Special Features Update on German TMNT 1 DVD

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German TMNT fan hudemx has reported in again with some new details on the upcoming German DVD release of the first TMNT movie, which will be including special features not yet released anywhere else.

He states that a friend of his has received an advance copy of the DVD, and has this to say about the special features:

• Commentary: Director Steve Barron greets the audience in German, but then continues in English for the rest of the duration.

• Deleted Scenes: There are two scenes included, both of which are alternate cuts from two scenes in the movie. The first is of Michaelangelo ordering pizza in the sewers, and the second is of the Turtles fighting the Foot in April's apartment.

• Alternate Ending: This is the same ending as has been previously detailed by Ninja Pizza.

And here are some screen shots from the alternate ending:

The DVD is available for pre-order over at Amazon.de, but make sure you're able to play Region 2, PAL-coded DVDs before you do so.

Original TMNT Movie to be Released in Germany ... With Bonus Features!

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TMNT fans have been crying out for a better DVD release of the original TMNT movie ever since it first appeared on DVD in 1997. Although it and its sequels have been rereleased several times over the last 13 years, the content on the disc has always been the same, and simple requests like including deleted scenes and director commentary have fallen on deaf ears.

For German fans (and region-savvy fans elsewhere) that is now changing!! TMNT fan hudemx at The Technodrome forums has brought to attention the upcoming German DVD release of the 1990 film.

If you visit the website for the DVD distributor, you can find the list of included bonus features, which are:

• Trailer
• Deleted scenes
• Alternate ending
• Audio commentary from Director Steve Barron

If you've been reading this site for awhile, you may recall posts that detailed the alternate ending as well as one of the deleted scenes.

So, obviously, this is great news!! Although the bad news is that this seems to be restricted to Germans (for now?). While that may seem like a catch-22 for American fans and other non-Europeans, there are work-arounds to bypass region-locking and PAL coding if you look hard enough.

This DVD will be released on March 12, 2010. If you're ready to order, you can go ahead and do so over at Amazon.de.

DVD Update ... Or Not

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The above DVD covers caused quite a stir when they appeared on Amazon.com out of the blue yesterday. Not just with fans, but at Mirage itself where they first learned of these new DVD covers at the same time.

What does this mean? Are these DVDs with brand new content? Or just repackaging of the old content? Unfortunately, it's just repackaging of the old content.

Does this mean that there's no chance of a Special Edition and/or Blu-Ray release of one or all of the movies? NO. I can report that there is still hope in both regards, although it is also far from being a certain thing. Hopefully I can provide a more specific update within the next couple of months.

Why the TMNT Fail at the Internets

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It probably wouldn't take too much effort to find a person still convinced that Johnny Woo was, at one point in time, signed and secured to make a TMNT movie. About five years ago I tried to convince a friend of mine that there was absolutely no truth to this, but I don't think he ever fully believed me. Someone asked Kevin Munroe, director of 2007's TMNT movie, the same question at San Diego Comic-Con in 2006. Really, it's the damnedest rumor that just refuses to die. He essentially said it'd be a neat thing to do, but there was nothing more to it than that. No different from me saying that it'd be neat to race Michael Phelps on a big wheel.

But this prevailing rumor also punctuates a key problem with TMNT fandom. Try as some of us may, there is no definitive "Go To" site for a person with a casual interest in TMNT to go to and quickly catch up on the latest news. Those of us who follow it closely know that Steve Murphy's word via The 5th Turtle is good as gold, but from an outsider's perspective, it's just a simple Blogger blog using a default template (same as this site). There is no TheForce.Net or TheOneRing.Net or The-Leaky-Cauldron.Org equivalent.

But sites that report on everything related to movies need to be at the top of the rumor mill, so if there's going to be a new TMNT film, they can't miss out on reporting it. It usually happens like this: Murphy or some other source drops a tidbit of information, discussion on said information partakes at TheTechnodrome.com, some lame lurker emails a dozen movie sites with the "tip," and these sites post the information as if it's some big scoop that they have personally discovered. Oooh, impressive.

Over the past several months there have been several hints dropped about the on-going talks for the next TMNT movie from both Steve Murphy and TMNT co-creator Peter Laird. Did any of these statements reach sites like IGN.com? No. But a few days ago discussion starts on The Technodrome regarding a comment TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman made on the HeavyMetal.com message boards regarding the possibilities being discussed for the next movie (which is pretty much in line with everything he stated here, and which is also all in line with what has been hinted at by Steve Murphy and Peter Laird). Now some morons are spreading the comments, to the point where Perez Hilton (you're kidding me, right?) is reporting it as FACT that a new TMNT movie is coming and THIS IS HOW IT IS.

FOR THE RECORD:

1. Movie discussions are still in progress and nothing has been finalized.
2. A live action movie is being discussed as a possibility but, again, nothing has been finalized. According to Murphy, live action is apparently NOT being discussed, so there you go.
3. When something has been finalized, the information will be released officially by Mirage Studios and their partners, not a message board, no matter who is making the comment.

