First, a confession. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) is one of my all-time favourite movies.
Directed by Steve Bannon and featuring animatronic turtles created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, the film was a landmark in on-camera puppetry and special effects thanks to the revolutionary Henson Performance Control System that helped bring the turtles to life), is filled with humour and heart, and features arguably one of the best fight scenes of the late 80s and early 90s. It has a surprising sophistication that is sorely lacking in all the various incarnations of the turtles that have followed in the original film’s wake.
To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ release this week, YouTube superfan channel The Old Turtle Den produced this look back at the movie they call a “forgotten masterpiece”.
I couldn’t agree more.