Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Thread

[Drtooth]

I'm glad I found this thread but was too late for the beginning cause you were talking about the 2003 version but still a great show. I watch...I can't really remember which season I stopped watching cause of NickToons stop showing them in order.

Why make another thread specifically for the current show when one can be used to discuss all forms of the series, movies and comics etc included?

You know, I really did love the 2k3 series and all, probably (at the time) more so than the original. But I have to admit, this series made me forget all about it. Funny thing is, Nick owns the 2K3 series, but the original 80's series is still under the ownership of Fred Wolf Films which somehow still exists. By that, of course, they own the series, but Nick owns the rights to the characters, names, and designs. FWF just owns the episodes, much they did when Mirage Films still owned the Turtles and 4Kids was the licensing agent. That's pretty much the only reason we have the original series extensively on DVD, even though in poor quality from old master tapes FHE had in their leaky basement, apparently.

So that's why only the 2k3 series appeared on Nicktoons. And even though WB still owns the movies, Nick was able to get the broadcast rights for all 4 films prior to the 2014 movie, the original in a sadly edited form. As long as they keep "We Wish you a Turtle Christmas" and "Operation Blueline" covered up permanently outside the internet.

 

[Drtooth]

So the Turtles finally come back home this last episode. I really liked the intergalactic journey episodes, but I have to admit, I missed the Shredder. There was no greater satisfaction than seeing the turtles being able to save Splinter from the graphic enough for a kid's show death inflicted by an enraged with hate Saki. The nice touch was that when Shredder put the fate of Earth at risk just to kill Splinter, Tigerclaw began to realize how much of a dangerous psychotic Saki really is and doubted his loyalty...only for it to play out much differently when Splinter was able to dodge the attack and offer a curb stomp battle to Shredder, thus enraging Tigercalw and galvanizing his loyalties to the Foot. A short moment subverted by a different outcome, that's why I like that they repeated the events of the season 3 finale to show how this plays out differently.

And of course:

Spoiler

It comes out that the reason Fugitoid was helping the turtles was to atone for the fact he sold the Black Hole Generator to the Kraang, and it always haunted him for that reason. The turtles are completely split between anger that he was the reason the events went down and forgiveness because he feels terrible enough about it to go back and prevent this from happening. Culminating in him taking back the BHG and sacrificing himself to destroy it while taking the Triceratons with him. Fugitoid does survive this, though. Just as a head floating in space.

Too bad it's going to be a wait for the last 6 episodes of season 4. Hopefully they won't pull the same crap in 2014 when the first TMNT movie came out and withhold them until the movie was out of theaters. It would have been nice to finish off the season before "Out of the Shadows" hits theaters in just over a month.

Speaking of which, the toys are just hitting shelves for the new film. While they have that same low quality paint job that kinda ruins the actually good sculpting that Playmates TMNT toys usually have, I must say I'm impressed by the Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang figures. Might just pick at least Bebop and Rocksteady up after I see the movie. They also have some new Mega Blocks figures to tie in as well. They look pretty good, actually. Only saw the single figures at TRU, though.

 

[Erine81981]

So the Turtles finally come back home this last episode. I really liked the intergalactic journey episodes, but I have to admit, I missed the Shredder. There was no greater satisfaction than seeing the turtles being able to save Splinter from the graphic enough for a kid's show death inflicted by an enraged with hate Saki. The nice touch was that when Shredder put the fate of Earth at risk just to kill Splinter, Tigerclaw began to realize how much of a dangerous psychotic Saki really is and doubted his loyalty...only for it to play out much differently when Splinter was able to dodge the attack and offer a curb stomp battle to Shredder, thus enraging Tigercalw and galvanizing his loyalties to the Foot. A short moment subverted by a different outcome, that's why I like that they repeated the events of the season 3 finale to show how this plays out differently.

And of course:

Spoiler

It comes out that the reason Fugitoid was helping the turtles was to atone for the fact he sold the Black Hole Generator to the Kraang, and it always haunted him for that reason. The turtles are completely split between anger that he was the reason the events went down and forgiveness because he feels terrible enough about it to go back and prevent this from happening. Culminating in him taking back the BHG and sacrificing himself to destroy it while taking the Triceratons with him. Fugitoid does survive this, though. Just as a head floating in space.

Too bad it's going to be a wait for the last 6 episodes of season 4. Hopefully they won't pull the same crap in 2014 when the first TMNT movie came out and withhold them until the movie was out of theaters. It would have been nice to finish off the season before "Out of the Shadows" hits theaters in just over a month.

I agree it was intence episode. I was like "What? Fugitoid is not wanting to help the turtles?" Then when it all came full circle I was like "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Fugitoid is dead!!!! Then seeing his future self and then seeing his floating head in space i was like YEAH!!! But really did like this episode. I saw a thing on Yahoo that said Turtle fight with Past self and I thinking it ment what it said and I was right.

Yeah hope they finish off the rest of Season 4 before the next movie is released cause I can't wait that long.

