''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' (subtitled ''Turtles in Time'' in some home media releases) is a 1993

superhero film Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...

based on the ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

'' characters created by

Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine ''Heavy Metal ...

and Peter Laird. Written and directed by

Stuart Gillard Stuart Thomas Gillard (born April 28, 1950) is a Canadian film director, writer, producer, actor and television director. He is best known for directing the films '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' (1993) and '' RocketMan'' (1997). He also w ...

, it is the sequel to ''

'' (1990) and '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze'' (1991), and the third and final installment in the original ''Turtles'' film trilogy. It stars

Elias Koteas Elias Koteas (; ; born March 11, 1961) is a Canadian actor who has performed in lead and supporting roles in numerous films and television series. He won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film '' Ararat'' (20 ...

, Paige Turco, Vivian Wu, Sab Shimono, and Stuart Wilson with the voices of

Brian Tochi Brian Tochi (born Brian Keith Tochihara) is an American actor. During the late 1960s through much of the 1970s and 1980s, he was one of the most widely seen East Asian child actors working in U.S. television, appearing in various TV series and ...

, Robbie Rist,

Corey Feldman Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971) is an American actor and musician. As a youth, he became well known for his roles in popular 1980s films such as '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984), '' Gremlins'' (1984), '' The Goonies'' (198 ...

, and Tim Kelleher. The plot revolves around the "Sacred Sands of Time", a mystical scepter which transports the Turtles and

April April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. Its length is 30 days. April is commonly associated with the season of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the ...

back in time to

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC whe ...

, where they become embroiled in a conflict between a

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

and a group of rebellious villagers. The film was released theatrically in the United States on March 19, 1993, by

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

. It received mostly negative reviews with a general consensus from the critics that the film did not feature any villains and stories from the original Mirage comics or the 1987 animated series, and felt that the franchise had run its course. Despite this, It received moderate box office success, though it was the lowest-grossing entry in the series, grossing $54.4 million against a budget of $21 million. An animated film called '' TMNT'' was released in 2007 by Warner Bros. Pictures, and acknowledges the prior live-action films. The film series was completely rebooted with 2014's ''

,'' released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, following the acquisition of the franchise by Viacom and

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

Plot

In 1603 feudal Japan, four

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

back chase a young man into the woods. A mysterious woman hidden in the underbrush watches closely. The samurai capture the youth, who is revealed to be a prince named Kenshin. In the present, one year has passed after the events of The Secret Of The Ooze,

April O'Neil April O'Neil is a fictional Character (arts), character from the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' comics. She is the first human ally of the Ninja Turtles. April made her first appearance in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios), Mir ...

buys gifts for

The Turtles The Turtles are an America, American Band (rock and pop), rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The band achieved several Top 40 hits throughout the latter half of the 1960s, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby (song), ...

while shopping at a flea market. At their underground lair, April gives

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

an old lamp,

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

an old radio, Leonardo a book on swords, and a fedora hat for

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

receives an ancient Japanese

scepter A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia, signifying sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia The '' Was'' and other ...

. Back in the past, Lord Norinaga berates his son, Kenshin, for disgracing their family name. Kenshin argues that his father's desire for war is the true disgrace. When an English trader named Walker arrives to supply Norinaga with added manpower and firearms, Kenshin leaves to brood alone in a temple. There, he finds the scepter and reads the inscription: "Open Wide the Gates of Time". The scepter that April is holding lights up and she is sent into the past as Kenshin takes her place; each is wearing what the other wore in their own time. Walker imprisons April after deducing she is not a witch and is powerless. Back in the present, Kenshin thinks the Turtles are "

kappa Kappa (; uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; , ''káppa'') is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 20. It was d ...

