Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) @ Congress Square Park

With costumes out of Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and fight production handled by Golden Harvest (famous for bringing Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan’s films to the U.S.), the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film charms with practical effects and its late ’80s kitsch.

Part of “System Reboot,” a free summer film series presented with SPACE, PMA Films and Friends of Congress Square Park, which examines the cinematic source material of film franchises that have persisted or have been reinvented from the 1980s through 2023, when new installments await the masses.