The 1997 live action Ninja Turtles series, “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation”, is very different from the animated series and the comic books, but it features plenty of action (and cheesy dialogue) that many people who grew up watching it will surely enjoy. For the fans who are nostalgic, the young at heart or the parent wanting to introduce the live-action ninja turtles series to their children will definitely be interested in volume 1 of “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation”!
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DVD TITLE: Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation – Volume 1
TV SERIES AIR DATE: 1997
DURATION: Episodes 1-13 (4 hours)
DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Closed Captions
COMPANY: Saban Brands/Shout! Factory
RATED: TV-Y7 FV
RELEASE DATE: September 4, 2012
Directed by Robert Lee, James Taylor
Written by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird
Produced by Randy Cheveldave, James Shavick
Associate Producer: Rosanne Milliken
Line Produer: Allan Levine
Cinematography by Henry Chan
Featuring the voices of:
Jarred Blancard as Michaelangelo
Mitchell A. Lee Yuen/Dean Choe as Raphael
Richard Yee as Donatello
Gabe Khouth as LEonardo
Nicole Parker as Venus De Milo
Kirby Morrow as Michelangelo
Matt Hill as Raphael
Jason Gray-Stanford as Donatello
Fiona Scott/Stephen Mendel as Splinter
Chong Tseng/Dale Wilson as Chung I
Patrick Pon/Doug Parker as Shredder
Gary Chalk as Silver
Kira Clavell/Saffron Henderson as Vam-Mi
Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo are four genetically mutated turtles who have grown into human-sized, ninja-powered crime-fighters living in the sewers of New York City. Under the tutelage of Master Splinter, these four teens have spent their formative years fighting their nemesis, Shredder, and his evil army. But the turtles’ world we have come to know and love is about to change. If you thought Shredder was bad, wait until you meet the newest TMNT foe: Dragon Lord! It will take all the power of the turtles to combat this new villain . . . lucky for them, they will have help from a new ninja turtle, a FEMALE turtle named Venus De Milo!
See all the exciting showdowns in the only live-action series based on the iconic Ninja Turtles franchise!
In 1984, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird began working on a comic book series titled “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles†for Mirage Studios. Featuring a darker, action-driven storyline, the comics became major collectors items due to its short print run. And because of the popularity of the comics, Playmates Toys Inc. was approached to create an action figure toyline and before they began working on the risky project, the toy company would only agree to do so, if an animated TV series was created.
Geared for children and featuring characters with color coded masks, spoke with stereotypical surfer dialogue and a love for pizza, the series was a major hit. Created in 1987, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles†would air on television through 1996, and along with the TV series, the toyline was also a big success and would continue on with a live action series, multiple video games and also several live action films.
With the early success of the live action “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” films, Saban Entertainment (known for bringing the “Power Rangers” and sentai-related series to America) decided to bring the Ninja Turtles to television via live-action titled “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation” in 1996.
Based on Mirage Studios’ “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” series, the live action series would bring new enemies, new weaponry, no April O’Neil or Casey Jones , Leonardo saying that he and others are not blood related and the biggest difference is the addition of a new female ninja turtle named Venus De Milo. Also, because the series was Saban-related, there was a collaboration episode between “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation” and “Power Rangers in Space”.
While the live-action television series was short-lived (only last 26 episodes from 1997-1998), fans of the series have been waiting for a DVD release of “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation” and now, the series will be released on DVD in September 2012 courtesy of Shout! Factory.
In “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, the series begins with discontent among the ninja turtles. While the ninja turtles have grown older, Raphael is not so thrilled to follow so many rules. This leads him to nearly getting in fights with his own brothers. Leaving on a joyride in his motorcycle (which Master Splinter has reminded him not to ride), Raphael is attacked by several ninjas who work for Shredder.
Meanwhile, Chung I has contacted Master Shredder through the dreamworld and tells him that evil dragons will be coming.
All of a sudden the Dragon Lord comes out of nowhere and kills Chung I and hurts Splinter. The ninja turtles, shocked about what has transpired, get into more troubled arguments as members are upset with Raphael running off and doing his own thing. Meanwhile, they are visited by Chung I’s disciple, a hooded mysterious character who reveals itself to be a female turtle named Venus de Milo.
