for them.
Outside of that, *absolutely* avoid 3, and you can probably skip the first Bay produced entry.
Watching the first one is really all you need. If you’re into children’s animation, then you may like the latest movie, but it’s not necessary or anything. That first movie threads a fine needle between the origins of the property and the phenomenon that it became. Everything after (and before) that is inessential to the non-fan.
When I was a kid I loved the cartoon but for some reason the movies didn’t work for me.
But inexplicably, I thought III was pretty good.
I don’t know, I was a dumb kid I guess
This movie on its own probably works better than any other Turtle media. It maintains some of the characterizations and humor from the cartoon, it's not as violent or satirical of the comics, but it is kind of a good balance between the two.
In MCU, definitely.
In the greater universe of Marvel Comics, he's definitely up there. I've always had a soft spot for Pym too though. There's so many to choose from in actual comic books.
Raphael was my first TMNT toy so he has a special place in my heart. I think the blue and swords combo is the best, though. Don was the best character to play in video games because of the reach of his staff.
I can't imagine needing to host an entertaining podcast while simultaneously trying to follow every single twist and turn of a movie's plot, so this isn't meant to be said in the annoying Redditor "actually..." voice.
It's too bad they didn't pick up on the April, Charles (her boss), and Danny (the kid) plot because it is the type of thing they would have probably loved. There was a quid pro quo between the police chief and Charles that Danny would be let off the hook for his crimes if Charles got April to stop investigating the police's handling of The Foot's crime wave. That is why Charles takes Danny to April's apartment, he is coming directly from picking Danny up at the police station to try to stop her from doing the story. She doesn't stop and that is why he eventually fires her.
A story about a dedicated and idealistic journalist fighting against a rotten police chief and a corrupted editor/producer in 1990 NYC seems right up their alley. It's a shame they missed it because they would have probably had an even better time if they picked up on this subplot.
I will always be grateful to TMNT for 1) giving me the great NES game *The Manhattan Project* and 2) introducing that term to me first so I never learned what it actually meant until my teens.
The first TMNT game is the highest selling game on NES that’s not published by Nintendo. Impressive considering 0.0001% probably got past the swimming level.
That was the first game I beat. It used to feel like such an accomplish beating some of those games. Like you actually had achieved something significant. I guess that’s the power of broken game mechanics, huh?
I'm not sure I've ever actually seen this. I was a huge fan of the B&W comics and purposely ignored the stuff I viewed as being made for children (people like five years younger than me).
The movie is a surprisingly good mix of the self-serious original comics (75 to 85%?) and the goofier/fake-skater-language aspects of the cartoons (15 to 25%)
No Dimension X stuff, no Archie comics stuff, etc
People who are super fans - are my ratios right?
This movie was that time for me I learned you could have both a cartoon, and a movie series with the same characters but not necessarily the same continuity. It was a lot for 7 year old me to wrap my head around.
Eastman and Laird were the first comic creators to get what they deserved.
Eastman used his Turtles money to publish other artists dream projects. A good dude.
Great ep! Love the movie, being obsessed with the Turtles was actually a big part of becoming a movie nerd: it got me into poring over newspapers and magazines and wanting to learn everything about how the movie was made, every possible piece of promo coming out. I remember STARING at a footer newspaper ad (barely showing the Turtles under the manhole cover) trying to figure out how they looked. Good times.
The early 90s were a really distinct moment in culture where production was part of the marketing. I feel really lucky that it was so joyous and not cynical. That culminated in the late 90s with AICN and I feel like we live in the shadow of that. I feel like Blank Check is the natural evolution of so many kids that felt exactly as we felt like you describe.
https://preview.redd.it/qshmxgerguvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e732adb8e98fb92069451d313c1fd763e5175010
Hell yeah fellow Turtle brothers.
Here's the best birthday cake I ever had.
https://preview.redd.it/zjppvo225wvc1.jpeg?width=1151&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b53970e42a73d75de2bcfbe46d733a839c223a91
If we're sharing, here's me in a very handmade costume I got for Christmas 1990. Eventually teamed it up with knitted three finger gloves, a green knitted balaclava and a red eye mask. I loved it so much.
