Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles

For a "kids" show, this is one of the better shows on TV. There is more plot and characterization in one season of "Roughnecks" than in five years of "Voyager." The computer animation is excellent (for it's time), but it is not a crutch or the star of the show. Rather, the CGI is just a well-used tool that is used to create an excellent show.

I think this show, as a whole, is much better than the movie in many ways. It has action without being too violent, and drama without being too frightening for kids.

Even though the show is targeted at kids (older kids), there is plenty for adult sci-fi fans to enjoy: good stories, long story arcs, morals, consequences, and characters that are more real than 75% of the "real" shows on TV. The animators give the characters life and the voice actors give them souls.

Oh, I remember this show so fondly. I came across it in the summer of 1999. It was before The Sci-Fi Channel was sold to Paramount Entertainment and got ruined. From 7AM to 9AM five days a week in the summers. Like many small budget, yet effective, channels it was a BKN (Big Kids Network) outlet. They played a lot of mid-level budget cartoons those days in the morning. Mummies Alive, Extreme Ghostbusters and Roughnecks.

I remember so fondly waking up in the morning and lounging in bed watching Roughnecks. Oh, man I miss my youth. It's right up there with the one summer Sci-Fi played nothing but Anime when I was sick for two months and did nothing but watch it and sleep.

Working on this show was one of the highlights of my career! The team that brought this to the masses was as hard working as any in the business. To those of you that are into backstage info, these shows took about 9 weeks each to produce, and with what were considered massive teams of animators at that time. This show had some of the best CGI modelers and animators in all of CGI-Dome. Was a thrill to work on as a technical director and a pleasure to work with such talented folks. The production was fast paced and well thought out. Was the first show where I was introduced to motion capture and it worked out great! Glad folks here like it, was a labor of love for all involved.

I found the roughneck series 100% better than both movies and the book. All six of the dvds are worth purchasing. The stories are very good and the animation excellent. I continue to watch them to this day. There was a little goof up in the continuity when they company had to outsource the production. However, it does nothing to detract from the stories. The only one I did not like was trackers. And the DVD's left out 3 very major episodes. There are episode guides that will fill in the missing pieces. All in all the cgi animation series is excellent entertainment.

Applseed

Despite negative reviews, I actually loved the film "STARSHIP TROOPERS." It ran on a feasable and likable theme, and had a good "feel" to it, even if it was a little campy. Why the critics seem to hate it is beyond me.

But to get on with this review, I didn't expect much from "ROUGHNECKS," The Starship Troopers Television series, but in the morning before going to work I managed to catch an episode. I was impressed at first by the visual computer effects. The movements of the CGI characters are very lifelike and believable. But what really had me tuning in from then on were the great storylines. They are deep and intelligent; I have no idea why this show is marketed to children. As an adult, this is one of the few "cartoons" I can still sit through, probably because this show isn't exactly written for younger audiences. From the few episodes I've seen, I can already tell that "ROUGHNECKS" is a completely valid series, and not just because it is entertaining. It refrences many classic moral themes that pertain to the horrors of war, and also references many historical points in military history (most noticeably the Roughnecks' Home Ship, the VALLEY FORGE).

My only complaint is that the three main characters should

closer resemble their real-life counterparts. Call me shallow for wanting to see the familiar faces of Hollywood celebrities, but I can't think of "Johnny Rico," "Dizzy Flores," or "Carl Jenkins" without seeing the faces of Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer and Neil Patrick Harris in my mind (though to be honest, the CGI character of "Diz" actually does resemble Dina Meyer).

All in all, a great show that is very worthy of all praise it receives. Don't miss "Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles." You won't be sorry.