TMNT III what went wrong?

[electric_sheep]

Simple question, why? They've had all the right elements, Turtles could use their weapons again. Peter and Kevin would have written a way better script if they've given them the chance, parents moved on protesting the other things by that time. Why did they give the turtles to a guy who never directed anything good? What Lobotomized monkey thought, "Yeah, who needs a comic villains when we can cram a back in time shtick", i need reasons people. And what would you do differently?

[ObiWanFan4life]

Honestly, I feel the biggest problem was that without the Shredder, it seemed like the studio was desperate to find the turtles a conflict

[electric_sheep]

Honestly, I feel the biggest problem was that without the Shredder, it seemed like the studio was desperate to find the turtles a conflict

Then why not do City at War? Shredder was dead, why not bring in clone Shredders?

[Jester]

Non-Henson suits....

[Cipher]

Worse suits and an overly jokey (not in a good way) script. Which, to be fair, are problems TMNT II has as well.

I honestly think it gets a bad rap. Not that it's anything approaching a great film, but definitely in the way it's regarded in comparison to its immediate predecessor. I actually think it's a lot closer spiritually to the original film than the second one is.

[electric_sheep]

Non-Henson suits....

I forgot to mention that, why didn't they just reuse the costumes? And why did they ditch Henson?

[GeneralTragg]

I forgot to mention that, why didn't they just reuse the costumes? And why did they ditch Henson?

SOTO didn't bring as big a return as the first movie, so they dropped the budget, and that meant dropping the expensive Henson suits. As for reuse, the suits take a beating, what with actors sweating in them and such like they deteriorate pretty fast.

[Jester]

SOTO didn't bring as big a return as the first movie, so they dropped the budget, and that meant dropping the expensive Henson suits. As for reuse, the suits take a beating, what with actors sweating in them and such like they deteriorate pretty fast.
Actually TMNT III had a slightly larger budget than SotO, and 2 less "creatures." I'm really not sure why they didn't use Henson for a 3rd time....maybe they were unavailable... Or couldn't get them done quickly enough....

Totally spot-on about re-using the old suits, though.

[GeneralTragg]

Actually TMNT III had a slightly larger budget than SotO, and 2 less "creatures." I'm really not sure why they didn't use Henson for a 3rd time....maybe they were unavailable... Or couldn't get them done quickly enough....

I don't remember where I saw it, but I'm fairly sure Henson company wanted more to do the suits for the third film than the second, so they went with a cheaper company...

[CowabungaMikey]

The suits, removing all of the original villains, and sending them to ancient Japan.

[electric_sheep]

The suits, removing all of the original villains, and sending them to ancient Japan.

But went wrong behind the scenes? I re watched this movie and decisions made are baffling to me, it's just amazingly bad...

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

Correct me if I am wrong but wasn't time travel the "in" thing then....someone should see how many movies had that as an element in the story around that time



They could've trying to cash in on a trend

[Huzzah]

What went wrong? Time travel and Time Scepter with no Renet...that's just wrong. Also, they had Elias Koteas back as Casey,but he was wasted as a baby sitter.

Also, there are plenty more things they could've done in a Time Travel story. How about making the Turtles indirectly responsible for the formation of the Foot? Using many of the elements they used (though shouldn't have) in the movie, could have led to the beginnings of the Foot Clan, ergo they would be responsible for their own creation as well as the creation of their own worst enemies.

[electric_sheep]

What went wrong? Time travel and Time Scepter with no Renet...that's just wrong. Also, they had Elias Koteas back as Casey,but he was wasted as a baby sitter.

Also, there are plenty more things they could've done in a Time Travel story. How about making the Turtles indirectly responsible for the formation of the Foot? Using many of the elements they used (though shouldn't have) in the movie, could have led to the beginnings of the Foot Clan, ergo they would be responsible for their own creation as well as the creation of their own worst enemies.

Instead of time travel they should have been transported to dimension X, Boom! movie writes it self...

[MikeandRaph87]

