Siskel and Ebert review Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy

[@LeoWhalen1933]

My dad was a truck driver. One time he was out on the road for a week and my mom told me when he came home he was getting me a surprise on Saturday morning. He brought me to our local video store and we rented this movie. I watched it with my dad and we both loved it. It's a great memory.

[@7BlueDodger]

That’s such an awesome memory. I remember my favorite aunt at the time took me to see the movie in theaters and then fast forward when the film came out on vhs she bought it for me along with caramel corn and we watched it at my house during someone’s birthday party and I didn’t even care about cake or ice cream because I had my turtles and popcorn.

[@JPD2587]

But did it teach you anything useful about being a ninja? 🤨

[@callumcowan7047]

I love the dedpan delivery of "their Guru... is a giant rat."

[@demmefrazier6629]

Callum Cowan that was hilarious I rewatched that part 4 times🤣🤣 he seems so disappointed.

[@MalikGynax]

1:56 "I suppose you would have liked it better if it had been a more devout and religious film." -Ebert LOL

[@exiles_dot_tv]

"There's something going on with these turtles that is telling us something alarming about our society." - Roger Ebert

[@jalenjohnson1662]

LMAO

[@alexandersomethingorother786]

Yep.

[@Jbaxter85]

That's true

[@kamdan2011]

This coming from the deviant that wrote Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

[@markstiburski8924]

Two old dudes who grew up in the fifties aren't gonna understand what kids in the nineties are into

[@richardenglish2195]

No, but they have better taste.

[@EDP2000]

Even though they panned all three movies, I still like the movies, and Siskel & Ebert is still good.

[@Islanders83]

I remember when I saw the second movie in the theater with my friend. In the beginning when the turtles first appear and they jump in the air and they freeze frame to put in the movie title, the whole theater of kids went crazy. It was awesome

[@masterblaster826]

ebert criticizes the turtles for talking like teenage boys, despite the fact the turtles are teenaged themselves.

[@Dane_Youssef]

Yes, yes. It's even in the name.

[@dredre_lj2003]

He's ignorant

[@SB0780]

The first movie holds up pretty well - these guys didn't even comment on the puppetry. It's darker material and is supposed to be gritty.

[@connorbrennan4233]

+SB0780 Yeah. And it's not brainless.

[@flippyfan4444]

+Connor Brennan Here's the thing: it's not brainless to you, a fan. But when you're a professional critic like Gene or Roger, it is, because there were plenty of action flicks released in that 5-6 year span that were much more intelligent and much less hollow; to name a few, Predator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Aliens, RoboCop, Batman, and the two Timothy Dalton Bond pictures, The Living Daylights and License to Kill.

[@connorbrennan4233]

Spencer Valdez I like the movie because the action is very good, the tone is dark, like the original comics were, and with that, it showed the turtles in a more serious light. I agree that there are smarter action pictures out there like the ones you mentioned ( I've seen them all except for the Dalton Bond films, and I love 'em). I'm actually not a fan of the Turtles, though. I just like the movie.

[@flippyfan4444]

+Connor Brennan Fair enough; I haven't seen the movie, but actually found a sealed VHS copy at a thrift shop, so it's probably a matter of time before I do.

[@nickb9718]

The 3rd is trash. But the first two are decent.

[@Protoman85]

Both Siskel and Ebert misunderstood kids I think, kids don't only want to watch happy, bouncy adventures that make jokes all the time, sometimes kids(including teenagers, which they ignored here) want something a bit darker and different.

[@PJVids83]

I guess it depends on the age of the child. If you're talking about preschoolers, which I'm pretty sure Siskel and Ebert are defining as kid, sure, they're gonna want the happy go lucky kind of fluff. However, it's when the kid reaches about 9 or 10 that they start wanting some darker stuff, they're beginning to know more about the world they live in, they sense both the light and the dark, and they want to see movies that respect them enough to be honest about it. Of course, this doesn't mean that they get to see truly graphic things, it just means they want to know that the fiction they read and movies they see know what they're dealing with.

[@ShinSeikiEvan]

@@PJVids83 I had seen Empire Strikes Back, Bambi, The Wizard of Oz, and all Don Bluth's films before I was 9. I loved that stuff. And by the time TMNT came out, I was so happy that they went with the tone of Eastman & Laird's comics and not the childish tone of the cartoon.

