At long last, I finally revisit a Film that I remember disappointing me as a kid in Theaters.
Will I like it better today?
This is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, a Film that is sometimes given a new Subtitle. You see, the 4th Video Game was called 'Turtles in Time' and this Plot involves Time Travel.
So, somehow, people started to convince themselves that this Film had the same Subtitle.
My DVD's Box Art says 'yes.' The DVD itself says 'no' and the Title Card also says 'no.'
Confused yet?
The Plot involves the Turtles using a Japanese Artifact to Time Travel to 1603 when said device accidentally sends April back there! That old cliche.
This one was supposedly made to cater to the Japanese Market, given that the 2nd Film cost twice as much and made about a third of the profit ($78 vs $200 million).
The Film...was never released Theatrically in Japan.
To see if this truly is the stinker of the Trilogy, read on...
Some vague amount of time has passed since the 2nd Film as the Turtles have no spruced up their Sewer Lair.
They don't have the Foot Clan to fight, but do keep the City safe...or so we're told. We see nothing.
Speaking of seeing, if these look 'off' to you at all, that's because Henson's Company didn't work on this Film, being replaced by the All Effects Company.
In Feudal Japan, the son of a Lord objects to him fighting a war backed by a foreign arms dealer.
Desperate, he takes the family's artifact and activates it...
...which causes him to switch places with April O'Neil, who just brought the Artifact home as a gift to Splinter (whose Puppet is 99% immobile here).
They also switch clothes, so the Adult version of me is wondering if that guy is now wearing ladies' underwear.
Admit it- the thought crossed your mind too!
They find her where they last saw the Son, so they understandably freak out.
The Arms Dealer (famous 'That Guy' Stuart Wilson) tries to scare her, but fails.
He's up to no good.
She's thrown into a Dungeon and sees...Casey Jones with short hair and beard?
Yes, they got Elias Koteas back as Casey (who was cut when they wanted a 'less violent' Film for Part 2) in the Present Scenes (wearing a now obvious wig) and in these Scenes playing his descendant named 'Whit.'
The Turtles use the Artifact to travel back to rescue April and are given an arbitrary 60 hour deadline in which to do so.
The group is separated, but eventually reunite to save a Village from the Lord and Wilson's men.
During all this, Raphael (who was feeling unwanted in NYC) bonds with a kid named 'Yoshi.'
This one is far cuter than the other Yoshi we got in a 1993 Film.
The Turtles join the Resistance- naturally- and we get some fighting with *gasp* their actual weapons.
They are allowed to do this, since the Soldier have them too...I guess.
Whit seems to betray the group, but then feels bad about it.
After a failed attempt to kill Leonardo with a cannon (perhaps inspiring
Kung Fu Panda?), Wilson flees and falls to his death in the Ocean...but they didn't add a splash in, so he just vanishes into the water.
Raphael and Michelangelo both want to stay (for slightly different reasons), but eventually concede.
Mikey is a few seconds later and we tease him being stuck there...for about 10 seconds.
The random Drama ends when the Turtles reunite and dance like in the beginning.
The End.
It's...not terrible, but I don't think it is that memorable either.
The fact that people continue to conflate this Film and a different Video Game says plenty, doesn't it?
This Story is apparently *sort of* based on the Comics. The problem is that this version excises all of the Mirage's Villains, replacing them with a generic Lord and a British bad guy.
Stuart Wilson is referred to once as 'Zorro guy' in this one btw and he would be the Villain in the first Antonio Banderas Zorro Film about 5 years later.
The Turtles themselves look a bit off here, as the new animatronics are a bit spottier with more lip flap than in the previous Films. The downward trend towards the Suits used in the Live Tour and The Next Mutation begins here.
The Plot is just not that interesting, no matter how many Characters and Subplots they throw in here. No villains or moments really stand out.
It is just pretty damn forgettable.
By the way, if you need a Forest to sub in for Japan, just go to Astoria, Washington like they did.
Next up, let me jump all of the way back to the 1960s. Let's see how Bond...James Bond debuted (as part of a look at every Film eventually). Stay tuned...
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