Turtles (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Turtles Turtles - The Movie (DVD Title) |
| Original title | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
 | |
| Country of production | USA , Hong Kong |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1990 |
| length | 93 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 6 (formerly FSK 12) |
| Rod | |
| Director | Steve Barron |
| script | Todd W. Langen, Bobby Herbeck |
| production | David Chan, Kim Dawson, Simon Fields |
| music | John Du Prez |
| camera | John Fenner |
| cut |
Sally Menke , James R. Symons, William D. Gordean |
| occupation | |
| |
| chronology | |
|
Successor → |
|
Turtles is a 1990 film adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . Directed by Steve Barron .
action
The film begins with a report by the young reporter April O'Neil about a series of serious thefts that hit New York . During her research, she came across clues that a clan of ninja thieves called Foot Gang was behind it, who also recruited young runaways and street thieves into their ranks - a clue that Chief Sterns of the NYPD does not take seriously. On the evening of their broadcast, April was attacked on the street, but then the lights went out, fighting noises were heard, and the police found the attackers incapacitated and April unharmed. When she regroups herself, she finds a fork-like weapon on the floor and takes it.
April's rescuers turn out to be four juvenile turtles, mutated into humanoid shapes, named after four Italian Renaissance artists : Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael. They live in the New York canal system, together with their master and foster father, the mutated rat Splinter, who taught them the arts of the ninja . They only mingle with people at night and have a particular fondness for pizza. Their transformation stems from the fact that, as abandoned babies, they were exposed to a strange mucus that transformed them into their current form. Splinter, on the other hand, was the pet of a ninja fighter who fled to America from a rival from Japan, but was tracked down and murdered by him. From him, Splinter acquired his knowledge of the ninja arts through observation and imitation before mutating.
Frustrated by the loss of his Sai, Raphael, the hot-headed of the four Turtles, decides to go to see a movie in town. Afterwards, he prevents a street robbery, but also meets the former ice hockey player and vigilante Casey Jones, who trims him and then flees before Raphael can get back at him.
In no way unsettled by the attack, April digs deeper into her research; not only to the displeasure of Chief Sterns, but also of the Foot Clan. He sends a group after April to finally silence them. April is attacked and knocked unconscious in a subway station, but Raphael comes to her aid and takes her to his home. There April gets to know the Turtles and Splinter, learns their story and becomes friends with them. The Turtles escort April back home, but when they return they find their home devastated: One of April's attackers followed Raphael to the hiding place and then took his gang and captured Splinter. Since their hiding place is no longer safe, the Turtles bivouac in April's apartment.
The next morning April receives a visit from her boss Charles and his young son Danny. Charles tries to dissuade them from reporting more about the Foot Clan for the sake of their safety, he claims. The real reason is that Danny was caught stealing and Chief Sterns is now blackmailing Charles in order to shut up April, who repeatedly questions his competence. What neither of them know is that Danny is a junior member of the Foots; he discovers the Turtles in April's apartment and then flees back to the Foot Clan, where he reports to their leader, the Shredder. He then sends a combat group to April to bring down the Turtles; but they are unexpectedly reinforced by Casey Jones, who has been watching everything nearby, and together they all escape to April's birthplace, a small farm outside of town. There the turtles gather again and prepare to fight.
Meanwhile, Danny is plagued by remorse. Since his father neglects him, he looked for a replacement family and said he found them in the Foot Clan. After the robbery of April's apartment, however, he had doubts and after a conversation with Splinter, whom he happened to meet, Danny decides to withdraw from the Foot, and he is found by the Turtles in their old hiding place when they go into town to return. That same night he returns for another conversation with Splinter, but is caught by Shredder and reveals to him (this time unintentionally) the return of the Turtles. The Foot rallies for a major attack, but the Turtles await and a mass brawl begins under, in and over the streets of Brooklyn . Danny and Casey, who has followed him, can free Splinter and get the young runaways to renounce the Foot Clan.
At the same time, the Turtles encounter the Shredder, but are not up to his fighting skills. At the last moment, Splinter reappears and reveals Shredder as the murderer of his old master. Shredder pounces on Splinter, but falls off the roof and down into a garbage truck, whose press is about to be put into operation by Casey. While the Turtles and Splinter watch from a rooftop as the police clean up, Danny and his father make up again and April and Casey get together as a couple to cheer their friends. The story ends with Splinter jokingly proposing a victory cry, which the young Turtles adopt as their trademark: "Cowabunga!"
background
-
Turtles is partly based more on the original comics than on the animated series from the 1980s, which are more child-oriented:
- In the film, as in the comics, Splinter has always been a rat, but in the series he was initially Hamato Yoshi, who became Splinter through contact with rats through the agent.
- In comics and films, Oroku Saki murdered Hamato Yoshi, in the series he only used a trick to ensure that Hamato was banned.
- When comparing the German and English soundtracks, it is noticeable that the German version plays cartoon-like noises such as bells or whistles when it hits and kicks, which is missing in the English version. On other occasions, the German version also recorded additional noises, for example a cavalry trumpet when Master Tatsu gave the Footclan ninjas the order to attack.
- In the German version, two scenes are heavily changed: During the attack in April's apartment, Michelangelo and a member of the Footclan compare their skills with the nunchaku , this is not shown in the German version. Furthermore, the scene in which the shredder falls from the roof has been changed a lot. In the Original Version, Splinter first holds the shredder with his nunchaku, but drops him when he throws a dagger at him.
- The film was released on DVD for the first time in German-speaking countries on March 12, 2010. This publication is uncut.
reception
Reviews
“A little imaginative, but briskly staged action spectacle based on well-known cinematic patterns. It draws its charm mainly from the amusing main characters, who relativize the martial-violent background with wit and irony. However, there is hardly anything left of the slightly anarchistic charm of the original. "
"The four green heroes with loose mouths and preferences for pizza and martial arts became the favorites of an entire generation through this spectacular adventure."
Awards (selection)
- Nomination in the category Best Fantasy Film
- Nomination in the Best Costume category
- Received the BMI Film Music Award for John Du Prez
Gross profit
- With a budget of $ 13.5 million, the film grossed $ 201,965,915 worldwide.
- After its German theatrical release on December 13, 1990, 1,162,883 viewers saw the film.
Sequels
The film was continued a year later with Turtles II and two more years later with Turtles III .
Web links
- Turtles in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Turtles in the German synchronous file
- Turtles in the online film database
- Turtles in the Lexicon of International Films
- Turtles at rotten tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Turtles on prisma-online.de , accessed December 1, 2011
- ↑ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on boxofficemojo.com (English), accessed December 1, 2011
- ↑ TOP 100 DEUTSCHLAND 1990 on insidekino.de , accessed on December 1, 2011
