King Of Beggars (1992/Eureka! Blu-ray)/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy 4K (Original Live Action Films/1990, 91, 93/New Line/Warner/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/DVD/Blu-ray Set)

4K Ultra HD Picture: A-/B+/B+ Picture: B/X/X/X Sound: B-/A-/B+/B+ Extras: C+/B+ Films: C+/B+/B/B

Now for some martial arts-involved films where humor takes on different forms....

Gordon Chan's The King Of Beggars (1992) has an early Stephen Chow as a lazy martial arts-capable soul with well off parents, who falls for a beautiful young woman (Sharla Cheung) who is actually a lady of the night! She will only marry him if he win a imperial martial arts tournament!

A wacky situation that lands him in the crossfire of a big feud, Chow's character is based on the real life So Chan, but I bet more than a few liberties are being taken here. You can see why Chow became a big star, but the film is more than worth a look for the curious and certainly has some money and ambition in it. I just thought it was too much comedy considering the subject matter, but that was the state of the genre by then and then some.

Extras in this Limited Edition of 2,000 copies includes a Limited Edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by Sam Gilbey

• Limited Edition booklet featuring new writing on King of Beggars and director Gordon Chan by Andy Willis

• New audio commentary with East Asian cinema expert Frank Djeng (NY Asian Film Festival)

• Beggars and Tramps: new interview with director Gordon Chan

• So Chan and Stephen Chow: new video essay by East Asian cinema scholar Gary Bettinson, co-editor of The Cinema of Stephen Chow

• and an Original Theatrical Trailer.

Cowabunga!

The three original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films have finally landed on 4K UHD from Arrow Video to deliver one of the most impressive 4K UHD box sets of 2025, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Trilogy 4K set. Loaded with new extras, gorgeous packaging, and brand new restorations of each film, this limited edition set is a must have for any true fan of the franchise.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were a huge part of my childhood and in many ways sparked my fascination with filmmaking. I was so amazed by the special effects and costuming and still am to this day. The first film remains one of my favorite films of all time simply for this reason. This new set definitely unearths some trivia that I wasn't aware of and the new transfers are a significant improvement over previous Blu-ray releases with more detail than before.

The first 1990 film (directed by Stuart Gillard) introduces us to four mutated turtles who dwell in the sewers of New York City and who have been expertly trained in the ancient art of ninjitsu by their master, a human-sized rat named Splinter. Along with their strong admiration of pizza, the Turtles learn the power of family and friendship as they befriend a human TV news reporter, April O' Neil (Judith Hoag) and a wannabe human vigilante named Casey Jones (Elias Koteas) who help uncover a vicious gang known as the Foot Clan, which tie back to the origins of Splinter and the Turtles' creation.

Originally an edgy comic book by masterminds Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the original film wasn't geared completely towards children and selling merchandise and so it has a bit more of an adult edge to it than its predecessors in the trilogy.

The Secret of the Ooze (1991, directed by Michael Pressman) abandons some of the darkness felt in the first chapter and opts for a more cartoony comic book-style approach which honestly works fine considering the material. The film features more incredible creations by Jim Henson's Creature Shop including new designs for the Turtles and Splinter, mutated adversaries Tokka and Rahzar, and the Super Shredder for the film's final battle. We can't forget the infamous Vanilla Ice Ninja Rap scene that is iconic in and of itself.

The Secret of the Ooze gives us a different April O'Neil (Paige Turco) and also stars David Warner, Michael Pressman, and Ernie Reyes Jr. I noticed upon the rewatch that the Turtles don't use their signature weapons much in this film at all which was a little surprising in hindsight. Due to complaints from parents over the first film, the producers felt that some of the weapons were too violent to use in a children's film, but not very noticeable unless you are really paying attention. The watering down for a young audience points aside, this movie is a lot of fun and moves pretty quick once it gets started and has a lot of laughs that still hold up.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 (1993, directed by Steve Barron) is the campiest of the bunch and sees the Turtles traveling back in time to feudal Japan by way of a magical antique lantern. The film explores familiar themes in the series such as teamwork and the importance of family along with a lot of humor as well. Elias Koteas returns as Casey Jones as does Corey Feldman for the voice of Donatello. There's no denying that the film has some strong cinematography and a few very captivating moments including the opening shot of a red sun rising over a horizon with a samurai stampeding towards the frame. The sets are wonderful and the film reminds me of Army of Darkness in a more innocent kind of way. The film doesn't feature Shredder which was a bit of a surprise at the time.