As you sai in your opening post,the biggest problem with Ninja Turtles III is the same biggest problem with TMNT. The lack of a pre-established villian. Made for movie villains are a waste when there is so much potential already there. While a time travel oreinted villain like Armaggon or Savanti Romero would not work for this concept Shredder's ancestor would. Perhaps the origin of the Foot clan itself be the central plot with Shredder having recovered from his last encounter looking to strengthen his hold of the Foot clan by making them into real ninjas thus having more success in current time and perhaps not lose his grip on New York City with the interference of the turtles. First move is the find a time sceptre rumors are that is in New York City somewhere. Then he wants to take control from the founder and install his ancestor as the head of the clan which he would one day be and remove Yoshi's ancestor who is the founder of the clan. Perhaps separarting himself from his father Kenshin starts the clan and is banished. He sees need to return when his girlfriend Mitsu who has custody of her nephew Yoshi begins to speak out against his father to protect her from imprisonment. Meanwhile his arrogant friend is secretly looking to usurp the upstart clan because he sees his love for a woman as a weakness. One must be focused on the strength of a clan alone. The turtles visit April who has a gift for them a sceptre of Japanese design. Shredder arrives and tries to take it telling them what is April has. In attempt to take it from them Michelangelo accidently sets off the sceotre and the six of them are transported to 1550 Japan. The two plots cross into one and Shredder disappears in search of his ancestor to help plot the take over of the clan and prevent its evolving into a street gang that he is to restart in New York. Yoshi's father having ended the clan seeing it had no place the modern world and traininng Yoshi to be a government operative for Japan. The turtles must stop Shredder from gainnning his ancestor's ascending to the head of the clan and framing Yoshi from trying to kill his disapproving father.

The corrupt yet cowardly Lord Norinaga,Kenshein,Mitsu and Yoshi would all maintain a role. I don't see the need for a greedy British arms dealer to be involved especially since the focus is on Fuedal Japan.

What do you all think?

[Casey]

For the record, I think the general plot is really smart and political even. Really too smart for a kid's movie. It made it boring at times. Too smart for little ones and too goofy/3-Stooges for adults. The issue is, they executed it terribly. And yes, the suits make it even worse. I think the first has even better suits than the cartoony, smirking ones Henson updated in the second one.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

I like the plot and the lack of Shredder in this movie. It had potential to be a really good movie. The problem is as Casey put it, the execution as well as the costumes. Otherwise it had potential. I'm not afraid to admit that I have some sentimental attachment to this movie but I agree that it is not a good TMNT movie.

[The-Shredder]

One aspect of TMNT III that really surprised me was that there were actually some decent and well choreographed fight scenes (with their weapons!), a big improvement over the lackluster fighting from the second film. However, like others have said, the movie just wasn't executed well enough.

[TMNT is cooler than MOTU]

The concept of it was cool. They just needed waaaaaay better suits and a script.

[Warhorse]

Non-Henson suits....

This, they looked effing horrible, just as bad as the Next Mutation suits.

Too slapstick. And Casey Jones was completely wasted.

Ironic though, the people didn't care for the suits in this movie, which weren't that much dissimilar to the Henson suits, but enough to put off people from seeing the movie, so why would the people in charge of the designs of the CGI Turtles today not learn from past mistakes??????

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

i wouldnt be surprised if Jim Hensons Death played a factor in the suits


remember this was a crucial time for them Both The Muppets and JHC where in limbo without knowing what to do or where to go next

[Andrew NDB]

Simple question, why? They've had all the right elements, Turtles could use their weapons again. Peter and Kevin would have written a way better script if they've given them the chance, parents moved on protesting the other things by that time. Why did they give the turtles to a guy who never directed anything good? What Lobotomized monkey thought, "Yeah, who needs a comic villains when we can cram a back in time shtick", i need reasons people. And what would you do differently?

What's wrong with TMNT 3?

1. Lame costumes.
2. Too much slapstick and camp and goofy sound effects.
3. No teeth to the conflicts.
4. No compelling Big Bad villain and an unsatisfying final battle.

But it's still better than TMNT 2.

If it was me, and I was tasked to "fix" TMNT 3?

1. Better costumes.
2. Slapstick to a minimum and no camp.
3. Well choreographed and elaborate battles in Feudal Japan.
4. Walker -- if he must stay -- reimagined and supplemented by Savanti Romero, who would be the real Big Bad, introducing a supernatural element as well. Perhaps at some point Savanti is tired of him and just kills Walker as we head into the final fight.
5. Actually do something with the Feudal Japan Casey... or eliminate the character altogether. Same with the samurai that went to present day NYC.

[sethmartin]

The biggest problem with TMNT 3 is that they dumbed it way down. They weren't interested in making a good film. To them it was just a dumb kids movie. Nothing more. All of the other problems with the movie exist because of this. The villains were tamed down and non threatening. The storyline was simplified. There were fewer battles. (Only 3 where as the first movie had 4 and the second had 5). Too many dumbed down kiddy jokes. No real feeling of threat or doom. Not to mention the worst ending to a turtles flick with walker imploding into himself just before he hits the water.

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

Not to mention the worst ending to a turtles flick with walker imploding into himself just before he hits the water.

haha i wouldn't hold this against them that was just..you know SFX of the time

[electric_sheep]

haha i wouldn't hold this against them that was just..you know SFX of the time

naaah, he was just transported into dimension X :lol:

[Huzzah]

See, now that would be something interesting to see in a movie. Stranger trapped in Dimension X, Turtles end up there, have to work with enemy to survive and then the decision to rescue him or not...

