re: The OG Ninja Turtles movie is coming to theaters in August... 35th Anniversary

I may have to see if this comes to BR. If so, I may have to take my son to see it. He loves the movie and would freak out if he got to watch it in theaters.

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I watched this a few months ago. It holds up and is very dark/adult.

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It is excellent and holds up exceptionally well. It does a fantastic job of being dark but also kid friendly. My five year old loved it, and I think we watched it for the first time when he was like 3.5 or 4. I also got him into the OG cartoon series a good bit as well and we put that on every now and then.

But the OG TMNT is a great, great movie. There is a real sense of loss when Splinter gets captured and they almost lose Raph. And the animatronics are incredible in all honesty. The writing is tight. The soundtrack is awesome (that Shredder scene is the one of the GOAT villain entrances). The tone is perfect (dark, but also has a funny/smartass vibe). It's violent but not too violent to where it's inaccessible for kids. It's just really great. There are actually some pretty deep aspects to it (tragedy, loss, grief, etc.).

Just found an old thread from May of 2023, and apparently around then was when I introduced it to my boy, so he was 3. These were my thoughts from then:

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So I've been watching this a TON lately because I have a three year old boy who loves this movie. I still can't believe just how good the first TMNT movie is. It's dark and violent but in all the best ways, and not overly so that it isn't a kid's movie. But it's also super deep at times, with losing a brother, losing a father figure, grief, anger issues (especially with Raph), etc. Hell, even April loses her home.

The Shredder is a great villain, as is Tatsu. The Foot is a worthy opponent for the most part (unlike in TMNT2). Casey Jones is a great supporting character. The jokes come often, and most of them land pretty well. The action is great. The fight choreography is solid for the most part.

The music is good (how badass is that metal music when we first see Shredder?).

It's just really, really good.

And don't get me wrong, I also enjoy the second one too, but the toned-down violence was a mistake as that was one of the best things about the first one. Seeing the turtles fight with sausages and foam bats doesn't really do much and makes the whole thing overly silly. Keno was also a pretty terrible addition. April was a downgrade. Etc. It's enjoyable, but nothing at all like the first one.

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