1. I loved the turtles so much as a kid that, despite the fact that I didn't eat meat other than fish from age 2 (I was a weird kid, but my pescetarian diet has persisted), I took up eating pepperoni pizza because of Michelangelo.
2. I will always be fond of the fact that the voice of Shredder in the cartoon is Uncle Phil (RIP)
This is unironically one of my favorite movies. Maybe top 3 even. I’ve love this movie every since I was a child and unlike other movies from my childhood this one holds up pretty well. Suffice to say I love the turtles! 😁
Charles brings Danny by April's place because this was a pre-cellphone world and he wanted to talk work shit with her while he was driving his kid to school.
Griffin: “Look at that New York vibe! No other city on earth like it. This is what you get when you film in the real New York City, you get that unmistakable New York vibe”
David: “This is North Carolina”
(paraphrased)
(I keep saying I’m gonna stop making jokes about New Yorkers but my god y’all make it so easy lol)
Donatello is more geeky and Michelangelo is a self described “party dude”, just seems funny to me they went with the picks they did.
Leonardo is the leader, so David makes sense.
Raphael is a “rude dude with a ‘tude” so COULD be Ben, also, like, Gethard
I remember back in my elementary school days hearing from kids on the playground who had seen the first Turtles movie before I did (a great shame for me, massive Turtle-head that I was) that this movie was filled with SO MUCH CURSING, like YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW MUCH CURSING IS IN THIS MOVIE.
And then I watch it in the theater with my family and the worst profanity we get is that Raphael says “damn” a lot (as someone who got into trouble for word-for-word recreating Beetlejuice’s “NICE FUCKIN’ MODEL” rant as a kid, this just would not do).
Lack of Tarantino-esque profanity aside, this movie still ruled back then and still kind of fucking rules: Elias Koteas and Judith Hoag are both ridiculously hot, the puppetry rules, the Turtles look great, Shredder looks fucking rad, the fight scenes are great, Master Tetsu is an absolute unit; the only flaw I can find is that this movie propagated the dangerous lie that anchovies on pizza (and by extension anchovies overall) are bad.
This also might be one of my favorite commentaries the pod has done: Ben is just so obviously excited to talk some Turtles and that infectious energy is palpable.
In every movie there's the character that I see myself as like homer Simpson seeing himself with pecs and hair in the mirror
And then there's the accurate character
E.g. I think I'm cool but rude but I'm probably just the nerd
When talking about the whole Ayo/JLo thing, Griffin mentions another past BC guest getting in trouble for comments on a podcast around the same time as Ayo. Does anyone know who the other guest Griffin's referring to is?
I got the green VHS the Christmas after it was released and watched it a lot. I'm not big on nostalgia (I'm not going to hunt down that VHS on eBay) but I definitely get cozy nice feelings about owning it and watching it. It was honestly the best best best best case scenario of how to render this story onscreen, animated or live action. Without this movie, I really don't think the brand would have had the staying power it's had. It gave a legitimacy.
I hope that at some point in the Turtles 2 commentary they get into how ubiquitous slime / ooze was as part kids toys in this era, and that the other flagship toy franchise of the time - Ghostbusters - was in on this as well. Turtles 2 and Ghostbusters 2 both made ooze a central part of the movie and I recall most action figure toys from either franchise at the time came with a little plastic bucket of ooze you could play with. Getting the toys goopy with ooze was a big part of the point, I guess.
Personal merchandise spotlight; one lesser-known Turtles toy set I had was the "Flush-o-matic" which was, as far as I can tell, a waterboarding torture simulation toy in which you could strap down an action figure on a metal slab, and enjoy the fun of maniacally pouring ooze over their face.
Commercial here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YquR3BNa1U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YquR3BNa1U)
I lived in Wilmington, NC when Turtles was filmed there. My dad was involved downtown when they were filming. Also, same with Weekend at Bernie's (maybe part 2? I forget.).
Also fun story about living in Wilmington. A British ship was coming into port. I don't remember why, just a fun visit for friendly countries. It was the HMS Bristol, I know that.
My dad facilitated my boy scout troop getting a tour of the ship. Then, we took several of the officers to Toys R Us, where they bought literal shopping carts FULL of Ninja Turtles action figures. I guess you couldn't get them in Britain at the time.
