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View Poll Results: Do You Want A New TMNT Film To Be Current Or In The 80's/90's? | |||
Current/Modern | 23 | 38.33% | |
80's/90's | 37 | 61.67% | |
Voters: 60. You may not vote on this poll |
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10-10-2017, 01:46 PM | #1 |
So tired of this place
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Shell Ri La
Posts: 26,803
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Old Or New Setting?
Simple & to the point- for the next inevitable film series, would you prefer it to take place in the modern/current world, or be a period piece in the 80's/90's?
The TMNT are very much a product of their era. They stand the test of the time, & have been proven to work in any setting (from feudal Japan to technological utopias of the future), but I think they're at their best amidst the grit & funkyness of their original glory days in the late 80's/early 90's. Heavy metal/punk/hip-hop were integral to the aesthetics of their most notable iterations (Mirage, Fred Wolf, Henson), & the initial boom of those genres are also time capsule-like. They capture a very specific vibe that is unique to their peak, & the coolness the turtles exuded is in part owed to their respective cultures. + back then, NY was a lot different. Filthy, crass, crime-ridden. Adult shops all over, way more drugs/sex/gang violence/etc. It was a city that very much welcomed Purple Dragon types, warranted the creation of a Casey Jones, & needed the help of mutant turtles. It was bursting with personality, graffiti, youth/alternative culture. Nowadays you don't have to worry about that stuff nearly as much, at least not in a post-9/11 Manhattan. There's little more than corporate crap-peddling. I have no intentions of making this a Platinum Dunes film bashing thread, but a big part of what took me out of that film was applying the "TMNT spew pop culture references" thing to the 2010's. I cringed at the references to newer stuff, it just didn't feel right at all. Did anyone really wanna see the TMNT dancing to Gwen Stefani? I wanted to kill myself in the theater. The Nick series on the other hand kept only 80's/90's stuff in their homage jar, & it worked soooo much better. + I'd rather not see the TMNT or their peers have too many technological advancements, smart phones & all that. Makes things too easy.
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10-10-2017, 01:59 PM | #2 |
Overlord
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 41,023
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Yeah, I've always seen TMNT as being in the mid/late 80's and early 90's era myself.
Even in the cartoons when the 2k3 series took place in the early 2000's, or the Nick show in...well...2012...it feels weird. Like in the Spiderbitez episode as a human he took a picture of Raph with his iphone. Like man, I was expecting him to take out one of those old cameras from the 80's and say, "I have to develop the film" and so forth. Instead Raph had to destroy his phone rather than taking out the film. Feels very strange. I love in the first movie you see payphones and the characters walking around 80's Manhattan like it's the current year. And Danny takes out his Sony Walkman from the 80's rather than some ipod "new age" millennial stuff he'd use today. One of the reasons I also like Casey Jones in the first movie is he literally looks like an 80's guy. Just sitting around in his sweatpants and shirt, no computers or tech stuff, just...sitting around. Because that's all they did in the 80's....sit around. Maybe watch a little TV on your old beat-up 80's television. And you had other 80's references like April saying she wanted to dream of Harrison Ford (obviously the 74 year old version today isn't hot stuff, lol), or Raph asking if Oprah was on in the second movie...her show ended years ago. I'm pretty sure we also see the Twin Towers in the first movie. |
10-10-2017, 02:52 PM | #3 |
Mad Scientist
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 1,828
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To me it doesn't matter, I personally don't really see any part of TMNT that says it should've stayed in the 80/90s I mean sure the characters change with each new franchise/iteration but their archetypes are still the same. Look at the IDW version despite being set in the new 10s the story is still pretty good and has the basics of what TMNT is and despite me crapping on the Nick version it does integrate TMNT into the New tens rather well.
Also with Stranger things, Blade Runner, and the new IT movie I'm kinda getting tired of 80s/90s nostalgia.
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10-10-2017, 02:52 PM | #4 |
Mad Scientist
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 1,986
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I'd like to have it take place in the 80s. I grew up during that time so looking back on that is rather nostalgic. Besides, movies during that time had a certain amount of quality to them you don't really see today. Don't get me wrong. You still have some great modern movies but they lack heart with an end product that feels mass produced with a lack of a well thought out story. It's all about the effects and the spectacle. There's also a serious lack of originality and risk taking these days with countless reboots.
I just wish they could capture what they did with the 1990 movie and ramp it up a bit with mild cg effects here and there to enhance things. Last edited by Sabacooza; 10-10-2017 at 03:01 PM. |
10-10-2017, 03:27 PM | #5 |
Dub Professor
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Dub Side of the Moon
Posts: 3,442
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I would like seeing stories featuring the TMNT in modern day, but older, no longer teenagers, and then flashback stories to their origins, their fight with the Shredder, when they were teenagers in the early 90s.
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10-10-2017, 06:58 PM | #6 |
Overlord
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 41,023
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Yeah, and I never want to see the Turtles use DVDs or blu-rays. I LOVE it when the Turtles put VHS tapes into VCR's to watch shows. They did it in the Nick show too, almost every show they watched was an old series in VHS form from the 80's or earlier.
I love the original cartoon episodes where the Turtles take a trip to the video store to rent a VHS tape. They sure don't have those anymore. Blockbuster is long gone. There's just something nostalgic about the Turtles putting in a VHS tape. It just feel "just right." |
10-10-2017, 11:29 PM | #7 |
Foot Elite
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: AZ
Posts: 3,254
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Is this basically just another 80s/90s were the golden age of everything topic? I’m 33 and all for nostalgia but this really is a back-in-the-day discussion.
