BADass SINema Unearthed - Blu-ray 4K UHD Review

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990)

From the back alleys of independent publishing, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles quickly transformed from indie-darling to 1990s mega hit and evergreen ubiquity in the blink of an eye. There is always a comic, a cartoon, tv show, action figure, t-shirt, coffee mug and friggen set of TMNT Tighty-Whities available somewhere. And of course, the litany of feature films kicked off with 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Steve Barron directed classic became a monster hit worldwide, becoming the highest earning independent film in history at the time; and of course, with cash quickly comes sequels 

Arrow video has taken it upon themselves to release what became known as the original New Line Cinemas Trilogy with brand new 4K scans in a fancy, feature laden boxset. These films have been released as many times as you’ve eaten dinner on all the evolving home-media formats, with varying degrees of quality noted and – none, to date – that glow. So, we’ll delve quickly into each film’s story and then get to how the new transfers look.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990)

A youth crime wave is sweeping New York and police are at their wits end. Intrepid investigative reporter April O’Neill (Judith Hoag) tries to get to the bottom of this epidemic and runs afoul of a sinister clan known as the Foot. As April is accosted, from the shadowy sewers, comes a quartet of anthropomorphised turtles to rescue her. They dispense with these foot clan soldiers with ease, deploying a blazing display of ninjitsu arts and weaponry. Trained by their Master Splinter – an anthropomorphised rat – the young turtles are eager to prove their worth in the ways of crime fighting. But the Foot is commanded by an intimidating and menacing leader calling himself The Shredder, a man mysteriously connected to Splinter. When Splinter is abducted, Leonardo, Raphael, Michaelangelo and Donatello are forced to learn those secrets, with the help of April and vigilante Casey Jones (Elias Koteas), to save their master before it’s too late.

This was a terrific start. Hot on the heels of Batman the year before, TMNT legitimises the outlandish designs of the turtles in live action (thanks to Jim Henson’s magicians), rendering them instantly recognisable but now living and breathing creatures. The story is kid-friendly but still has a hearty helping of pathos and conflict. The four turtles have well-defined personalities and distinct contributions to the story. The animated cartoon was a big hit at the time, and the movie turtles remain faithful to those characterisations for the most part, except for Raphael: he’s got a big chip on his shoulder and a temper in the movie! Shredder is an intimidating antagonist, and they wisely do less is more with him to great effect. The human leads are all terrific, especially Judith Hoag as April (I missed her in the following entries). The action is copious and effective. The stakes are real. There are some truly emotional beats throughout. This is a very tightly made, well-executed and very rewatchable movie. Couldn’t wait for the next one after this offering.

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Edition

Home Video Distributor: Arrow Films
Available on Blu-ray - December 16, 2025
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: Englis; English SDH
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; three-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

VIDEO

This is a pristine new 2160p native scan of the original camera negatives. The multitudes of previous formats have always suffered from muddy and inconsistent transfers. But this, THIS gives a brand-new viewing experience that sends detail, colour, and contrast into the stratosphere. Turtles’ cinematography has always been a challenge on home markets, with is use of night scenes and shadows a constant throughout. But the Dolby Vision HDR gives you faithful colour but heightened colour timing that really sets it apart from all that has come before. It doesn’t get any better than this, folks. The set is worth it for this transfer alone.

AUDIO

We get a new Dolby ATMOS 7.1 mix that almost knocks it out of the park. With loads of fights and breaking stuff throughout, these are delivered with bone jarring clarity, so effective that they obscure the dialogue in some scenes (the fight at April’s place for one.) So, I’m knocking off a point for balancing issues. Apart from these seldom issues, it’s a banger of a mix, sure to give your surround a good workout. There are also 5.1 and stereo mixes, should you not have enough speakers.

Supplements:

Happy to report that Arrow has provided a decent mix of archival (euphemism for reused) features and a whole bunch of new interviews from various stakeholders from the first movie, from cast to special effects people. And these extras are not token 2-minute clips. All up they exceed an hour of contemporary reminiscing. You also get a branched “U.K Alternate cut.” (The Brits had an issue with the word ‘Ninja’ and nun-chucks back in the day.) The packaging is a dense and weighty affair, classily imbued with new cover art (that uses old poster art). Will be a noticeable addition to anybody’s shelf. Well done!

Commentary:

• See Special Features for the breakdown.

