Customer Reviews

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles Forever

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I can't begin to explain how much it truly pains me to give this gem of a movie one star. Being a huge fan of the Ninja Turtles, I fell in love with this movie when I saw it on TV (even though it was reduced to 70 minutes, like it's evidently being released here). And once I saw the entire version (79 minutes) I fell in love with it even more.

To think that Nickelodeon is going to release this movie at it's edited length is disgusting. You may think I'm over-reacting, but seriously... what is the point of not issuing the full movie? This is DVD people, there are no time constraints for commercials. And trust me, that 9 mintues they cut goes a long way in humor, action, plot explanations and even character depth (i.e. Shredder).

Also, look at the cover art. As you can tell by other reviews, the coolest thing about this movie is that it stars the famous Turtles from the 1987 animated series (voiced by sound-alikes who do a great job)... and they're no where to be seen on the cover!

Hopefully Nickelodeon ammends these foolish mistakes. I will gladly delete this review if they come to their senses before the release date.

This is a horrible excuse for a release of this film.
Why?
Reason 1. There are 9 minutes of the original film cut out of this version. This should be 79 minutes long. As you can see Nickelodeon is only selling the censored version with a running time of 70 minutes.

Reason 2. This film was animated and created in widescreen. As you can see from the description this release will cut off the right and left sides of the screen to make the picture 4:3 full screen.

Reason 3. The DVD cover is a horrific example of poor design and disregard for the actual product. This film has three different sets of turtles and only one set is even on the cover. A wonderful Comic-Con poster was created for this film and can be seen by searching google or wikipedia. Why it wasn't used is anyones guess.

If Nickelodeon is doing this poorly of a job with the turtles license this early on, and with a product that was handed to them without any work on their part; then I do not have any more hope for this franchise and its future.

With this release Nickelodeon put the nail in the turtles' coffin. And lets keep it that way before it gets any worse.

You have the balls to release the TV cut on DVD, AND in fullscreen with no extra features? How asinine. What's funnier, is that the 4kids company has the full version for "FREE" on their website still.

For any of those that still would like to see the full version of this film, go here---> [...]

Until you fix this problem, none of the fans are going to buy this DVD. Good luck with that one...

I've bought every turtles DVD since they started releasing them. When they started coming out they all had horrid stock art that could be found on the official turtles website and assembled by an amateur at best. As time went on they started creating original artwork and the releases started getting better. 4Kids was finally releasing half season sets instead of out of order volumes containing only 4-5 episodes. I was happy.

Then the buy out happened. I expected no more releases and I honestly never thought "Turtles Forever" would see a DVD release. The fact it did is great news but it's also bittersweet. We're back to stock art covers and the release is edited down. The film has plot holes with those few minutes removed. Some of the people at 4Kids have been trying to get Nick's attention. They have sent them the movie poster to be used as a cover as well as the extended cut. They have yet to respond. This is just a big middle finger to the fans.

They probably don't care what a 22 year old turtles fan thinks but the main pull for this film are older fans. Kids now are too young to have seen the old toon or have read the comic. This was made for us older fans. How you could insult the fanbase like this is beyond me. Just because it changed hands doesn't mean those of us who have been supporting turtles for 25+ years won't still continue to do so.

As a huge fan of the original TMNT series and being from the UK I found the only way to get hold of the DVD box sets was to import them from the US, where they have been released steadily since 2004 with the latest release, Season 8, released in 2009. As I was regularly checking for new TMNT releases I noticed this release, Turtles Forever, which is a cross-over of sorts between the original 1980's animated series and the later 2000's series which I was also a fan of.

I was put off ordering at that time due to some of the reviews posted here that complained of a shortened running time (despite there being no time limitations on DVD releases), 4:3 letterbox format (despite the film being originally made in 16:9 widescreen) and a generic cover featuring just the 2000's animated Turtles (despite the existence of a promotional poster made specifically for this film depicting both sets of Turtles). Many complained that Nickelodeon, having only recently obtained the TMNT licence, had short-changed long-term fans and should've put much more effort into their first TMNT release, especially given that it seems they've gone out of their way to make this package as poor as possible.

I'm glad I waited, because it seems Nickelodeon has listened, in a fashion, with the region 2 release of Turtles Forever which was out last week in the UK. All the issues noted above have been rectified, with the cover (featuring the promotional poster) boasting of the "widescreen feature length animated feature" (read 16:9 and full 80 minutes intact). Other criticisms such as lack of DVD extras still stand, however, with the entire feature being less than the size of a single-layer DVD.