[Sumac]

The main problem of the movie, that it is very boring.
Premise is interesting and have some potential, but the whole story drags at a turtle pace. Villains were not interesting at all and the whole confict left only flat "what" impression. Yeah, Turtles lead resistance against evil ruler...whatever.

On the other hand I am glad that creators of this movie decided to make something different instead of another dumb ressurection of the Shredder and more mutants. If only it was executed better...

For all people who says, that they should have made movie about Dimension X I want to remind, that it was beginning of the 90s and the whole alien dimension, most likely, ended up looking like "alternate earth" in Super Marios Bros. movie or equally ridiculous.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

I never really had a problem with TMNT III. Like most have said, the suits could have been better (personally, my only real complaint was the spots) but otherwise, I liked it. The humor was mostly pretty clever (Mikey's comments about cappuccino and asking Kenshen how he got in April's pants) and Walker made sense as a villain for that time period. If nothing else, the movie stayed true to the atmosphere of that point in history. Donnie even explains it briefly. If the movie suffered from anything, it was pacing and the ending being so abrupt. And I also agree that Jim Henson's death probably had something to do with the problems that arose.

[blindturtle02]

My biggest problem with it was the lack of Shredder when I was a kid. I rather enjoyed it then, but can't really get into III now when I sit down to watch it. Looks like the writers were attempting to veer away from Shredder which might have worked if they'd come up with a better villain. Love the idea of them getting trapped in Dimension X. Would have been neat to see the futile version of The Foot in III rather than what we got.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

See, the lack of Shredder never bothered me, because we already KNEW he was dead this time. (And if he wasn't, that would have just sucked, since they basically SHOWED it in SotO.) Having a completely new bad guy(s?) fit into the time period AND gave it something different for me. I liked how they sort of seeded it with ideas that maybe Casey's and Hamato Yoshi's (possible) ancestors might have been involved, too. Made it feel so much more connected to the previous films that way.

The villains were actually more realistic this time around- basically, the turtles stumbled into a civil uprising, being instigated by a warmongering European looking for a profit. Sounds about right to me! And it fits into the more "grounded" version they were trying to go with, anyway. At that point, anything with Dimension X would have been WAAY too "out there" for a TMNT movie based off of the original. Even TCRI had its name changed and was simply a chemical company that had been dumping radioactive waste. No aliens in sight, folks.

[Jester]

I still hold to the Casey/Whitt, Shredder/Norinaga and Kenshin, Yoshi/Mitsu, Yoshi, and Grandfather ties to the mainline TMNT universe.

But it's sad i have to make that kind of bridge to make TMNT III better. :P

[Cipher]

The lack of Shredder (or any major comic/cartoon villain) never bothered me here either, even as a little kid. Shredder's dead by that point anyway. The problem with Walker was that he wasn't ultimately much of a threat, but I really like him in concept, and he's perfectly contemptible when he's on screen.

I'm all for lower-key villains every once in a while. The film has problems, but I don't think he's anywhere near the top of them.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Exactly. And he wasn't meant to be a threat to THEM, anyway. He was selling guns to Norinaga to win his war against a bunch of untrained peasants. Classy guy. The THREAT was that everyone was after the scepter, and there was only a limited amount of time for the turtles to rescue April, find it, and get back home. They were never even supposed to get involved in that mess! The only reason they did at all was because Mitsu captured Mikey after he got lost. And since he was in danger along with all the villagers..... Well, that was the catalyst that got them into the fight. That, and saving Yoshi's life. Guess they can't go anywhere without getting dragged into something, LOL!! (And Walker WAS a pretty despicable human being. So was Norinaga, in some ways. No wonder Kenshen wanted to go join the rebels!)

[Jester]

Which makes it a quintessentially Turtle story: Our heroes wind up in a situation by accident and only join the fight to get back home.

[Huzzah]

The single biggest sin this movie committed though, was wasting Elias Koteas returning as Casey Jones. Seriously, the first Ninja Turtles movie pretty much had the single best representation of Casey Jones in any media (apart from the earlier comics), and they squandered that with Casey playing babysitter.

Of course tying the civil war directly into the foundation of the Foot would've given a cohesiveness to the story without breaking budget...

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Agreed, Jester! Seems like most of the stories about them have some kind of external conflict that they only get involved in by proxy. Even in the original movie, Raph follows April around to get his sai back only to end up fighting the Foot to help her, and brings her home, which gets Splinter abducted after he is followed back to the lair. And all because he was ticked about losing that sai!

[Cipher]

Which makes it a quintessentially Turtle story: Our heroes wind up in a situation by accident and only join the fight to get back home.
That, in addition to having actual emotional beats, is why this one feels so much closer to a Mirage story.

Or would, minus the jokey script and all the other trite cartoony elements. Somewhere in there, there's a legitimately more pure, enjoyable Turtles movie than the second one ever had in it. It's just not what we got in execution.