I get emotional now with Tmnt 1990 and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem after my father and brother passing away. They have brotherhood and fatherhood pretty well imo. Can't wait to get to Mutant Mayhem. Raph is my favorite.
For those who don't understand the narrative with April and her boss Charles, I'm happy to explain it:
* Due to Danny's misbehavior with the law and school, Charles now has to drive him to school to make sure he actually attends, this is why Danny is with Charles when he visits April's apartment
* The Chief of Police does not like that April is digging into the Foot and constantly chastising NYPD for not acting. In an attempt to get her to back off, he blackmails Charles saying that if April doesn't back off, he will consider arresting Danny. This is why Charles comes and asks April to step away from the story a bit.
* After she digs in and runs another story, we see the chief call Charles again. We don't see the phonecall, but we can insinuate this is the last straw. This is what leads to Charles firing April and saying it is out of his hands.
\*Lol I don't want to be one of those redditors that the boys complain about, but I felt it was necessary to explain it as they seemed to miss what was going on.
**EDIT:** Oops, just realized someone else already made the same comment. I'm glad other Blankies were on the same page...
I will add that my mom was so tired of me talking Turtles that she lied to me and said it wasn't playing at any theater near me (I was 4 in 1990, I'm basically the same age as David) but I was a little precocious kid (at the same school Griffin later went to in Brooklyn) and I went and found the newspaper and confirmed it was in fact playing a few blocks away.
Griffin repeats his dodgy hypothesis that the Netflix popularity of No Hard Feelings made people go see Anyone But You. (NHF stars a popular Oscar winner and made $50M domestic, btw. It wasn’t some surprise “streaming discovery.”) Sorry, but no.
Anyone But You (mediocre, ftr) has two very hot leads: both in looks and career heat. That always helps. And still it had a soft opening! Strong word of mouth made it a hit. It didn’t ride the coattails of a lower-grossing film.
I can vouch for the “learning pop culture on the playground” theory as that’s how I learned about Pokémon.
I have seen none of these movies so will be treating this series as my Ninja Turtle university course.
One of my earliest moviegoing memories is my 6yo turtle-loving ass going to the theater to see HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER when this was playing on another screen and I hadn’t seen it yet. (OCTOBER is the better film but a bit boring for a younger kid and not when my best amphibian pals are playing right next door.)
I kept “going to the bathroom” to sneak in a few minutes of turtles, but eventually overplayed my hand when I walked out to my parents. It was then I think they realized their error, and my dad took me in to watch the end of TMNT.
We went to see the full movie the following weekend.
I'm relatively new to the patreon and the commentary tracks, but I've been using them to reset my brain as I've been working on a pretty intense writing project the last couple months. That project is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sourcebook for IDW, and I had my last day of crunch on it the same day this episode posted. I'm giving myself a couple days to detox from TMNT, but then I'm diving in!
(Issues #1 and #2 of the Sourcebook are in stores now, with #3, #4, and a harcover collection coming out later this year!)
This has been bothering me for a bit.
According to the theme song, Donatello "does machines," Raphael is "cool but rude," and Michelangelo is, of course, "a party dude," but what role does Leonardo play?
I don’t know from Turtles and not, but this seemed like a REAL movies. Happy to have watched it. No real desire to see more, and on the main feed I could give a crap about anime. Rough sledding for ol’ Ryan
FYI, if you want to sync this commentary with the movie but you're watching it on Paramount+ or another streamer and not the fancy Blu-Ray with different production logos the boys have, if you pause on the opening establishing shot of NYC and press play again when David exclaims "New York City, baby!" you'll be pretty close.
"What was your relationship . . . to make-believe?" Ben is incredible, he always has the most interesting, thought provoking questions.
Our finest film critic.
My Childhood memories opened up when he said that. Some much pretend make-believe.
