Customer Reviews

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Original Series, Volume One

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I loved that this DVD was so inexpensive but had on it an hour and a half of some of the finest work ever put to the saturday morning cartoon line-up of the 80's. All five of the defining episodes of the series are here, as it is for the most part the pilot for the series. The four green heroes, along with their master Splinter (aka Hamato Yoshi) and April O'Neil, go up against Shredder and his brain pal Krang and try to save the world from "Dimension X". Looking back now it's actually as enjoyable for the nostalgia as it is for how it resembles americanized anime. The wit and simple action is all represented in the original five, leading up to and including most of the original figures and set-ups from the toy collection.

HOWEVER, as a DVD set it's none more impressive than featuring the basics to the five episodes (no seperate language/audio tracks, no subtitles, no trailers, no behind the scenes footage), and the only bonus being four "never before seen episodes" (as they very well may be, as I can't remember them for the life of me), which are some of the lesser ones. Still, any fan from the old days, or anyone thinking of checking it out for the first time (young and old alike).

This show became one of the most popular and original animated shows of all time ever since it's debut in 1987, it actually all began as an independent comic book in 1984 that became an instant cult favorite. Then in 1987, it was sold as an animated series that started a mini-series first thus it was a success and a pop culture phemeneon spawning merchandise, three movies with a fourth one on the way, a musical tour, and more for it ran from 1987 to 1995. The Story deals with four human-like anthropomorphic mutated turtles who were once ordinary turtles turned to what they are thanks to chemicals especially their once human master named Splinter who are trained in the art of ninjetsu as they befriend a beautiful news reporter named April O'Neil to fight crime and battle the forces of the evil Shredder especially munch down pizza.

This DVD has the first five episodes which were actually part of a mini-series that lead to the successful show. The first part "Turtle Tracks" introduces our heroes Leonardo, Donetello, Ralphel and party-loving Michaelangelo especially April, Splinter and The Shredder plus their origins next there's "Enter The Shredder" where the turtles track down the Shredder plus the dreaded brain-like creature named Krang from Dimension X and two dim-witted mutants Bebop and Rocksteady. "A Thing About Rats" has a shy scientist named Baxter Stockman who just made pefect robotic mouse-traps becomes a pawn in Shredder's game to kill Splinter, "Hot-Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X" is exactally what the episode's title says as punks from another dimension just wanting to have fun here on Earth get in trouble with the warlords and the Ninja Turtles to protect them and finally "Shredded and Splintered" has Krang with a new body as it rampages through the city and only the turtles can stop it.

The picture is decent and so is the sound and the only extra is 4 never-before-seen episodes shown in the U.S. as an extra. So if you still love Ninja Turtles, then go out and get this.

I am an 80's child. TMNT was one of my all time favorite tv shows. I don't like todays cartoons, expecially the newer versions of the 1980's cartoons like new Strawberry Shortcake and TMNT. They changed them and took away what they were. I know today they want to try to get it to appeal to the audiance but they're changing them and loosing what they once were. So i am soo glad that they are trying to release alot of the 80's shows on dvd so now i can watch them all over again. When i put in this dvd i felt like i was 8 years old again sitting in front of the tv with my Turtle figures in my hands and singing to the theme song. ( which i still remebered)..Though I wish they would release more episodes and more kids today would at least give the oldies a try.....TURTLE POWER!!!!

I've seen Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles through almost all of it's stages: the original B&W comics by Eastman and Laird, this late 80's cartoon, the old Archie comics and now the new Fox Kids show.

These cartoons differ from all other incarnations in many ways. "Serious" has nothing to do with this cartoon. The plot is radically differant from anything else you've seen. Splinter, instead of being the pet of Hamato Yoshi actually *is* Hamato Yoshi. Where as every other incarnation of T.M.N.T. is dark and gritty, this show refuses to take itself seriously.

While that may be seen as a bad thing to most fans of today, it should be remembered that without the late 80's cartoon show, many people today might never have heard of the Turtles. This cartoon is what brought the Turtles into the spotlight. As corny as it may be for today's standards of dark and gritty story telling, this series is no less a classic. For those with a sense of nostalgia for the shows we used to watch as kids, this DVD is a great buy.