[blindturtle02]

Which makes it a quintessentially Turtle story: Our heroes wind up in a situation by accident and only join the fight to get back home.

Legend of Koji aired in the Fall of 93 and I already own TMNT 3 on VHS. So naturally, I was trying to make connections with Saki and Norinaga due to this episode's inspiration, Jester. Don't feel bad. You're not the only one doing that. Certainly helped all 3 movies flow together for me. The X-Men animated series was also flourishing then, so I was becoming a lover of continuity and all things boasting interweaving plot threads. I wonder what sorts of movies would have been made if this film series continued. The 3rd movie always felt like the beginning of another story that was of course never fleshed out, imho. The camp of the 3rd film never bothered me too much. I do wish we'd seen more callbacks to the first 2 films. Since Perry was supposed to have been an utrom, it would have been nice if David Warner had been able to reprise the role for a brief cameo. That way, the whole utrom thing would have been set up for later films. I would have been upset if that had never gotten green-lit, however.

[ProactiveMan]

"Just like Elvis in Blue Hawaii"

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

hey at least the Turtles look great compared to Splinter

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Ah, he was just showing his age- rats don't live that long, after all. Mutations aside, of course.

[graphic_content]

Which makes it a quintessentially Turtle story: Our heroes wind up in a situation by accident and only join the fight to get back home.

I can't help but think that if this same story was written as a graphic novel it would have succeeded if only to give us more time to invest in these characters. Something real was happening, and unfortunately I didn't really care - because the way the story was told was poor.

[snake]

Pretty much everything went wrong. Uninteresting characters, bad plot, terrible costumes, and cringe-worthy lines among other things.

[electric_sheep]

I can't help but think that if this same story was written as a graphic novel it would have succeeded if only to give us more time to invest in these characters. Something real was happening, and unfortunately I didn't really care - because the way the story was told was poor.
And the direction was poor, sets where poor, so was everything else. This movie had 21 million budget, while the first one had only 13. I wonder where all that money went? Certainly not on costumes and location because it was all shot on reused sets or in the middle of nowhere, my bet is that someone took a large part of the budget for himself.
There's an episode of the 87 cartoon where the turtles went back in time and there was the beginning of the foot clan, there was Splinter's ancestor, Shredder's ancestor. I wonder if they took that as a template and striped it of everything that's good...

[MsMarvelDuckie]

What episode was that?

[electric_sheep]

What episode was that?

Legend of Koji, season 7 episode whatever.
Shredder's ancestor is Mexican for some reason.

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

so i actually Just watched 3 and i will give it something over one and 2..while the costumes look wise are bad the mouth match closer to the dialog and have a better reaction time than the slower mouths of 1 and 2

i still feel hensons death was a huge factor as why they werent part of 3, maybe they felt they needed time to recoup after loosing him and the studio didnt want to wait

[TheBlueTurtle1]

The concept of it was cool. They just needed waaaaaay better suits and a script.

Totally agree, there was nothing wrong with the time travel element, they just needed a better "bad guy" a mutant would have been best, better written script and the suits look like they are some extension of the rubber duck bath toy family.

[massakre]

Instead of time travel they should have been transported to dimension X, Boom! movie writes it self...

The cost and look of CGI wouldve been insane back then.. They werent trying to invest THAT much money into a third TMNT movie. Heck this new movie will have to do extremely well to warrant a 2nd flick I'd imagine and even then, if Dimension X is brought into the mix, the CGI will be extensive.

[Huzzah]

So, general census is that the movie could've been good, but everything about it sucked, save for the fact that time-travel was involved...so 92% of the movie did everything else wrong.

[Sumac]

So, general census is that the movie could've been good, but everything about it sucked
I don't think it is the case here. More like execution wasn't very good, but at the same time, it wasn't a complete disaster. Just mediocre.

[Nelson]

That, in addition to having actual emotional beats, is why this one feels so much closer to a Mirage story.

Or would, minus the jokey script and all the other trite cartoony elements. Somewhere in there, there's a legitimately more pure, enjoyable Turtles movie than the second one ever had in it. It's just not what we got in execution.

I tried removing some of the silly jokes back in 2008. The results are faaar from perfect (both my editing skills and the edited movie) but if you're curious, here it is:

MaMoDHua974

[Whatswiththeheadbands?]

The budget may have been bigger than the first movie, but the whole movie seemed very low budget somehow. The writing and plot also weren't very good.

[Evil_Ash]

I don't think it is the case here. More like execution wasn't very good, but at the same time, it wasn't a complete disaster. Just mediocre.

There's nothing mediocre there. It is bad, it is really bad...

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

so was watching it with my gf and she brought up a good point...when anyone time travels clothes get switched

it seems only items get transfered....so why do the turtles not loose there bandanas,pads and belts?

