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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Original Series, Season Five
R1 - America - Lionsgate Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (31st August 2007). |
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The Show
 The one strongest memory I have of this series happened very earl in the show's run. At the first meeting with the foot soldiers, Leonardo hits one of these soldiers. Raphael says 'Clang? Did you say clang?' and slices one of the soldiers in half, revealing them to be robots. That's when the fun started and the soldiers went flying across the room, exploding and clanging. By the fifth season, though, the foot soldiers had given way to other bad guys. Indeed, the alien brain Krang and his *ahem* Japanese right-hand man Shredder seem to have faded to the background in favour of weird mutated bad guys, which include an ice creature! The evil pair and their minions, Bebop and Rocksteady, are seen throughout the season, trying to get their big Technodrome out of the Antarctic. Meanwhile, they keep sending various bad guys to the city to steal things and stop the Turtles. Being a big city, other, more homegrown, bad guys find themselves trying to steal other things for their own gain. The Turtles can't let that happen and try to stop them. (Actually, let's not kid ourselves here, they're always successful at these attempts at stopping the evil-doers.) Though the episodes have a lot of action, the animation is pretty stiff and choppy, which, being a bit older now, really takes away from the enjoyment. You even see the cell outlines in some shots. This makes the show looks a bit cheap and less than stellar. Coupled with the funny physics, science and logic, some of the plot points really make no sense. When I watched the show as a kid, I didn't really care about these things, so I suppose they're not big problems. The show always tries for houmour, lightening the mood greatly. The Turtles always make references to being on a TV show. ('I'm afraid you'll have to [believe what's going on]. It's too late to rewrite the script.') Raphael, the smart-alecky one, always has a funny remark to throw in (though, to be honest, his quips were much funnier when I was ten.) A big joy for me was listening and placing the voice actors throughout the season. Michelangelo (Townsend Coleman) went on to be The Tick, Raphael (Rob Paulsen)played his sidekick, Arthur, and, later on, Pinky. (Rob Paulson actually plays multiple characters in each episode.) An actor whose name I couldn't find in 'Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again!' played the doctor in the Proto-Clown episode of 'The Tick'. Shredder's voice is by James Avery, most famous for being Uncle Phil in 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'. Donatello's (Barry Gordon's) career actually goes back to the Jayne Mansfield movie, 'The Girl Can't Help It'! The cast is good enough and though the dialogue gets kind of silly, the actors make everything believable. I don't think I made it to season five when the show originally aired, as I don't remember any of these episodes. For the time I did watch it, the show was very enjoyable, and I had dolls and video games of these guys. For nostalgics, this set has to be owned, because it will probably bring back some nice memories. For others, it can probably be skipped, as there's really nothing new by the fifth season. For me, ultimately, the strongest feeling this show gave me was the yen to have pizza. Here is a breakdown of the episodes by disc. disc 1: Donatello's Badd Time (23:37) The Badd criminal family give Donatello a hard time after they steal the Turtle Van, and they try to give the city a hard time after they try to steal a powerful crystal. Donatello's Duplicate (23:33) Stretched to his limit, Donatello wants to focus on his scientific work instead of fixing microwaves and such, so he decides to clone himself, which turns out to be a mistake. My Brother, the Bad Guy (23:35) The Turtles' arch-nemesis, Shredder, makes his first appearance of the season, trying to, well, take over the world (well, trying to help Krang come back to Earth so he can take over the world), by stealing some electronics to get some sort of powerful magnet together. Enter: Mutagen Man (23:37) The Shredder traps a delivery boy and changes him into a mutant. He tricks the new mutant into stealing some stuff for him. Napoleon Bonafrog: Colossus of the Swamps (23:37) Shredder and Krang want some anti-freeze and a mutagen, which Shredder attempts to steal with the help of a mutated Napoleon Bonafrog, the Turtles' friend. disc 2: Michelangelo Meets Mondo Gecko (23:36) Michelangeo meets his childhood 'friend', Mondo