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(More customer reviews)Well, where to begin?
When the seventh season of the show had debuted the year before, everyone involved had delicately altered what had been a winning formula. The episodes became ever-so-slightly darker than in years past, but not so much that it would turn away loyal viewers. In hindsight, it would appear that season seven of the show was a trial run of sorts - to see whether or not fans would accept edgier fare.
With nothing to hold the creative team back, and with only a surprisingly few amount of episodes to fill a season (just eight!), everyone involved went for broke and completely revamped the eighth season of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
Well, where to begin? Just about everything that made the show what it was, all the hallmarks that defined it for seven seasons, were replaced.
The iconic theme song was shed in favor of a darker, edgier track that interspersed clips of the new show with clips from, of all things, the first live-action movie in the franchise. For the next three seasons, the series went with this music track/clip show, even when the main villains, Shredder and Krang, had been replaced by other baddies. So, really, the new track was only truly appropriate for the eighth season, when Shredder and Krang were still the numero uno bad guys on the show. Once they were replaced after the eighth season, the new track became wildly out of place.
The goofy, fun-loving reptiles who ate pizza for three square meals a day were replaced by straight-laced action heroes who bore little resemblance to those who came before them. Even Michaelangelo, the biggest party animal of them all, was now sadly restrained. Fortunately, Splinter was not altered at all, which was a welcome bit of relief.
The smorgasbord of side-characters that had sprung up over the years? You know, Mondo Gecko and Mona Lisa and Usagi Yojimbo and the like? Gone. Members of the Channel 6 news team remained, although, strangely, after the season opener, Irma disappeared completely. Bebop and Rocksteady, everyone's favorite bumbling duo, oddly cleaned up their act and became more competent. Sadly, even this was not enough to save them, as their screen time was increasingly diminished over the course of the season.
And we can't forget about that infamous "red sky" that permeated every episode of the show for the last three seasons. Some fans are still scratching their heads over that one.
So...where does that leave us? Well, where to begin?
With only eight episodes to work with, the creative team cut the fat and really ran with shows that were high on action, high on plot, and that dealt with season-long story arcs, something that hadn't been done since the show's second year. The stories themselves also became a lot less predictable. Accustomed to seeing our heroes always save the day, just watch what unfolds in the very first episode of the eighth season, "Get Shredder!" Suffice it to say, the awesome foursome can no longer claim they have a perfect record.
Whether one likes the new format really has to do with individual tastes. Looking back, there were pros and cons to both formats of the show - there were good and bad things about the first seven seasons, and the same goes for the last three seasons. However, if you've picked up every other DVD release that has preceded this one, I would still recommend purchasing this DVD as well.
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Break out of your shell with the Complete Season 8 in these ninja-powered adventures. The Green Machine is back with heart-pounding , pizza-munching, right-outta-the-sewer ninja action! The gang’s all here – Michelangelo™, Leonardo™, Raphael™, and Donatello™, and their wise sensei, Splinter – as they battle enemies from our time, and beyond, to protect the citizens of the city they call home, even banishing archenemies, Shredder™ and Krang™, to Dimension X™. Discover the intriguing, darker atmosphere and new theme song that defined this groundbreaking season. These eight dynamic adventures will get your pulse pumping with mutant power! Cowabunga, dudes! Eight radical episodes include: "Get Shredder!" "Wrath of the Rat King," "State of Shock," "Cry H.A.V.O.C.!" "H.A.V.O.C. in the Streets," "Enter: Krakus," "Cyber-Turtles," and "Turtle Trek."
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