[Evil_Ash]

so was watching it with my gf and she brought up a good point...when anyone time travels clothes get switched

it seems only items get transfered....so why do the turtles not loose there bandanas,pads and belts?

Why didn't Japanese guys loose their G strings? Because film wasn't though out at all. They probably finished a script in two days and decided to go with it...

[marcelangelo]

Why didn't Japanese guys loose their G strings? Because film wasn't though out at all. They probably finished a script in two days and decided to go with it...

hahaha, you guys make me roll over the floor with that bullflap;)...do you really believe people actively involved in making this movie stand don't see these things that you do?...why wasn't it worked out properly so that all items would change or not change respectively...well perhaps because they didn't want to show four naked samurai in a film that couldn't show that, perhaps also because IT ISN'T THAT IMPORTANT!moses, don't you have anything better to do than to critisize a movie of not dealing accordingly with feudal knickerbockers?!?!


by the way on re-reading my own message again, to make myself clear:I am not offending you I just have to laugh about this here...
I have just watched turtles 3 again and I can only disagree with most statements here..I really like this film.the lighting is superb by the way..really plays close to the lighting in the first film I think.yeah, the costumes don't work too good at all times.they are I think the biggest set back compared with the previous films.they have nice sides too...but for me Id say they just look to rubbery and artifficial compared with the others..even the big eyed second movies costumes looked more real I guess..the fight scenes are a real charm though in this movie and the sets in feudal japan are well researched and beautifully researched..I like a lot that we get to see more of the turtles in nature.just like the farm scenes in the first film.

on re-reading my own message let me make myself clear: I am not offending anyone I only have to laugh about this..

[Pondslider]

Is that you, Stuart Gillard?

[Nameless]

alright read the entire thread and i think myself and maybe 2 other people like this film haha. i've said it before but this was the only ninja turtle movie i owned on VHS as a kid and quite frankly i loved it. as a kid you don't notice that costumes are bad (which in my honest opinion they look fine), or that the jokes are lame, because a kid finds them funny. in truth and i know this is sacrilege to say but 'as a kid i enjoyed movie 3 over movie 1'. (for the record as an adult i like 1 more then 3, 2 is still the best of them all though)

i think the only thing that bothered me as a kid was that silly scene with Mikey and the shorts. like really Mikey has his first good idea since putting retromutagen in donuts and splinter shuts him down, "we don't have time for this scientific debate". much rather have them go good idea Mikey, have the turtles all wear shorts and not have the Honor Gaurds come wearing g-strings. that and "the magic travellers must be the same weight" line. i'm sorry but a giant turtle with a shell is defiantly going to need either a 2 for 1 travel deal or a sumo wrestler. i don't mind a movie breaks real world physics and science. i mind when a movie says this is how this works and then it doesn't work that way.

[marcelangelo]

Is that you, Stuart Gillard?

that actually made me laugh;)

[Danetello]

I actually watched this movie the other day, in my quest to watch all TMNT related media for its 30th anniversary, and I have to say, I kinda liked it. Having read so many negative opinions about it, I suppose I didn't really have high hopes for it, but I was surprised.
The costumes I didn't mind as much as people here do, and in fact Raphael, for me, was an improvement over the original TMNT movie.
People complain that it was too slapstick, but I grew up with the 80's cartoon, which was of course complete comedy, and honestly, that's how I sort of see the TMNT - not taking themselves too seriously. So, the comedy in this movie really doesn't bother me.

[Evil_Ash]

I actually watched this movie the other day, in my quest to watch all TMNT related media for its 30th anniversary, and I have to say, I kinda liked it. Having read so many negative opinions about it, I suppose I didn't really have high hopes for it, but I was surprised.
The costumes I didn't mind as much as people here do, and in fact Raphael, for me, was an improvement over the original TMNT movie.
People complain that it was too slapstick, but I grew up with the 80's cartoon, which was of course complete comedy, and honestly, that's how I sort of see the TMNT - not taking themselves too seriously. So, the comedy in this movie really doesn't bother me.

It's a horrible movie. There's no arguing that. But sometimes i pop it in and watch it until i fall asleep. I don't know what is it it isn't nostalgia because i didn't grow up with it. But it's a perfect movie to just turn your brain off and drift away...

[Sumac]

There's nothing mediocre there. It is bad, it is really bad...
I don't think so.

[Evil_Ash]

I don't think so.

Tell me one good thing about it?

[Radical Raph]

I actually watched this movie the other day, in my quest to watch all TMNT related media for its 30th anniversary, and I have to say, I kinda liked it. Having read so many negative opinions about it, I suppose I didn't really have high hopes for it, but I was surprised.
The costumes I didn't mind as much as people here do, and in fact Raphael, for me, was an improvement over the original TMNT movie.
People complain that it was too slapstick, but I grew up with the 80's cartoon, which was of course complete comedy, and honestly, that's how I sort of see the TMNT - not taking themselves too seriously. So, the comedy in this movie really doesn't bother me.
I always thought TMNT 1990 had the perfect tone for a ninja turtles movie. I like them to be goofy with moments of seriousness.