As for the feature itself, I enjoyed every minute of it despite the obvious voice cast changes and the rough treatment of the 1980's TMNT as over-the-top, pizza-obsessed, one-dimensional buffoons that bordered on self-parody for much of the film. It was also good to see many of the original characters again, such as Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady, even if they didn't behave as they did in the original series. In short, fans of the 1980's series or the TMNT in general will love this film, especially as it is presented in the region 2 release. The chances are Nickelodeon will not issue a new US release so if you haven't picked it up yet or you really want to see it as it was intended, I wholeheartedly recommend the UK release which is why I give Turtles Forever 5 stars.

It has been said before and will be beaten to death for months, but, come on now Nickelodeon...
...just release the FULL F-ing version will you?
I knew after the acquisition of the TMNT kingdom there would be undesirable consequences, but, I implore you, do your first release properly.
Don't set the tone for years of disappointing life long Turtle worshippers.
All I cay say is put this out in Full AND Wide screen, the COMPLETE 79+ minutes and add bonuses for the sake of being worth the extra cash.
Live with integrity, Nickelodeon, live with honor. Don't release garbage.

Fantastic flick but the dvd is total garbage! Rehashed dvd cover of previous dvds, without the orginal turtles! Why not use the artwork, such as the poster, for the dvd cover? This is just pure lazyness from people who don't care about the fans, who just want a quick buck. The movie itself is the edited version, which if had any faults was the missing 9 mins, that were cut for commercials, which resulted in some plot confusion. Viacom(paramount/nickelodean)at least put some effort towards giving us a good dvd. The TMNT has always been given a the short end of the stick when it comes to dvds, so I expected it. Viacom could've won fans, by finally giving tmnt what they deserve, but they instead do what everyone else did.

The Movie itself is great. Here we find the 1980's Turtles accidentally transported to the Universe of the 2003 Turtles. The story really takes off when the Utrom Shredder discovers the multiverse and attempts to destroy all turtles everywhere (resulting in another crossover). I think the movie was done very well. I'm not familiar with the '03 turtles, but the original turtles and villians,were done very well (maybe slightly more goofy than normal)and voiced by sound-alikes of the originals who did a great job. Lots of memorable lines and just plain well put together.. Watching Shredder chasing after his command chair while it was being hauled away was just one of many hilarious scenes. This movie is a huge treat for turtle fans everywhere....or at least it was meant to be.

So far, the releases of the seasons of the 80's turtles have been fabulous. Unfortunately,
the rights were bought by Nickelodeon and the terrible release of this movie by them shows the grim future that we the fans have coming to us if things don't change. Heres 4 good reasons why:

1. This is a dvd release, not an aired release-no commercials, no time constraints-nothing inappropriate to censor. And I don't know much about disk storage space,but I have many movies well over the 79 minute mark with many other features, so I know that wasn't an issue. Yet Nickelodeon edited parts of the movie out of this release. No reason to do that whatsoever.

2. This film was created in widescreen, yet they put this into letterbox full screen, you miss out on some of the picture--I didn't know what letterbox was when i read about it here on other reviews (I know now) its really noticeable in a bad way

3. If you were to look at the cover of this dvd in a store or here on Amazon and knew nothing about the film, you would have no idea this was a crossover,you would just think "oh a new 03' turtles movie" or "oh a few episodes of the turtles no big deal" Its a nice cover, for a '03 turtles release, but for this its horrible-the artwork made by the fans blows this away. Truthfully, I almost missed out on this after this if it wasn't for an article I read on wilkipedia about Krang, i wouldn't ever knew this great gem existed.

4. This release is supposed to be part of the 25th Anniversary celebration of the turtles. There is NOTHING whatsoever if the way of bonus features, special features, interviews, a look back at turtle history. Nothing!! Just the movie some credits and previews that have nothing to do with the turtles.