Over all grade: Great to have the original series on DVD, minus a star for less than steller digital transfer. Still a great buy.

This has been a long time coming. The original 80s TMNT was the best and should have been release a long time ago! This DVD has the 5 episodes that make up the 1st season, plus 4 episodes from the 10th and final season. The picture looks great, not bad for a kind-of old cartoon. The sound is pretty good too. Hopefully this is the first of many releases for this show! The fact that the insert refers to the 5 episodes as "Season 1" and refers to the bonus episodes by their correct episode numbers (187,188,191,192) makes me hopeful that a season 2 is in the works. The episodes on this DVD are as follows:

Episode 1. Turtle Tracks
Episode 2. Enter the Shredder
Episode 3. A Thing About Rats
Episode 4. Hot-Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X
Episode 5. Shredder & Splintered
Episode 187. The Beginning of the End
Episode 188. The Return of Dregg
Episode 191. Mobster from Dimension X
Episode 192. The Day the Earth Disappeared

My only complaint is that they put The Return of Dregg after The Beginning of the End and call it Episode 188, when it's really Episode 186. They messed up there, but since they're just bonus episodes that aren't really that important, it's not a big deal.

Buy this DVD! It is totally worth it for anyone who liked this show back in the day. It's classic! Please release Season 2!!!!

At last its here. I no longer have to watch dodgy copies of of the first 5 eps which I got from a guy in the US.
These episodes were never released in the the UK, when the show aired here we were introduced to the Teenage mutant HERO turtles as they were called (kids in the UK werent alowed to see anything with the word ninja on it!!) half way through the eye of zarnoth.
Not to mention that all episodes had the nunchakas cut out!!
But one day years and years ago I taped how it al began off sky and discovered the origins of the TMNT cartoon. This tape was like gold dust to me until my sisteer taped over it!!!
I thought it was amazingly done and since these first 5 episode came out of another animation studio it was excellently drawn. (Japanese studio, After that I think Fred Wolf set up in Ireland)
This is the best cartoon version and in my opnion along with the first movie the best versions of TMNT.
Onto the DVD. Decent box and menu presentation, does its job.
Picture and sound are excellent, although I wish the music was alittle louder.
As for the bonus episodes. There a total waste of time. I would much rather have some episodes from the next season on dvd instead. Anyway, its for the originals that we all brought it for. Buy this now, especially if your a TMNT fan from the UK, as its more than likely that you haven't seen these ones.

LET THE BUYER BEWARE! When I bought this, I fully expected DVD quality, since I was BUYING A DVD! But no, let it be known that the episodes on this "DVD" are actually just transfers from old VHS tapes. The video quality is quite poor. A couple of reviewers here stated that the quality is "very good" and "amazed at the clarity of the picture". I can see if you're watching these on an old CRT TV, the shows might appear to look fine, but anyone who has a decent screen is going to notice the fuzzy matte lines and picture quality, excessive grain, dirt, artifacts, etc... a real mess from a standpoint of video quality. One of those reviewers points out that at the bottom of the back cover it says "Digitally Mastered". The key word is "Mastered" NOT "Remastered" which is what you should look for in a DVD. Essentially, all "Digitally Mastered" means is "this is digital." Which doesn't say anything, since the DVD format is digital to begin with. TECHNICALLY it's not Digitally Mastered, since that implies that this is equal in quality to a Master Copy, which it is not.

That same reviewer also stated that the DVD was originally planed on being released as a single movie, with the original 5 episode miniseries edited together as a feature film. It should be noted that some of the animation in the original miniseries is on par with some of Japan's best anime, and I personally would have liked to have seen this, but at the same time I can understand and appreciate fans' wanting to see the opening and end credits of each episode remain intact. But if they do end up releasing season 2, you would have seen that on those episodes anyway, so it would have been nice to see that as a viewing option on this disc.

I was disappointed that after a decade, the old TMNT episodes are still owned by FHE, the company that put out the original VHS tapes, which were poor quality also. Now they're back and they're up to their old tricks. The only plus side is that the box comes in a fancy reflective slip case, which successfully tricks you into thinking you bought a quality DVD. On the downside, the cover art is just like all the TMNT merchandise was ten years ago, with ultra-sugary renditions of our favorite heroes, which says to me that FHE still views this as a kid's product. They need to wake up and realize that the target audience of this DVD is now 18-25 year olds. They should market and package it thusly.

