Is the newest Turtles entry worth adding to your Blu-Ray/DVD Collection or is something you should simply check out on Paramount Plus?
The topic of Physical Media has been all the rage these days (with our EIC doing a fantastic look into it HERE) and I’ve always been a strong proponent of the medium. Heck, if there’s one thing in my life that I would call an addiction: it’s my Blu-Ray collection. Few things bring me as much joy as standing in front of my walls of movies, making the ever-important decision of what’s up next. Thankfully, Paramount made that decision for me as they were kind enough to send over the 4K of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
I’m a massive TMNT fan (you can see my interview with one of the original creators in the embedded video below) so this seems like a film directed right at me. I’m going to dive into this release and let you know whether it’s worth a trip to your local Best B…Errr nevermind. We’ll let you know if it’s worth adding to your cart and deserves a spot on your shelf when it releases physically on December 12th, 2023.
THE MOVIE: The film itself is great, and really deserving of the Turtles brand. I’ll keep this short since you can check out my Full Review of the film HERE but overall, it’s a great experience. The filmmakers manage to honor the comics, the old TV shows, the new TV shows, and the old movies, while still feeling like its own thing. I’d say a lot of that has to do with the turtles being played by unknown teenagers. Gives it a different flavor than past projects.
TECHNICAL DETAILS: Paramount released the film on 4K, Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital but we’re specifically looking at the standard 4K Blu-Ray. A one-disc 4K UHD + Digital Code, the film is pressed on a BD-100 disc. Missing out on the opportunity to put it in a green jewel case, instead, it’s just the standard black case. The slipcover features identical artwork. And I know it’s a silly detail but they also included a little slip that advertises a TMNT toy set. I miss the days of little inserts, even if they are for something I’d never use. The film is also available in a slick 4K Steelbook which actually includes the Blu-Ray as well.
The actual 4K video transfer is absolutely beautiful as the movie utilizes the 2D on 3D animation style that has gotten popular recently. One element that the film relies on is its usage of dark colors. When it comes to streaming, these colors can get very muddied and the detail can get lost. So I’m very happy to say that the 4K retains incredible detail, and the HDR helps the image to really pop. The usage of neon light in this film is absolutely gorgeous and a lot of that has to do with that HDR.
You’ll be rewarded if you have an audio system that can handle Dolby Atmos, as it’s a well-balanced experience. The action scenes don’t feel 5 Decibels louder than the dialogue scenes (which has been an all too common occurrence), meaning you shouldn’t have to keep the remote firmly in your hand to contend with constantly changing audio levels.
4K Ultra High Definition | Widescreen | English Dolby Atmos/French 5.1 Dolby Digital/Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital | English Audio Description | Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
SPECIALS: With “Over 40 Minutes of Totally Awesome Extras!” my expectations were pretty hampered when it came to specials. While I know not everything can be the Aliens Anthology with its absurd level of features, it’s hard to get excited for anything under an hour. And as someone who absolutely adores Commentary Tracks, the lack of any is a disappointment. Even still, these are some pretty fun features, even if they’re pretty surface level.
MEET THE TEENS BEHIND TMNT – A nice introduction to the teens behind the voices of the Turtles. The filmmakers go a little into the casting process as well as what each kid brought to the table. It’s fascinating to see just how much the teens were able to contribute to their dialogue. But my favorite aspect is how they all recorded their dialogue in the same room. Anything that knows anything about audio knows that this would be an absolutely nightmare for the sound engineers. So it’s nice that they acknowledge the hard work that went into getting these performances and doing it this way.
THE MUTANT UPRISING – Very similar to the last special, this one focuses on the adults in the film and really highlights the absurd level of starpower that’s involved here. Ice Cube, Maya Rudolph, Paul Rudd, Rose Byrne, Post Malone, Jackie Chan, John Cena, Hannibal Burress, and of course, Seth Rogen make up the adult cast. But it also gets into some of the Mutants themselves more of a spotlight, since they can be a little lost amongst a slew of them.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK: THE VISUAL WORLD OF MUTANT MAYHEM – A more technical look at the visuals of the film and what they were inspired by. This feature really highlights how important director Jeff Rowe was to the entire process. The 2D elements being overlayed on the 3D images are very akin to the Spiderverse films but it still manages to be unique.
LEARN TO DRAW LEO – This one is pretty self-explanatory right? While you would think this is aimed at kids, this is actually a pretty advanced drawing lesson. They go into full detail on how to draw the turtles (and more specifically Leo) but also how to do it in the specific style of the film. As someone who has zero drawing talent whatsoever, I still just watch in amazement. It goes from “Yeah, I guess that looks alright” to “Wowza!” during the duration of the video.
VERDICT: Like most animated films, TMNT: Mutant Mayhem really benefits from the larger file size that 4K discs are able to manage. While I really wanted more special features (a commentary track would have been great) the ones we have provided more insight into the film, which is really all I want from bonus features. But with the actual film looking so good, it’s hard not to recommend this one to fans and cinephiles alike. Sure, you can watch this on Paramount Plus, but the quality just isn’t there, so this is further proof of why Physical Media needs to stay.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: MUTANT MAYHEM, arriving on 4K Ultra HD SteelBook™, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD just in time for gift-giving on December 12, 2023
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