Rating: 
Summary: An underappreciated treasure
Review: "Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles" is probably the best science fiction program you have never seen. Due to an improbable series of marketing and scheduling problems, this outstanding show had only a brief run at early morning hours on a few stations. You may not have seen it, but believe me you want to! "Roughnecks" retells and expands Robert Heinlein's story of a group of young recruits facing life in the Mobile Infantry and combat against terrifying alien creatures called the "bugs". Though it borrows from the Paul Verhoven film, this computer animated series is far superior. The computer graphics are exceptional. The ships, bugs, characters, movement and facial expressions are very realistic. The animated series includes the spectacular suborbital drops that are the centerpiece of Heinlein's book. But surprisingly, I was most impressed with the stories and characters. While appropriate for children, the Roughnecks stories are complex and realistic enough to satisfy adults as well. If you love science fiction, computer animation, military stories, or all of the above, this DVD is a must for your collection.
Rating:
Summary: Starship Troopers the way Robert Heinlan wanted it to be.
Review: This is a very underappreciated show. It was on for a shortwhile. It has incredable commputer animation, way better then ActionMan or anything else mainframe puts out. Its nothing compared to themovie, it has a good story. This may be a little scary for youungchildren, but thats the only flaw....I only wish they made toys of them.
Rating:
Summary: More than a cartoon
Review: I have never enjoyed an animated show as much as I love this one. The computer animation is incredibly realistic, the stories are all interesting and well written, the characters are wonderful. I've never been very interested in Sci-Fi or computer animation, but this show is too awesome to miss. I simply cannot find the right words to describe it. It was intended for children, so there is an absence of human blood, profanity, and other distastefull elements. But the plots and experiences of the troopers aren't set up on an elementary level. See this show. You won't be disapointed.
Rating:
Summary: R:ST the DVD
Review: This show contains the best 3D animation I have ever seen. Unfortunately, it has been stuck on the odd channels at odd times and hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. Hopefully people will pay more attention to it now that the DVD is coming. If you are a sci-fi fan, or are into space, military, or are just looking for a very good show, this is it. There is all the aspects of a great show - humor, depth (which many other animations do not have a whiff of), and characters to which many can relate. It will be well worth the wait.
Rating:
Summary: An underpromoted gem
Review: The Starship Troopers series is an incredible example of computer generated animation. These aren't the rough characters and cartoonish backgrounds usually associated with the artform. You will not believe the quality until you see it with your own eyes.Unfortunately the series (not to be confused with the "Starship Troopers" feature film) has been under-promoted and not given the air time it rightfully deserves. This DVD should correct that fact. This DVD will be a worthwhile addition to the collection of anyone who loves animation or military science fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: Heinlein's Epic Lives!
Review: "THE PLUTO CAMPAIGN" Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles "10,000 troopers versus a million bugs. Vegas odds." Trooper Rico "How do we kill an enemy that has no soul?" Trooper Flores. Forty episodes of the spectacular "Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles" computer-animated series aired on TV, but had a limited following. The original broadcasts were broken into eight, five-day-a-week chapters. THE PLUTO CAMPAIGN, a five-episode story arc has been edited into a feature by combining the episodes and bridging the gaps with new narrative. The stories are true to author Robert Heinlien's great fascist parody. The characters are surprisingly engaging and distinct. There's combat crazy Rico, psychic Jenkins and sexy-tough Flores. Their mission in "The Pluto Campaign" is to wipe out an infestation of the deadly arachnids on the ice planet. But what they encounter is a full-blown invasion of the human hating monsters threatening to take over the galaxy. The action is hard and fast. There's an extraordinary use of thematic color and lighting. Even the slightly stiff human movements give everything an otherworldy quality. Wonderful stuff that can be enjoyed again and again. My one complaint is in the sound of the weapons. A little more bass please, and more variety in the thwacks, booms and bangs. Other sound design is above par. For many, this is a totally unknown series. This is definitely not a kiddie cartoon. It deserves to be discovered. In fact, it could hold its own on the big screen! Bravo to Columbia TriStar for releasing it and to all the petitioners who made them do it. A second release is planned for September. I can't wait. Highly recommended. Buy this DVD. (Columbia Tristar, Fullscreen, 5.1 Dolby and Stereo Surround, 97 Minutes, Rated PG, 2000)
Rating:
Summary: computer animation at it's best
