Movie Club: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Secret Of The Ooze

[LiamABC]

WELCOME EVERYBODY TO THE RELAUNCHED DISCUSSION THREAD OF THE NEW MOVIE CLUB, DESIGNED TO RUN PARALLEL WITH R.O.C.K.S. A big thanks to everyone that are joining us through all of this.
The next few weeks, Movie Club and ROCKS are doing a tie-in. While ROCKS is focusing on the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, the corresponding Movie Club discussions will be on the various movies of the franchise.

This week we’re covering the 1991 sequel “Secret Of The Ooze”.

Remember any ideas for films to discuss are most welcome, and should be made on the Movie Club Introduction thread (the sticky one).

Just a friendly reminder to everyone that, whilst fans are obviously welcome to passionately discuss and give their views on these episodes, please remember to keep things on a friendly footing and respect your fellow posters.
Also, please do not post where or how to find the full movie online. And do not post asking others to PM it to you. You are however allowed to watch the movie in whatever manner you want.

[Mark_M]

I really enjoy this movie.
It’s a lot more humorous than the first movie and losses the more darker more serous overall tone of the first movie.
Whilst I do prefer the first movie overall I do really like this movie.
I remember I used to rent this movie often.
I gained more fondness for this movie in the late 90’s in high school as this was one of the tapes we regularly got to watch when we couldn’t do PE outside or the teacher was off and there was no substitute.
Vanilla Ice’s Ninja Rap has gained some real cult status thanks to this movie.
This movie also has a brief appearance of the wrestler Kevin Nash/Diesel as Super Shredder.
I am pleased that the characters of Tokka and Rahzar were revisited in the 2012 TMNT cartoon. I must say I preferred Rahzar’s new interpretation. I would have preferred Tokka to have been reinterpreted similarly but it was quite nice they did some thing different with the character.

[Wilycub]

I absolutely, positively LOVE this movie!!! :love Yes, I know that it’s a lot more light-hearted than the first one (and that is why it has been criticized quite a bit). The makers did this purposely, following complaints from various parents groups that the first one was too violent. So the sequel is more child-friendly, and since I was a child when I saw it, I fell in love with it immediately! I can’t tell you guys how many times I have seen this movie. I know almost half the dialogue by heart (which I will be quoting in this post of mine, so apologies in advance!)

The Turtles’ entry is so cool! They walk down the stairs to where Keno has (unsuccessfully) “arrested” a gang of burglars. They jump up all together, the frame freezes and the title appears on the screen!. Pure 90’s gold! :biggrin I also really liked Shredder’s entry. When Tatsu says “I Tatsu, now lead. Let any who challenge, step forward!” and the Shredder appears and in his baritone voice says “I challenge!”.

One of the first things I noticed when I saw the movie was the Donatello looked a little different. In the first movie he looked more like Raphael but in this one they have given him a slightly different head design which has bigger eyes and is more “appealing”. I also liked Splinter’s changed design in this one. Tokka and Razhar are suitable replacements for Bebop and Rocksteady (who couldn’t be used due to copyright issues).

Like Mark said, Vanilla Ice’s “Ninja Rap” became a huge hit with the kids in my neighborhood. Everyone used to sing it all the time! I’m not ashamed to admit that I still remember the lyrics! There was a boy in my class who even used to style his hair like Ice.

But for me the absolute best thing about this movie is the humor. I used to laugh so hard at them and they still make me giggle. “A little too Raph” has become a part of my daily vocabulary. Michaelangelo is hilarious! :roflmao

I can go on and on talking about this movie. It is simple, unadulterated, unlimited fun. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, I highly recommend that you do. And remember, “GO NINJA GO NINJA GO!!! I made another funny!”

[Mark_M]

I also meant to say that the Super Shredder was also revisited in the 2012 series in season 4.

I also prefer the casting of Paige Turco as April O’Neil in Secret of the Ooze and the third movie as I thought she had a better likeness to the cartoon and comics character.

