Rating: 
Summary: The battle against the bugs continues. . .
Review: "Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles- the Hydora Campaign" continues the story of Razak's Roughnecks, an elite unit in the Mobile Infantry as they face the 'bugs', a terrifying alien race bent on the destruction of humankind. After discovering the 'bugs' on Pluto, the Roughnecks follow the threat to Hydora, a world covered in water. Hoping to find the bug's home world, the squad discovers a planet that is one of the Arachnid's conquered worlds. On missions ranging from reconnaissance to search-and-destroy, our heroes face new perils with every new bug species. The Hydora campaign comes to a climax when the Roughnecks discover a brain bug, a massive swollen grub that acts as the unifying mind of the bug armies. Only Carl Jenkins, the squad's psychic has any hope of facing the bug and destroying it. "Roughnecks" represents the best CGI animation that ever came to TV. Animated by Foundation Imaging (who also did digital effects for Babyon 5 and Star Trek: Voyager), the series has a sophistication and realism never before accomplished on the small screen. In Hydora, I was amazed by the superior water effects, atmospheric 'haze' and first rate character animation. What is equally remarkable is that the story and characters are sophisticated enough for even this adult to enjoy. If you've seen the earlier DVD's (Pluto campaign and Tesca campaign) you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't seen this series yet, you're in for a real treat! Any serious fan of science fiction, computer animation or good storytelling will love this series.
Rating:
Summary: The battle against the bugs continues. . .
Review: "Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles- the Hydora Campaign" continues the story of Razak's Roughnecks, an elite unit in the Mobile Infantry as they face the 'bugs', a terrifying alien race bent on the destruction of humankind. After discovering the 'bugs' on Pluto, the Roughnecks follow the threat to Hydora, a world covered in water. Hoping to find the bug's home world, the squad discovers a planet that is one of the Arachnid's conquered worlds. On missions ranging from reconnaissance to search-and-destroy, our heroes face new perils with every new bug species. The Hydora campaign comes to a climax when the Roughnecks discover a brain bug, a massive swollen grub that acts as the unifying mind of the bug armies. Only Carl Jenkins, the squad's psychic has any hope of facing the bug and destroying it. "Roughnecks" represents the best CGI animation that ever came to TV. Animated by Foundation Imaging (who also did digital effects for Babyon 5 and Star Trek: Voyager), the series has a sophistication and realism never before accomplished on the small screen. In Hydora, I was amazed by the superior water effects, atmospheric 'haze' and first rate character animation. What is equally remarkable is that the story and characters are sophisticated enough for even this adult to enjoy. If you've seen the earlier DVD's (Pluto campaign and Tesca campaign) you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't seen this series yet, you're in for a real treat! Any serious fan of science fiction, computer animation or good storytelling will love this series.
Rating: 
Summary: ROUGHNECKS - A series that grows on ya. Part II.
Review: Campaign numero two. Hydora. A water planet. After pursuing the huge Transport Bug from Pluto, the SICOM MI troopers find themselves at a water planet where the Transport Bug lands to refuel itself. In this campaign, the characters continue to grow and develop. Carl Jenkins develops his mental powers to a new height when he confronts the first appearance of a brain bug. Hydora is a planet of apparently dense water that doesn't allow itself too much for boiyancy and swimming. So the troopers wear a inflatable life perserver in case they fall in. Which, unfortunately happens a lot. However there is land on this planet but it's mainly just like corral reef type stuff and caves. While being a water planet, we get to see a lot of new hardware. Water skiffs, jet ski type thingies and some weapons that go kablooey. In this campaign we see basically one type of bug. The Ripplers, who this time are animated a bit better than they were in Pluto. The Ripplers' main weapon is a volley of sharp barbs that come from their mouths. This of course provides a new problem for our MI troopers. However we do see some regular warrior bugs, but being a water planet, the Ripplers are more suited for this planet. Now the action once again is top-notch. We see a lot of nice explosions of bugs going kablooey. There's a really great scene at the end with lots of stuff going on. Be sure to check out the technical commentary during that section. But all in all, this campaign is quite exciting, but a bit tedious at times due to the static environment they're in.
Rating:
Summary: ROUGHNECKS - A series that grows on ya. Part II.
Review: Campaign numero two. Hydora. A water planet. After pursuing the huge Transport Bug from Pluto, the SICOM MI troopers find themselves at a water planet where the Transport Bug lands to refuel itself. In this campaign, the characters continue to grow and develop. Carl Jenkins develops his mental powers to a new height when he confronts the first appearance of a brain bug. Hydora is a planet of apparently dense water that doesn't allow itself too much for boiyancy and swimming. So the troopers wear a inflatable life perserver in case they fall in. Which, unfortunately happens a lot. However there is land on this planet but it's mainly just like corral reef type stuff and caves. While being a water planet, we get to see a lot of new hardware. Water skiffs, jet ski type thingies and some weapons that go kablooey. In this campaign we see basically one type of bug. The Ripplers, who this time are animated a bit better than they were in Pluto. The Ripplers' main weapon is a volley of sharp barbs that come from their mouths. This of course provides a new problem for our MI troopers. However we do see some regular warrior bugs, but being a water planet, the Ripplers are more suited for this planet. Now the action once again is top-notch. We see a lot of nice explosions of bugs going kablooey. There's a really great scene at the end with lots of stuff going on. Be sure to check out the technical commentary during that section. But all in all, this campaign is quite exciting, but a bit tedious at times due to the static environment they're in.
Rating:
Summary: More Good Stuff!
