Old Or New Setting?

[MikeandRaph87]

Originally Posted by d_osborn

I have a complete different view on it. Mid-80s NYC had a much different feel than modern NYC-- seedy, dirty, dangerous. It lends itself better to a "more serious" TMNT adaptation, imo.

Modern NYC a'la Netflix Daredevil does a good job of inserting the older feel, too. Both could work, it just depends on the creativity (or lack thereof?) with the storytellers.

Yes, Batman:The Animated Series did that. The aesthetic of the 40s' using most stories from 1970 to 1985 yet it is today. No layered themes, no over the top set pieces, but a little of everything blended together. There is no need to cater to one set or the other. I will never read a Daredevil title, I could not get through the "Born Again" arc, but I freaking love the television show. That suggest the show is doing something right drawing in fans of a genre who have no interest in the source material.

[pferreira]

Originally Posted by Shred87

I always thought it would be cool to do a direct sequel to the 1990 movie. A sequel more in tone with the original. Bring Casey Back and Danny back and pick up right from the rooftop.

So they've been standing on that rooftop since 1990?

[IMJ]

Wow, I never considered this. Actually a retro-TMNT film with CGi turtles with the appropriate art direction would be pretty cool....

Great thread!

[RETTEB SNATAS]

Great question!

I grew up in the 90s and thats when TMNT had the biggest impact on me..
But i could go either way.. as long as it was done well!. Time and period wasn't what hurt the last few films imo.. it was the writing, direction and character design. i could see Hamato and Saki's story as an intro in the 90s and then fast forward to present with the turtles maybe? I want Violence! I want the ninja fight **** turned up to 11!! Joker and Deadpool made a boat load of cash and imo proved a point. No more kiddie ****! It's our turn! I'm really concerned with who they might be considering to direct the next film.. I hope they learned a thing or two after the last two attempts

[Andrew NDB]

That's a good benchmark. Would making any of the last two or three movies period piece movies set in the 80s any better? No, it wouldn't. Seeing pay phones around and no cell phones doesn't add anything to something like TMNT.

[d_osborn]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

That's a good benchmark. Would making any of the last two or three movies period piece movies set in the 80s any better? .

Dirty, crime-ridden NYC vs gentrified, corporate NYC? You can't imagine a story-telling situation that takes advantage of that setting?

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

That's a good benchmark. Would making any of the last two or three movies period piece movies set in the 80s any better? No, it wouldn't. Seeing pay phones around and no cell phones doesn't add anything to something like TMNT.

It actually helps sell the believability that turtles could go decades without being caught on camera & hunted down. That's just one aspect. New York, and the world, has changed.

Also, films are a visual medium, so it's okay to consider how the setting and time period enhance that.

But you're right that a single element like setting the film in the past won't make it great. One ingredient won't make great soup, but it can give it flavor.

[ToTheNines]

Originally Posted by d_osborn

Dirty, crime-ridden NYC vs gentrified, corporate NYC? You can't imagine a story-telling situation that takes advantage of that setting?

Good point considering every version seems to insist on being set in Manhattan. There’s still plenty of parts of Brooklyn and The Bronx that you could set all the “ninja action” around though.

[Galactus]

It's always been a suspension if disbelief thing that the turtles could have big rooftop battles or find a secluded part of Manhattan to fight and stuff and people not see them. It would still be a suspension of disbelief thing if they set it in the present.

As long as they don't overdo it and make it something blatant that people sit up and say "c'mon they are fighting in the middle of Times Square and it's not going to be picked up by police/news media etc" it'd be okay.

In fact their secrecy could even be part of a movie. Think at the end of the movie you have a post credit scene with police looking at various CCTV footage of the turtles and wondering what the heck they are when a shadowy figure surrounded by black ops guys come behind them and says he'll take all files and evidence to do with the four creatures. When they ask who is he is we see a face with dark glasses being pulled down "you may call me Bishop".

Boom you've got a sequel set up and an explanation of how the turtles can keep their big public battles secret.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

An 80's setting would offer a few advantages:

1.) It would give a TMNT movie that gritty, 80's urban feel everyone seems to want. The crime, the dirt, the graffiti; New York is almost a different city now than it was then. A modern setting loses something, even if it is theoretically possible to pull it off.

2.) The characters will be fundamentally different; Casey is a product of the time period's violent action movies; a vigilante in a hockey mask shaped by his gritty urban surroundings, and beating up punks and criminals in an environment that doesn't exist anymore. Sure you could still slap a mask on Casey and make him a violent hockey-stick swinging vigilante, and there are still some criminals to beat up. but things aren't like they were then.