[graphic_content]

I always thought TMNT 1990 had the perfect tone for a ninja turtles movie. I like them to be goofy with moments of seriousness.

which im hoping is balance they will strike with this movie. guys will be guys, so i except moments of comedy, but when its time to punch somebody in the face, Im hoping it will be epic.

[Radical Raph]

which im hoping is balance they will strike with this movie. guys will be guys, so i except moments of comedy, but when its time to punch somebody in the face, Im hoping it will be epic.
Like you said, if they can take that same tone, but just make the humor a little more clever and the violence a little more bad*ss, I'll be good.

I have a question about all of the costumes... Where did the actor inside the suit see out of?

[Fourcylinder]

There were slits underneath the bandanas, didn't offer much visibility for the actors. They are really easy to spot on the next mutation suits.

[Pondslider]

Tell me one good thing about it?

The movie ends.

[Radion]

I think it was the slapstick humor and the offputting suits even the stunt men said they felt it was a downgrade in the look of them

[Warhorse]

Tell me one good thing about it?

What, TMNT 3? I like that they got the Turtles riding horses in it. I liked that part!

[ssjup81]

Legend of Koji, season 7 episode whatever.
Shredder's ancestor is Mexican for some reason.It's been forever since I've been here, but I just wanted to echo this. This was another disappointment for me as a 12/13 year old at the time. No actual connections to the turtles. That story would've been perfect for the setting they used...then again, I would've settled for Turtles in Time. :P

The pacing wasn't all that good either. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I actually fell asleep on parts of it originally. I did give it another chance, though, and my feelings still didn't change.

I still find it appalling how the film turned out. The first film had considerably less to work with and is far superior, though flawed in some respects compared to the third. Bad costumes aside, the script was awful despite all of the potential it had.

The first movie, imo, had a perfect balance of humor and seriousness.Tell me one good thing about it?Tarzan Boy. :lol:

[Evil_Ash]

It's been forever since I've been here, but I just wanted to echo this. This was another disappointment for me as a 12/13 year old at the time. No actual connections to the turtles. That story would've been perfect for the setting they used...then again, I would've settled for Turtles in Time. :P

The pacing wasn't all that good either. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I actually fell asleep on parts of it originally. I did give it another chance, though, and my feelings still didn't change.

I still find it appalling how the film turned out. The first film had considerably less to work with and is far superior, though flawed in some respects compared to the third. Bad costumes aside, the script was awful despite all of the potential it had.

The first movie, imo, had a perfect balance of humor and seriousness.Tarzan Boy. :lol:
Like Elvis in blue Havai :D The only problem with the first movie is that we never get the real foot soldiers, they never feel like a threat to me...

[rodster6]

Terrible costumes and special effects, dumb, immature script and plot. Lame villains rather than taking one from the wealth of TMNT villains available.
They could have used Baxter and his Mousers or continued the story of the mutagen and introduced the Utroms.

[ssjup81]

Terrible costumes and special effects, dumb, immature script and plot. Lame villains rather than taking one from the wealth of TMNT villains available.
They could have used Baxter and his Mousers or continued the story of the mutagen and introduced the Utroms.Wasn't that the plan originally for movie 2, introducing the Utroms? I thought they couldn't for that because of the difficulty of pulling it off convincingly. They could now with CGI.

[Sumac]

Tell me one good thing about it?
It wasn't horrible, awful or whatever. It was just boring.
While it's certainly not a complliment for any movie, it doesn't mean, that it was abominable or horrid in everything. Though, I guess some people, who watched this movie as children, tend to overblow their dissappointed with the film.

The idea going away from the Shredder and the Foot was a good one and generally idea behind the movie wasn't bad. I'd say TMNT3 is in the same league as the second movie. They both were weaker than the first one, but for different reasons. TMNT2 was too campy, TMNT3 was too (attempted to be) too serious. I personally appreciate that it wasn't another "return of the Shredder", though and the fact that they tryed to make something original.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

I think the only thing that bothered me as a kid was that silly scene with Mikey and the shorts. like really Mikey has his first good idea since putting retromutagen in donuts and splinter shuts him down, "we don't have time for this scientific debate". much rather have them go good idea Mikey, have the turtles all wear shorts and not have the Honor Gaurds come wearing g-strings. that and "the magic travellers must be the same weight" line. I'm sorry but a giant turtle with a shell is defiantly going to need either a 2 for 1 travel deal or a sumo wrestler. I don't mind a movie breaks real world physics and science. I mind when a movie says this is how this works and then it doesn't work that way.

