Ranking the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies

Since 1990, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie series has been entertaining audiences with a succession of films which place action, adventure, and family at the forefront of each picture. The series – which revolves around a quartet of humanoid turtles called Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo – has delighted millions of horror fans the world over, and has built up a very loyal following in the process.

Some of those fans will tell you their favourite movie is the original picture in the series, 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while others will opt for 2023’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Of course, other fans will tell you it is difficult to pick one over the other, as there’s lots of fun to be had across the series.

But if we were to cut to the chase, get down to business, and decide once and for all which is the best Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie of them all, how would we decide? Could we maybe rank the films?!

Why, of course we could! Everyone loves to rank movies these days, and there are plenty of rankings around – you just need to know where to look.

And with this in mind, today I am going to look at a few sets of rankings for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, to try and figure out which is the best movie of the bunch (if possible). These ranks will look at each film’s popularity on sites such as IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, as well as the box office results of each picture, via Box Office Mojo.

But before we get started, here’s a quick reminder of the films in order:

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)
• TMNT (2007)
• Turtles Forever (2009)
• Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
• Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past (2015)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
• Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019)
• Rise of the TMNT: The Movie (2022)
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

As you can see, between animated films, live-action movies, and even a docu-film, there are currently 12 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies.

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IMDb

OK, first up, let’s take a look at the rankings of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies according to the Internet Movie Data-base (IMDb). Users of IMDb leave reviews and scores for the movies, which in turn get turned into a score out of ten, and this is how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies shape up.

• Turtles Forever (2009) – 7.6/10
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) – 7.5/10
• Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019) – 7.1/10
• Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) – 7.0/10
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) – 6.8/10
• Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past (2015) – 6.6/10
• TMNT (2007) – 6.2/10
• Rise of the TMNT: The Movie (2022) – 6.1/10
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) – 6.0/10
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) – 5.9/10
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) – 5.8/10
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) – 4.8/10

As you can see from the list above, the 2009 animated movie, Turtles Forever ranks highest, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem following very closely behind. Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles then comes in third, followed by the documentary film, Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

On the flipside, the film regarded as the least popular entry is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.

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Rotten Tomatoes

Up next is Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles scores from critics, as well as members of the general public. The scores/percentages highlighted below are taken from the collective opinions of professional critics only and are as follows:

• Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019) – 100%
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) – 97%
• Rise of the TMNT: The Movie (2022) – 79%
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) – 42%
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) – 37%
• TMNT (2007) – 36%
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) – 35%
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) – 20%
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) – 19%

Not ranked

The following movies are not currently ranked on Rotten Tomatoes:

• Turtles Forever (2009) – Not ranked
• Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) – Not ranked
• Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past (2015) – Not ranked

As you can see from the top list, Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles takes the top spot as the ‘best’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, with a superb score of 100%. This is followed very closely by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem with 97%.

At the opposite end of the scale is 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with 20%, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III with 19%. Yep, once again Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is at the bottom of the pile.

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Box Office Mojo

And finally, onto the box office results, taken from Box Office Mojo. These results highlight how well each movie performed worldwide during their theatrical release.

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) – $485,004,754
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) – $245,623,848
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) – $202,084,756
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023) – $119,447,157*
• TMNT (2007) – $95,802,916
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) – $78,656,813
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993) – $42,273,609

*Total not final – movie still on general release

Not released theatrically

• Turtles Forever (2009)
• Turtle Power: The Definitive History of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014)
• Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past (2015)
• Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019)
• Rise of the TMNT: The Movie (2022)

As you can see from this section, quite of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies were not released theatrically, so do not have any box-office results. However of those that did make it to the big screen, 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the most profitable film.

The least profitable entry is 1993’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, which sits at the bottom of the listings once again.

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So, what do these rankings tell us? Well, they offer mixed results in all honesty.

From a critical stand point, the scores vary, so it’s difficult to determine a ‘best’ movie out of the bunch. However, films which are considered the strongest include Turtles Forever, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

In terms of the weakest entry, this is very clear. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is seen as the least popular film, with 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles not far behind.

Meanwhile, from a commercial stand point, 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is seen as being financially the most successful film. So, while the critical reception to the movie might be poor, the box-office results are strong.

Ultimately, the critical rankings are always subjective and likely to change over time. As for the financial results, these can be down to various factors (publicity, screen availability, a particular desire for a new Turtles movie etc) and nothing more.

So, which is the best movie of the bunch? Well, I guess that’s up to you to decide.

Sorry, that answer isn’t helpful is it?

Well, if you were asking my personal view I’d say Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is the best, followed by 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. I’d also rate Turtles Forever, Rise of the TMNT: The Movie and Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pretty high.

As for the worst film? I’d agree that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III is poor, but it’s not the worst. The worst film is 2014’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is a mess of a movie.

But enough about me, what about you? How would you rank all the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies? If you’re a fan of the series, leave a comment with your rankings.

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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies – I hope it has proved useful. For more posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.