TMNT Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

TMNT Blu-ray Movie Review

Imagi Studios creates a family-friendly thrillride delivered on Warner's BD-25

Reviewed by Greg Maltz August 20, 2007

Call me old fashioned but my idea of superheroes is spiderman, batman and superman. Today the world is being saved by Rafael, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Leonardo. No, they're not Renaissance artists. They're four teenage brothers who happen to be mutant turtles. Their home is deep in the sewers of Manhattan and they are trained as ninjas by a serene rat sensei who looks more like a skinny lion.

All four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles--and their friends and enemies alike--are looking for victory in their first movie and Blu-ray release.

In their first foray to the silver screen, the turtles find themselves taking on a gang of supreme warriors. These bad guys were turned to stone 3,000 years ago when their leader opened a portal to another dimension. Reunited and given new life, the gang of warriors must capture 13 humongous, horrible monsters who were released from the open portal and just happen to be hanging out in the Big Apple unbeknownst to the average citizen.

If this all sounds a bit hard to swallow, just focus on the ninja brothers. After all, they're only human...er, turtles...each with their own style and personality. One is a leader, one's a rebel, one's a pragmatist and the fourth is a pizza-scarfing skateboarder dude. They must overcome their differences before they can unite against the evil warriors threatening New York and the entire world. Not as easy as it sounds because Leonardo and Rafael face off in a sibling rivalry.

The visuals behind all this action are quite intricate. Imagi creates detailed forestcapes, cityscapes and interiors. The bitmapping and surface textures are rendered into convincing settings and characters. Watch how some surfaces are reflective while others show a rougher texture that absorbs the CGI light.

The major characteristic I look for in evaluating animation is whether the characters have weight. In TMNT, I'm not sure there was such thing as gravity, but that's ok. It's not supposed to be realistic and the high-resolution picture takes the viewer on quite the thrillride.

TMNT Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Although Imagi's computer-animated world strives for depth, I found the CGI to be a 2-D experience. Compared to your average Saturday-morning cartoon, TMNT is very impressive, though. Warner serves up the 1080p, 2.4:1 video via the VC-1 codec. The detail is good and motion was very smooth, although I'm not convinced the bitrates are the best on Blu-ray.

Minimal grain and noise is visible. While the contrast and black level are good, much of the color had a subdued or washed-out look, especially in the New York scenes that take up most of the film. It gave TMNT a film-noir look that was darker and more gritty than your average cartoon. Highly detailed, the CGI world rendered by Imagi gives viewers a lot to see. Action and motion are nearly constant and only the most critical eye will find something to complain about.

TMNT Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The soundstage is well engineered. It's immersive and delivers crisp, clear vocals and sound effects. Listen to the opening scene when a machete is used to cut through jungle foliage. The blade rings out convincingly. It's not pure audiophile bliss, but it will do nicely. The production even involves low bass rumble that set my B&W ASW 825 subwoofer rumbling in several scenes.

If you've become accustomed to PCM, you may be a bit disappointed with the sound on TMNT. The Dolby TrueHD track may give up some audible quality to LPCM, although a comparison for this BD is not possible. For a general comparison, I heard a difference at Dolby Labs in San Francisco, while Sony and Dolby staff tested a Blu-ray demo disc intended for use in kiosks in Asia. TrueHD is necessary for 7.1 channel content, but I feel that producers should try to use LPCM for 5.1.

TMNT Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Not being a huge fan of the turtles or special features in general, I did not check out the bonus material on the Blu-ray. All bonus content is in 480i or 480p standard definition. This content includes commentary by writer/director Kevin Munroe, an alternate opening in which the rat sensei tells the introduction about the ancient warriors turning to stone, an alternate ending, a deleted scene, a side-by-side comparison of the storyboards and CGI action, and interviews with Patrick Stwart, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laurence Fishburne and the filmmakers.

TMNT Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Overall, TMNT is a class act for family film viewing and young audiences. The talent used to create the CGI action as well as the characters' voices was top notch. The story had some good messages as well, about overcoming adversity and sibling rifts. Coupled with the scary monsters and green heroes, the ominous look of the video may be scary for young children. Beyond this, I can recommend TMNT on Blu-ray for anyone who wants their turtle heroes in high-resolution. They may not be Superman, Batman or Spiderman, but they are more man than reptile.