Customer Reviews

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II - The Secret of the Ooze [VHS]

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This film opens with tremendous confidence and energy. The humor of the Turtles may be so 1990 but I still dig it. The opening scene in the shopping mall is way funny and a great way to introduce is to the sequel. At the time the style of the Turtles wasn't so stale, so the plot may seem a bit childish or dumb now.

I have no doubts that if this movie were made today it would not be subtitled 'The Secret of the Ooze'. One can hardly expect high art from a movie called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II but they could have subtitled it something a little less crass. Apparently taking place right after the first movie (where's Casey) it wastes no time bringing back the Shredder and the rest of the Foot Clan.

This time Shredder aims to steal the cannister of ooze that mutated our heroes so he can make his own monsters to avenge his defeat. The result is Tokka and Rahzar and it seems like a half-attempt at a live-action version of Rocksteady and Bebop. As you can imagine, this plot isn't very clever. But the movie never really lulls so long as our heroes are on screen.

Look out for a cameo by Vanilla Ice (looking alarmingly like Dolph Lundgren) at the end. It's so dated it may be difficult to watch but as long as your alone you won't have to cringe.

The DVD has wonderful motion menus as well as a great 1.85:1 anamorphic picture with Dolby 5.1 sound. Extras are thin but still it's a great buy.

I'd really like to give this movie 5 stars because I love and have loved the ninja turtles since they came out in the late 80's. The movie is well done, the costumes look better in the second movie then they do in both the first and the third movie, and the overall tone of the movie is upbeat.

However there are several glaring flaws that caused me to wonder if the editors were sleeping when this movie was on the cutting room floor.

Things like their bandanas kept getting caught up under the spot where the turtle heads went over the neck on the costume. Costume malfunction? Constantly. Also there are SEVERAL scenes where they would have weapons strapped to their backs, then they wouldn't have them, then they'd have them again. I mean come on, what kind of ninjas would go into battle without their weapons? And at the end...when Shredder dumps the ooze on himself and mutates into SuperShredder....why in the world did his armor and clothes mutate also? (besides the fact that someone thought it would look 'cool'?)

Overall, the scripts were done well, even Ernie Rayes did a good job as Keno, AND did his own fighting sequences. Casey isn't in this one, we can only assume he's goongalla gone for a while...maybe he went back up to that house in the first one?

Two of the turtles voices are the same, Leo and Donny. Raph has a different actor in each movie, and Donny....only because Corey Feldman was working out his cocaine issues. His voice actor was good still, and I rather liked it better then Corey's voice, though Corey's voice was much more distinctive. And Leonardo's voice actor is the same guy who voiced Bunji from the Bionic Six cartoon (anyone remember that one?)

And don't forget to watch out for cameos by three of the four turtle actors. In order...Mikey is the guy with the snooty wife that talks to April outside her apartment "You're that newslady..." Leonardo is the foot who says something like "the junkyard was our fallback spot", and Donatello is the guy in April's newroom who's saying there is a phone call from the guy who "says his name's Donny..."

But I ramble. As I said before...I'd love to give this movie a 5, it being my favorite of the three movies, even though I will always be a fan of the NT comics moreso and would like to see a fourth movie done in true martial arts style, dark and angsty....like the comics. But... this movie was cute and very cartoony and great to watch with your kids. A good buy.

This Turtles film is almost as good as the oringal. It's not quite as dark and serious as the first and does have a few goofy gimmicks. Actually specifically, it's the two mutants Shredder creates that are gimmicky. Still it's a cool movie. If you liked the first or anything Ninja Turtles related, give it a shot.

Great stuff. Very funny and violent in a harmless kind of way. Ernie Reyes Jr. was on his way to becoming an action star for the younger set with this film, unfortunately, he ran smack into the movie "Surf Ninjas" and ruined his film career, but I still saw him years afterward as a judge on beauty contests. What a good kid film can get you into nowadays. Anyway, this film takes the Turtles back into the vague illusion of the genre which was the genesis of this story in the first place, science fiction. We find more of the glowing ooze and what it does if consumed by Shredder. Also of great note is the cameo by Vanilla Ice as the club performer. Although he was never really cool to me I think his cameo in this film is the thing of genius because he's just so odd of a man. He did have charisma back then and he doesn't now because he lied to us about his being raised in a harsh environment. In reality, he was so popular back then that he probably wouldn't be playing at a small club, he'd be playing arenas, but that's not as alluring, or immediate as a small basement club that the Turtles happen to crash into while being pursued by the foot squad. What he ends up rapping isn't great in retrospect, nothing he's ever done, or will do, will ever be that good, but all my friends that went to see it wanted to talk about was that rap, it was simple, dancable, and set to the club atmosphere which I had never experienced before. Ultimately, the movie is just as odd in an attempt to be more bloodlessly violent, funny, and over the top than the previous film. What it ends up skipping out on is the human story which makes the first film better, in my opinion. The Turtles are so entertaining because they are more than human, but it's no surprise that they resemble a human scientific genius, hothead,standup comedian, and jock-like captain. It's when the Turtles are in contrast to people that they shine the most and they seem to do less of in this film while still remaining entertaining.

I hadn't watched this movie in years, I was a huge Turtle fan back in the day, but then I bought the 3-disc movie set and the first one I popped in was Secret of the Ooze to watch with my friends. It was 10 times funnier than I remember because there were so many jokes that I never picked up on/got when I was kid that I can now (eg. the Ralph Nader/net joke).

