Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles - The Complete Campaigns On DVD Box Set Review

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Title: Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – The Complete Campaigns

Region: One

Genre: CGI Animated Sci-Fi TV Series

Episodes Disc One: The Pluto Campaign & The Hydora Campaign

Episodes Disc Two: The Tophet Campaign & The Tesca Campaign

Episodes Disc Three: The Zephyr Campaign & The Klendathu Campaign

Episodes Disc Four: Trackers & The Homefront Campaign: Bonus Episodes: “Pluto And Beyond”, “Propaganda Machine”, “Marooned”, “Court-Martial Of Lt. Razak”

Creatures And Characters Designed By: Fil Barlow

Starring The Voices Of: Alexandra Adi, Clancy Brown, David Deluise, Elizabeth Daily, Bill Fagerbakke, Jamie Hanes, Tish Hicks, Alexander Polinsky, Steve Staley, Irene Bedard, E.G. Daily, R. Lee Ermey, Nicholas Guest, Michael Harrington, James Horan, Rino Romano, Rider Strong, Thomas Wagner and Alexander Polinsky

Writers: Diane Capizzi, Marsha F. Griffin, Thomas Pugsley, Greg Klein, Jennifer Levin, Michael Kramer, Jon Weisman, Cary Bates, Michael Reaves, Greg Weisman, Lydia Marano, Jules Dennis, Tim Schulattmann, Tony Schillaci, Tony Somo, Cade Chilcoat, Laura Runnels, and Patti Carr

Based On The Novel By: Robert Heinlein

Directors: Audu Paden, Christopher Berkley, David Hartman, Jay Oliva, Sam Liu Alan Caldwell, Michael Chang, Sean Song, and Vincent Edwards

Executive Producers: Paul Verhoeven and Richard Raynis

Feature length: 778 minutes

Extras: Still Galleries, Bonus Episodes and Home Video Previews

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Closed Captions

Packaging: Four Slim Keep Cases Within A Glossy Cardboard Slipcase

Chapter Stops: 28 Per Campaign/5 Per Bonus Individual Episodes

Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound

Year of Television Broadcast: 1999-2000/DVD Release: 2005

Home Video Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

While CGI animation on both the big screen and small screen alike has grown more sophisticated and realistic, “Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles” holds a place in the history of CGI animated series for what was then considered state of the art animation for television and the animated series was a crossover hit with adults as much as with children. I also think the series has inspired more than a few computer games involving futuristic infantry fighting in alien worlds. This series stands alone and is not a sequel to or a continuation of the events depicted in both “Starship Troopers” and “Starship Troopers 2: Hero Of The Federation,” but it is inspired by Robert Heinlein’s novel and I think the series, which aired in between the theatrical release of the first film and the straight to video release of the second film, may have also had an influence on the plotline of the second film and the series certainly carries over the core story from both the book as well as reenacts certain events from the first feature film. However the focus is placed more upon the experience of a trooper assigned to record the exploits of Razak’s Roughnecks in the front lines of an interstellar war against the Arachnids. This series aired on the SCI FI Channel just two years after the theatrical release of the first “Starship Troopers” feature film and given certain freedoms, the series also gave an opportunity to portray elements that could not be depicted in the feature film due to budgetary restraints. Now we can see the drop suits and jump suits described in the book as well as a greater variety of the Arachnid invaders and even the Skinnies and more of Verhoeven's vision of the novel itself.

Like the feature film, the series also has a subversive edge to it with the action being transmitted to the viewer in retrospect from the point of view of a reporter assigned to cover the missions of the mobile infantry's Roughnecks for the Fed-Net. The question of whether or not the "bugs" can be reasoned with and the propaganda used to lull enlistment is briefly touched upon in the series, but when one views bonus clip episodes like disc four’s “Propaganda Machine” (21:01), the message hits home and as a whole the series seems more timely now given world events than it did back when it first aired on television. Most of the characters from the film are in the adventures, which strings together five episodes from the series to create seven feature length campaign adventures that run approximately 97-minutes each. The violence is limited to CGI animated bug destruction, but I would not recommend eating anything while watching this DVD.

After an engagement on Pluto, the reality of the expanse of fronts the war will take place on hits home for the Roughnecks and so we see them in action on various worlds that makeup “Campaign Features” that include Hydora, Tophet, Tesca, Zephyr, Klendathu, and Earth. The first three discs feature two of these campaigns that were originally released on DVD individually, but strangely out of sequence. The fourth disc contains “The Homefront Campaign” as well as the bonus episodes. The box set delivers the complete series in the proper order that it should be viewed with one of the bonus episodes “Trackers” (20:59) placed properly before the events of “The Homefront Campaign.” The bonus episodes on disc four also include the clip episodes “Pluto And Beyond” (21:01) and “Court-Martial Of Lt. Razak” (20:59). I am not sure if the four bonus episodes included on disc four were made available in the individual DVD releases, but the animator commentaries included on the individual discs are not included on four discs within the set.

Beyond the bonus episodes there are home video previews that include Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s “Godzilla Millennium” series of films on DVD (1:53), “Jumanji: Deluxe Edition” (: 50), “Dragon’s World: A Fantasy Made Real” (: 46), and “Steamboy” (1:39). While watching the series keep an ear out to hear the voices of Clancy Brown reprising his role of Sgt. Zim from the first film as well as Elizabeth Daily (Rugrats Go Wild), David DeLuise (3^rd Rock From The Sun) and R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket). Also included within the set is a beautiful collectible foldout featuring original art by Naoyuki Katoh with artist bio notes and credits on the back as well as a synopsis for each campaign adventure and the listing of the individual episodes they are made up of. As a whole the complete series in this box set total forty episodes.

Each disc is housed in an individual slim keep case with beautiful CGI artwork from the series. The four slim keep cases come housed in a handsome glossy cardboard slipcase for safekeeping. All of the episodes are presented in their original (1.33:1) television broadcast aspect ratios and the clarity of the image is so outstanding that certain elements appear a bit more antiquated now than they ever did before. The human characters in particular look like animated action figures and some of the bug creations look as though the detailing for rendering a more realistic creature was never completed. However in many cases the series still holds up well in particular with the futuristic equipment, spaceships, and planetary backgrounds as well as some of the more recognizable bugs from the first feature film and few exotic characters like the Skinnies. Detailed still galleries of sketches, and even a one-sheet are included for “The Pluto Campaign”, “The Hydora Campaign”, “The Tophet Campaign”, “The Tesca Campaign”, and “The Zephyr Campaign.” In some cases the galleries are broken down into categories that may include some or all of the heading that cover backgrounds, bugs, characters, props, structures, vehicles, and equipment. Dynamic English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound is provided for all of the campaign adventures as well as optional English Closed Captions for the hearing impaired.

The menus are all standard interactive still frames that are easy to navigate. “Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles – The Complete Campaigns DVD Box Set” is available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

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