[@NateTheMovieGuy]

I can't believe critics hated the movie at first the movie has great character development

[@brendanmccabe2249]

i am sitting thinking how do they not say anything about the puppetry i mean its incredible

[@jayNicks10]

Brendan McCabe well, in the first movie, they seemed way too distracted by the "not to subtle" pizza "product placement" as if they're unaware that the turtles love pizza. They also seemed unpleasantly surprised at how the film was just like the comic in which they most likely have never heard of. I guess they were expecting it to be like the kid-friendly cartoon from which it is NOT based. Also, when you're 5 years old, you're not old enough to watch PG movies. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT GUYS!!!!!! The second movie, they seemed depressed that the teenagers were talking like teenagers and that the ninjas were engaging in ninja fighting action. And I guess the turtles were acting violent when they de-mutated Tokka & Rahzar and let Shredder do himself in. OH yeah, SOO VIOLENT ON THEIR PART. The third movie, they for some reason couldn't tell one turtle from another even they each look, sound, and act quite different in that movie.

[@CelestialWoodway]

Looks kind of dorky actually.

[@Tirgo69]

Interested in the anecdote about Ebert playing the first TMNT NES game

[@DW3010]

My father took me and my brother to see the first two in theaters, having never seen the cartoon, and he loved it.

[@streetguru9350]

Hearing Ebert Saying cowabunga dude made it all worth it.

[@theadamblock]

my god do i love the subtle jabs they make at each other. ebert had a real good one in this video.

[@JPD2587]

They fact that they don’t seem to laugh at the jabs, even Eberts “devout religious” jab was HILARIOUS and Siskel didn’t even smile.

[@TheMidnightPhil]

I think TMNT, when it hit that first peak of popularity, was a prime example of generational divide. It was just too divorced from any frame reference most Boomers were likely to have. Even setting aside its origin as a Daredevil spoof (I didn't know that until I was an adult), it's a conglomeration of dozens of fun, heightened elements popular with kids at the time. Ninjas, superheroes, radioactive mutants, "rad"-style pop culture, teenage dynamics, etc. And the fact that they're all green turtles also meant that kids of any race could see themselves in them. To kids they made a lot of sense, honestly.

[@mywhychromosome]

As a kid, I wasn't actually aware of the CONTENT of their reviews, but I was aware of them as public figures (who isn't familiar with "two thumbs up/down/etc"?). As such, I remember thinking, "I like Siskel, that other guy's fat and...bleh". Now that I actually read reviews, 2 things changed. Ebert became one of my favorite critics of all time, partially cos we have similar taste in films overall, so I can generally trust his reviews, but besides that, I often read them simply for pleasure--the man could write, and he really understood what was beautiful about art. And second, I realized Siskel often missed the point, and was a jerk about it to boot. Talk about pretentious. Ebert sometimes slammed movies I enjoy ("Fight Club", for one), but he always gave a detailed explanation of why, and most importantly, left room for others to enjoy it--he made it clear that it was just his opinion. I'm not sure what compelled me to leave this diatribe on a Ninja turtles-related video, but there ya go.

[@kayfabecandyass2835]

They were right. In the cartoon they had distinct personalities. In the movies they were all the same surfer lingo talking dopes.

[@gc3k]

The movies were more like the comic book. Don and Mike were jokers, Raph the hothead, Leo the model child and dedicated student. The new movies and cartoons acknowledge Raph is the oldest as he's always been (but not necessarily the leader)

[@Jbaxter85]

I totally agree

[@AgentMorgan2010]

On this issue of the product placement, "why must kids be reminded of the real world they live in day after day..." Um, probably because to average 5 - 8 year-old living in suburbia watching Ninja Turtles, the world is still a happy, shiny place for all they know. They have not yet lived in it long enough or learned a damn thing about it to become so jaded and world-weary. So let them enjoy their stupid movies and let's not kick 'em in the nuts too early, guys. Domino's pizza never tasted so sweet to my 5 year-old ass after I watched the turtles eat it. This was movie magic when I first saw it on the big screen back then. 