My question is, if a DVD comes out and it's not DVD quality, why should I shell out money when I could just keep my bootleg and VHS copies, which are just as good? If I had felt I had gotten my money's worth, this DVD would have had animated menus, chapter breaks, featured some music from the series either as special features or as accompaniment to the menus, and most important of all: been Digitally Remastered from the original source material!

A for effort, but F+ for crushing my hopes and dreams.

But a 10/10 for the shows themselves. I pray they'll get good treatment one day.

I'd already reviewed this DVD below, but that was before it was released. I just bought it today (April 20th), watched all 5 episodes at once, and was amazed at the clarity of the picture on this! What I had heard was that Artisan was just going to simply transfer the material on the old VHS tapes to DVD and leave it at that, but no! It even says on the box "digitally mastered", hence the clearest quality I've seen on a TMNT episode set yet. I also heard Artisan wouldn't put the episodes on here as separate eps and that they would be one long episode (as in containing the FULL eps, not like that horried "The Epic Begins" set). Again, I was wrong; just as every other TV show DVD set should and does, each episode comes in its full glory with the opening title and ending credits! This in itself gives me high hopes of Artisan releasing future season sets, despite the fact that 4 of the "red sky" episodes are already on here (the 4 "bonus" episodes). That's another thing that cheered me up: the insert in the case acknowledges that the bonus episodes did indeed air in some places by listing the episode number next to their titles.

Of course, this is not to mention just how fabulous the box is. Sure, the art on the front cover may not properly represent the mood in this particular season, but it's flashy! It comes with an outer textured cardboard box with a metallic luster on the outside, and the inside is a normal black DVD case with same artwork sans the texture and luster.

Now, on the a (very) brief review of the 5 episodes:

Turtle Tracks: A great way to start the series, with just the right balance of action and humor ("Clang? Did you say CLANG?"). 4/5

Enter The Shredder: We're introduced to the real brain of the operation (pun definitely intended), Krang, and that in itself escalates the story and makes it more interesting, along with the mutations of Rocksteady and Bebop to what they were for the rest of the series. 5/5

A Thing About Rats: Less action, at least I think so, but the best in terms of the dark and edgy mood this season gave. But the lack of action outweighs the good parts. 3/5

Hot Rodding Teenagers From Dimension X: Plenty of action, and the story almost reaches a climatic point with the realization that Shredder and Krang plan to invade Earth. 5/5

Shredder & Splintered: A great ending, the Technodrome gets blown into Dimension X with a bang...or, more accuratly, a flash. 5/5

Overall, this is and always will be my favorite season of the original toon, and the DVD itself is nice too! Thanks again, Artisan, and especially to David Wise who convinced them to release the whole season.

This dvd has the very first five episodes and then four of the very last ones. Don't watch the last ones; they are ridiculous. The first ones are classic, though. Definitely worth watching. This DVD is good if you REALLY need the episodes on DVD right away. I'm sure that, given time, a good set will be released with more episodes on it and some extras, but for anyone who strongly desires the episodes right now(like myself) this is a decent set.

I only watched two of the four last episodes. I had to stop. I don't think I'll ever watch the other two unless I get extremely bored.

This Dvd has the first 5 TMNT cartoons aired back in the late 1980's. Though not as dark as the original comic book, this is what most of the world percieves as the correct Ninja Turtles. The best show I'm debating between the original and the new but they are more then worthy to pick up. Most of us remember the cartoons when it was on CBS for a good 5-7 years. but These episodes were the original syndacated episodes with the original intro sequeance, different style of animation and some different voice actors. All in all though these episodes are the ones where we meet all the recurring charechters- The Turtles, Splinter, April, Shredder, Krang, Baxter Stockman, Bebop, Rocksteady, the Foot Soldier, Aprils boss Vern and a slightly less annoying Vernon. All in all it's a great set to get. However the 4 bonus episodes are from the second half of the last turtles storyarc when they fought against an alien named Dregg instead of Shedder. While not as good as the originals the Last season of the original show was more edgier and dark using the animation style of the Batman animated series. Even this is somewhat of a bonus (though it seems they might not do every season) I say this is a good buy