Review: For fans of Heinlein's book and Verhoeven's film, this animated series is a must see! Having only recently learned of its existence, imagine the excitement of finding out that there are the equivalent of another 6 - 8 90+ minute Starship Troopers movies out there. As I learned more about the saga of this CG animated TV program, the more I knew that I just had to see them all. Having never caught the show, I've been watching the DVDs in order: Pluto, Hydora, Tophet, and Tesca. Looking forward to Homefront ("Asteroid" in the series?) and Klendathu coming in May. DVD number 7 (Earth?) will almost certainly follow. Of course number 8 is the big question mark, as the last 3 of the 40 episodes were never completed. Hopefully the $$ from brisk sales for the rest of the series will convince Sony to finish them up. For anyone intending to eventually purchase all of the disks, I feel strongly that your best bet is to watch them in order. Plotlines are developed that span the 5 episode story arcs that are combined into "campaigns" for these DVDs. You wouldn't start reading the book at page 100, would you? For those who are unsure, or just want to buy a single disk to "check it out", the choice will be tougher. It's a tough call, but I'd probably recommend Tophet or Tesca. Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed Hydora a great deal. I just think that the others have a bit more to offer visually, particularly with the equipment and vehicles that are featured. Animating the aquatic world of Hydora was bound to be tough. Creating realistic computer generated water, particularly water in motion, is terribly difficult. If for no other reason, this must have been the toughest arc for Foundation Imaging to make work. There are interesting environments, cool combat scenes, excellent voice acting, and an intelligent script. Hydora belongs in your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Foundation Imaging again shows how its done!
Review: I can't say I am at all disappointed with this DVD - The Technical commentary alone makes the DVD well worth the extra [money] to order it ...(since its not available in New Zealand - Only the Pluto campaign has ever been released here!!) Techniques, bloopers, flaws, and all the inside information about how Roughnecks was made are discussed in a laid back, humourous discussion between the producer and the 3D guru's that made the show. While I enjoyed all of the Roughnecks series, the pure extra information that has been added onto the show is what makes this DVD (and the others I'm sure!) great value for money!
Rating: 
Summary: The weakest of the series
Review: I found this to be the weakest of the Roughnecks DVDs. I missed the show when it was originally aired and saw only one or two episodes. It can really only be enjoyed if viewed in sequence. Nevertheless, I made a mistake when I found these at my local video store and did not know the order of the DVDs (it is not on the boxes) and I viewed The Hydora Campaign first. My reaction was generally negative. The plot for this one was very thin. Usually for each campaign there is a clear beginning and ending, with the Mobile Infantry troopers learning several important things about the bugs during the campaign. But the Hydora Campaign was weak. They had very little story. There is one sequence during one of the later episodes on this DVD where the troopers are on a hovercraft and are chased by bugs across the water for around nine minutes. This got very tedious and it was clear that the writers did not have much story. It reminded me of the saying that it is boring to watch somebody else play a video game. Seeing people get chased for nine minutes is dull. Another annoying feature of this disc, common to several of the others, is that a great deal of the dialogue consists of smart-aleck cliches tossed back and forth. Sometimes this is done cleverly, but after awhile one gets the impression that the writers simply looked up cliches in a book and dropped them into the script. I am going to buy the entire set, but this is the one that I will probably rewatch the least. In fact, it can essentially be skipped for the next disk in the set.
Rating:
Summary: The weakest of the series
Review: I found this to be the weakest of the Roughnecks DVDs. I missed the show when it was originally aired and saw only one or two episodes. It can really only be enjoyed if viewed in sequence. Nevertheless, I made a mistake when I found these at my local video store and did not know the order of the DVDs (it is not on the boxes) and I viewed The Hydora Campaign first. My reaction was generally negative. The plot for this one was very thin. Usually for each campaign there is a clear beginning and ending, with the Mobile Infantry troopers learning several important things about the bugs during the campaign. But the Hydora Campaign was weak. They had very little story. There is one sequence during one of the later episodes on this DVD where the troopers are on a hovercraft and are chased by bugs across the water for around nine minutes. This got very tedious and it was clear that the writers did not have much story. It reminded me of the saying that it is boring to watch somebody else play a video game. Seeing people get chased for nine minutes is dull. Another annoying feature of this disc, common to several of the others, is that a great deal of the dialogue consists of smart-aleck cliches tossed back and forth. Sometimes this is done cleverly, but after awhile one gets the impression that the writers simply looked up cliches in a book and dropped them into the script. I am going to buy the entire set, but this is the one that I will probably rewatch the least. In fact, it can essentially be skipped for the next disk in the set.
Rating:
Summary: Great Mixed In With Average
Review: I like the whole concept of Hydora, love the implementation of the jetski along with the two watercrafts. I enjoyed the part about how you could breathe on this planet for at most fifteen minutes before the atmosphere drowned you. Little touches thrown in all over the place to just accentuate the coolness of it all. Interesting storylines such as the power struggle between Sarge and Rico were hits also. The action scenes with the flying bugs were unmatched and the final nuking of the hive was spine-tingling. There are better campaigns, but this was is a winner. Just an unbalanced mix of great shows and average ones.
Rating:
Summary: The Hydora campaign
Review: If you have never heard of the Roughneck Chronicles, but you enjoy superb special effects, non stop action, and a superbly written plot, buy this dvd. This dvd covers the second campaign of the humans stuggling to eradicate the bug army from invading
earth. However when the humans get an upper hand on this water world called Hydora, they find something so disturbing, they realize its not just a war of humans vs bugs, but a war of genocide.
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