[@jayNicks10]

I would love to pull a "cinema sins" here and tally up everything wrong with what Siskel and Ebert are saying in this video. But here are my 10 biggest problems with what they are saying here. I'll try to be brief as possible. 1. They never mention the Comic Book, as if they've never even heard of it. So with that, they complain about the first movie being EXACTLY like the COMIC instead of more like the Cartoon or the Video Game (from which it is NOT BASED) 2. They call the Turtles "interchangeable" OMFG I could rant about that all day. 3. They complain about the NINJAS engaging in ninja fighting action, or as they call it, "Violence". (what do you expect?) 4. They complain about the TEENAGERS talking like TEENAGERS. (Again, what do you expect?) 5. They say the Turtles pay only lip service to Ninja Teachings (Nothing could be further from the truth, except maybe the whole interchangeable BS) 6. A PG rated movie isn't exactly a movie for children. 7. They got WAY too easily distracted by the so-called "not too subtle product placement" 8. They seriously think the Turtles are just a group of dumb teenagers who don't have ideas of their own (I think of several occasions in the movies where one turtle came up with an idea of his own.) 9. They honestly think the turtles spend there time in the sewers eating Pizza and not practicing their ninja skills. (Did they fall asleep during these movies or something?) 10. They say "violence is the answer" in the second movie even though the Turtles use little to no Violence to defeat the 3 main villains in TMNT 2. Overall, these guys just don't get the Turtles AT ALL.

[@jayNicks10]

Otha Bland, Jr. That would be cool. although it wouldn't be quite the same cause I'm not much of a technology expert. but I might give it a whorl.

[@LoN3wOlF5tudi0s]

Jay Nicks They make good points too though. These films are filled with mindless violence, bad plots, and weak undeveloped villain characters.

[@jayNicks10]

LoN3wOlF5tudi0s well all of that is debatable. I sort of see where they're coming from but they just really come off as ignorant and some what stuck up here. They sound like they think they know what they're talking about when for the most part, they don't.

[@Musiclover19]

You think they sound "stuck up" because you're looking at these films from the point of view of a NINJA TURTLES FAN, they're looking at it PURELY as two men who LOVES MOVIES. They even admitted they ARE NOT Ninja Turtles fans. Don't get me wrong I too am a HUGE TMNT fan, and I can show you my collection of t shirts, action figures and comic books to prove it. But I can still see where these two are coming from. Especially with the turtles having "interchangeable personalities" cause at one some points (ESPECIALLY in the 2nd and 3rd films) they all were basically Mikey. And yes, take away the colored head bands or masks, they all look the same.

[@jayNicks10]

JJ Abeyta Take away the colored masks, they don't look the same. each of their costumes were designed quite differently. now as far as them all being Mikey, Leo doesn't act like Mikey at all in the first one except when they're dancing to tequila. THe only Turtle that acts a lot like Mikey in the first one is Donny, But in the second one he's much further developed as a computer/science/tech nerd. he says lines that Mikey could never say in Turtles 2. now as for Raph. he and Mikey act like polar opposites for the vast majority of the trilogy, sure, Raph makes a few jokes that are few and very far in between, and in the 3rd one, Mikey sort of gets serious in the end with him wanting to stay in Japan and all. In the first movie Raphael is the most developed, especially in the first half of the movie. The second half, Leo gets some development as he seems to have the strongest connection with Splinter. TO me, Siskel and Ebert just sound like they didn't really give these movies much of a chance and don't seem to care to even try. They did that with other movies like Home Alone, Ace Ventura, Siskel didn't get The Big Lebowski, Ebert didn't care much for Batman and so on.

[@Benjamillion]

"A tv cartoon show on which it is based" UMM NO.

[@CelestialWoodway]

Nobody cares except butthurt fanboys.

[@7BlueDodger]

Very true. It’s pretty much based off of the first 10-15 issues, including one offs. The film adaptation is so underrated.

[@Dustin-cf9ph]

RIP dudes. No hard feelings even though your review of the Turtles is bogus.

[@DaleRobby]

Ahh back when there were mature adults in the world who looked at a bunch of ninja reptiles and said ...."this stinks." Now we have fanboys who are butthurt that the COMIC BOOK wasn't given a shout out.

[@cggg5089]

They are wrong about the first one. I watch it as an adult and it still holds up.

[@merrimac290]

The first TMNT movie remains the best one. Why does a movie or characters have to stand for something? It's just popcorn entertainment.

[@bijibadness]

it's not that a movie HAS to stand for something, it's that _why shouldn't it,_ or at least TRY? why excuse a thing for being lazy? _Mad Max: Fury Road_ is "just popcorn entertainment," but it also "stands for something" if you WANT it to. a thing being "just popcorn entertainment" is not a free pass to be lazy. not to me, anyway. and what do i know? you're probably right. nothing at all.