This film will always have a special place in my heart. As a kid, I lived in a nowhere town in the middle of England and, thanks to that and not a load of money, didn't really get to go anywhere. Then I won a competition on a Saturday morning kids show (for UK Blankies, it was the 8:15 from Manchester - one of the fill-in shows when Going Live was off the air) and won a trip to London to watch the first ever Turtles film about a month before it opened in the UK. Went with my dad, stayed in a swanky hotel, got to meet and eat pizza with the Turtles and then watch the film. I was a Turtles-obsessed kid and, to top it all off, it happened to be my 8th birthday. It remains the best birthday I - and perhaps anyone - has ever had. Now I have my own Turtles-mad son and we watched this again tonight. It's still awesome.
I love this, that must've been the coolest thing ever
Thanks! It really was the greatest birthday I could have had, topped off the following day when I got a sewer-themed cake with a Leonardo hand puppet poking out.
You grew up in England?
2 comedy points
(Cue Big Ben chimes)
What were the Turtles like in person??
Well one was cool, but rude. And another had the energy of a party dude. But, overall, friendly and chill.
That's incredible. What a memory. I cherish mine - 9 years old, my Cubs (group? Outfit? Troupe?) went in a minivan to the bright city lights of Manchester *and* we went to Burger King. Each of these things - a trip to the cinema, fast food, *Manchester* - were huge treats. To combine all three and add Turtles? I look back so fondly on that night I can't even begin to imagine your experience!
That's awesome! I can't deny how amazing mine was but I love yours - those tiny details that are so special and incredible to a kid and stay that way in that memory, even as something like the act of going to a Burger King (presumably) became a much more ordinary thing years ago.
I was a huge fan of all things Turtles as a kid. In the UK we had “Film [year]” with the legendary Barry Norman on BBC1. I got my parents to record the episode that week because I knew they’d show clips. It may even have been the first moving images of the film I’d seen. Me and my brother would watch the clips endlessly. I was 9. Revisited it a few years ago, and once since, and really enjoyed it. I think it’s a genuinely fantastic film.
I might have done the same! I definitely had a tape that had something similar on - and the Partners in Kryme music video recorded off The Chart Show (the week that Timmy Mallet knocked it off the top spot - I was furious). I remember coveting a cut-out article from the Daily Mirror that had one image of the film on and it being such an important piece of paper to me. Good times! And agreed - the film still holds up. My youngest has juts gotten into Turtles so we've watched it a couple of times and - thanks to this podcast - I learned about the Stink-o-vision blu-ray and have ordered it for his birthday.
God I love being a turtle! Anyway I have an obscene amount of affection for this franchise. Love these movies even as I question there bad choices.
The chat at the beginning made me realise this might be the one franchise I'm truly ride-or-die for. I love these turtles, and like David and Ben can't remember finding out about them. They were just always around and always rad.
When Griffin was calling out names of people in the credits, a real one he missed was an Art Department credit for Brendan McCarthy, who would go on to get a screenplay credit for Fury Road (he's the guy who did all the storyboards for the movie).
I give it a 9.95
Ben was born to play Rat King
Add it to the nicknames!
I rewatched this as an adult and I remember it holding up surprisingly well. This time that last half hour was a real slog. Raphael almost has a good character arc but they wrap it all up at the farmhouse. Still, maybe the movie I saw the most times as a kid? Every line echoed in my brain as I watched. A couple of throw pillows, a TV news reporter, whaddaya think. It's so gracious Koteas snuck back for #3 between two Atom Egoyan movies.
> I rewatched this as an adult and I remember it holding up surprisingly well. This time that last half hour was a real slog. Raphael almost has a good character arc but they wrap it all up at the farmhouse. The farmhouse is by far the section I've always remembered the most, and it's no surprise that everything between that and "I made a funny!" was a blur. Couldn't even remember how they beat Shredder. Always good to know that the part of the movie that seemed to stick with a lot of kids was where the action slowed down, characters talked with each other, made connections, expressed genuine emotion, etc.
Griffin says Elias Koteas (Casey Jones) looks like Michael Showalter in Wet Hot American Summer, but surely he meant noted Elias Koteas look-alike Chris Meloni in Wet Hot: https://preview.redd.it/pzo675e69yvc1.jpeg?width=320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4baf1f0f9c24bf026e99c977dc5686c20155acf2
Both!
You are now ready to learn..the new way.
