Has it been 34 years since Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hit bookshelves? Just by saying the name, you just have to wonder what Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird were on to make something that's so ridiculous. Since the TV show premiered in 1987, the Heroes in a Half-Shell have become household names and have produced several movies. Critics haven't loved many of the films the turtles have starred in, but they still hold a place in the hearts of those who grew up with them. So, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the very first TMNT movie, we'll be taking a look at Rotten Tomatoes and ranking each of the TMNT films.
8 Honorable Mention: Turtles Forever
As much as we wanted to include Turtles Forever, it sadly doesn't have a score on Rotten Tomatoes. But, we still thought it should get some attention. After some sort of freak accident, the Turtles of the '80s are transported to the reality of the Turtles of 2003 incarnation.
The best way to describe Turtles Forever is "Into the Spider-Verse, but with the Ninja Turtles." It's great fun to see each version of the Turtles interact with each other. We even get to see them cross over with their gritty Mirage Comics versions. While it's a shame that none of the old voice actors for the original series came back, due to union reasons, it's still worth a watch for any turtle fan.
7 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) - 22%
When it was announced that Micheal Bay would be producing a reboot of the Ninja Turtles, the rage of a hundred nerds cried out loud. Bay was already responsible for the widely despised Transformers films, so for him and his production team to tinker with TMNT wasn't the smartest choice. While the 2014 version of TMNT is the highest-grossing film to feature our reptilian heroes, it's also the lowest rated of them all. Most critics and fans agreed that while the turtles' personalities were kept in tack, that's about all that the movie had going for it.
What we got was nearly two hours of Megan Fox in a Razzie nominated performance where she played April O'Neil trying to be taken seriously as a reporter. She even learns that her childhood pet turtles turned into giant Shrek monsters and have to stop the Shredder from unleashing a sky beam that would destroy the world. Oh, and something about the turtles' blood being able to cure diseases.
6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III - 23%
Micheal Bay's Turtles might be the most despised by critics, but fans LOATHE the sight of TMNT III. After April brings the Turtles an artifact from ancient Japan, she and the Heroes in a Half-Shell are teleported to 15th century Japan. Time travel isn't anything new to the franchise, but this was the lamest use of it. Gone are Shredder and the Mutant' of the past two films, and instead, we get a boring Samurai and Cowboy as our villains. Making things worse are the horrible costumes and animatronics used for the Turtles. Gone were Jim Henson's designs, and they were replaced with something you'd see at Chuck E Cheese. Along with criminally unfunny jokes and minimal action sequences, it's easy to see why this is the most hated movie by fans.
5 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze - 35%
After the success of the 1990 film, the sequel explored the Turtle's origin. By now, we all know that some ooze mutated them, but where did it come from? A lair!!!! Yeah, that's about it. Anyway, Shredder is back and is now on the hunt for some of that ooze, so he can create a mutant army to destroy those pizza-loving Turtles once and for all. Again, critics weren't fond of the second outing, but a lot of people still enjoy the Secret of the Ooze. It's silly, but enjoyably so. It's filled with the same lame jokes and "radical" attitude that made the Turtles so beloved in the first place. That, and it has that insanely awesome Ninja Rap.
4 TMNT - 35%
The only theatrically released animated film to star the Turtles, TMNT ditched the costumes of old and went full-on CGI. The animation is gorgeous, creating a much darker New York than the previous versions. The city feels like a character with the amount of detail on display. It gives the action scenes a much more cinematic feeling than past films, and creature designs are equally creative. That said, the story is more of an afterthought.
The turtles, plus April (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Casey (Chris Evans), must reunite to take down a group of monsters before they unleash a world of savage beasts on to NY. It's something you'd see in any of the Turtle's cartoons, but you expect something a little more for their first return to the big screen since 1994.
3 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - 37%
Out of the Shadows should be given credit for listening to a lot of fan complaints. The Turtles are the main focus of the film, we get to see Krang (Brad Garrett), Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (Sheamus) make their live-action debut and April and the rest of the humans were less of the focus. Does that make it a good movie? Most agree that it's an improvement over the last film, but it's far from something that can be called "good" (though it is the best-reviewed movie since the 1990 film). It does have some cool action and a great version of the classic theme song.
2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) - 40%
After three years of Turtle mania, kids everywhere got to see the Ninja Turtles on the big screen in the 1990 classic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A lot of critics didn't love the adaptation, with Siskel and Ebert giving it two-thumbs down (and got a lot of mail from turtle fans). Even so, the tale of the Turtles taking on the Shredder is still embraced by millions who grew up with it. Is it juvenile? Yeah.
Will anyone not familiar with these characters hate it? Probably. Yet, as a movie, the original still holds up. For a premise as crazy as the comics, they made an admirable attempt to transfer it into live-action. The jokes are corny, it never takes itself too seriously, and the costumes and animatronics by Jim Henson's Creature Shop still look great by today's standards. It's not perfect, but it's the best live-action film based on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 30 years.
1 Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 100%
That's right, the best-reviewed film that headlines the Turtles happens to co-Star the Dark Knight himself. When the Shredder and the Foot begin stealing technology in Gotham City, the Turtles, and Batman team-up to stop him. What follows is an 80-minute love letter to the Ninja Turtles. Fans get to see dozens of references to past movies, along with great animation and action scenes that live-up to the PG-13 rating.
Meanwhile, Bat-fans get to see the world's greatest detective fight the Shredder and mutated versions of Joker, Bane, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and Harley Quinn. You even get a scene were Batman says, "Cowabunga." What more could you want? Well, a sequel would be nice.