Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (August 8, 2014)

[BaneTheBrawler]

idk i kinda got the impression tmnt IS a kids movie.

[jinkazama]

idk i kinda got the impression tmnt IS a kids movie.

I think a lot of people thought that too and brought their 4yr olds, we had at least one or two families leave every night over the weekend. I mean of course it isnt as kid friendly as the cartoon with shredders new look and all the michael bay exlosions lol.

[gaira]

And here we have a perfect example of the "who cares?" mentality. Kids like garbage, so shows like "Batman: The Animated Series," "Avatar: The Last Airbender," etc., are unnecessary anomalies. Taking a property like TMNT and making a film that appeals to all audiences is a waste of time. Let's forego caring about quality, everyone.

well, audiences need to show that they care about quality by not buying tickets to bad movies. otherwise the studios have no incentive to improve, and will churn out anything to make a buck.

[Seravi Edalborez]

I hate to be the one that says it, but money talks, bro.

Also people need to go back and remember the true depths plumbed by TMNT on the big screen before condemning Liebesman's vision.

Spoiler: show

If you can watch that, all of that, and then with a straight face say 'Michael Bay killed the toitles' you aren't thinking straight.

This is the only one of the live-action turtle movies I saw growing up (and owned on VHS so watched many times) so nostalgia prevents me from seeing it truly objectively.

But it was better. Straightface.

[Krandor]

I rewatched the first two movies this last week (no force on Earth short of a gun to my head would make me rematch 3). The original has held up, but the second is honestly pretty bad. Most quality nostalgia people are having for Turtles is from the cartoon, which is still fantastic.

[Correction]

It is interesting to me that the summer sales are down overall. I figured with Godzilla, TMNT, Cap America 2, and GoTG it would have been a massive summer for movie sales.

The first Nolan Batman was the only great one. The third was terrible.

Pretty sure this August's gross is on pace to break all previous August records.
The problems are that June/July were relatively disappointing, but nothing has really bombed by any metric outside of Transcendence if you want to count it.

[BaneTheBrawler]

I think a lot of people thought that too and brought their 4yr olds, we had at least one or two families leave every night over the weekend. I mean of course it isnt as kid friendly as the cartoon with shredders new look and all the michael bay exlosions lol.

actually, i meant that i developed that opinion partway through the movie. i went in expecting a movie for adults toned down to be acceptable for kids to see, not something written for kids. but that seems to me like what it is- written for children.

[Jaffar]

My 5 year old wants to see this & gaurdians badly, but I keep telling him he's not old enough. Of course, the new turtle figures that are out in stores are for 4+, so he's asking why he can play with the toys, but not watch the movie.

Part of me wants to bring him, knowing we can leave if need be, but I'm just concerned about the language and violence.

[Kaslo]

I know my sister took my six year old nephew and they seemed to enjoy it.

[BaneTheBrawler]

i don't remember any swearing, but i wasn't really watching for it. the violence is pretty glossed over, too. i think there's only one scene where any injuries are shown, and it's shown only as a red spot on a white shirt. the bad guys just do the usual "get hit once and disappear" thing. i think transformers had way more language/violence.

i think you'd be okay bringing him. even if there is stuff i don't remember, it's not really worse than anything he'll see watching power rangers or something. the more i think about it the more convinced I am that this is a kids movie. that's not always a bad thing; lots of kids movies have enough in there for parents to be appealing to everyone, but i don't think TMNT did a very good job of that.

[Bregor]

I hate to be the one that says it, but money talks, bro.

Also people need to go back and remember the true depths plumbed by TMNT on the big screen before condemning Liebesman's vision.

If you can watch that, all of that, and then with a straight face say 'Michael Bay killed the toitles' you aren't thinking straight.

That movie is campy crap. Was talking more about popcorn flicks and adaptations in general rather than specifically the TMNT franchise.

[quannum]

tmnt (1990) at least had a coherent theme regarding son/father & student/master. also ernie reyes jr.

[tyven]

I thought Ernie was secret of the ooze

[quannum]

well he was behind the scenes in 1, stunt dude. his essence was there god damnit just let my joke ride.

[Kohan]

I hate to be the one that says it, but money talks, bro.

Also people need to go back and remember the true depths plumbed by TMNT on the big screen before condemning Liebesman's vision.

If you can watch that, all of that, and then with a straight face say 'Michael Bay killed the toitles' you aren't thinking straight.

What, the shittiest of the first three cinematic films that grossed the least in the box office? I don't think that anyone here is going to say it isn't crap, but in that film's case, consumers actually did vote with a lack of support. I wouldn't say it was guilty of ruining the TMNT—the then-movie franchise, absolutely, but considering that this entry was about universally reviled, that was fine. Also, any subsequent DVD sales are forever tainted by the fact that this was often a pack-in, because whenever else would anyone ever buy this turd?

So, you're absolutely right—money talks, and in the case of that film, it absolutely did. That is a case of desired results.

Also, the first film is still a fine indie flick, and I'll defend Jim Henson's Creature Shop until the end of my days.

[Ratatapa]

Semi revalent but Michael bay might not direct transformer 5

Good news!

[Krandor]

Semi revalent but Michael bay might not direct transformer 5

Good news!

Didn't help this movie.

[Serra]

Yeah, I seem to recall him saying the same thing after 3. I imagine Paramount (right?) will roll a giant truck of money up to his door to get him on for 5.

Clearly standards have been lowered since the third movie and people are okay with terrible films. There's clearly only one solution.

Spoiler: show

[Correction]

That movie is campy crap. Was talking more about popcorn flicks and adaptations in general rather than specifically the TMNT franchise.

I suppose we'd first have to agree on what the baseline is before we evaluate the adaptations. The cartoons and the films were made to sell toys, nothing else. The germ of the very franchise was a pastiche of the grimdark comics world of the early 80s. Everything is a teenager and it's gritty and dark(New Mutants). Everything is a ninja and it's gritty and dark (Ronin). Everything is an animal and its gritty and dark (Cerberus). The concept fell victim to an audience that didn't get the joke and a merch empire was born. TMNT has never been unpopular, just like Transformers. Nothing can 'kill' it. Even the worst films of the franchise made money, even if TMNT '07 cut it close on the international ticket sales. Wanting a good writer, good production designer and good director to put together a TMNT film is wishing it to be something it never really was. To do so in the name of nostalgia makes even less sense.

[Krandor]

The cartoon was originally created to fuel toy sales but it also lasted for 10 seasons and almost 200 episodes. That's far more then just an excuse to sell some toys.