 

[Drtooth]

I agree it was intence episode. I was like "What? Fugitoid is not wanting to help the turtles?" Then when it all came full circle I was like "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Fugitoid is dead!!!! Then seeing his future self and then seeing his floating head in space i was like YEAH!!! But really did like this episode. I saw a thing on Yahoo that said Turtle fight with Past self and I thinking it ment what it said and I was right.

The part where the future turtles who witnessed their father die at the hands of Shredder just running up and hugging him without a second thought was heartwarming as heck, but their silent awe reaction to past Fugitoid picking up the past Turtles to create a stable time loop was almost heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. I mean, yeah, this episode did the whole "atone for past transgression with a noble sacrifice" cliche, but lemme tell you this. I'm a freaking sucker for that cliche. And when it's done just right, there's no dry eye from me. Donatello realizing Honeycutt's true intentions, knowing there was no other way to destroy the generator was that heartwarming and heartbreaking moment that gave this episode the real emotional punch.

I love TMNT '87. I love TMNT '03. But there's just something special about this series that makes me love it the most. The balance between wacky hijinx with mutants, unexpected morbidity and expected darkness, and of course feels make this my favorite version of the Turtles to date. I was incredibly on the fence when Viacom bought the rights from Laird, but I really am glad this series has paid off so well.

That said, it does look like they're going to pull the same crap as when the first Nick Turtles movie premiered, unless they air them all in May (they won't). That's a real shame, even though this arc finale is the perfect place for a short break. I am actually very excited for this new movie, even though it looks that they're putting too much into it with Baxter (and I really hope Tyler Perry does a good job here considering his...eh..oeuvre), Bebop, Rocksteady, Shredder, and Krang. Not to mention adding in Casey Jones. Sounds like there's a lot of great stuff and potential. The previews look far better than the first one. I did like that movie but felt the Turtles were barely in it and they could have taken them out of the movie and reskinned it as a generic conspiracy film. I really hope this is some prime Turtles stuff here. I think the first movie was a classic and one of the best comic book movies ever made (especially for that era). The second one? meh, I am the only one who actually liked the third better.

 

[C to the J]

With a show that has plenty of action, humor, and heartwarming stories, you really can't go wrong.

Now I wonder how the new title sequence will look once we get more episodes. There's no use for Leo's narration anymore.

 

[Drtooth]

Probably be the same opening from last season. I'm sure any major alterations will hold out until season 5.

 

[Drtooth]

The new TMNT movie doesn't even come out for another 2 weeks and already they have to spoil a (fairly obvious) plotline for the next film.

Spoiler

Baxter turns into Baxter Fly

While in all honesty, the third film already sounds better than the original third film (though I'm one of the few that actually preferred it to the kiddy, parental group pandering Secret of the Ooze), can't we wait until the second film is out of theaters before we get the entire plot for the next installment? That's one of the things wrong with Amazing Spider-Man 2, was that they announced the second after the first one hit theaters the plot of the next film was the "Death of Gwen Stacy" plot. Instead of that being a surprise, the audience expected it. Not saying it would have made the reception of the film that much better, but it certainly didn't help things.

That said, I gotta admit, this next one looks like it could genuinely be a good TMNT film instead of the first installment where the Turtles barely appeared, and it was all an April vs Eric Sacks film. I like what they did with the turtles, giving them essentially a mix between their current cartoon and original films personalities. I even don't mind the nostrils that they didn't really need to have. I was just a little disappointed they didn't get much screentime, as didn't Shredder. Plus, Bebop and Rocksteady actually look good in this one. Only thing is I'm disappointed a schedualling conflict caused Krang to be recast as Brad Garret instead of Fred Armisand, who would sound much more like what Krang should.

 

[D'Snowth]

Sp, from a design standpoint, Bebop and Rocksteady don't look half bad, I have to admit.

But, somehow, Casey Jones seems considerably less bad@$$ . . . even the cheesy, under-utilized, Clint Eastwood-inspired 80s version seemed like a much cooler character.

 

[Drtooth]

The film as a whole looks far better than "April Brockovich guest starring the TMNT." I've heard that the humans are meh in this one. I'm nervous about Tyler Perry as Baxter Stockman, though I'm glad they're portraying him as his comic book and every other animated version of the character besides the 80's one's original race. As far as the old series is concerned, pre-Fly Baxter was the weakest character, by contrast the best character in the 2k3 series.

But Bebop and Rocksteady really seem to be the draw in this one for me. I love how Bebop is the same guy who plays Uncle Ruckus ("I ain't no smelly mutant. I jus' got re-evolution.") While I do really like the characters, I never liked how they became just the two dumb guys instead of the threat they were in the 5 episode pilot. All the new portrayals of the characters show them to be much more destructive and dangerous, but still not incredibly bright. Odd in the Nick series as Bebop was a master thief and gadgeteer genius. They're definitely a huge threat in the IDW comics.

That said, I really wish they made Casey a little more gritty, but the only casting in the franchise I really dislike is Megan Fox's April. Still think it should have been Jane Levy.

I'll probably see this tomorrow an I'm actually quite excited about it vs the first one.