Actually, if you look at their supposed weights, the turtles would probably weigh about the same as those guys did- they are all apparently around 170 lbs or so- or so go the canon stats. Remember, they are a bit on the short side compared to most humans. Which explains why they switched clothes with those guys, I suppose. I mean, if April weighed the same as Kenshen minus THEIR clothes.... Hmmm, methinks April was putting on some weight from all that pizza.... Which reminds me- some things DID get switched, as well- their weapons, and April's Walkman, for instance. And Mikey DID have a good idea, as he often does, but rarely gets any credit for. Too bad Splinter nixed it, or Benkai wouldn't have been the ONLY one running around in shorts! And it also explains how/why Mikey ended up backward on that horse- remember how he stopped to pull up his shorts when they fell down just before they zapped back? Yup, when he came back up, he was holding the scepter with his OTHER hand. It's subtle, and hard to catch, but there ya' go.

[mikedrummer27]

The third film was alright, but lousy supporting cast. The whole ancient japanese thing didnt sit right and the villans were terrible.

[iceberg325]

This movie is the worst one out of the 3 for sure. With that being said, there are a few pros to this movie in my opinion. The set design, costume design in feudal japan are spot are pretty good. I don't mind the switch without Shredder being in it. I think they missed a big opportunity to mix in the foot clan origin and have it tie in somehow to modern time with Shredder etc.

The look of the turtles is pretty bad. Although they move well, they look like plastic. I would have preferred a direct follow up to SotO though.

[Andrew NDB]

A lot more could have been forgiven about TMNT III had it brought forth a more credible villain and threat than what was actually in the movie.

But yeah. It's still better than TMNT II.

[UGHShellshocked]

They should have sent The Turtles, Splinter, Casey and April back to Ancient Japan where they could revisit the Saki / Yoshi saga, it would have kept Shredder in the story and been a lot better. Imagine if the big surprise about the movie was that the modern day Shredder had his own time lantern and went back to mentor his younger self.

Instead we had Casey's misadventures and Splinter just hanging out in a empty subway car doing god knows what.

You went from this

http://pixelatedpop.com/sites/default/files/u4/tmntMasterSplinter.JPG


To this:

http://application.denofgeek.com/pics/film/tmnt/tmnt03g.jpg

[The Turtle Terminator]

The concept of it was cool. They just needed waaaaaay better suits and a script.

What I dont understand is why everyone is so mad about the suuts in the movie. They were alright and look OK visually. It was just the bad script

[sethmartin]

What I dont understand is why everyone is so mad about the suuts in the movie. They were alright and look OK visually. It was just the bad script

You have to suspend disbelief with it. The suits in the first two movies were made much better. You can see the skin detail and overall realism put in. The suits in the third movie are still impressive as far as animatronics go but they lacked the detail of the first two movies. The turtles faces all looked the same because they were made from the same mold and the detailed skin texture of the first two movies was replaced with giant large spots and rubbery skin. They looked like puppets. Even Splinter, who I guess they never finished because you only see his upper half and he looks like a puppet that should have been used on Sesame Street.

My biggest beef as a kid was the story. I don't think the third turtles movie should have taken place in ancient Japan to start with. It felt distant from the first two movies. I remember being bummed that it didn't take place in new york. They could have brought back Super Shredder or more mutants. They had a stock pile of villains to choose from the cartoon, and the comics, yet they just brought in two cliche villains that sucked. Turtles 3 should have taken place in present day New York and should have been a continuation of the story that was going on in Turtles 1 and 2. It felt like a random episode of the cartoon with actors instead of animation.

[Sumac]

They could have brought back Super Shredder or more mutants. They had a stock pile of villains to choose from the cartoon, and the comics, yet they just brought in two cliche villains that sucked. Turtles 3 should have taken place in present day New York and should have been a continuation of the story that was going on in Turtles 1 and 2. It felt like a random episode of the cartoon with actors instead of animation.
Thanks, but no thanks.
I'd take mediocre attempt at originality over tired routine. TMNT3: Shredder Returns: Mutants Bugaloo.
Besides, you said that Turtles have stock pile of villains from various media, but for whatever reason advocate ANOTHER use of the Shredder...quite contradictory statement in itself.

[Cheesebrush]

I don't get the hatred for part 3. Whilst not as good as the first, it's way better than the second film.

Strangely I find it far more believable and realistic than #2, which is rather odd considering it features time travel! Maybe it's more because of my dislike of the whole Vanilla Ice section in part 2. Plus I like Japanese stuff so am probably more forgiving towards part 3.

In some ways the turtles suits look a bit slicker but the animatronics are awful and the paint jobs too bright. Splinter definitely comes off the worst - I think I have a duster under the stairs with more character than that puppet.