[@7BlueDodger]

Didn’t the movie promote “family” and “unity” towards the end of the movie? How did they miss that? I think they just didn’t want to give it a serious chance. Oh well. I love it lol

[@merrimac290]

@@7BlueDodger Exactly. And not every movie has to try to be the next Citizen Kane. The movie knows that it's nothing more than a love letter to TMNT fans and doesn't try to be anything else. Siskel and Ebert are looking at it from the perspective of a non-TMNT fan (not the target audience). The fact 30 years later this is STILL the best looking live-action turtles is quite impressive.

[@7BlueDodger]

@@merrimac290 Totally, I agree 100 percent. Doesn’t need to be a sophisticated, thought provoking masterpiece. And yes, it’s superior to all turtles movies that followed, including and especially compared to the reboot movies.

[@solomonpictures]

I used to like the first film as a kid, but now I have to agree with Siskel and Ebert on this trilogy. The first film is better than the last two, but that's not really saying a lot. What I find strange about these movies compared to the original 1980s cartoon there's no Turtle Van, no Turtle Blimp, no Technodrome, no BeBop and Rocksteady. I wonder why? I think these movies could've been so much better if they had a better story and better props like in the cartoon. It did have potential. But I agree with Siskel and Ebert, the marketing surrounding these films made them popular.

[@gc3k]

They're right about kids being brainwashed by the marketing, they were going to watch whatever they threw on the screen good or bad. But I thought the family theme in the first movie was well done and pretty apparent

[@SolarDragon007]

2:56, Apparently Ebert never heard about the original Ninja Turtle comic books which were in fact "dark and brooding" as he put it

[@billybarnett9518]

Nope, he didn't read them

[@rawcite]

First film was a classic. They also don't know about the comic which is were it came from they keep talking about the cartoon and the video game. 2 and 3 were pretty trash but that 1st one was a B Bplus. If u were into the comic as a kid it was super ill to go see that movie. We had never really seen something outside the dc and Marvel system go from an independent comic that was a real deal action. Comic to becoming its own bonefide commercial phenomenon and they did something special with the first one. It was huge then but really now a cult classic

[@zenlee1109]

Lol they didn't get it. As a kid I couldn't get enough of these, and as an adult I still want dominoes :p

[@hot1010203]

I would've loved to see what their reviews would have been for the new ninja turtles movies if they thought the old ones were bad.

[@GrassValleyGreg]

Ebert's criticism of society is SO on the money lol. I did love these movies as a kid though

[@Moviefan2k4]

I don't care what the critics say. I was ten years old when the first TMNT film came out, and I enjoyed all three of them. I loved the cartoon as well, and I still watch the films every couple of years or so.

[@chancemholton6611]

Oh how wrong you 2 were...and have some respect for master Splinter!

[@samsreview7335]

This is just a Classic case of "It wasn't like that in my day..." they didn't get it because it wasn't "of their time" they were too old for the product & I bet NEVER even read the source material!!! I put this review down to if I showed my nephew the Christopher Reeve Superman movies... he would think they are rubbish, NOT because they are bad movies, but because they are NOT of his time!!!

[@CelestialWoodway]

Why should they read the source material?

[@jedijones]

The turtles are even harder to tell apart in black and white. LOL

[@Krokodilius]

there isn't a lot to recommend? dude....wtf... best costumes of all time? great music, decent story about losing their father AND their brother. if anything i wished it had more realistic violence but it is for kids.

[@MrBoyYankee]

I wonder what they would say about the Michael Bay update?

[@samdiego1965]

I can get why they hated TMNT 3, I hated that movie when I saw it in theater as kid. I can even get why they didn’t like the second movie but the first movie was amazing and I think they were been too harsh

[@Hyfrsilaz71gg]

These guys are two quite older adults judging a childrens film, ofcourse its 90% of negative things they are saying, they put down the violence (which is a comical an mild kind of fighting) but then they talk about heroes of their time like superman, spiderman etc, which in every scene of either of those super heroes (animation or realistic filming) has had far more of an adult and more violent type of theme in my opinion and (im sure most people whom grew up in the 90s) can agree with, this movie mad millions and millions of box office dollars in all 3 movies and also videogames, comics, toys etc. they put down the scenery of the films, which are darker also mainly night time scenes of new york city, which is a scary and dark place, but the kids watching the films were even smart enough to understand that, this is hands down a phenominal collection of films in history and these critics are being short sighted and cynical. These films blow away all films of today and they were a major stepping stone for that era in filming because thanks to jim hensen and his association did things tht no one else was doing and had ever even seen or thought of before then. They should judge the current movies being made and then re think their judgements of tmnt