Special Features:

• New 4K restorations for all three films, including a lovingly overachieving cleanup of the 1990 original
• Dolby Atmos mix for the first film, because apparently the turtles now deserve prestige audio
• Remixed DTS‑HD MA tracks for Secret of the Ooze and TMNT III
• Archival featurettes rescued from the VHS/DVD era like time capsules of pure ’90s energy
• New interviews with cast and crew, offering behind‑the‑scenes stories that confirm these movies were held together by sweat, foam latex, and chaos
• Audio commentaries that range from insightful to “I can’t believe we survived this production”
• Behind‑the‑scenes footage showing suit actors doing heroic things in 40 pounds of rubber
• Promotional ephemera from the original theatrical runs—trailers, TV spots, and marketing oddities
• Reversible sleeve art for each film, because Arrow knows collectors love options
• A thick booklet with essays, restoration notes, and enough trivia to make you the most dangerous person at a TMNT pub quiz
• Posters and art cards designed to trigger your inner 12‑year‑old into full nostalgia meltdown

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

Well, with the box-office returns of part 1, zero time was wasted churning out another entry. Just a year later, the Ninja Turtles were back on our silver screens. A change in director, and a few cast replacements (Judith Hoag hadn’t made any friends with those in power on the first movie and April would be played by Paige Turco for the next two entries; for the Turtles voices: Corey Feldman had gone off the rails again with substance abuse, wasn’t deemed ‘kid-friendly’ anymore, and the voice of Donatello would now be Adam Carl. Raphael’s acerbic New York accent would be provided by Laurie Faso this time, replacing Josh Pais. And finally, The Shredder would now be played by François Chau, who replaced James Saito.

Set right after the events of the first movie, in this one a precocious pizza delivery boy, Keno (Ernie Reyes Jr.) stumbles on the remnants of the Foot Clan, pillaging a store. He starts to unload a can of whip-ass but is quickly outnumbered… until the Turtles come in to save the day. Beaten and deflated, not even Shredder’s right-hand man can lift their spirits with motivational speaking… But Shredder shows up in the nick of time not dead and hatches a fiendish plan to yolk the strength of ‘the ooze’ to create more-better (sorry for writing that, but I’m trying to get through this synopsis) mutant powered creatures that can defeat the Ninja Turtles once and for all. Shenanigans ensue…

Yep, you can probably tell by my in-depth rundown of the plot that there isn’t much of one. I can tell you that late and great David Warner is in it, I can tell you Jim Henson’s masterful designs are back, and I can tell you that there’s another tie-in song from another 90s flavour of the month (Vanilla Ice). What I can’t tell you is this film has any of the first’s riveting narrative, rising tension, mystery and intrigue, well-drawn characters, or any appreciable quality. Its production design looks as cheap as its dialogue. The insufferable number of gags wouldn’t sway a pre-schooler. The humour in the first flick was organic and, at times, endearing. There’s none of that here. It’s not like the original was held in high regards for its quality either, but it’s a friggen masterpiece against this.

Enough blasting. This was a disappointment when it came out for me and my appreciation of it now hasn’t improved. Only for a rainy day… if you’re in traction with no access to a remote. This is an awful sequel.

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Edition

Home Video Distributor: Arrow Films
Available on Blu-ray - December 16, 2025
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: Englis; English SDH
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; three-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

VIDEO

This one is a decent, albeit non-native scan (struck from an inter-positive, I’m told.) The brighter, bolder colour palette is faithfully recreated here, cleanly, and consistently displayed. There is no HDR, yet the bold and bright production choices and colour palette are shown to great effect here. It’s a crisp, neat transfer with no sign of artefacts or print defects.

AUDIO

No Dolby ATMOS here, folks, (nor in III). But is nonetheless a bold and well-rounded DTS-HD lossless mix that delivers on all counts. From the shitty dialogue and half-arsed quips to the environmental effects in ‘action’ scenes, you get a well-balanced and layered experience.

Supplements:

Not nearly as generous as part I, but you are given a couple of new interviews from behind-the-scenes contributors.hty affair, classily imbued with new cover art (that uses old poster art). Will be a noticeable addition to anybody’s shelf. Well done!

Commentary:

• See Special Features for the breakdown.