But for all its faults, I just find it more enjoyable to watch. Beyond the convoluted "here's a magical sceptre to take us back in time" plot device, the story generally works OK. And whilst totally irrelevant to the main story, the events in the modern day featuring Casey and the Japanese guards are at least vaguely entertaining and don't make me want to gouge out my eyes so I never have to see them again, unlike Vanilla Ice in part 2!

[sethmartin]

Thanks, but no thanks.
I'd take mediocre attempt at originality over tired routine. TMNT3: Shredder Returns: Mutants Bugaloo.
Besides, you said that Turtles have stock pile of villains from various media, but for whatever reason advocate ANOTHER use of the Shredder...quite contradictory statement in itself.

My point was, why invent two new villains and make them stereotyped and mediocre when you have tons of established villains in the other universes that we would have loved to see on the big screen. Baxter Stockman, Krang, Rat King, etc. I remember being a kid when Turtles 3 was announced and hoping I would get to see some of my favorite villains from the comics and cartoon on the big screen. Instead, two unoriginal, uninspired, non-threatening villains. The only reason I mentioned bringing back Shredder is that it would have at least made sense in the continuity of the trilogy. Especially since Shredder was crushed in a garbage truck in part one but came back alive and well in turtles 2. So if he can survive that, why can't he survive some falling beams of wood? And this time he was Super Shredder. They could have brought in the Technodrome, Krang, Triceratons, Utroms, etc. Instead they just did the tired old time traveling theme that was popular at the time. So I'd hardly call it a mediocre attempt at originality. The whole thing was cliche city.

[Sumac]

They could have brought in the Technodrome, Krang, Triceratons, Utroms, etc.
I should remind you that it was 1993. CGI was extremely expensive back then and animatronics and stopmotion animation can't accomplish everything. Movie with Technodrome, Dimension X, Krang and the like, would've require an absurd amount of money to make secial effects.
Besides, it those elements would have been brought to the movie, we'd ended up with fans hating this film, because it would be just like original toon, but with actors. A far cry from the semi-grim style of the first movie, which is one of the reasons why it hailed by fans so much.

The whole thing was cliche city.
And (another) survival of the villain, who supposedly died at the end of the previous movie is not a tired cliche, apparently?
You can step in the same river only so much times. Another ressurection of the Shredder would've been redundant and would've made complete joke out of him.
"- OK, so far we burned him, froze him, threw him of a skyscraper...what kind of fun we can with him today?" :trolleye:

[electric_sheep]

I should remind you that it was 1993. CGI was extremely expensive back then and animatronics and stopmotion animation can't accomplish everything. Movie with Technodrome, Dimension X, Krang and the like, would've require an absurd amount of money to make secial effects.
Besides, it those elements would have been brought to the movie, we'd ended up with fans hating this film, because it would be just like original toon, but with actors. A far cry from the semi-grim style of the first movie, which is one of the reasons why it hailed by fans so much.


And (another) survival of the villain, who supposedly died at the end of the previous movie is not a tired cliche, apparently?
You can step in the same river only so much times. Another ressurection of the Shredder would've been redundant and would've made complete joke out of him.
"- OK, so far we burned him, froze him, threw him of a skyscraper...what kind of fun we can with him today?" :trolleye:

Star wars had a budget of 11,000,000 dollars and this would need a hlaf as much special efecets, they could have gone in so many directions and they choose the worst one...

[sethmartin]

They wouldn't have used CGI. They would have used animatronics, puppets, models, miniatures, optical printers and effects. There were a lot of amazing films made before CGI became the norm. Since, for some reason, you are taking every thing I say literally, I'll specify one more time and then I'm done with this... I was merely giving broad examples of things they COULD have done that would have remained true to the Turtles universe that was already established at that point and not necessarily things they SHOULD have done. They could have pulled more stories from the comics or if they wanted to go kid friendly, they could have pulled elements from the cartoon that was on at the time instead of going with a lame generic tired time traveling storyline. That's all I'm saying. Now move on.

[The Boston Ninja Turtle]

You can step in the same river only so much times. Another ressurection of the Shredder would've been redundant and would've made complete joke out of him.
"- OK, so far we burned him, froze him, threw him of a skyscraper...what kind of fun we can with him today?" :trolleye:

Shredder was resurrected a number of times in the original comics after Leonardo Defeated him..so its not like he is so easy to kill in the turtles world

[Sumac]

I was merely giving broad examples of things they COULD have done that would have remained true to the Turtles universe that was already established at that point and not necessarily things they SHOULD have done.
As if TMNT3 is somehow not true to the Turtles universe, even despite its mediocre quality...tsk.

Shredder was resurrected a number of times in the original comics after Leonardo Defeated him..so its not like he is so easy to kill in the turtles world
It's still stupid, no matter where or how it had happened. Multiple ressurections of the dead character is cheap move, that destroys suspension and deteriorates story.