I would have given this movie 5+ stars, but it was so poorly released I can't justify it.
Originally I was going to pass on this terrible release after reading the reviews of others, but I really wanted to see it, so (begrudgingly) I bought it. I actually tried for a good 2 weeks to contact Nickelodeon to inquire if there will be a re-release of this movie as a directors' cut or some nicer alternate release in the future. After leaving at least 8 unanswered voice mails and talking to a few operators and customer service reps, I truly believe that Nickelodeon doesn't care about the fans or the franchise they bought(Don't believe me? call them). They are out to make a quick $ and thats it,nothing else. As a fan, the best I can hope for at this time is that they don't butcher the remaining seasons (and that they actually release them) of the turtles too badly, and that for some reason they sell the license to a company that cares about the fans. Thankfully, at my age turtles is the only show I can foresee myself buying that Nickelodeon would be likely releasing.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, especially the original animated series, is dear to many a fan's heart. So much so, in fact, that someone at 4Kids Entertainment came up with a genius idea--why not have an epic crossover between the 80s Turtles and their modern animated counterparts? Hence Turtles Forever, an approximately 75 minute movie featuring both the classic and modern characters meeting each other for the first time. It's a fanboy's dream come true, right?

In some ways, yes. Not only do the original 80s cartoon Turtles show up in the modern 2003 cartoon's timeline, but they're drawn in the exact same soft, pudgy, child friendly demeanor as they were so many years ago. In fact, their appearance juxtapozed with the taller, more angular and gritty designs of their modern brethren is good for a few laughs in and of itself. But it doesn't stop there. The original Shredder, Krang, Splinter, and April O'Neil show up, along with Rocksteady and Beebop, and their personalities all remain faithfully intact (well, mostly).

And the humor, when it works, it works. The modern Turtles are constantly bewildered by their seemingly one-track minded brothers--the 80s Turtles walk around the city in broad daylight without a care to the dumbfounded people about them, they think about nothing but eating pizza, and Raphael constantly breaks the fourth wall, all to the consternation of the remaining cast. The 2003 Shredder sees his classic counterpart as a bungling idiot and Rocksteady and Beebop quickly find themselves replaced by more effective henchman. Again, it's all very amusing.

But all is not perfect in this crossover. As the movie progresses, it's clear the writers don't hold the original turtles in much esteem and constantly render them as little more than goofy foils to their more competent and serious counterparts. Leonardo rarely leads, Raphael wisecracks at completely inappropriate times, and they all have the attention span of a three-year-old. Granted, the original series was always a bit more lighthearted than later incarnations, but the Turtles were rarely ever this silly or one-dimensional. Classic episodes have Leonardo questioning his role as leader, Michaelangelo dwelling on whether he contributes anything to the team, and Raphael saddened over the departure of a potential soulmate. But none of that depth is revealed here. The 80s Turtles were just party-hardying clowns designed for five-year-olds, right?

Making matters worse, the DVD release omits several minutes of footage seen in other formats, and is stricly presented in standard TV (4:3) format. No anamorphic widescreen here. And the extras? Surely there's at least a few classic episodes included from the original series, right? Nope, there's nothing but the chapter select.

This movie is bound to split the fan base. Some will enjoy the movie for what it is despite its inaccurate depictions of the classic Turtles and lack of features because, in the end, it still manages to entertain. But others, especially those who grew up with the original cartoon, will find the shortcomings in this movie too egregious to forgive.

Turtles Forever was a movie that served as the series finally of the 2003 TMNT animated series. It's a great movie that features the TMNT Multiverse of characters, with a team up that includes the 1987 Turtles as well as cameos from a great many characters.

This movie is great fun, and deserves a full five stars just for the movie itself. It managed to capture lightning in a bottle and made me feel like a kid again while I watched it. Whenever another old character appears, it gets more and more fun. The writers managed to capture the quirky late 80s turtles very well. The comedy in the movie is spot-on.

It's a shame that the original voices couldn't all return for this adventure, as that would have made a near perfect turtle adventure even better.

I read the reviews of the DVD here, but decided to opt-in for a DVD anyway. I have it on right now, on my widescreen TV. Here's what I can report:

1) This version of the film is 72 min 35 seconds long, so the box rounds that up to 73 minutes.
2) While packaging says "Full Screen Format" it is in fact Widescreen. The biggest issue is that this disc was created as if it was still 1999 and DVDs were brand new. The Widescreen video is not anamorphic, so it does not adjust itself to fill the screen. It looks as though it may have been encoded with the black bars at the top and bottom of the video, so that it would fit an old school tv.

I am not aware of what the difference is between the television version and the uncut version of the movie, so I can't report on which version this disc ultimately holds.

I feel that this movie deserves better. A Blu-ray edition with special features going behind the scenes on the making of this movie, as well as a round-table with the writers, would be terrific!