Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review

Following the blockbuster success of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, which grossed $200m off its $13m budget, the studio moved quickly to capitalise on interest in the franchise, which was anticipated to be finite. In a response to the backlash against the perceived glorification of violence, the filmmakers pivoted to a much lighter and child-friendly tone than its predecessor, a decision that would shape the response to the film - but also its legacy.

Continuing directly from the events of the first film, the evil Shredder (James Saito), disfigured from his defeat at the hands of the Turtles, has reclaimed leadership of the Foot Clan and vows swift retribution against the gang, who remain holed up in April O'Neil's (Paige Turco) apartment. When a news report about toxic waste experiments at the corrupt science lab TGRI catches Splinter's attention, he reveals the Turtles' unexpected personal link to the corrupt company, setting up a conflict that Shredder seeks to exploit, alongside the two mutated henchmen Tokka and Rahzar.

Unlike the film's generally respected predecessor, which holds up extremely well today, just how much you get out of The Secret of the Ooze is likely tied to your tendency towards nostalgia. For me, it remains a fun slice of 90's nonsense, capped off by the ridiculously catchy 'Ninja Rap' anthem from family-friendly rapper Vanilla Ice.

5

Video

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 in the Rec. 2020 color space, finished with dynamic Dolby Vision and static HDR-10 high dynamic range formats and encoded with AVC H.265 compression.

Unlike the first film, The Secret of the Ooze, the new 16-bit 4K scan hasn't been derived from the original camera negative, but instead from a later generation interpositive element - presumably because the camera negative has been damaged or is lost - either way, Arrow hasn't confirmed. Still, this excellent quality scan from Warner Bros.' Motion Picture Imaging division will have most fans struggling to notice the difference, and it scrubs up very well.

Owing to the film's significantly brighter set lighting, improvements in film stock, and a much higher budget, the sequel looks generally better in 4K than its predecessor, with a production design that often leans more heavily into brighter and bolder colours that often call to mind the cartoon version. Coming from a pre-color timed interpositive, this remains very consistent with previous versions. As with the predecessor, there's ample grain that the studio hasn't managed in an overly aggressive way. Pleasingly, it's a very clean element, with few film artefacts marring the image.

For fans familiar with the previous Blu-ray, admittedly, this presentation isn't some miraculous overhaul. But equally, there's no arguing it's likely the ultimate version of the film.

5

Audio

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1.

Without the benefit of a Dolby Atmos height upmix afforded to the first film, The Secret of the Ooze repurposes the same 5.1 mix as used in DVD and Blu-ray versions, encoded in DTS-HD Master Audio and matched with the original stereo audio mix in uncompressed PCM 2.0. As such, there's no sonic revamp to be found here, with the soundfield remaining firmly fixed to the front soundstage and infrequently being utilised in any aggressive way. There are no major problems to be found, albeit the audio sync is often at the mercy of the Turtles puppeteers. Low frequency is used lightly and not always consistently.

Overall, this is a decent presentation that won't blow your socks off, but remains generally authentic to the original sound design sensibilities.

5

Extras

In typical Arrow style, we have a good collection of new bonus features which have been lovingly created by the boutique studio. Let's jump in.

First up, we have a newly recorded Audio Commentary featuring Michael Pressman and moderated by Arrow's feature editor Gillian Wallace Horvat. It's a solid effort, with Pressman making it clear that some of the film's more family-friendly decisions came down to the assignment. Again, I personally think his recollections in the commentary recorded for the German Blu-ray release back in 2014 (not offered here) were a bit superior, but your mileage may vary.

5

The bulk of the extras consist of 35 minutes of new featurettes, including John Du Prez to the Rescue featuring a interview with the trilogy composer discussing his journey to film scoring and his approach to crafting the sound of the Turtles, Hard Cores which interviews Kenny Wilson from the Jim Henson Creature Shop discussing the technically advanced suits for the first two movies, and The Secret of the Edit featuring editor Steve Mirkovich.

Finally, we have the vintage 1991 promotional feature Behind the Shells, which, despite its cheesiness, is actually quite well made, as well as the Original Theatrical Trailer remastered in HD.