You saw one episode of the 80's show so yeah you missed the point. They were more light hearted but they were more capable of getting their act together and focusing than is portrayed here. Especially 87 Leonardo. Raphael and Michelangelo's personalities are on the mark but Donatello and Leonardo were more mature than this.
And while the 87 universe is a bit sillier than the 2k3 series (read: the 2k3 series takes the premise too seriously) the scene with New York being attacked by an army of mutant fruit and evil leprechauns is over the top even by the 87 show's standards (also, April does not get kidnapped every five minutes, she's more like Lois occasionally getting in over her head). This is a parody of the light hearted 87 show. And the scene where Karai drops Shredder with one kick? You do realize that even 87 Shredder is a master martial artist right? Maybe totally serious Karai would win the fight but Shredder wouldn't just cower and let her kick his ass.
I think you may have missed the point of my entire post. I specifically said that yes, the 87 Turtles are capable of being serious when necessary, and if you really compare the two, the 87 Turtles actually accomplished a lot more than the 2k3 Turtles. Sure, the 80s villains may have been flanderized, but if you really compare the two Shredders in terms of effectiveness, the 2k3 Shredder has 80s Shredder easily beat. I agree that Shredder cowering before Karai was a bit stretching it, but if you consider that she managed to successfully infiltrate the Technodrome without being noticed, and then held two katanas right in your face, I think that might startle you a little. But yeah, even that is stretching it, and it doesn't make a lot of sense. Still, I was focusing more on the 80's Turtles, not their villains. And the Turtles themselves may have been exaggerated, but that's likely because the writers had only written for the 2k3 show, and weren't entirely certain how to write for the old Turtles. But they still ultimately nailed their essences, and I think that deserves mentioning.
I'm a geek.
No offense, but should you really be speaking on this particular subject if you've only seen one episode of the '80s cartoon?
I think it is fair to talk about it because a) this special was made for Turtle fans in general, and b) if a 2k3 fan is capable of recognizing the merit the 80\'s Turtles have without having seen much of the show, it demonstrates the effectiveness of the portrayal much more than if it came from an 80\'s fanboy. But I will freely admit that I don\'t know how accurate this was compared to the show.
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A note on the portrayal of the 80's Turtles
A lot of people have been saying the 80's Turtles were idiots who were given the shaft in this movie in order to make the new ones look cool. Now, I've only seen one episode of the 80's cartoon, and I'm a huge 2K3 fan, but I have to disagree with this. Consider this: when they first find the Technodrome underground, they face an army of robot ninjas and Bebop and Rocksteady. Who takes down a majority of the robots and the mutants through clever use of their environment? The 80's Turtles. Who comes up with the idea and perfects the Portal Stick? 80's Don. How do they get past the army of mutants and upgraded robots once Utrom Shredder upgrades the Technodrome? The 80's Turtle's blimp and party wagon. Who stops Shredder from squishing the Mirage Turtles with exploding throwing stars? 80's Don. Really, it seems like people miss the fact that, if it weren't for the 80's Turtles, the multiverse would've been kaput. Really what was going on was these guys were simply a more light-hearted group than the 2K3's. Sure, they could be silly, but that never got in the way of their fighting ability. In fact, one could argue that because the 80's world was much more silly, it gave the 80's Turtles a creativity that allowed them to think of solutions the 2K3's didn't, like using the boulders to smash robots, or the Portal Stick. And even after the 2K3's explained the stakes they were up against, they still said "Let's do it!" Now, obviously the 2K3 Turtles contributed too, but one thing the movie makes clear is that neither team could've succeeded without the other, and both were equally needed to combat the new threat. This is one of the movie's biggest strengths. It honors the franchise's history, while still being able to poke fun at it, like when Mirage Shredder was taken out. Heck, even the part where 2K3 Don points out that after all the crazy gizmos they've seen, a portal stick still sounds silly, is a bit of a subtle dig at the 2K3 show, pointing out some of their more ridiculous concepts. For me, this special showed everything great about the franchise. It could be dark and mature, but wasn't above laughing with you at the sheer ludicrousy of the concept of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.