Turtles Forever

Having grown up watching the old 1988 series, it was great to see the specific characters of the turtles and their villains then, in the universe of the new more serious turtles that kids watch today. The whole thing is animated well and has an interesting enough storyline.

The only thing I slightly disliked about this movie, was that the older versions of the characters, both good and bad, are depicted as being somewhat helpless in the 21st century Turtle universe. They mostly get the goofy lines and carefree attitude. However, to be fair the old show was never as serious as the newer one apparently is, and there were excellent tributes to the old show. One running gag in the movie I really enjoyed, was that the older turtles would sometimes direct their attention to the viewer, which would confuse the 21st generation characters. At some point a turtle is actually asked; "Who are you talking to? There is nobody there!"

Although there is definite goofiness and corniness present, this movie offers a nice look at the turtles through time, and is a nice way to end this saga of the turtles (as Nickelodeon is apparently planning to make the next show fully CGI).

I like this crossover overall, but the execution was wanting. The 80s turtles are reduced to cowardly, incompetent, childish fools, with their individual quirks and personalities stripped away. (As silly as the 87 cartoon was, the green team was certainly not comprised of "four Mikeys" as 2003 Raphael suggests). It's really aggravating. 80s Shredder and Krang are given little to do and what little seriousness they had on the original cartoon is taken away. They serve as idiotic foils for the newer villains and little else. They weren't integrated into the plot that well either. The only 87 characters given the proper treatment at all were Bebop, Rocksteady, and Splinter.

It was cool to see the Mirage turtles included (and how they knocked down the 2003 turtles a few pegs). The plot itself was interesting, and the comedy and action generally worked well. It's just hard to praise this one when one half of its crossover is so shamefully treated. Honestly, it felt more like a "hey look at how cool the 2003 turtles are!" most of the time, rather than a celebration of the franchise as a whole. It's unfortunate.

The 2003 series is my favorite rendition of the famous Ninja Turtles outside the comics, so this was a masterfully satisfying conclusion to a great series.

Filled with fan service of all generations, from the Mirage Comics, the 80's TV-show, the then present TV-series on top of a solid plot of stopping the One True Shredder who despite his eternal exile to a lonely asteroid in outer space.

And even though the art style is style of the weaker side of the show, the animators' put in a lot of work to make each generation true to its respective tone and style with some surprised thrown in to finish it off.

This is a must see for every Turtle fan!

Turtles Forever (2009) just made me smile. I'm so happy with this film, I love it. I love this whole thing.

Long story short, there's an inter-dimensional plot that allows all three major adaptations of the TMNT (Original comic, 1987 cartoon, 2003 cartoon) to collide for awkward genius and hilarity.

Especially amusing scenes when the much sillier 1987 Turtles' crack their trademark cheesy jokes and puns... and the more serious 2003 world doesn't welcome it.

2003 Shredder is huge, pure evil, and makes 1987 Shredder look like a bumbling fool when they meet each other. 2003 Shredder remodels the Technodrome ( "What is this? A giant golf ball on wheels?") ripping out 1980s looking monitors and replacing them with 60" flat-screens.

Then BAM they do a perfect rendition of the sinister, original comic turtles. Mesh them all together, then wrap it up with a cameo from when Mirage Studios was merely two guys in a garage, hoping their little hand-made turtles story would sell.

The art was very consistent with source material from all three generations- note the black and white comic world of the first turtles even has a texture to it, like it's been hand drawn on cheap paper.

The writing was appropriate, they really did their best making this movie. The original voice actors from the 1987 series aren't present (4Kids, sigh) but the replacements are close enough to where it doesn't detract.

I've read amateur reviews of this movie, mostly guys my age complaining that the 1987 turtles were portrayed as TOO silly. They aren't. That's exactly how that show was- puns, pizza, cowabunga fun for kids. Having the new (EXTREME!) ninja turtles interact with my kid heroes was perfectly awkward, and at times made me laugh aloud.

If you haven't heard of this until now- don't feel bad. The marketing and release of Turtles Forever was horribly botched. Which is a shame, because this is brilliant work, and is a must-see for any Ninja Turtles fan.

This movie is for fans and non-fans alike. It starts off with the Turtles in it's latest incarnation (2003 4kids series) viewing a news report of a robbery broken up by four turtles..but not by them..

At a risk of spoiling, I will not go into further detail. As a fan of the shows and the various versions of the Turtles, I really enjoyed this movie.

Funny thing is this movie wasn't promoted well, if not at all (which is sad because this could have been released in the theaters and would have made a lot of money... I happened upon this movie by accident and have a "Kool-Aid smile" for it's humor, story, action, and nostalgia. This made for TV movie did what the previous shows and the theatrical release did not.

It gave the fans a action packed, humor-filled completion to a wonderful franchise... Thank you to all that were involved....And here's hoping that this was not the end to it all.