[LEFT][SIZE=3][FONT=Tahoma][COLOR=rgb(20, 20, 20)]

@Wilycub

I can go on and on talking about this movie. It is simple, unadulterated, unlimited fun. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, I highly recommend that you do. And remember, “GO NINJA GO NINJA GO!!! I made another funny!”

That was a great line and scene. :laugh[/FONT][/SIZE][/LEFT]

[Wilycub]

@Mark M

I also prefer the casting of Paige Turco as April O’Neil in Secret of the Ooze and the third movie as I thought she had a better likeness to the cartoon and comics character.

My feelings exactly. I don’t know why a lot of people preferred Judith Hoag over Turco. I too liked Turco as even her nature and sense of humor were more similar to the cartoon April. Of course, Megan Fox as April is a WHOLE different story! :laugh

[LiamABC]

I only saw this one for the first time recently. The first was the only one I saw as a kid.

The introduction of the turtles in this one was well handled - after all, we already knew them from the previous movie, so do we start off with them, or do we have a fresh introduction to them? Keno was the one who got to see them for the first time, as April did in the first movie. Fair enough - it’s like Jack Sparrow in the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies, he always has to have a big intro after other characters have been established. I wonder if the POTC people had TMNT in mind when doing this?

The reintroduction of Shredder too - of course it made sense that in Shredder’s absence, Tatsu would take over, and he issues the challenge, and Shredder’s reappearance was perfectly timed, and Tatsu realised that he had been a little premature.

The storyline is actually a good one, the whole concept of the mutagen is one that had to be explored in this format as much as in the cartoon. And it made sense that the turtles would have questions about it, and get excited at the thought of getting the answers. David Warner as the professor is an unusually high-profile bit of casting for this franchise, most of the cast are unknowns.

Speaking of cast - yes, Paige Turco as April does look a lot more like the cartoon version, although I’m hardly in a position at present to state any other opinion. One thing I will say in support of Judith Hoag though - she had to play the character fresh, she was playing a role that had thus far only been seen in the cartoon. She had to give it a live action personality, Turco had a bit more to work with by this point. Let’s face it, for whatever reason, it’s not a role that the young audience at the time would be quite as picky about as say, the turtles, Splinter or Shredder. This may be down to sexism, I fear so. As I said, I’d need to watch these movies again to make any definite opinion on who I preferred in the role.

I remember when I was a kid, someone saying that Rocksteady and Bebop appeared in this movie. Only recently did I discover otherwise!

Overall, yes, an OK continuation of the movie franchise.

[Mark_M]

@LiamABC

Speaking of cast - yes, Paige Turco as April does look a lot more like the cartoon version, although I’m hardly in a position at present to state any other opinion. One thing I will say in support of Judith Hoag though - she had to play the character fresh, she was playing a role that had thus far only been seen in the cartoon. She had to give it a live action personality, Turco had a bit more to work with by this point. Let’s face it, for whatever reason, it’s not a role that the young audience at the time would be quite as picky about as say, the turtles, Splinter or Shredder. This may be down to sexism, I fear so. As I said, I’d need to watch these movies again to make any definite opinion on who I preferred in the role.

It’s safe to say sexism can be ruled out.
https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Teenage-Mutant-Ninja-Turtles-Original-April-O-Neil-Reveals-Why-She-Wasn-t-Sequel-66693.html
Hoag complained on set a lot about the shooting schedule, the script and the amount of violence in the movie.
She also wanted a raise.
All these factors really led into the decision of not having her reprise the role.
like @Wilycub I thought Paige came across on screen as having a nicer nature, sense of humour and personality. And I also thought she look more like April O’Neil.

