"Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles" discussion

POSTED BY: CapnRahn
UPDATED: Thursday, May 29, 2025 16:17
VIEWED: 8064
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CAPNRAHN

Sunday, October 24, 2004 5:54 AM

OK, I have been watchign my DVDs of this great CGI "kids-show".

I taped every episode and was eagerly awaiting the DVDs. Until I found out they cut 5, perhaps as many as 15 whole 15 to 18 minutes episodes.

The 5 part "Ice-teroid Campaign" is missing entirely. It fell between the Tesca Namarosa and Klendathau Campaigns.

A few of the double long (10 episodes 'planned'} "Homefront Campaign" are missing as well as 5 'clip-shows' that were amazingly good, considerign they were thrown together as filler - because of production time shortfalls.

Gorram Sony Pictures only released 2/3rds of this better adaptation of Hienline's original.

Don't get me wrong, I DO love Verhoven's "Starship Troopers" - it should just be named something else, cause it IS a bastardization of the the original. But SO frelling entertaining!

Ahem - back to "Roughnecks..." - I truly loved the characters and armor that this series set up. It is still a far cry from Hineline, but it is truer by dint of the strength of the characters.

These CGI caracters were generated on a TV budget - quite a feat for the year 1999 and 2000.

But what made them memorable was the writing and the delevery of the excellent voice actors hired for this "kiddie show".

Your Opinions?

And if ya haven't seen 'em - you should! I may have to see if I can burn DVDs of the episodes Sony 'lost', I still have ALL of my SP copied epis!

"Remember, there is only ONE absolute - There ARE NO absolutes!!!"

CYBERSNARK

Sunday, October 24, 2004 3:10 PM

I agree with you, I truly loved that show. Unfortunately, I had to watch it on Teletoon, which means that I haven't seen all the episodes, and what I saw was out of order.

Sounds like the DVD people took a page from Teletoon's policy-book.

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

EVILMIKE

Sunday, October 24, 2004 3:18 PM

I, too, was really excited that the series was going to be available on DVD and really horrified at how poorly the DVD release actually was.

ECGORDON

Sunday, October 24, 2004 4:04 PM

I like it too, but I guess I'll wait for the dvds until a definitive edition is released. I have most of the eps on tape, but I know I'm missing a few and some may be in the wrong order.

wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

BROWNCOAT1

Monday, October 25, 2004 3:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by ecgordon:
I like it too, but I guess I'll wait for the dvds until a definitive edition is released. I have most of the eps on tape, but I know I'm missing a few and some may be in the wrong order.

I agree w/ you ECG. I loved this CGI show when it was on the air. I did realize when watching it after awhile that the episodes were out of order, and there seemed to be some gaps in the story. I had read elsewhere that the DVDs did not include all the episodes, so I decided to hold off on picking them up.

I really liked this show. It was, IMO, much closer to the original book than the movie that was released. The armor was cool, and the weapons and ships seemed more in keeping w/ the original story. The characters seemed more believable and the stories better written than the film.

I am hoping that a complete DVD set will be released. If it ever is, I will most definitely buy it.

__________________________________________

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GHOULMAN

Monday, October 25, 2004 3:49 PM

Just curious - did this show follow the brownshirt Nazi fascism present in the original Troopers movie?

What was the theme of the show?

CAPNRAHN

Monday, October 25, 2004 6:04 PM

No, it doesn't follow the misguided Verhovhen vision of Heinline's story.

Mostly it is about the continuing 'Bug War'. It is more about real character growth than other kids shows see to be.

It 'acts' as if the movie hasen't happened.

Funny enough - there is no real political agenda that is obvious.

"Remember, there is only ONE absolute - There ARE NO absolutes!!!"

GHOULMAN

Monday, October 25, 2004 7:13 PM

^^^ ? I haven't read any Heinlan but from what I'm told he often used Sci-Fi to portray a fascist society.

Taking out these elements seems a scary notion. Not to mention making it a childrens show. I haven't seen this but it reminds me of all the war movies Hollywoodland makes. At least Verhovhen knew the reality of propoganda and made Starship Troopers to reflect that.

PALADIN

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 12:14 AM

I remember watching the show every morning before boarding the school bus. I also remember trying to make sense out of the episodes because they were not shown in order. (stupid Fox - it was on Fox for me)
All of that aside, I love that show. I had lost my tape with scant few episodes until about a year ago. Among those episodes was my favorite. I think it was part of the Tesca campaign. The Roughnecks were assigned a robot. At first he was cold and by the book, but as the ep. progressed he learned the teamwork and comaraderie that many *cough..Rico..cough* claimed 'it' could never have. In the end the 'bot (CHAS I think he was dubbed) sacrificed himself to save the Roughnecks.

------------
"If you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of Hell, a level they reserve for child molesters and people who talk at the theater." -Book

DANFAN

Tuesday, October 26, 2004 1:20 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ghoulman:
^^^ ? I haven't read any Heinlan but from what I'm told he often used Sci-Fi to portray a fascist society.

Heinlein's work was all over the map. He wrote hippie counterculture stories (Stranger in a Strange Land), pro-militaristic stories (Starship Toopers), antiwar stories (Glory Road), conservative stories, liberal stories. He wrote stories tolerant of homosexuality. He wrote stories intolerant of homosexuality. Some of this, I suspect, was his talent for immersing himself in what he was creating and allowing it to take a life of its own.

His personal politics were mostly libertarian. His recurring themes were a strong antiauthoritarian streak and a bone crushing emphasis on personal liberty/responsibility... that is, the government should stay the heck out of your way (as long as you're not stepping on someone else's rights) and let you do your own thing. But if it goes bad, then its up to you to pay the bill when it comes due... suck it up and get it done.

Some of his stories did indeed contain settings with fascist governments. But I don't know I'd call it a recurring theme. He also had frontier settings. Alternative lifestyle settings (one in which an immortal character travels back many centuries in time to become his mother's lover). And countless other settings...

Like I said, he was all over the map. Some of his stories I loved. Some left me ice cold.

I've not seen the animated cartoon. The Starship Troopers movie bore only the slightest resemblance to the novel he wrote. I found the movie entertaining, but certainly not an introduction to Heinlein's work in any measurable degree.

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