Special Features:

• New 4K restorations for all three films, including a lovingly overachieving cleanup of the 1990 original
• Dolby Atmos mix for the first film, because apparently the turtles now deserve prestige audio
• Remixed DTS‑HD MA tracks for Secret of the Ooze and TMNT III
• Archival featurettes rescued from the VHS/DVD era like time capsules of pure ’90s energy
• New interviews with cast and crew, offering behind‑the‑scenes stories that confirm these movies were held together by sweat, foam latex, and chaos
• Audio commentaries that range from insightful to “I can’t believe we survived this production”
• Behind‑the‑scenes footage showing suit actors doing heroic things in 40 pounds of rubber
• Promotional ephemera from the original theatrical runs—trailers, TV spots, and marketing oddities
• Reversible sleeve art for each film, because Arrow knows collectors love options
• A thick booklet with essays, restoration notes, and enough trivia to make you the most dangerous person at a TMNT pub quiz
• Posters and art cards designed to trigger your inner 12‑year‑old into full nostalgia meltdown

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

Sigh…

You will note, despite my harsh recounting of Part II, I gave it 2 stars. Those 2 stars were because in fleeting moments, especially at the start, there were moments that harkened back to the original. Poorly executed but they were there.

In Part III, director Stuart Gillard helmed a quick descent into hell with a pandering, insipidly stupid time-travel story. It sees April (a returning Paige Turco) gift the turtles a mysterious looking antique lantern that magically sends her back to Feudal Japan which somehow transfers her with a Japanese warrior Kenshin (Henry Hayashi). In a ‘delightful’ fish-out-of-water romp, the Ninja Turtles go back to the past to rescue April and transport another cluster of ancient Japanese warriors to modern day where none other than Casey Jones (a returning Elias Koteas, slumming it) has to keep them occupied with all the bubble gum fun that New York has to offer. This is a simplification of the so-called plot, but I honestly don’t want to spend more time on the dross than its necessary.

In a nutshell, this was aimed squarely at pre-kindergarten viewers. Its plot is slapped together to sell a one-note gimmick. None of the characters, from the main cast, to supporting are drawn with any relatability or authenticity. The entire cast spew supposed witticisms that the most undemanding three-year-old would yawn at. The action, the cinematography, the horrendous Saturday morning cartoon sound effects—all grate very quickly. There is nothing approaching redeemable or relatable in any of this crap. It’s an embarrassment that this was greenlit. Kids might not know a whole hell of a lot, but they’re not dumb. Talking down to them with this rubbish was the wrong way to go.

What started out as a promising, character-driven, story ends with a thud. What a shame.

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Edition

Home Video Distributor: Arrow Films
Available on Blu-ray - December 16, 2025
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: Englis; English SDH
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; three-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

VIDEO

As stated above, this is not a native scan but the garish palette of cinematographer David Gurfinkel is beautifully retained and immaculately represented in this upscale. All the horrendous bland costume work is rendered cleanly. Red is predominant through the picture, with Raph’s mask, and human flesh popping off the screen. It’s another clean and crisp presentation of a terrible movie.

AUDIO

Fantastic 5.1 DTS-HD lossless mix, just as part II was. You’re not left wanting with the well-balanced mix. From dialogue to fight scenes to moments of calm, everything sounds accurate and accurately heightened when needed. Only loses a point for no overheads. For a 5.1 mix, it doesn’t get any better.

Supplements:

A couple of new interviews. And also, the “U.K” alternate scenes, just like in part I. Meh.

Commentary:

• See Special Features for the breakdown.

Special Features:

• New 4K restorations for all three films, including a lovingly overachieving cleanup of the 1990 original
• Dolby Atmos mix for the first film, because apparently the turtles now deserve prestige audio
• Remixed DTS‑HD MA tracks for Secret of the Ooze and TMNT III
• Archival featurettes rescued from the VHS/DVD era like time capsules of pure ’90s energy
• New interviews with cast and crew, offering behind‑the‑scenes stories that confirm these movies were held together by sweat, foam latex, and chaos
• Audio commentaries that range from insightful to “I can’t believe we survived this production”
• Behind‑the‑scenes footage showing suit actors doing heroic things in 40 pounds of rubber
• Promotional ephemera from the original theatrical runs—trailers, TV spots, and marketing oddities
• Reversible sleeve art for each film, because Arrow knows collectors love options
• A thick booklet with essays, restoration notes, and enough trivia to make you the most dangerous person at a TMNT pub quiz
• Posters and art cards designed to trigger your inner 12‑year‑old into full nostalgia meltdown

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade