Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Season Four (5 Disc Set)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C+ Episodes: B
Don’t go
into “Shell Shock”, but Lionsgate Entertainment has just released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season Four
on a nicely presented 5 disc set. This
large 5 disc set is a first for the 1987 Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles series; all previous DVD releases of this series’
being presented on a single disc format with about 12 episodes each. These previous DVD releases were not true
season sets, but rather simple volume sets; in the end having a total of 6 volumes before going to this new
‘Season Directed’ format.
The
1980’s would not have been the same without the cultural impact of the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles with the original comic book premiering in 1984 and the
extremely popular animated series in 1987.
The series ran for a total of 10 seasons, running from 1987 to
1996. It is true that the animated series
in the end was not as dark as the comic series, but it never the less was insanely
popular and has become common nostalgia.
There was not a pizzeria or manhole cover that did not feel the impact
of the Ninja Turtles in that decade.
This show
is simply fun and brings back a ton of memories. Where as the series was never known for great
writing and the jokes are quite cornball, the animation styling and creative,
imaginative characters are something that all children’s animators should
aspire too. The concept of the series is
simple, yet sophisticated. There are
four crime fighting ninja brothers that happen to be giant turtles, who were
trained and fathered by Master Splinter that just so happens to be a giant
rat. How did they get this way? After a mysterious, green, ooze leaked into
the New York sewer system a little girl dropped her four baby turtles down the
sewer by accident. Master Splinter (a
ninja master) who had seeked refuge in the sewers, after hard times had fallen
on him, found the four turtles frolicking in the mysterious ooze and decided to
take them under his guidance. To Master
Splinter’s surprise the turtles began to develop many human like
characteristics, as he began to develop many rat-like characteristics. What was this ooze?
From the
epic opener the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles became a household name, and 20 years later they are still kicking
but and scarfing down pizza. With an
updated animated series on television and a brand new CGI feature film entitled
TMNT that ninja kicked top competitor 300
out of its box office slot, the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles aren’t going anywhere.
Though
this set is refreshing in that it has 5 discs and 40 episodes as opposed to the
normal 1-disc sets, the technical features of the DVDs remain
disappointing. The picture is presented
in its original 1.33 X 1 Full Screen aspect ration, but looks like an
undigitally remastered analog VHS. The
picture’s colors are off balance, the animation seems to bounce at times, there
is obvious debris, and some light/dark issues.
Fans better hope that this is not the best quality masters that are
available or even HD may be in trouble.
Let’s hope they fix these huge problems.
The sound is slightly better than previous DVD releases, with a simple
2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo. The sound is
improved over the single disc volumes but still shows age and sounds compressed
and distant at times. A great thing for
all TMNT fans out there is that this set ACTUALLY HAS EXTRAS!
The
extras on this 5 disc are still weak, but nice to see something. Extras include two different interviews one
entitled ‘Underneath the Shell: Slash,
the Evil Turtle’ that actually interviews Pat Fraley who voiced not only
Slash but also the evil Krang, the other
interview is with James Avery (The Fresh
Prince of Bel-Air) who voiced everyone’s favorite metal head, Shredder. Both interviews are very candid and nice to
see on this set. These candid interviews
are what every TV on DVD set should include, before we sadly lose these great
actors and insightful thoughts forever.
Overall, the set is far from perfect but is getting closer to what fans
want.
In the
end, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are Americana, plain and simple. Though these sets could be better and it is
still unclear how these sets are broken up, syndicated episode versions or
otherwise, they are a must have. If fans
do not support these sets, future sets may never be produced. So everyone go out and grab this Turtlrific
set, but hold the anchovies.
- Michael P Dougherty II