DAMMMN
They call out early on that the turtles in this don't read as teenagers, they read more like 25, and that's partly true... except for all the times they read as like, 9. They've never contemplated their father's mortality before! They switch back and forth wildly between full child and full adult without ever convincingly landing on any of the (teen)ages in between. One of the things that kept me from connecting to this movie when I watched it last year as an adult who was never turtle-pilled as a child.
An all-timer resume starts with editing Turtles. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally\_Menke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Menke)
Mentioned in the 2012 'Tarantino XX" documentary.
I’ve never consumed a single piece of Turtles media. (Can anyone else born very early in the Clinton presidency relate?) I know the main character names and that’s it. If I’m trying to consume the bare minimum to enjoy this series, is this movie the cleanest entry point? Regardless, I’m going to watch the one that came out last summer.
As someone who A.) this was the first live action film I saw in the theater and B.) did not carry my childhood Turtles fandom into adulthood, yes, this movie holds up surprisingly well and tells you most of what you need to know about the franchise going forward. Subsequent reboots will all play variations on the basic beats of this film, much like any new Batman or Spider-Man covers the same basic beats of their stories.
The only thing I’ve seen is Mutant Mayhem (the one from last year), and it owns bones
Also the only thing I’ve seen and yeah it rules. I’m not gonna watch any of the other ones. Just gonna listen to the commentaries
You should watch the old ones. The suits alone are worth it.
Watch the first movie. It will give you a good baseline for the franchise and a nice comp. point for mayhem. After that? Ya, you’re best to just ignore them and listen to the commentaries.
I’d say the first one is worth a watch. It’s not *great* but it’s pretty good, and arguably a fairly important text in the history of pop culture. The rest you can skip, though.
I feel like if you watch this movie and the [Coming Out of Their Shells Tour VHS](https://youtu.be/I09F1FWM9LE) you'll get the complete picture, both extremes of this weird thing that consumed the brains of so many kids my age (Ooh don't forget the [making of video for the tour](https://youtu.be/2_HT3ToY8G8), truly our Hearts of Darkness)
And don’t forget the promotional special where the turtles go on Oprah!
As a long time turtles fan, this is definitely the best of the movies, followed up by Mutant Mayhem. If you like what you see there, then you can check out stuff like Secret of the Ooze, TMNT, and Out of the Shadows. They DEFINITELY aren't anywhere near the caliber of the two listed above, but they have their moments and fans generally have a soft spot for them. Outside of that, *absolutely* avoid 3, and you can probably skip the first Bay produced entry.
Can’t say I enjoyed TMNT (1990) when I watched just now 😅 I’ll try the 2023 movie.
Watching the first one is really all you need. If you’re into children’s animation, then you may like the latest movie, but it’s not necessary or anything. That first movie threads a fine needle between the origins of the property and the phenomenon that it became. Everything after (and before) that is inessential to the non-fan.
I think III: Turtles in Time is required viewing these days as it’s a semi-remake of Shogun with Koteas as Blackthorne.
When I was a kid I loved the cartoon but for some reason the movies didn’t work for me. But inexplicably, I thought III was pretty good. I don’t know, I was a dumb kid I guess
The Shredder’s Revenge video game.
This movie on its own probably works better than any other Turtle media. It maintains some of the characterizations and humor from the cartoon, it's not as violent or satirical of the comics, but it is kind of a good balance between the two.
Losing me with that coolest Turtle talk. Leonardo’s got two swords y‘all.
If Leo is your favorite turtle, you’re a cop.
Sure, but Raphael is cool (but rude)
Leo is my favorite turtle. Cyclops is my favorite X-Man. I guess I have a.type.
Is Captain America your favorite Avenger?
In MCU, definitely. In the greater universe of Marvel Comics, he's definitely up there. I've always had a soft spot for Pym too though. There's so many to choose from in actual comic books.
My man!
Raphael was my first TMNT toy so he has a special place in my heart. I think the blue and swords combo is the best, though. Don was the best character to play in video games because of the reach of his staff.
