Director: Stuart Gillard
Starring: Paige Turco, Elias Koteas, Stuart Wilson
Year: 1993
Well, the Turtles’ luck had to run out some time; it’s a really bizarre concept that probably should never have worked, somehow did, but most likely had a shel(l)f life. Don’t get me wrong, the Turtles are still awesome, but their movies were eventually going to go downhill, there’s only so much time you can spend watching their animatronic mouths move and their spotted feet kick. Turtles III was when the magic wore off, when they went back in time and forgot what worked so well in the first two episodes; oh well, it was a nice run.
Finding a weird scepter in a bunch of junk, April O’Neil is whisked back into the past, with no way of getting back. The Turtle Bros. are always ready for an adventure, so they travel back in time to retrieve her, finding themselves in feudal Japan amid a war between a power-thirsty lord and the rebel villagers around him. Also, a pirate of sorts is supplying him with weapons, which will make the war both bloody & short. The Turtles jump in to help change history and to rescue their gal pal, as long as they can survive themselves.
This is the silliest addition, or at least the least successful, and it does most of its work mostly wrong. April is kinda there, Casey Jones is barely there, Splinter is almost not there, and even the Turtles are so hidden among a dozen other characters that they don’t make much of an impact. Also, most of the content is probably pretty racist, of course taking the time period into account. The action is fun, there are ways to enjoy, my son sure did, but I’m not sure this 3rd piece is worth revisiting again.
My rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