[@Musiclover19]

Considering that sadly both of these men are dead, they won't be able to review any of the current movies, which I seriously doubt would of changed their view on the three TMNT films. And as much as I for one do love TMNT, even have a HUGE collection of TMNT action figures, DVDs,comic books and t shirts that I am EXTREMELY proud of, so of course I for one love these movies. However I find it a bit silly that you're trying to make it sound like these films are like Citizen Kane or something like that, pretty bolded statement saying these three films (including the third one?) "blow films of today away," I don't think you see a lot of movies, either that or you're letting your fandom nostalgia cloud your judgement. And they did give credit to the look of the movie, other than it being darker compared to the cartoon and video game, but still found the story, which is ALWAYS the most important part of the movie to be mindless violence. Like I said I myself still very much enjoy these movies for what they were, plus the fact that I am again a HUGE TMNT fan. But looking at their reviews from an open minded non bias point of view I have, I see where they are coming from, doesn't change my option however. It's like how things like Pokemon or Power Rangers got movies, it maybe sort of silly, but there is already a built in and very big fan base.

[@ninjacatshadow4283]

JJ Abeyta they are not expecting the movie to citizen kane they are merely pointing out the shameles product placement vs other kids movies who never sink so low

[@Musiclover19]

I can see you didn't know what my comment was about or whom it was directed at, in fact it seems to me that you didn't even read my comment. I think you just saw the words "Citizen Kane" and went off that alone. You know, I'm totally ok with people replying to me and all, but please do me and a favor and actually READ what I wrote. Thamks

[@jedijones]

@@ninjacatshadow4283 Why was it okay for E.T. to product place for Reese's Pieces then? That one ended up on their top ten list of the year.

[@lamecasuelas2]

What would a Ninja turtle really be like? Damn Roger is really scrping the bottom of the barrell

[@billybarnett9518]

Good question really, think about it...

[@romans52345-cy3tq]

They are right about the third one

[@adamatomic41]

I thought the first movie was enjoyable and the second wasn't bad, but I'm not sure it was fair to compare the turtles to characters like Superman and Batman. I'm sure the fans will get on my case about this, but TMNT was never supposed to be deep or insightful. It's mutant turtles eating pizza and using martial arts to kick people's butts. That's it, nothing more. But it's fun, and it's cool. Looking for deeper meaning or sophistication in a TMNT story is a waste of time because it is, and always has been, a shallow franchise. It's just silly, stupid fun, and there's nothing wrong with that once in a while. I suppose professional critics will always expect everything to be a masterpiece, but those first few Turtles movies were pretty much exactly what they should have been.

[@ReadingAdam]

You are right about it not supposed to be deep or insightful, the turtles were created to sell toys. The TV show came out to sell new toys. The movies were made for the same reason, to capitalize on the toys, make new characters, etc. There's no sophistication behind 'what can we make that will sell really well?'

[@4Legacy]

6:03 I think Ebert almost figured out why the turtles work with that statement. But, he's in the wrong frame of mind, so he sees it as "alarming" instead of intriguing. Four personalities sum up the entirety of a teenagers psyche, at least in a simplified sense. Everybody has a Ninja Turtle that they relate to, whether that was the turtle they wanted to be as a kid or not. Not to mention, 4 characters was perfect! Just enough to play with a group of friends, in an arcade, or Now! At HOME, with the brand new Super Nintendo FourScore™!!!! From a marketing standpoint and a psychological one, TMNT couldn't fail

[@movieman104]

ninja turtles the movie the first one came out 30 years ago today i saw it at drive in the next day

[@Jbaxter85]

0:00 TMNT 3:26 TMNT 2 6:49 TMNT 3 I grew up watching the turtles, also huge fan. They were right few things like the violence and fight scenes were brainless, even they're teenagers but they both have same personality & talk the same which is dull. The trilogy is full of MTV kick-dancing sequences with lots of wisecracks also boring. "We grew up to have group of individual superheroes that stood up for something like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman & Spider-Man. There something going on with these turtles that's telling us something alarming about our society." Roger Ebert quote & I agree.

