Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesSave

In present-day New York City, news reporter April O'Neil (Judith Hoag) is investigating a wave of unsolved burglaries across the city — all victims report no leads, and the police have apparently given up on the case. April's investigation has been hindered by lack of cooperation from her newspaper editor, who considers the story too small for major coverage. The opening establishes the franchise's New-York-City crime-and-detective setting, which would become one of the franchise's defining elements across multiple subsequent adaptations.

April is attacked by Foot Clan members while investigating a robbery; she is rescued by four large, anthropomorphic turtle figures who quickly subdue the attackers. The turtles flee to their underground sewer hideout before April can identify them; April is left with photographs of the encounter, which her newspaper editor refuses to print. April returns to her apartment, where the turtles arrive uninvited — having decided that April could be trusted with their secret identity. Their gradual reveal — meeting first Donatello, then the others — provides the film's primary character-introduction sequence.

Splinter (voiced by Kevin Clash, the future Sesame Street's Elmo) — the turtles' rat sensei — emerges to explain their origin. Splinter was originally a rat owned by a Japanese ninja master named Hamato Yoshi; both were exposed to a glowing green mutagen ooze when Yoshi was killed by rival ninja Oroku Saki. The mutagen mutated Splinter into an anthropomorphic rat with intelligence and dexterity; he later found four turtles also exposed to the mutagen and mutated them similarly. Splinter has trained the turtles as ninjas using his deceased master's techniques.

April invites the turtles to her uncle's antique store, which provides them with a temporary surface-world hideout. There they meet Casey Jones (Elias Koteas), a hockey-stick-and-bat-wielding vigilante who has been targeting the same Foot Clan members the turtles have been pursuing. Casey is initially antagonistic toward the turtles — particularly Raphael, who shares his short-tempered, violent approach to vigilante work. Their gradual friendship is the film's most-extended character-relationship arc; the two characters' shared anger-management struggles provide substantial dramatic weight.

The Foot Clan, led by Oroku Saki — now known as the Shredder (James Saito in physical performance, David McCharen in voice) — has been quietly building an army of teenage runaway recruits. The Foot Clan's operations consist of training the teenagers in ninjitsu while exploiting them for criminal activities; Shredder's plan involves transforming Manhattan into a no-go zone where his organisization controls all major criminal infrastructure. The film's middle act consists of the turtles' investigation of the Foot Clan's training facilities.

Casey and the turtles discover the primary Foot Clan training facility — a converted warehouse where dozens of teenage recruits are being trained in martial arts and criminal techniques. The turtles, accompanied by Casey, raid the facility and free the teenage recruits. The raid attracts the personal attention of the Shredder, who decides to confront the turtles directly. Splinter is captured during this period as the Shredder's revenge for the warehouse raid; the third-act narrative becomes Splinter's rescue.

The climactic Shredder battle takes place at the Foot Clan's primary stronghold — a converted Manhattan office building. The turtles and Casey infiltrate the building; their assault is the film's most cinematically composed sequence. Splinter is rescued; the turtles confront Shredder in a final one-on-one combat. Shredder is defeated when Casey Jones intervenes with a thrown hockey puck that prevents Shredder from escaping. Shredder dies in the resulting fall from the building's roof.