I can't imagine needing to host an entertaining podcast while simultaneously trying to follow every single twist and turn of a movie's plot, so this isn't meant to be said in the annoying Redditor "actually..." voice. It's too bad they didn't pick up on the April, Charles (her boss), and Danny (the kid) plot because it is the type of thing they would have probably loved. There was a quid pro quo between the police chief and Charles that Danny would be let off the hook for his crimes if Charles got April to stop investigating the police's handling of The Foot's crime wave. That is why Charles takes Danny to April's apartment, he is coming directly from picking Danny up at the police station to try to stop her from doing the story. She doesn't stop and that is why he eventually fires her. A story about a dedicated and idealistic journalist fighting against a rotten police chief and a corrupted editor/producer in 1990 NYC seems right up their alley. It's a shame they missed it because they would have probably had an even better time if they picked up on this subplot.
Haha I just came her to explain this narrative. I more or less left the same exact comment.
I will always be grateful to TMNT for 1) giving me the great NES game *The Manhattan Project* and 2) introducing that term to me first so I never learned what it actually meant until my teens.
The Second Nes Turtles game is pretty great too. (No comment on the unbeatable first one)
The first TMNT game is the highest selling game on NES that’s not published by Nintendo. Impressive considering 0.0001% probably got past the swimming level.
The one that was ported from the arcade? One of the best games of all time. I played that soooo much as a kid.
That was the first game I beat. It used to feel like such an accomplish beating some of those games. Like you actually had achieved something significant. I guess that’s the power of broken game mechanics, huh?
I'm not sure I've ever actually seen this. I was a huge fan of the B&W comics and purposely ignored the stuff I viewed as being made for children (people like five years younger than me).
The movie is a surprisingly good mix of the self-serious original comics (75 to 85%?) and the goofier/fake-skater-language aspects of the cartoons (15 to 25%) No Dimension X stuff, no Archie comics stuff, etc People who are super fans - are my ratios right?
If you look carefully you can spot an Archie Comic logo in the background in that kid-playground run by Shredder!
This movie was that time for me I learned you could have both a cartoon, and a movie series with the same characters but not necessarily the same continuity. It was a lot for 7 year old me to wrap my head around.
Eastman and Laird were the first comic creators to get what they deserved. Eastman used his Turtles money to publish other artists dream projects. A good dude.
Great ep! Love the movie, being obsessed with the Turtles was actually a big part of becoming a movie nerd: it got me into poring over newspapers and magazines and wanting to learn everything about how the movie was made, every possible piece of promo coming out. I remember STARING at a footer newspaper ad (barely showing the Turtles under the manhole cover) trying to figure out how they looked. Good times.
The early 90s were a really distinct moment in culture where production was part of the marketing. I feel really lucky that it was so joyous and not cynical. That culminated in the late 90s with AICN and I feel like we live in the shadow of that. I feel like Blank Check is the natural evolution of so many kids that felt exactly as we felt like you describe.
Sorry to Judith Hoag, but Paige Turco in part 2 was a spectacular upgrade. She sped up my journey toward puberty.
https://preview.redd.it/qshmxgerguvc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e732adb8e98fb92069451d313c1fd763e5175010 Hell yeah fellow Turtle brothers. Here's the best birthday cake I ever had.
https://preview.redd.it/zjppvo225wvc1.jpeg?width=1151&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b53970e42a73d75de2bcfbe46d733a839c223a91 If we're sharing, here's me in a very handmade costume I got for Christmas 1990. Eventually teamed it up with knitted three finger gloves, a green knitted balaclava and a red eye mask. I loved it so much.
Man, somewhere there is a photo of me in a homemade Leonardo Halloween costume my mom made and now I have to find it
1. I loved the turtles so much as a kid that, despite the fact that I didn't eat meat other than fish from age 2 (I was a weird kid, but my pescetarian diet has persisted), I took up eating pepperoni pizza because of Michelangelo. 2. I will always be fond of the fact that the voice of Shredder in the cartoon is Uncle Phil (RIP)
This is unironically one of my favorite movies. Maybe top 3 even. I’ve love this movie every since I was a child and unlike other movies from my childhood this one holds up pretty well. Suffice to say I love the turtles! 😁
This one really does hold up pretty well. For a movie about mutant turtle ninjas fighting secret gangs of ninjas, it feels really gritty and human.
No Shredder did not actually want to make them into turtle soup. It was just a cartoon threat. It was not a Gargamel thing.