[@vingrier87]

What about all the lessons and family the scene with the turtles around the campfire talking to Splinter that was deep parador the speech that splinter gives Raphael about anger that's a huge lesson for kids to learn. The critics claim this movie is Mindless but the truth is there watching it mindlessly and not diving deeper into the themes

[@MegaAnifreak]

Im 21 and I still love these movies haha

[@hackfraud7842]

Thats because you are a nostalgic tool

[@herbertschurz5146]

I really don't know why the late 2 film critics Siskel & Ebert never gave the ninja turtles trilogy from the 1990's the thumbs up?!

[@ryzo5764]

That was a freakin serious review of Ninja Turtles.

[@steve2275]

8:47 never did

[@7BlueDodger]

Are they toxic or radioactive? lol Man I remember the days when adults couldn’t articulate why they didn’t like something of a younger generation so they’d say, “it’s kind of MTV” Takes me back to the 80’s and 90’s lol

[@scubasteve7439]

8:18 "I have no comment"

[@quarantinebored1427]

This was my first movie theater experience and it was great.

[@AC-05]

33 years later and still brainwashed , what an awesome movie .

[@bobkerr2755]

Well, they're not wrong. The movie was pretty ridiculous when taken at face value but that's kind of missing the point. It was based on a comic book and cartoon series at the height of the turtlemania phenomenon so there was the expectation that the audience would be familiar with the source material. I'm guessing this is why Ebert seemed a little more forgiving than Siskel since he had some exposure to both the cartoon and video game. With that said, I can't help but wonder if they enjoyed something when they were children that their parents didn't understand. I definitely loved the turtles when I was a kid and still do well in to my adulthood but I'm not about to sit here and act like it was Shakespeare. It was mindless fun that was faithful to the source material and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[@BadRastafari97]

never liked siskel also ebert but I had more respect for ebert.

[@ReadingAdam]

Not great reviews by S&E, they attacked all the low hanging fruit from the TMNTs. As a kid, the movies were mind blowing, funny, fun, and addictive (I must have watched them dozens of times as a kid). S&E have no idea what this movie was like for a kid. I wanted to become a ninja after watching it, I wanted to learn martial arts and use weapons. As a kid, I was excited by the violence, not the puppetry or April's legs, it was the violence. It took me many years to realize how brainwashed I was as a kid. S&E almost had it when they talked about how the movies made violence seem like harmless fun. Has anyone done any studies on the effects of glorifying violence to young boy's minds? So many of us became obsessed with action, almost like we were being conditioned to join the military (I wanted to join the Army so bad as a kid to be a part of the action). Disappointed S&E stayed on the surface picking up the obvious apples on the ground. If you're going to be critical of a children's film, then bring your A game and give parents a reason for not introducing their kid to that super exciting stuff, don't just tell them 'well it's stupid, and boring for me as a film critic who only appreciates high-brow adult stuff'.

[@jamesmbs1]

I was just looking at the comments and noticed that not one person objects to this movie. It really does say something about our society, especially today. I agree with everything Siskel and Ebert say. These movies were stupid and mindless. Ebert is exactly right "a lifetime of eating pizza in a sewer has somehow prepared them for warfare." He's right. These movies don't make any sense. I'm in my 30's now and wonder why in the hell i even liked this shit. It was all about visuals and marketing. The story was so far fetched and ridiculous. Yea, it's for kids, but it should have just stayed a cartoon, toys and video games, ect. The movie seemed like it was made for a cash grab. & the remake is a double cash grab. If the movies had good story content, I wouldn't complain, but there is just nothing there. They're right kids are brainwashed into liking this crap, & the parents buy into it to shut them up.

[@jedijones]

There are a lot of movies aimed at kids that they don't like. So it must require some kind of talent to brainwash kids. Not everyone is successful who tries it.

[@maxvaldezsontros23]

I would have to disagree with siskel and Ebert onthese movies I think the hole origin of the movies of the turtles is that it supposed to give off the effect that you can be born a mutant you can be born in secrecy and you can be born at the lowest point of life but it is the decisions that we make that can make a hero in in henceforth we can be the hero if we so choose to but that's just me

[@octoman511]

7:46 AND MARTIAL ARTS TRAINING! GOD Ebert was so collosully unfair to the series especially the first one which is a GREAT film!

[@shillingplays]

Doug Walker brought me here...