". After Kenshin explains the time swap, the Turtles decide to rescue April. But according to Donatello's calculations, they only have 60 hours to rescue her before the scepter's power disappears. Meanwhile, Casey Jones will watch over Kenshin and the lair. As the turtles warp through time, they are replaced by four of Norinaga's Honor Guards. The Turtles land in the past dressed as Honor Guards riding horses. Amid the confusion, Michelangelo rides into the forest and is ambushed by the mysterious woman, Mitsu. An unseen person takes the scepter from him. The other Turtles go to Norinaga's castle and rescue April and also free Whit, a prisoner resembling Casey. In the woods, the Turtles, April, and Whit are attacked by villagers mistaking them for Norinaga's forces. Mitsu, the leader of the rebellion against Lord Norinaga, unmasks Raphael and sees that he looks like her prisoner. Realizing Michelangelo is her captive, the Turtles accompany Mitsu to her village. Upon arriving, Walker's men are burning the village. As the Turtles help the villagers, Michelangelo is freed and joins the fight. Walker is forced to retreat, but the fire has trapped Mitsu's younger brother Yoshi inside a house. Michelangelo saves Yoshi, then Leonardo performs CPR; this earns the Turtles the villagers' gratitude and respect. Walker bargains with Lord Norinaga over weapons for gold. Michelangelo consoles Mitsu about Kenshin, whom she loves. In the present, Casey tries to help the Honor Guards adjust to the 20th Century, while Kenshin and Splinter fear the Ninja Turtles will not return before the sixty hours are up. In the past, Donatello has a replica scepter made, but Michelangelo and Raphael break it during an argument. Mitsu informs them that Lord Norinaga is buying Walker's guns and will attack the village the next morning. Raphael discovers that Yoshi has the original scepter. The Turtles are angry at Mitsu for hiding it and forcing them to fight her war. However, Mitsu's grandfather admits it was ''his'' idea for the Turtles to fight in her place. Whit betrays everyone, captures Mitsu, and steals the scepter. The Turtles go to the palace to rescue Mitsu but are cornered by Norinaga and his soldiers. The Turtles free all prisoners, who join the battle. After lengthy fighting, Leonardo defeats Lord Norinaga in a sword duel. Walker escapes with the scepter, but is trapped at the boat dock. Walker throws the scepter into the air, but the Turtles catch it. Whit, who switched his alliance after Walker betrayed him, launches a flaming boulder from a wooden catapult at Walker, knocking him off the dock to his death in the crashing river below. Michelangelo and Raphael want to stay in the past, feeling appreciated there. When Kenshin activates the scepter, their decision becomes urgent. Mitsu reminds Michelangelo of his promise to return Kenshin to his own time. Michelangelo reluctantly agrees, but he misses grabbing the scepter and is left behind as the Honor Guards switch back with the Turtles. The remaining Honor Guard activates the scepter and swaps places with Michelangelo just before the scepter burns out. Norinaga surrenders to Mitsu, and Kenshin is given the scepter; the two lovers are reunited. Meanwhile, Michelangelo is depressed about growing up. Splinter cheers him up by performing an

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

impression, and the other Turtles join in with a final dance number.

Cast

Live action

* Paige Turco as

, a reporter for Channel 3 News *

as Casey Jones / Whit ** Casey Jones, an ex-hockey player turned vigilante and April's beau from the first film ** Whit, a sellsword who was a prisoner to Lord Norinaga during the Feudal Era * Stuart Wilson as Walker, a

mercenary A mercenary is a private individual who joins an armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather t ...

hired by Lord Norinaga * John Aylward as Niles * Sab Shimono as Lord Norinaga, a tyrannical warlord during the Feudal Era * Vivian Wu as Mitsu, a rebel leader who stole the scepter * Mak Takano as Benkei * Henry Hayashi as Kenshin, a Japanese samurai and Lord Norinaga's son who switched places with April due to the scepter * Travis A. Moon as Yoshi. Mitsu's brother. A young child who Michelangelo saved from a burning house and becomes friends with Raphael

Voice cast

as Leonardo, the leader of the group, dons a blue mask and wields two katana swords *

, the smartest of the group, dons a purple mask and wields a bo staff * Tim Kelleher as

, the aggressive member of the group, dons a red mask and wields two sai * Robbie Rist as

, the playful member of the group, dons an orange mask and wields two nunchakus * James Murray as

, master and father figure of the ninja turtles Rist and Tochi, who voice Michelangelo and Leonardo, respectively, are the only actors to voice the same characters in all three live-action ''TMNT'' movies.

returned as the voice of Donatello after being absent for the second movie.

Puppeteers

* Mark Caso as Leonardo (in-suit performer) ** Jim Martin as Leo (facial assistant) ** Larry Lam as Leonardo (in-suit martial arts stunt double) * Jim Raposa as Donatello (in-suit performer) ** Rob Mills as Donatello (facial assistant) ** Steven Ho as Donatello (in-suit martial arts stunt double) * Matt Hill as Raphael (in-suit performer) ** Noel MacNeal as Raphael (facial assistant) ** Hosung Pak as Raphael (in-suit martial arts stunt double) * David Fraser as Michelangelo (in-suit performer) ** Gordon Robertson as Michelangelo (facial assistant) ** Allan Shishir Inocalla as Michelangelo (in-suit martial arts stunt double) * James Murray as Splinter (puppeteer) ** Lisa Sturz as Splinter (assistant puppeteer) ** Tim Lawrence as Splinter (assistant puppeteer)

Production

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on June 15 and ended on August 5, 1992.