Gecko, who has to decide whether to fight on the side of good or bad. Michelangelo Meets Bugman Again (23:36) The city is under attack from termites let loose by the Swatter, and the four guys have to find self-exiled superhero Bugman, to save the day! Leonardo Cuts Loose (23:35) Casey Jones' first (and only) appearance of the season! A series of robberies done by superhumanly strong men is plaguing the city. Muckman Messes Up (23:37) More mutations and Muckman is born, terrorising the city! Muckman has a special, well, much, that weakens the Turtles, so they have to figure out a way to beat him without getting close to him. The Ice Creatures Cometh (23:34) Thanks to some more ooze, a near-invincible Ice Creature is born, obeying Bebop and no one else (don't ask). The Turtles are in for quite a tough adventure here! disc 3: Zack and the Alien Invaders (23:34) This is like a cross between 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' and 'The Boy who Cried Wolf'. The Turtle's friend Zack goes to military camp, where aliens are trying to take over. Raphael Versus the Volcano (23:36) After Donatello invents a machine evaluating a person's health and Raphael fails it, Raphael decides to become a superhero to prove to himself that he's still healthy. Raphael, Turtle of a Thousand Faces (23:34) Raphael wants to be a master of disguise (akin to Dana Carvey, but somewhat less annoying), and gets mixed up with a criminal. Pirate Radio (23:36) Using a popular underground radio station, Shredder tries to brainwash everybody to obey him. Landlord of the Flies (23:37) Flies invade the city, and the landlord of the flies helps Shredder and has demands for the city. Leonardo, the Renaissance Turtle (23:35) The police introduce a new robot to take care of crime. The robot promptly goes overboard, and with the other turtles busy, Leonardo has to handle everything himself. This is actually a very good episode. Welcome Back Polarisoids (23:35) The Polarisoid family decides to vacation to Earth at the same time that Krang and Shredder attack the Turtles with a device used in one of the previous seasons. Michelangelo, the Sacred Turtle (23:36) An actual mummy attacks the museum he's visiting after hours. The three other turtles have to find out who's behind this and what's going on.
Video
1.33 full frame. The sound is actually a better than the video. The colours are okay and the is good enough, but the picture is very soft, giving way to fuzzy black lines and a lack of delineation. The print also suffers from specks, colour fluctuations and other minor blemishes. There's also a bit too much grain. These problems come from the source, though, I'm sure. For tube TV, I'm sure the picture is fine, but if you've got a fairly big TV, it will look too fuzzy.
Audio
The only audio track is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track and it's good enough. All the dialogue is pretty clear and, even with those weird accents and voice effects, every word is heard. The clangs and whooshes are likewise clear enough. The really dated music comes out without distortion. I didn't hear any pops or hissing, either. The track is a good one, though the sounds are not perfect. There are no subtitles.
Extras
All extras are on disc three, and the only one worth watching is The Turtles: A Ninjatastic Look Back (17:54). Despite the silly name, this has some great information. The four actors playing the four turtles come in for talking-head interviews. They talk about being a part of the show and about how they got the part and who was supposed to get what part (they all tried for all four parts). They also give out stories of meeting kids and talking to them, and about how crazy the merchandising got. It's a great 18 minutes and a must-watch if you buy or rent this set. The other two extras are two Under the Shell featurettes. One is about Yosagi Yojimbo (2:54). Although I like the idea of character profiles, they could have at least chosen a character that was somewhere in the season. Townsend Coleman here talks about the rabbit bodyguard character and reminiscences a very little bit about the show. The second one is about Baxter Stockwell (3:26), who's in this season (in 'Landlord of the Flies'), and is useless. Nobody talks about him, you only see clips from the show. This is utterly pointless. Lastly, a Trailer Gallery is found, with 'Doctor Strange' (1:48), '24x24' (0:47), 'Dish Dogz' (1:31), 'The Invincible Iron Man' (1:20) (which, by the way, are also start-up trailers on discs one and three).
Packaging
Lionsgate packaged this set in a replica pizza box, that holds on the discs, with a clear plastic slipcover covering everything. It's a nice design.
Overall
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