I never really outgrew Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The first two live-action movies still hold up because there are actual martial artists wearing those turtle suits. The first movie was a worthy follow-up to Batman, putting the comic book characters in an even more realistic New York City.
The Secret of the Ooze may have been lighter, but Ernie Reyes, Jr. steals it and it’s still real martial arts in turtle costumes. I didn’t see III in theaters because I would’ve already been 15 then and it did look like a step down. Revisiting it on DVD, it’s still practical martial arts in what must be cumbersome suits, even if they’re not the high quality Henson costumes anymore.
In 4K, the first movie has that gritty New York style with lots of shadows in the alleys and sewers. In Secret of the Ooze, the grain looks twice as big as if it’s a second-generation print (it is an interpositive), but that still captures what it looked like in 1991 theaters. Interpositive doesn’t hinder III, which still looks really good, opening with deep black silhouettes in 1603 Japan and riding horsemen on the beach and more moonlight later in the film.
Surround sound is comparatively subtle for these. Fight noises often clang in the background and some onlookers scream. There are some real echoes in III’s historic Japan.
It’s funny how all three new director’s commentaries go over the same process of suit turtle, stunt turtle, animatronic puppeteers and voice, plus everyone else’s dialogue having to be ADR because of the noise of the animatronic servos.
Steve Barron gets technical in his commentary. It’s nice to hear about practical problem solving, lenses, the lighting of Shredder’s entrance and refurbished sets from another classic ‘80s movie. Barron also reveals some of the darkness they softened. A Foot Clan kid actually died in the original cut.
Michael Pressman’s technical insights are more about shooting master shots for the comedy. Stuart Gillard is more sporadic in his commentary but he still remembers significant production detail. Dave Baxter gives a thorough history of the Eastman and Laird comics on the first movie.
The interviews really get into the controversy. Barron talks about his rift with Golden Harvest. Judith Hoag only touches on not being asked back but says more about the Barron cut she never saw. Even Brian Henson hints that some of the footage they didn’t let Barron shoot was more of the baby turtles and Splinter flashbacks.
The U.K. version zooming in to frame out the nunchucks is wild. The alternate ending is a meta joke. I agree going out on the triumph was the right call but this would have predated Gremlins 2 by a few months.
Many of the below-the-line interviews cover all three movies, no matter which disc they are included on. Vivian Wu and Sab Shimono speak about the place of Turtles III in their career. I wish Shimono had mentioned The Big Hit but that was five years later and both have long, impressive filmographies.