[LEFT][SIZE=3][FONT=Tahoma][COLOR=rgb(20, 20, 20)]

@Wilycub

My feelings exactly. I don’t know why a lot of people preferred Judith Hoag over Turco. I too liked Turco as even her nature and sense of humor were more similar to the cartoon April. Of course, Megan Fox as April is a WHOLE different story! :laugh

Megan Fox was definitely an odd casting choice. :roflmao But I suppose they wanted a big name for the role…although I could think of a few other actresses I would have preferred for the part. Oddly enough they do make a reference to Megan Fox in the 2012 cartoon. Mikey tells the others a story of him meeting Megan Fox on a roof top but they don’t believe his story but he is still adamant that it happened.[/FONT][/SIZE][/LEFT]

[LiamABC]

Fair enough. That does happen, it’s like Kirstie Alley and Robin Curtis as Saavik in the Star Trek films then. I’d have to watch these TMNT films again to make up my mind, as I’ve known of Hoag for three decades but only just discovered that she wasn’t in the sequels!

[Mark_M]

@LiamABC

Fair enough. That does happen, it’s like Kirstie Alley and Robin Curtis as Saavik in the Star Trek films then. I’d have to watch these TMNT films again to make up my mind, as I’ve known of Hoag for three decades but only just discovered that she wasn’t in the sequels!

Who did you prefer as Saavik?

[LiamABC]

Interesting question. The first Star Trek film I saw was IV, in which she only appeared briefly at the start. Kirstie Alley gets more to do with the part in II, although Robin Curtis is arguably more Vulcanly in the role in III. I know it’s unofficially stated in the novelisation that Saavik was half Vulcan and half Romulan, but nothing is mentioned of that in the actual films. As far as the films are concerned, she’s just Vulcan. Curtis inhabited the Vulcan mantle better, so for authenticity I’m going to say Curtis. Need to watch them again now to decide.

[Mark_M]

@LiamABC

Interesting question. The first Star Trek film I saw was IV, in which she only appeared briefly at the start. Kirstie Alley gets more to do with the part in II, although Robin Curtis is arguably more Vulcanly in the role in III. I know it’s unofficially stated in the novelisation that Saavik was half Vulcan and half Romulan, but nothing is mentioned of that in the actual films. As far as the films are concerned, she’s just Vulcan. Curtis inhabited the Vulcan mantle better, so for authenticity I’m going to say Curtis. Need to watch them again now to decide.

I am no expert on Star Trek but from watching the movies on here for these discussions I also preferred Curtis in the role.

[LiamABC]

Saavik is a bigger part in her first appearance, so Kirstie Alley had a better chance to showcase the character. Trouble is, she put too much emotion into it. Vulcans are meant to be pretty stoic. The whole lack of emotion was what made Spock’s character so memorable, he was inscrutable. If the writers wanted him to show actual emotion, they had to come up with some plausible explanation for it. And part of the original series’ charm was McCoy arguing with Spock about the latter’s emotional side, never missing a chance to say “you were showing emotion there”.

[Mark_M]

Although to be fair this was also her first big acting role. If she had played such a big part with no emotion, critics that weren’t familiar with Vulcans not showing emotion would probably have savaged her acting performance.

[LiamABC]

It was also Curtis’ first big acting role in the next movie. And as for critics not being familiar with Vulcans, Mr Spock was pretty legendary already at this point.

[Mark_M]

@LiamABC

It was also Curtis’ first big acting role in the next movie. And as for critics not being familiar with Vulcans, Mr Spock was pretty legendary already at this point.

Post Star Trek Kirstie Alley definitely had a better acting career.

[The_Drifter]

Recently saw TMNT II: The Secret of the Ooze for the first time. Great film, and a solid follow-up to the first movie. Good action scenes, storyline, and humor.

I actually felt that both of the monstrous creatures (created by the Ooze) were great. Both were threatening & at the same time somewhat cartoonish - a difficult combination to achieve, but I felt it was pulled off well here.

One of the funniest scenes in towards the end of the film. A couple is getting into a cab, and sees the monsters fighting in the street:

Old Man: Look Sophie, those animals are knocking down the telephone poles. What do we do if they come over here?
Old Woman: Let them get their own cab.

LOL! These two typify those jaded New Yorkers who have seen it all, and are phased by nothing - ha ha.