It appears that she was born alongside Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael but was selected by Chung I for good luck and was trained as a Shinobi.
With no master, Venus now wants to help the injured Splinter but also the Ninja Turtles in defeating the Dragon Lord.
Meanwhile, another villain is causing trouble in the city. The last of the Yeti’s, Silver is evil and runs a criminal organization.
Will the Ninja Turtles be able to defeat their new evil adversaries?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Ninjua Turtles: The Next Mutation” is presented in 4:3 and in Dolby Digital stereo.  Quality is good but as one can expect from an older series on DVD, you will see artifacts, especially during scenes of red. Each time I saw Raphael, you can see the artifacts around his mask. But this is more noticeable on my bigger HD television and I typically look out for this. Most people will probably not care for these artifacts, but they are there. Picture quality is also slightly soft but this is probably the best quality the series will ever look.
Audio quality is goodand is primarily front-channel driven. So, dialogue including the ’90s pop music opening and closing themes are clear. I heard no audio problems during my viewing of this DVD.
There are no English subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
There are no special features.
I have never watched “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation” but I have watched the live-action films and various animated series before. Also, I read the original comic book series and was a collector of the toys at one point.
But first, let me discuss the good points. The good points of this series, for those who were young at the time and grew up with the series, had the opportunity to see the ninja turtles via live action. The series retained the humor that was evident from the animated series and you get to see the Ninja Turtles in action.
Because it was made by Saban, it did have a sentai/Power Rangers feel to it. Especially when it came to the monsters and such. I thought it was cool to see the vehicles being built for the characters and the costume design for the actual ninja turtles outfits were cool looking, very detailed and well-designed.
With that being said, now the bad points. Because they are people in costumes, watching the voice acting was almost like watching an English dubbed Kung-Fu film. Mouths moving while the dub voice acting is playing. Suffice to say, I’m sure this was a challenge at that time, and some may even find it humorous but I found it a bit distracting.
The other thing that also made me feel distracted and also a bit frustrated was to see the harmonious ninja turtles in disharmony because of Raphael. For ninjas who are well-disciplined and were like brothers in the animated series, Raphael was a jerk. Often getting into arguments and nearly coming to blows with the other turtles, I was a bit disheartened to see this occasionally in the series. The character was quite disrespectful that I knew the writers were trying to bring up the “Black Sheep” card but for a series that typically is seen by children, I wasn’t really digging it.
I pretty much accepted the series was going to be different. That Shredder would not be the primary adversary and it was interesting to have new enemies such as the Dragon Lord and Silver. And I was not as personally bothered by the addition of Venus de Milo, as the writers did try to bring some synergy on this old series and not trying to regurgitate storylines that have been done before in the animated series.
But I admit that I was turned off by some of the acting, way too cheesy, even beyond what I have been used to seeing in the Power Rangers or Saban Sentai-related series. Some of the dialogue was becoming to obnoxious for me.
With that being said, I’m not going to complete hate on this live action version because like other series that I have grown up with and brought to a new generation of viewers, may it be “G.I. Joe”, “Transformers” or other series from the ’80s or early ’90s, there are going to be changes and writers try to find a way to attract a new generation of viewers through different storylines and the addition of new characters. And if those who grew up with the series back then find it cool, no doubt that others will find it cool as well.
I watched the series with my 9-year-old and he laughed at some of the corny dialogue although he was turned off by the theme music, he enjoyed it for the most part and I guess if the younger viewers enjoy it, that’s all that matters.
As for the DVD, you get the first 13-episodes of the series and there have been fans waiting for “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation” to come out on DVD for quite while now. And for those who grew up watching it and are now parents themselves, or just young at heart, then I can recommend this DVD for them. And the fact that Shout! Factory has released the first 13-episodes on DVD is a plus!
Overall, “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation” may not be the best Ninja Turtles series ever made but I’m sure that fans who are nostalgic and grew up watching and enjoying the series will surely enjoy it.