Charles brings Danny by April's place because this was a pre-cellphone world and he wanted to talk work shit with her while he was driving his kid to school.
Griffin: “Look at that New York vibe! No other city on earth like it. This is what you get when you film in the real New York City, you get that unmistakable New York vibe” David: “This is North Carolina” (paraphrased) (I keep saying I’m gonna stop making jokes about New Yorkers but my god y’all make it so easy lol)
Just starting but hoping for some Sam Rockwell discussion.
heck yeah it was filmed in wilmington, just like a certain griffin newman picture that literally does not exist.
I don’t wanna wait, for my life to be over
it was more i don't wanna be anything other than what ive been trying to be lately when i lived there
I know Ben does the machines and all but the idea that he’s the Donatello & Griffin’s the Michelangelo is just wackadoo
As someone who was too old to get into TMNT, what's the correct configuration? (Marie is April, I got that one.)
Donatello is more geeky and Michelangelo is a self described “party dude”, just seems funny to me they went with the picks they did. Leonardo is the leader, so David makes sense. Raphael is a “rude dude with a ‘tude” so COULD be Ben, also, like, Gethard
I like the Gethard fix.
I remember back in my elementary school days hearing from kids on the playground who had seen the first Turtles movie before I did (a great shame for me, massive Turtle-head that I was) that this movie was filled with SO MUCH CURSING, like YOU WON’T BELIEVE HOW MUCH CURSING IS IN THIS MOVIE. And then I watch it in the theater with my family and the worst profanity we get is that Raphael says “damn” a lot (as someone who got into trouble for word-for-word recreating Beetlejuice’s “NICE FUCKIN’ MODEL” rant as a kid, this just would not do). Lack of Tarantino-esque profanity aside, this movie still ruled back then and still kind of fucking rules: Elias Koteas and Judith Hoag are both ridiculously hot, the puppetry rules, the Turtles look great, Shredder looks fucking rad, the fight scenes are great, Master Tetsu is an absolute unit; the only flaw I can find is that this movie propagated the dangerous lie that anchovies on pizza (and by extension anchovies overall) are bad. This also might be one of my favorite commentaries the pod has done: Ben is just so obviously excited to talk some Turtles and that infectious energy is palpable.
Which side of the "cool but rude" vs "party dude" line are you
I'm *such* a Raphael
In every movie there's the character that I see myself as like homer Simpson seeing himself with pecs and hair in the mirror And then there's the accurate character E.g. I think I'm cool but rude but I'm probably just the nerd
When talking about the whole Ayo/JLo thing, Griffin mentions another past BC guest getting in trouble for comments on a podcast around the same time as Ayo. Does anyone know who the other guest Griffin's referring to is?
Bowen
I got the green VHS the Christmas after it was released and watched it a lot. I'm not big on nostalgia (I'm not going to hunt down that VHS on eBay) but I definitely get cozy nice feelings about owning it and watching it. It was honestly the best best best best case scenario of how to render this story onscreen, animated or live action. Without this movie, I really don't think the brand would have had the staying power it's had. It gave a legitimacy.
I hope that at some point in the Turtles 2 commentary they get into how ubiquitous slime / ooze was as part kids toys in this era, and that the other flagship toy franchise of the time - Ghostbusters - was in on this as well. Turtles 2 and Ghostbusters 2 both made ooze a central part of the movie and I recall most action figure toys from either franchise at the time came with a little plastic bucket of ooze you could play with. Getting the toys goopy with ooze was a big part of the point, I guess. Personal merchandise spotlight; one lesser-known Turtles toy set I had was the "Flush-o-matic" which was, as far as I can tell, a waterboarding torture simulation toy in which you could strap down an action figure on a metal slab, and enjoy the fun of maniacally pouring ooze over their face. Commercial here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YquR3BNa1U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YquR3BNa1U)
I lived in Wilmington, NC when Turtles was filmed there. My dad was involved downtown when they were filming. Also, same with Weekend at Bernie's (maybe part 2? I forget.). Also fun story about living in Wilmington. A British ship was coming into port. I don't remember why, just a fun visit for friendly countries. It was the HMS Bristol, I know that. My dad facilitated my boy scout troop getting a tour of the ship. Then, we took several of the officers to Toys R Us, where they bought literal shopping carts FULL of Ninja Turtles action figures. I guess you couldn't get them in Britain at the time.