Oh, and all of you non-TMNT sites: Please stop pretending you know anything about Ninja Turtles, because you don't and it just makes you suck more. If you really want to do something useful, try to convince your readers to convince Warner Brothers to release a Special Edition of the original 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on DVD. Thank you.

TMNT: The Original 1990 Press Kit

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In case it's not already obvious, a Press Kit gets constructed and released - to the press - as part of the marketing effort for a film. These days they're all done digitally, compiled onto DVDs. Back in 1990 it was a simple folder loaded with some 8x10 black and white photos and some photocopied production notes.

Instead of focusing on a deleted scene today, I thought I would give typing a break and scan the contents of the press kit for the original movie. After I did that, I ended up typing 20 pages of production notes, so I really didn't save myself from anything.

Below you'll find all of the photos included with the kit as well as an excerpt from the production notes. If you download the complete .zip file, you'll have more production notes to read. One of the reasons I went through with typing 20 pages of these things was that all of the information is really, really unique and interesting, and I'm not sure that there's anywhere else that you can read something similar to this. There are quotes from all of the major players who had a hand in making the movie, including the late and great Jim Henson.

It's really all quite fantastic and I think it will also give you extra appreciation for all of the hard work that people put into this movie to make it the classic it ended up being.

A classic that should receive proper DVD treatment! *ahem*

You can download the complete .zip file here.

TMNT Deleted Scene: Training on the Farm - UPDATE!

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I've updated the original post with the "Training on the Farm" deleted scene with two more pictures that I just found. You can check them out fully here.

TMNT Movie Mistakes

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This isn't a new video, but I thought it'd be a good supplement to the TMNT Special Edition DVD effort.



All movies are full of little mistakes that their makers hope the movie viewers won't spot, but if you watch something enough times and pay close enough attention, something's bound to stand out as not quite right. My long-time pal and fellow TMNT fan Karen put this video together last year in the wake of the excitement over the release of the 2007 CGI movie.

With well over 600,00 views, it has become one of the most-viewed TMNT videos on YouTube and spent a weekend as one of Digg.com's top videos. While the video may highlight the mistakes in the film, I believe its popularity is a reflection of the general overall continued popularity of the movie. Surely enough popularity to warrant a Special Edition DVD release.

TMNT Deleted Scene: Training on the Farm

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Here is the second deleted scene from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film that I am highlighting in support of the TMNT Special Edition project. Warner Brothers isn't yet convinced that this is a good idea - But they ARE watching us! - so be sure to let them know personally that you want this Special Edition DVD!

This scene is also pretty well documented, and bits and pieces of it can be seen in the actual movie. I've scanned a few stickers, trading cards, and pics taken from a book and magazine from this part, but the lengthy bit from the script might be more interesting to you.

This scene comes immediately after April yells at Casey, "I wouldn't ask for your help if you were the last... "thing" on the face of the planet!" and Casey follows with, "Coming along 'nicely' ..."

TMNT Deleted Scene: Alternate Ending

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This is the first entry in a series to highlight all of the deleted scenes from the original 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. While all of the deleted scenes from the movie are fairly well documented throughout books and comics, we still have yet to see any of these scenes in their entirety. This is a key reason why releasing a Special Edition DVD of this movie is a necessity!

While the movie ended with our heroes triumphant on the rooftop of a building, there was one final scene in the script. This scene had April and Danny in the office of a comic book publisher, trying to pitch the idea of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Here are some photos from that scene, as well as the actual script that was used for filming!

It's Time For a TMNT 1 Special Edition

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Fans have made half-hazard efforts to get New Line Cinema (and now, Warner Brothers) to release a special edition of, at least, the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film - if not all three - for many years. The response has consistently been, "We are not interested in that project."

Today, Steve Murphy of Mirage Studios posted the following, a quote of an email sent by Steve Barron, director of the first TMNT film, to a Warner Brothers representative:

"...there has been quite a lot of blogging about a director's special edition of the first movie, particularly in the light of its impending 25th anniversary. I would be very keen to contribute to this idea if you thought it a good one. I have lots of original artwork and even a rough cut with a few extra scenes on tape. I think it would be nice to do a definitive release as the extras have always been very limited."

This is not the first time Barron has made such a comment. In fact, a very similar comment was quoted in a Peter Laird, "Blast From the Past" Web site feature back in late 2001.

With this new spark of inspiration from Murphy and Mr. Barron collectively, perhaps it's time to take the effort to make this project happen seriously. Next year is the 25th anniversary celebration of the TMNT - What better way to celebrate than with a special edition of one of the greatest highlights of that 25 year history? Emails from the same handful of fanboys/fangirls to Warner Brothers aren't going to convince them to change their minds about this project. It's time to get bigger and more visual.

Watch this space for more information coming soon.

If you have graphic design skills or video editing skills, please email me if you're willing to provide hands-on help with this effort.