 

[Drtooth]

Saw the movie yesterday, and by all means a striking improvement over the first one. Seems they took some of the criticism to heart and fixed most of the problems with the last film, and made a much more Turtle-Fan friendly film where the Turtles are actually involved (for the most part) in their own film. That said:

Spoiler: What I really liked

• The Turtles are far more involved in the movie's plotline, like I just said, and the film actually couldn't have been the same without them, unlike the first. While there's a lot about April and Casey in this film, the Turtles have most of the screentime.
• Bebop, Rocksteady, and Krang were the draw for me. They were all handled pretty good. Bebop and Rocksteady seem to be based off their current IDW comics incarnations rather than the original series. Glad to see them get their big screen debut, as with Baxter Stockman who was cut from the first film. On that note:
• Tyler Perry was surprisingly not terrible as Baxter Stockman. Seemed to be enjoying the role.
• While I was disappointed to hear that Fred Armisand couldn't finish his Krang lines and Brad Garret took on the role, Brad has a freaking blast with it. I'm sure Fred would have done a closer Pat Fraley impersonation, but Brad made it his own.
  
• Vernon actually acts more like an arrogant jerkwad being not only closer to the original series character (just still not antagonistic towards April), but also better suited to Will Arnett's acting wheelhouse.
• They gave the Turtles an interesting story arc about being forced to live in the shadows for fear they'd be seen as monsters. This leads to Donnie finding out that the alien mutagen can turn them into humans. A pretty interesting concept that somehow hasn't been used in the franchise before. But don't worry if you're reading the spoilers and didn't see the movie. This doesn't do more than play itself for a dramatic moment or two, and they don't really use it in the end.
• That tension being between Leo and Raph, giving the characters a reason to fight for a bit of the movie. More Turtles in the film, more time to give the Turtles some story arcs.
  
• I like that they managed to get a Manhole cover shooting, toyetic Turtle van into the movie. Much like the new Nick cartoon series, the van actually does something Playmates wanted them to do. Also gave Mikey a perfectly in character rocket skateboard that Playmates would have thrown into a Mikey variant back in the day.
  
• Nod to Bayformers. Mikey wanders into a Halloween parade and meets someone with a working (Transforming and driving) Bumblebee costume. So TMNT and Transformers combine in something that isn't a ripoff toy from Playmates.
  
• They managed to work in the original cartoon theme song and the Vanilla Ice "Go Ninja Go" at the end credits instead of the usual PXXX take Rap. They even did that thing where drawings representing the characters are done with the original cartoon drawings. In this case, Donnie's icon on April's communicator.
• The Chinese backing didn't affect the movie anywhere near Age of Extinction levels.
  
• And Eric Sachs is no where to ruin the film. Just Shredder and Baxter like the first movie should have been. Whole film was how the first movie should have been.

Spoiler: What I didn't much care for

• While I did like the performance of Casey Jones, I really didn't like what they did with the character, making him a frustrated young cop that as a side note likes hockey. This was a lot less crucial to the plot than the writers realized, as they didn't need the tie in to keep the NYPD in the movie's story. He only dons the mask and wields a Hockey Stick once in the movie. Kinda wish they kept him a vigilante or at least thrown him off the force for good.
• The Turtles never actually get to fight Shredder in this film, especially since Krang takes care of him. Shredder does have a better and more active role, but I wish they did more with the character. Also, while Karai (who is never name checked) has a more TMNT-ish role, I kinda wish they didn't recast her.
  
• I also wish there was just a little more Splinter. They managed to make the character much better in this one, but other than a few heart to hearts with Leo, he wasn't that involved.
• The pacing of the film, especially in the beginning, was breakneck and it felt like they were putting way too much into one film, especially at the closer to 2 hours than an hour, but still not a full 2 hours runtime. For example, Shredder meets Krang through some contrived means to get the exposition out as fast as possible. Like this meeting is literally out of nowhere. Had this the full 2 hours and they gave room for these scenes to breathe, it would have felt less rushed.
• Seems they spent a lot of the movie just setting up the third one, which I don't mind, but the fact Shredder is disposed of without even being met by the Turtles in this film kinda makes me impatient.
  
• The weak link in this franchise is still April. While she was better in this film than last time and the film wasn't all about her, I still think this was the wrong picture franchise for Bay to give Megan Fox a second chance. That said, she's only referred back to as a news reporter at the tail end of the movie.
• All this merchandise (an action figure and a Mega Blox toy) feature Mikey as a pirate. I was disappointed to see this was removed from the final movie because I just wanted to see some context. Also has me believe that the editing was done last minute. I know recasting Krang was done just before it hit theaters. Still want that action figure, though.
• Not a fan of the whole bit about Bebop and Rocksteady
  
• Speaking of which, no end credits sequence. That would have been something to at least build the third movie without having to shove more awkwardly into the film. Seriously thought Baxter should have been turned into a fly in that context.

On an added note, if you missed or skipped the first film, don't worry. Other than a couple superficial references (some are recapped at the beginning of the movie), you can walk into this film cold. Almost feels like a semi-reboot.