3.) Despite the claims made here, period piece 'super hero' (I use that term loosely. in this case) are mostly successful. X-men first class was a hit, the incredibles, which both movies feel like they are in an earlier decade, were both a hit. and the recent joker film, a clear grim-and-gritty period piece, was a clear hit. Being a period piece will not alienate potential younger audiences.

4.) And the biggest one; a period piece would definitely set the new film apart from the recent terrible movies. It would let the audience know 'hey, this isn't the same old direction from the bay films, this is a totally new take!'

yes, you could just do another modern TMNT, but I feel you have a lot of setting and tonal advantages to starting the turtles off in the era in which they were first created.

[Galactus]

I think one of the (many) reasons why Out Of The Shadows failed was because that it tried to market the movie almost exclusively to little kids while tapping into a version of the property only their parents half remember or care about. Even if the next movie isn't quite the kiddie affair and is more aimed at teens and young adults that make comic book movies such successes the same logic applies. Here is something filled with cultural references they wont understand or care about.

Then there is a practical argument to made here; period pieces tend to be more expensive to make. You need period specific cars, architecture, fashion, etc. Often they try and evoke the film style of the period with extra mood lighting and stylized effects. I'm still somewhat amazed that they are considering another TMNT movie after how the last one did but I can practically guarantee they wont sink as much money into it so why waste it on emulating the 80s? What is the trade off?

Originally Posted by Panda_Kahn_fan

1.) It would give a TMNT movie that gritty, 80's urban feel everyone seems to want. The crime, the dirt, the graffiti; New York is almost a different city now than it was then. A modern setting loses something, even if it is theoretically possible to pull it off.

NYC still has crime y'know. There are still areas which are more run down, put a trash strewn alley in the movie no one is going think of as anachronistic.

2.) The characters will be fundamentally different; Casey is a product of the time period's violent action movies; a vigilante in a hockey mask shaped by his gritty urban surroundings, and beating up punks and criminals in an environment that doesn't exist anymore. Sure you could still slap a mask on Casey and make him a violent hockey-stick swinging vigilante, and there are still some criminals to beat up. but things aren't like they were then.

Again there is still crime in NYC as well as real life vigilantes. With frequent mass shootings, terrorists attacks, riots, police brutality as well wars all over the globe you think someone wouldn't be angry enough to take things into their own hands? Heck y'know that deleted scene from the 1990 movie were Casey is flicking through channels and it's all news about violence you could easily have that now and it would fit perfectly.

If you wanted to you could always give Casey his actual origin that was depicted in the 2003 series and the Mirage comics. When he was a child Hun and the Purple Dragons torch his family business and kill his father. At very least allude to it. A personal tragedy makes sense whatever time period you set the movie in.

3.) Despite the claims made here, period piece 'super hero' (I use that term loosely. in this case) are mostly successful. X-men first class was a hit, the incredibles, which both movies feel like they are in an earlier decade, were both a hit. and the recent joker film, a clear grim-and-gritty period piece, was a clear hit. Being a period piece will not alienate potential younger audiences.

X-Men: First Class is something of a fan favourite but it's not what anyone would call a commercially successful movie.

Joker to me is a prime example of why a new TMNT movie should not be set in the 80s. The movie tries to take a lot of today's social issues and apply them to a period were the most talked about issues were very different.

Also it depicts something going viral in an age before the internet. It just seems Phillips wanted to depict todays issues and how they evolve but decided that making it a period piece so people would think it was a 'real' movie not like those other comic book movies without thinking of whether it fits or even if was realistically possible in the period he set it in.

4.) And the biggest one; a period piece would definitely set the new film apart from the recent terrible movies. It would let the audience know 'hey, this isn't the same old direction from the bay films, this is a totally new take!'

Well yeah that's a definite point in the box for making it a period piece but the same thing could be achieved by having a trailer were the characters and continuity were clearly different to the previous two and didn't look like complete ass.

[Coola Yagami]

With the power of hindsight it would be kinda cool if there was some sort of TMNT special set in the 80's or so but due to advanced Dimension X Technology he'd have access to things like flash drives, drones and stuff that exists now that didn't exist then. It would be funny seeing Donatello grab an external HD and be like "wow, it's some sort of portable data storage device packing enough power to store 5 whole computers worth worth of data, I'd say this kind of technology is at least a decade ahead of us guys" and for him to be right.

[miru]

I think some sort of hybrid approach works best for the IP, but given how Mutant Mayhem handled modernizing the setting to the 2020s, I’m torn either way.