Film Appreciation - Open Wide the Gates of Time

Cody Hamman looks back in time to share Film Appreciation for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993).

I was six years old and already an established fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series when the first live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was released in 1990. That movie was everything I could have hoped it would be. It was one of the most important films of my childhood and one that I watched over and over – while also reading and re-reading the comic book adaptation and writing out my own adaptations. My hype for a sequel was immense, and I didn’t have long to wait. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze arrived just one year later. And blew my seven-year-old mind. From there, it was a two year wait for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III... but when this one reached theatres, I was considerably less hyped for it than I was for The Secret of the Ooze. Even as a nine year old, I could tell something off this time around.

For one thing, you have to adjust to the fact that the Turtles are no longer fighting the villainous Shredder or his gang of ninjas called the Foot Clan. Of course, it makes sense for them to move on after two movies of Shredder and the Foot, but a kid expects more of the same. And a time travel adventure back to 1603 Japan just didn’t hold the same appeal as the previous stories. But I could still go along with it. The more difficult hurdle to overcome was the fact that the execution was lacking. The movie felt different. That was only explained through information gleaned later: that production company Golden Harvest felt the franchise was running its course, so they put less money into the budget than they had for the second movie, and released it with less marketing fanfare. Which explains why I had less opportunity to build my hype for it. They also switched effects companies, going from the amazing animatronics Jim Henson's Creature Shop created for the first two movies to lesser effects provided by All Effects Company. That’s why I was wondering throughout the movie, “Why do the Turtles look different? Why don’t they look as good as they did before?”

The tone was an attempt to strike a balance between the darker, edgier first movie and the more lighthearted, goofier second movie. And Golden Harvest wanted to lessen the violence, which is why the Turtles rarely use their signature weapons.

The different approach, effects, and tone, the lower budget and the lower amount of marketing, all of this worked together to make Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III an underwhelming viewing experience for me when I was nine. But, I was still a fan of the characters and concept. So I still watched the movie many more times when it came to home video. And I gained an appreciation for it, enjoying it on its own terms.

Todd W. Langen, who worked on the scripts for both previous movies, did not return for this one. Neither did directors Steve Barron or Michael Pressman. For this movie, Stuart Gillard was hired to both write and direct – and, drawing some inspiration from the comic book source material (which I have to admit, I still haven’t read beyond the first issue), he crafted a story that involves a scepter with the power to transport people through time.

In 1603 Japan, Lord Norinaga (Sab Shimono) has been waging an “ambitious,” “unjust war” with the help of soldiers and firepower provided by English mercenary Walker (Stuart Wilson) – who has had such an impact on the Japanese locals that they largely communicate with each other in English. Lord Norinaga’s son Prince Kenshin (Henry Hayashi) is ashamed of his father’s actions. While throwing a temper tantrum, he finds a scroll that features drawings that seemingly prophesy the arrival of the Turtles, who Kenshin believes to be demons called “kappas,” and a scepter with the inscription, “Open Wide the Gates of Time.” When Kenshin reads the inscription out loud, he is transported to 1990s New York, swapping places with the Turtles’ pal April O’Neil (Paige Turco), who had just bought the scepter at a flea market.

Through communication with Kenshin and an examination of the scepter, our heroic Turtles – Leonard (voiced by Brian Tochi), Donatello (voiced by Corey Feldman), Raphael (voiced by Tim Kelleher), and Michelangelo (voiced by Robbie Rist) – and their master, the rat Splinter (voiced by James Murray), are able to deduce that a time travel swap has occurred and they only have sixty hours to follow April back to 1603, rescue her, and get back to their own time. Accused of being a witch, April is locked up alongside a prisoner named Whit, who’s played by Elias Koteas – who played the badass, hockey mask-wearing vigilante Casey Jones in the first movie.

 

Koteas pulls double duty in this movie, as he also gets to reprise the role of Casey Jones... But don’t expect him to do anything cool like he did in part 1. Here, Casey is simply called in to help Splinter watch over Kenshin and the four other Japanese characters who show up in place of the Turtles when they’re zapped back to 1603. So Casey isn’t beating on bad guys with hockey sticks or baseball bats in this movie. He’s just a babysitter. Something else that my nine-year-old self found to be disappointing.

In the past, the Turtles arrive just as the scepter is stolen. This is deeply disturbing to Lord Norinaga, who believes the scepter is the key to his victory, and makes the Turtles’ mission more complicated because they have to either track it down or create a replica scepter. They also have to track down Michelangelo, who managed to be captured by a young woman named Mitsu (Vivian Wu), the leader of the anti-Norinaga rebellion and Kenshin’s love interest. At least they’re able to locate and free April quite quickly. When they go looking for Michelangelo and the scepter, they end up befriending the rebels... And, of course, all the complications serve to pave the way for the Turtles to join the rebels for a climactic assault on Lord Norinaga’s castle.

Taken on its own merits, overlooking the new look of the Turtles and the waste of the Casey Jones character, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is a decent movie that tells a fairly entertaining story, and it’s a fun way to spend some more time with the Turtle characters. For me, it’s just never as interesting as entertaining as the previous two movies were.

I don’t think I was alone in being somewhat let down by this sequel, because its box office numbers were lower than those of part 2 and far below the success of part 1. This could be taken as a sign that Golden Harvest was right and the franchise was on its way out regardless of what the movie was going to be – but I think it has more to do with kids finding this sequel to be underwhelming in comparison to its predecessors. A more appealing and exciting movie probably would have brought in more money. And could have opened the door to the company making more money from another sequel.

A fourth film was in development for a while, multiple drafts of the script were written from 1994 through 1997 (which really would have been too long of a wait anyway), but the project ended up being scrapped. The Turtle franchise has carried on through the years in different ways, but this initial live-action series ended as a trilogy. A trilogy I was very glad to have in my childhood, even if all installments weren’t on the same level.