In the 1st movie, were the Turtles out on a mission to fight in the intro?
 

They save April from the thugs in the Channel 3 parking lot, and Leo says, "We have had our first battle, Master Splinter!"

What I never quite understood was, where they deliberately out and about looking for a crime to stop? Or were they simply out on some kind of excursion and happened across the crime and decided to intervene?

they always deliberately come out and look for a crime to stop

idk ask Steve Barron...but I would assume that if they were that excited then I m assuming they were deliberately going to look for trouble....

I interpreted it as Splinter feeling that they were ready to go to the surface and patrol finally. For the Turtles, their first battle was sort of icing on the cake.

Criminals makes good practice targets, no ones gonna miss them

I always just figured they where out roaming the sewers and happen to hear April scream and Leo was just excited about their first real battle.

they did a great job on their 1st mission actually. no one gets hurt at all.

I just figured they heard April's screams and went out to help her.

Other than leaving behind some evidence. Nice going, Raph.

^well the point is nobody gets hurt. it's a real battle u kno. not a training.

I always felt that they just happened to be at the right place at the right time as opposed to actually patrolling for crime. It's not like there was any other point in the original movies where they were on "Crime Patrol" or something. Even in TMNT 2, they had just happened to have noticed something going down when they rescued Keno. Everything else suggests that their days consist of martial arts training, watching, TV, and goofing off rather than Superheroing around.

Short movie
 

Of course, otherwise, a short movie... :)

This was well done as it reflects the opening pages of the first Mirage issue, with the thugs representative of the Purple Dragons, and the retreat into the sewers reflected upon the police presence on Page 7. Just like the first issue, the Turtles probably just made a wrong turn in the sewers somewhere.

or could it be the crimes r calling for them?

They were at the right place at the right time. The turtles don't go out and start looking to fight crime. Just like in the very same movie Raphael happens to be at the same spot that two punks were snatching that woman's purse.

Weird, kinda never thought about it. I mean I *guess* I could believe that they just took a wrong turn and happened to hear April in trouble, but... you mean to tell me they NEVER heard anyone else cry for help or came upon someone getting mugged before then? In NEW YORK? Weird.

I find it interesting also that they knew when to attack. Patrol sounds right as in TMNT when they are seen jumping around the buildings near the end of the movie.

Raphael always went out (to see a movie or fight crime)...i don't know. But it is possible about patrolling the streets or Splinter giving the Turtles their first test.

I think it was a Splinter assigned mission. Maybe not a mission to deliberately go out and fight bad guys, but a mission to test their ninja training and stealth in the real world. The first question Splinter asks them when they return is "were you seen?" and proceeds to tell them that their skills are reaching their peak. In this way it is very reminiscent of the first comic.

Well, to be fair, this movie's New York was in the midst of a crime wave of unheard of proportions.

The crimewave was high with muggings mysterious, all police and detectives are furious.