[@sha11235]

I'll bet neither Gene's kids nor Roger's grandkids were fans of this shit.

[@bobtaylor3945]

Wise cracking fighting that what tmnt is all about like in the 87 cartoon current at the time

[@LazerDude]

you know to be fair The 2000's Animated Series and the New animated series are much better then the movies will ever be

[@luissauljurassicshinyhunte2149]

Wait they say the first 2 nija turtles movies were boring and bab but when the 3 one came they say it little better what the hell

[@HyperSonicXtreme]

Before IMBD, Metacritc & Rotten Tomatoes

[@JustinStender]

Domino's®, the pizza that sewer turtles crave.

[@movieman104]

fun films for kids not for critics

[@casperscorner4757]

It's always funny when these "professionals" make it clear they don't know what they are talking about. It was the highest grossing independent film of all time at the time. It's based on the comics, not the cartoon. It remains one of the most popular movies almost 40 years later, and the franchise is stronger than ever. Your careers aren't thought, 😂. This is why you don't listen to the critics. You listen to the fan base. Watching this very is depressing to sit through.

[@virgogaming6488]

Compared to Batman and Superman they weren't all that.

[@HipHopHappens]

they're out of their depth here, they can only see it as a kids movie. gene needs to meditate w splinter to absorb the higher teachings

[@carljcreighton]

I'm surprised Siskel wasn't more in on the joke

[@retroworld8090]

They were very wrong on the first film.

[@nlee4566]

Thier talking very reckless. Especially about the 2nd movie. I mean i understand they look at it as some silly kids Phenominom but lacked the ability to actually watch the movies in full, especially the first one. Raphael obviously stands out as the black sheep of the family and Leonardo love his his brother was golden in the middle of the movie. April and Caseys chemistry was amazing as was Shredders character development to the finale battle where Splinter gets his revenge. All that in a childrens film yet these old farts complain about how much pizza they eat and cheoragraphed violence. SMH!

[@maurygoldblat8982]

The original turtles movie is simply a great movie. Gene's pretentiousness is showing

[@Clay3613]

See Ghostbusters were better than TMNT :P

[@bijibadness]

getting directors of micro-budget 3:00 MTV pop videos to suddenly do your big-budgeted two hour major release is like getting a house painter to do your self portrait - of course they still _paint,_ but you usually get what you pay for. which isn't much, of course, and that's the _point_ . . . the studios dig these people up because they're insanely cheap and biting at the BIT to work in Hollowood. it's only on the very, _very_ outside chance you somehow get a super-genius like David Fincher (or even a ridiculous blockhead who CAN shoot action like Michael Bay).

[@coreyhall6038]

These are intelligent, literate and well rounded ADULTS talking about a movie series for children. It's ok if you liked TMNT as kids, or if you have residual affection for them as a grown up, but please I beg you; apply your fully developed, mature minds and understand that objectively, while they may have some impressive animtotronics and stunt work, the Turtles movies suck dong as cinematic art.

[@EggPlanet492]

No one's calling the Turtle movies art. And both critics have spoken positively about kids' movies in the past, like Toy Story. I think this is just a case of a trend going over their heads, because it really is ridiculous at the surface level. But beneath, there was some real heart and creativity going on with the first movie. It still more or less holds up, 30 years later.

[@gc3k]

Siskel is the one who supposedly appreciated the technical part of movie productions. The puppet work and other effects were very impressive and they could have given it more credit. I only watched the 2nd one once and never saw the 3rd, but the 1st was a well directed movie, especially for an independent film They just sounded annoyed by Turtle-mania and couldn't judge the movies fairly. It did look like Siskel conceded that the first was good or at least the best of the 3

[@dittbub]

I think siskel and ebert are just right, and i grew up watching and enjoying the turtles. but it is rather devoid of anything

[@seanchukwuezi3079]

I will never forgive does two and other critics ar the time for giving the first film unfavorable reviews

[@harmie1743]

I loved the first and second one, especially the rap at the end of the first one and the song from the second one. But the 3rd one was kinda boring and less intresting..

[@tenacious645]

the rap was at the end of the second one

[@harmie1743]

+tenacious645 ya sry accidentally got mixed up.

[@tenacious645]

SerialKillerX just lookin out ;D

[@virgogaming6488]

They're not wrong about the first 3 TMNT movies, they aren't that good.

[@titusmccarthy]

SNOBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!