Turtle Movie Essentials
 

What elements do you feel are essential to any good TMNT movie? What would leave you feeling disappointed if it is left out?

I’ll start with a couple basics:

1) I’d want all the turtles’ personalities to be demonstrated. For Leo in particular, besides being the cool-headed, serious-minded leader, I always like seeing him have a spiritual side. Though, I do understand if the movie’s plot or tone doesn’t allow an opportunity for this.

2) A sense of family from the turtles, and Splinter as well.

Personally, I also feel that at least one reference each to the original Mirage comics and the 80’s/90’s cartoon is also essential.

3) For Mirage, I’d like to see at least a nod to the Issue 1 cover pose. Even if it was something as oblique as having four bystanders on a staggered rooftop notice a fight that the Turtles are involved in. The bystanders would be the actors who are taking the part of the Turtles, out of costume. They’d be standing in the same order as their characters were on the cover, with the guys playing Mikey and Raph on a slightly higher roof and Leo and Don on the lower. So yeah, like the cover :ttongue:

4) For the Fred Wolf TV series, the simplest reference would be to the theme music. This could easily be done the same way that the Nick ‘toon has done it, with someone humming it or as somebody’s ringtone.

Well, those were mine. What are your Turtle movie essentials?

Don't focus too much on any particular turtle *cough2007cough*

• Teenage, mutant, ninja turtles
• The four turtles' basic personalities

Other than that, go nuts.

Green, shells, 4 of them.

Yup, let's go with these.

"What elements do you feel are essential to any good TMNT movie? What would leave you feeling disappointed if it is left out?"

Lots of martial arts action with Actual Ninjutsu woven into the blend would be nice.
Actual free running. But most importantly, a Good, well thought out serious script from a well written screenplay that dosen't butcher the TMNT or the properties integrity or make them more comedic than they should.

You know? it's ok to tell jokes, but not to become one.

As I have said before, there's so much potential to this property if done with thought and creativity. The TMNT work in every genere, They realy do.
There is no reason they couldn't make a fresh film that stays true to the heart of the material. It's not hard. Hell, Nick and IDW are doing it right now.

So, again.. why can't hollywood get it right? I don't understand it.
if they just gave it an honest, unhurried effort, with a story that did the guys justice, they would make a killing at the box office and make a lot of us happy.

Co-signed.

....that would be nice :)

Shredder being human, not alien.

the one thing that i'm worried about is how the movie will focus on the turtles as a whole since michael bay isn't known to make movies where the character are interesting than what people come too see, for instance joss wheadon's handle with the avenger's people were worried how joss was going to handle the avenger's and look how that turned out,i'm just hoping Michael or Jonathan don't screw this up
and also i'm hoping they keep the source material with some new take on it like nick and idw.

not the 2007 movie, that's for sure.

For me great mutations =)

I just want the turtles to be the main characters and not some cute kid or some guy who was quote to be the next "spielberg" . I don't want maybe like 5 mins dialogue of the turtles and next 15 mins of humans doing whatever the hell that they're doing and having those turtles in the god*** background.

This isn't essential, but I'd like the opening scene of the comics (we're not wearing costumes) to be the opening of the movie. I've always thought it would work perfectly.

that'd be pretty awesome to hype up the movie,but i doubt they'll do that.

I shudder at the thought of Bay's TMNT being more about April than the TMNT.

Though, on the whole, I'm cautiously optimistic about that film.

That's something I forgot to mention. Show the Teenage Mutant NINJA Turtles being competent ninjas. I think the 2007 movie fell short there. Even Mikey gave them a 2 for stealth.

That all the characters be fully realized, three dimensional, and acting with agency.

That it passes the Bechdel test would be nice.

Keep them as teenage mutants. Don't drastically change them for the worse. Make them more unique in design and personality, without going over the top. Don't be too cosmic/space-y.

Well, they are teenagers. That in itself implies inexperience.

More ninjitsu and stealth.