While Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) debuted in 1984 with a sleeper hit independent comic book series by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, it didn’t truly become a global phenomenon until it was adapted into an animated series in 1987. With Turtle Mania going strong, the next logical step would be to adapt it into a live-action film (as was the style at the time), also named Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT I), in 1990. As a kid, I was vaguely aware of this film growing up, but I never watched it until the Turtle bug bit me much later. Although my first viewing was around the release of the 2014 film, I felt like giving it another shot after attending a pre-release for the Magic: The Gathering | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles expansion. Even without having any personal nostalgia for it, and it isn’t perfect, it’s easy to see why this film is so beloved and is easily the best of the original film trilogy.