The turtles deserve to move with the rest of the world. Why should smartphones, Blu-rays etc be frowned upon when Donatello is already able to unrealistically craft such devices from other things? I don’t live in NY but I’m sure it’s still very much filled with crime and filth. When and how would such things be “fixed”? Impossible.
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10-11-2017, 01:03 AM | #8 | |
Overlord
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 41,023
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Quote:
I don't get it, do non-New Yorkers really think NY is filled with criminals, gangsters and drug dealers on every corner? Get your head out of the movies and TV. |
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12-12-2017, 11:55 AM | #9 |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,154
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12-10-2017, 09:44 AM | #10 |
Something from the Past
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: New York
Posts: 3,240
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80s/90s setting all the way. The grit, the tone, the music, everything about the late 80s screams TMNT to me. Sure, it's about nostalgia a bit, but to me this would make for a very true-to-form new TMNT film.
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12-10-2017, 11:20 AM | #11 |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Sweden
Posts: 10,154
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Can't it be set during the 1970's or something?
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12-10-2017, 09:26 PM | #12 |
Stone Warrior
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NY
Posts: 782
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I’ve always stood by New York in the 80’s/90’s being the definitive time setting of TMNT. No other era has proven to work better for the turtles than this. Steve Barron’s 1990 portrayal continues to solidify this point to this day. In that film we got to see the turtles live and breathe in an era of New York that most people will unfortunately never fully understand/know about anymore. Just thinking about it reminds me of all the old New York hardcore/punk rock and old school hip hop scenes that were so indicative of that age. I miss it a lot because it’s something I grew up on. Watch all those old NYHC/hip hop documentaries; you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s really sad to see all that history/culture swept away due to things like gentrification and systemic political issues. It’s even a lot more sad to see rich out of towners and hipsters moving into NY, gentrifying the whole damn block/culture and moving people who were born and raised there that have called it HOME their whole lives out to other places. It’s hard to think of TMNT in a modern gentrified New York without making me sick to my stomach. It just doesn’t feel genuine. I don’t care much for this forum anymore, but this thread was worth finding and posting to.
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12-10-2017, 09:58 PM | #13 |
Weed Whacker
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Auburn, WA
Posts: 29,240
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The reasons to ground the Turtles in the 80s or even 90s aren't compelling enough to do so and would only come at the risk of alienating today's youths. Fun though it might be to see various bits of 80s/90s pop culture stuff for you or I in it.
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12-11-2017, 12:06 AM | #14 | |
Overlord
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 14,003
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Quote:
I'd so love to see a movie made for US, that would somehow surprise the public at large and end up being the sleeper hit of that year.
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"I was down with TMNT once, but then they changed what TMNT was. Now what I was down with is no longer TMNT and what TMNT now is seems weird and scary. And it'll happen to YOU." Check out my blog for Comic Reviews and other things. https://markepicblogofrandomness.blogspot.com/ I also started The AEW Crew, the All Elite Wrestling Fan Club! https://www.facebook.com/groups/637508120044168/ |
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12-11-2017, 12:53 AM | #15 |
Weed Whacker
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Auburn, WA
Posts: 29,240
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But there is nothing intrinsically 80s or 90s about the TMNT, even in Mirage. What is the benefit of making a new movie in either era vs. now? Do we just really not want to see April whip out a cell phone? Or the Turtles having a tube TV in the lair instead of an LED screen? What's the real benefit, beyond "I'm a super old fan and those are the years most important to me"? If anything, the Turtles and Splinter having internet access helps address things that otherwise didn't make sense before. I mean, they're just a few YouTube videos away from learning how to forge their own weapons... but before? Ehh....
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12-11-2017, 02:18 AM | #16 |
Bad Boy
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,911
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Totally unnecessary. If anything, the themes and characters become more relevant, and the conflict deepens as society advances. Taking them back to the 80s serves no purpose other than to pander to fans.
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12-12-2017, 01:36 PM | #17 | |
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 8,450
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Quote:
I think what attracts me to a period piece is the general aesthetic, the culture and for me, an added element of escapism. Sometimes it's just nice to leave the modern world for a bit, and sometimes you just like the idea of seeing turtles sneak around a 1980's New York City. Since movies are a visual medium, I don't see much else reason needed. |
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08-20-2019, 03:44 PM | #18 |
Foot Elite
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,949
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So y'know how there's a few arguments that people throw at TMNT as a property whenever it's reported that a movie is in a production. One of them being that it's purely a nostalgia property and doesn't work outside the 80s and early 90s. Making a movie set in that period would just feed into that mindset.
There's nothing about the TMNT story or characters (any version) that belongs exclusively to that time period. |
08-20-2019, 03:51 PM | #19 |
Banned
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 8,450
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I think you could even set the film in the year 2035, without losing sight of what makes the franchise special.
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08-20-2019, 04:09 PM | #20 | ||
Mad Scientist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,338
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Quote:
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At the end of the day, it's all in the creativity and storytelling skills of the production team (and how much freedom Paramount gives them). I'm sure there's a director or show runner that could make a kickass TMNT adaptation set in modern day. I'm sure there's a director or show runner that could make a kickass TMNT adaptation set in 1984. If a creative is hitting a brick wall on something as imaginative and vivid as TMNT due to period setting-- they're creatively bankrupt. Of course, that seems par for course. From a producer's perspective, the last three TMNT films were set in modern day and did horribly. |
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