Music

''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released by

SBK Records SBK Records was a record label, owned by Universal Music Group, that is currently part of the Capitol Music Group, where it is in hibernation. The label was founded in 1988 and during its time in activity existed as part of the EMI Group. Hist ...

on March 9, 1993. It features the tracks " Tarzan Boy" by Baltimora and "Can't Stop Rockin'" by

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

Track listing

Release

Home media

As with both of the previous films, the British PG version was censored due to usage of forbidden weapons (Michelangelo's

nunchaku is a traditional East-Asian martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks (traditionally made of wood), connected to each other at their ends by a short metal chain or a rope. It is approximately (sticks) and (rope). A person who has pract ...

). For these scenes, alternate material was used. The cuts were waived for the DVD release. The German theatrical and video version was based on the censored UK cut; the DVD is uncut. The film was released to

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

Laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

in 1993. The film has been released on DVD, and also two

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

box sets with both of its predecessors. Some home media releases label the film as ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Turtles in Time'' on their front cover.

Reception

Box office

''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' debuted at number 1 at the U.S. box office with a gross of $12.4 million from 2,087 screens. The film grossed $42.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $12.2 million internationally, giving a worldwide gross of $54.4 million.

Critical response

The film holds a 19% approval rating and has an average rating of 4.10/10 on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

based on 32 reviews, with the consensus: "It's a case of one sequel too many for the heroes in a half shell, with a tired time-travel plot gimmick failing to save the franchise from rapidly diminishing returns". On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, it has a score of 40 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Michael Wilmington of ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' noted that distributors deliberately kept the film away from critics. Despite mild praise for the look of the film, Wilmington called the first film a fluke hit and called this third film "sequel hell".

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

gave it one out of four stars, citing that "any adults accompanying their kids will have to invent new and interesting ways to stay awake. Not only is this movie aimed at young children, the script could have been written by them". ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' gave it two out of four stars and said in their review: "If the time-travel gimmick has to be employed twice in a row then it's probably best to banish these characters to a retirement sewer", when commenting about a possible future film invoking time travel. ''TMNT'' co-creator Peter Laird mentioned in the 2014's '' Turtle Power'' documentary that he disliked the film, and

noted the efforts taken to create it.

Cancelled sequel

There were early plans for a fourth installment. Playmates toy catalogues indicated a fourth film would be released in 1996 but it never materialized. A script titled ''TMNT IV: The Foot Walks Again'' was written by Craig Shapiro and John Travis, while Peter Laird has released concept designs for a version which he says would have been titled ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: The Next Mutation''. Instead, the TV series '' Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation'' was produced from 1997 to 1998, sharing little with the prior concept work beside the subtitle. The next theatrical release is a 2007 CGI animated film titled '' TMNT'' which references the prior live-action films. After Viacom bought the franchise in 2009,

produced and released a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

in 2014.

References

External links

* * * * {{Portal bar, Film, United States, Hong Kong, 1990s, Speculative fiction, Comedy 1993 films 1993 children's films 1993 independent films 1993 martial arts films 1990s English-language films 1993 action comedy films 1990s martial arts comedy films 1990s science fiction comedy films 1990s superhero films 1990s teen films 20th Century Fox films American action comedy films American independent films American science fantasy films American sequel films 1990s films about time travel Films based on American comics Films set in 1603 Films set in 1993 Films set in feudal Japan Films set in New York City Films shot in Astoria, Oregon Films shot in Oregon Films directed by Stuart Gillard Films by Chinese producers Films produced by Kim Dawson Films scored by John Du Prez Golden Harvest films Japan in non-Japanese culture Hong Kong action comedy films Hong Kong fantasy films Hong Kong independent films Hong Kong science fiction films Hong Kong sequel films Live-action films based on comics Martial arts comedy films Martial arts science fiction films New Line Cinema films Ninja films Puppet films 1990s samurai films Slapstick films Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film series) 3 1990s American films 1990s Hong Kong films 1993 science fiction films English-language science fantasy films English-language science fiction comedy films English-language independent films English-language action comedy films