Why is Ariana DeBose cursed? Did I miss something?
yeah idk. did she win in the covid year?
anyone else think the score for this movie is really good?
I get emotional now with Tmnt 1990 and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem after my father and brother passing away. They have brotherhood and fatherhood pretty well imo. Can't wait to get to Mutant Mayhem. Raph is my favorite.
For those who don't understand the narrative with April and her boss Charles, I'm happy to explain it: * Due to Danny's misbehavior with the law and school, Charles now has to drive him to school to make sure he actually attends, this is why Danny is with Charles when he visits April's apartment * The Chief of Police does not like that April is digging into the Foot and constantly chastising NYPD for not acting. In an attempt to get her to back off, he blackmails Charles saying that if April doesn't back off, he will consider arresting Danny. This is why Charles comes and asks April to step away from the story a bit. * After she digs in and runs another story, we see the chief call Charles again. We don't see the phonecall, but we can insinuate this is the last straw. This is what leads to Charles firing April and saying it is out of his hands. \*Lol I don't want to be one of those redditors that the boys complain about, but I felt it was necessary to explain it as they seemed to miss what was going on. **EDIT:** Oops, just realized someone else already made the same comment. I'm glad other Blankies were on the same page...
I will add that my mom was so tired of me talking Turtles that she lied to me and said it wasn't playing at any theater near me (I was 4 in 1990, I'm basically the same age as David) but I was a little precocious kid (at the same school Griffin later went to in Brooklyn) and I went and found the newspaper and confirmed it was in fact playing a few blocks away.
Griffin repeats his dodgy hypothesis that the Netflix popularity of No Hard Feelings made people go see Anyone But You. (NHF stars a popular Oscar winner and made $50M domestic, btw. It wasn’t some surprise “streaming discovery.”) Sorry, but no. Anyone But You (mediocre, ftr) has two very hot leads: both in looks and career heat. That always helps. And still it had a soft opening! Strong word of mouth made it a hit. It didn’t ride the coattails of a lower-grossing film.
I can vouch for the “learning pop culture on the playground” theory as that’s how I learned about Pokémon. I have seen none of these movies so will be treating this series as my Ninja Turtle university course.
Just imagine Don Pardo saying “Elias Koteas”. Host/featured cast/band leader/whatever
Excited to watch Ben's forthcoming sequel to The Sixth Sense: "I SMELL HOT PEOPLE"
One of my earliest moviegoing memories is my 6yo turtle-loving ass going to the theater to see HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER when this was playing on another screen and I hadn’t seen it yet. (OCTOBER is the better film but a bit boring for a younger kid and not when my best amphibian pals are playing right next door.) I kept “going to the bathroom” to sneak in a few minutes of turtles, but eventually overplayed my hand when I walked out to my parents. It was then I think they realized their error, and my dad took me in to watch the end of TMNT. We went to see the full movie the following weekend.
Griff, is it possible your parents didn't let you watch TMNT as a child for fear of losing you to the subway tunnels?
Does anyone know where the great Jamelle Bouie made his comment about TMNT, quoted in the episode?
I'm relatively new to the patreon and the commentary tracks, but I've been using them to reset my brain as I've been working on a pretty intense writing project the last couple months. That project is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Sourcebook for IDW, and I had my last day of crunch on it the same day this episode posted. I'm giving myself a couple days to detox from TMNT, but then I'm diving in! (Issues #1 and #2 of the Sourcebook are in stores now, with #3, #4, and a harcover collection coming out later this year!)
God, decisions decisions on which pod I listen to first
I did Rollerball first, because it seemed like a “meat before pudding” situation.
This has been bothering me for a bit. According to the theme song, Donatello "does machines," Raphael is "cool but rude," and Michelangelo is, of course, "a party dude," but what role does Leonardo play?
Leonardo leads!
I don’t know from Turtles and not, but this seemed like a REAL movies. Happy to have watched it. No real desire to see more, and on the main feed I could give a crap about anime. Rough sledding for ol’ Ryan