The movie is much lighter and campier than the first but it works better that way. I mean, come on, we're dealing with a group of teenage mutant turtles who were trained in the art of the ninja by a giant rat named Splinter in New York City. You can't take it too seriously and the movie works well to just have fun with Leo, Donnie, Ralph and Mikey. The one flaw of this movie was no more crazy Casey Jones and the addition of that annoying Asian kid Keno (Surf Ninjas, another classicly bad great movie). Aside from that, I liked that the turtles had to deal with the fact that there origins were essentially a scientific "uh oh" and this movies has some of the best lines. Donnie: You take the ugly one!
Ralph: No, you take the ugly one!
Leo: I'll take the ugly one!
Mikey: Which one's the ugly one?!

Oh, it doesn't get any better than that. Oh wait, Vanilla Ice is in the movie too so I guess it does.

I can't possibly give this movie the five stars I would like to. It's been a long time since I've seen it until I found it at Wal-Mart. I bought it, and very eagerly watched it, and while I still love it I am also no longer marred by being a child, the flaws of this movie are simply that its dated now. Michelangelo's comment about "video games in 3D" garnered a chuckle out of me because for over almost a decade now video games have been in 3D.
Its kind of weird how this works. As a child I didn't much care for the first Turtles movie, but as an adult suddenly the humor makes sense and I find it to be a very enjoyable flick, in contrast, TMNT 2, which was my favorite as a child of the TMNT trilogy, now seems... well... childish. Its not that this movie is unenjoyable, as its still a fun movie, just don't expect the depth of something like... say X-Men, or Spider-Man, the type of super hero movies I tend to go for now. I think its safe to say that I've out grown the Ninja Turtles. Still, as a Jim Henson fan, I'm still glad I have this movie now, as I am a Henson completist and am trying to get every Henson related film on DVD. I may be single still, but I hope to have a family someday, and it will be great to be able to show these types of movies to my children who will likely find more entertainment value out of this particular installment than I did.
Please don't misunderstand the review, its not that I don't like this film, it's just that as an adult, the first movie was a lot better.

Yes, it's corny. But this is early 90s. Everything back then was cool at the time, but corny today. This movie took everything the first movie did, but made it HUGE. More mutants, ooze, a friggen 90s style hip hop dance even (this was popular at the time, remember the Urkel Dance?).

All the actors did a good job. The new asian kid had some slick martial arts abilities, and his fresh, headstrong attitude added much to this movie. Even the British dude from Titanic was good. The ninja rap at the end of the movie is hilarious to watch today, but at the time was the coolest thing on the planet. I remember seeing people in the theater cheering, getting out of their chairs and singing along to it. It was nuts. Gotta love it.

Okay, cheesy title, I personally hate Vanilla Ice, but I loved this movie. There was more humor in it, and the turtles were fun. The first one was absolutely thrilling, and this one matched it quite nicely. I personally like the looks of the turtles better in #2. I also like Donny's voice better. I love Corey Feldman, but whoever did Donny in #2 was really good. Raph was the best looking turtle, and his accent was so perfect!!!! GO RAPH!!! The mouth movements of the turtles in this one were much better, and I loved the humor. I didn't really care for Keno, but yah. He was cool too I guess. Some people don't like the fact that this one is more cartoonish in appearance, sound and storyline, but it started out as a cartoon, why not make it a bit more cartoony? Okay, I could live if there was less humor, but YA GOTTA LOVE MIKEY!!!! Yeah, so out of the trilogy, the second one was my favorite. (I LOVE DONNY!!!)

After the sucess of the 1st film, it was clear that a 2nd installment of the TMNT saga was on the cards, TMNT 2 The Secret of The Ooze was bigger, more action packed and somehow still keeps the story intact.

The story takes place am gueseing A few days after the 1st film, the turtles have got rid of Shredder and his Foot ninjas and have made New York city safe again.....or did they?, because somehow Shredder is back, he is P***ed off and has revenge on his mind, so now the turtles have to stop him once more but it won't be easy.

TMNT 2 has some good characterisation which is always good to have in any movie, the action set pieces are once again fast and fun, the film also has some great funny moments, the only beef I got with the TMNT films is the movie soundtrack, for example Vilnila Ice? W.T.F.!....anyway dispite my beef with the music, TMNT 2 will keep kids, adults and TMNT fans entertained for 88mins

After the events of the first movie, the four mutant ninja turtles have temporary shelter at the apartment of April O'Neil (Paige Turco) until they can find the pefect home for them and their master Splinter (voiced by Kevin Clash). The Shredder still lives and has stolen a cannister of toxic chemicals from the chemical plant that made the ooze that served as the turtle's origins for he uses it to create two killer mutant animals of his own named Razarr and Tokkar as only the amazing four can stop them.

Entertaining and action-packed sequel to the 1990 hit movie isn't quite as great as the original cult fave but still delivers action and humor even if it's kid friendly nor as dark as the original movie. Jim Henson's Creature Shop did it again with the creatures in this movie especially Tonkar and Razarr who maybe dumb looking but look realistic, David Warner and Vanilla Ice co-star especially with the song "Go Ninja Go Ninja Go".

This DVD has clear picture and sound with both widescreen and fullscreen editions with only one extra which is the theatrical trailer.