Special Features:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Special Features include:

a brand feature length audio commentary with comic book expert and podcast host Dave Baxter

Rising When We Fall, a newly filmed interview with director Steve Barron

Turtle Talk, a newly filmed interview with actors Robbie Rist, Brian Tochi, Ernie Reyes Jr and Kenn Scott

O'Neil on the Beat, a newly filmed interview with actor Judith Hoag

Wet Behind the Shells, a newly filmed interview with producer Simon Fields

Beneath the Shell, a newly filmed interview with puppet coordinator and second unit director Brian Henson, and Rob Tygner, puppeteer for both Splinter and Leonardo

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turf, a newly filmed featurette exploring the film's locations in New York City and North Carolina

Alternate UK version with unique footage prepared for censorship reasons, presented in 4K via seamless branching

Alternate ending from VHS work print

Alternate Korean footage

Theatrical trailers and an image gallery.

Secret of the Ooze Special Features include:

A brand new feature length audio commentary with director Michael Pressman moderated by filmmaker Gillian Wallace Horvat

John Du Prez to the Rescue, a newly filmed interview with composer of the trilogy John Du Prez

Hard Cores, a newly filmed interview with Kenny Wilson, mould shop supervisor at Jim Henson's Creature Shop

The Secret of the Edit, a newly filmed interview with editor Steve Mirkovich

Behind the Shells, an archive featurette from 1991 (which was originally a solo VHS release in the 1990s)

Theatrical trailer and image gallery.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 Special Features include:

a brand feature length audio commentary with director Stuart Gillard

Daimyos & Demons, a newly filmed interview with actor Sab Shimono

Rebel Rebel, a newly filmed interview with actor Vivian Wu

Alternate UK opening

Theatrical Trailer

An Image Gallery.

Perfect bound collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Simon Ward, John Torrani, and John Walsh

Reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Florey

and collectible double sided posters and sticker set and Roy's Pizza Loyalty Card.

As a huge fan of the franchise this is a release that I have been wanting on 4K UHD for quite some time and I am relieved that Arrow Video got a hold of these titles and created such a treat for fans here. I feel like if it would've been up to the studios the films would have had barely anything new in the way of extras or at least extras that are not as thorough as this release. Arrow took a lot of time with the overall restoration and presentation of the films and it really shows.

Despite what other interpretations of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that Hollywood spits out in the future, we can always return to these three original films and remember where the passion for the franchise was truly born.

As someone who has owned these films on every format going back to VHS, I can safely say that this is the best they have ever looked or sounded and I even noticed details I hadn't seen before now that the films are so sharp you can see some of the flaws a bit more clearly. Regardless, order up some pizza and pop in this box set for a fun movie marathon!

For more thoughts on the trilogy and the revival film on Blu-ray, try this link:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8932/Teenage+Mutant+Ninja+Turtles+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC

And for our long list of Turtles releases through the last few decades, try this link:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/new/viewer.cgi?search=turtles

Now for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4K (1990) is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) as well as mixes in English LPCM 2.0 Stereo, DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes. The sequels only have mixes in English LPCM 2.0 Stereo, English: DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (all 48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mixes.

The first film has been restored from the original 35mm negative while the second and third films have been restored by the original 35mm positives, so who knows what happened to the original camera negatives. You can't forget the soundtracks to the trilogy which heavily feature music from the 90s and incredible scores by John Du Perez, which are highlighted in a great new extra on the Secret of the Ooze disc.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on King Of Beggars looks pretty good for tis age down to the color and detail, so it holds up better than some films of its kind that have not, which is a plus. The Cantonese PCM 2.0 Stereo mix is not bad for its age and has some limits, but also some good moments. Plays well in Dolby Pro Logic mode, but try other too.

- Nicholas Sheffo and James Lockhart (Turtles)

https://letterboxd.com/jhl5films/