Review: I enjoyed this series far more than I expected to. I missed it when it was first shown on TV and only recently (March 2004) watched the DVDs and I enjoyed them a lot. The CGI animation was pretty good for the time (especially for television) and the stories were often clever. My primary complaint was the dialogue, which often resorted to overused cliches. The animated series manages to explain something that the movie explained very poorly, and the book explained somewhat weakly: why have Mobile Infantry battling millions of bugs on the ground when you could just nuke them from orbit? The movie's dumb explanation was to throw a knife at some guy's hand and say "The enemy cannot press the button if he cannot reach it." That made no sense and did not explain why tens of thousands of troopers were thrown into a fight with no artillery and only limited air support to fight an enemy that could have been killed with some helicopters spraying Raid. The book's explanation was more nuanced, discussing the idea of responding appropriately to the threat and not wiping out an enemy that could eventually become an ally. This works as long as the enemy is not going to wipe out earth. But if humanity's very survival is at stake, there is no reason not to use nukes. But the animated version has a bigger hurdle to jump, because it eventually becomes clear that the bugs intend to invade and completely conquer earth. So why don't the humans simply nuke every bug infestation that they find? The explanation is shown, rather than told. First, the humans do not really understand what kind of enemy they are dealing with and how extensive it is. That is evident in this first episode which takes place after the bugs have shown up on Pluto, destroyed numerous science stations, and been defeated in initial battles. At first the humans think that the bugs might be indigenous to Pluto, but soon they discover that they came from elsewhere. So the humans cannot simply nuke all the bugs because they do not know where the bugs are or where they are coming from. Second, the humans need to gather information about the bugs more than they need to kill bugs. So over the next several campaigns they start to learn how the bugs travel from planet to planet, how they reproduce, how they control their armies, how they adapt, etc. In fact, by the later campaigns it is much more common for the humans to simply nuke the bugs rather than engage in ground combat. Third, it is clear that simply firing large weapons doesn't kill all the bugs. Some are deeply buried and it requires troopers to track them down and kill them. All of this makes a heck of a lot more sense than the movie's simplicity. Overall, I enjoyed the stories and the DVDs, but there were some annoying things about them. For starters, there is no commentary track on this first DVD. However, when you get to the commentary track on the second DVD (The Hydora Campaign) the filmmakers talk as if they _had_ produced a commentary track for the first DVD, which seemed rather strange to me. I suspect that the distributor for the first DVD did not have much faith in it and kept the extras to a minimum, but then started adding them to the later DVDs once they realized that sales were good. Another annoyance is that the DVD boxes are not numbered, so it is not easy to figure out which one to watch first, second, third and so on. Most of the characters are fleshed out fairly well. However, Higgins, the young reporter with the group, became a bit of a running joke late in the series. He was always getting knocked out or missing the action. This was deliberate by the writers, but it really became rather silly. Officially, the series was aimed at kids and so they followed some rules that are not quite sensible. For instance, the troopers could only kill bugs, not humans, and even then they could not ambush the bugs but had to be engaging in defensive battles. The narrator often tells us how badly the war is going, but that seems rather silly as we never see anybody get killed. In addition, the guns could not seem gun-like because the filmmakers were concerned that some kid might pick up a gun and shoot somebody after watching their cartoon. However, although ostensibly aimed at kids, it is clear that the series was actually intended for adults. There is a sophisticated story arc that most kids would have trouble following, and bad things happen to a number of major characters--one appears to go insane, another is paralyzed, a third turns into a bug, and a fourth is killed. This is not Spongebob Squarepants. I thought that the storytelling was weakest for The Hydora Campaign but got stronger by the middle and later episodes. In addition, the troopers' tactics also made a lot more sense. They started using diversions and feints and some really clever solutions to fighting the bugs. And their weapons were also more sophisticated than what we saw at first. They were still missing some obvious weapons, like radar-guided gatling guns, but the combat eventually started to make sense. All in all, I enjoyed this series much more than I did the movie.
Rating:
Summary: BRING THIS BACK TO TV
Review: The Starship Trooper Chronicles are one of the greatest series ever made and should be put back on T.V. immediatley. Never before have i been so attached to an animated series like have this one. It brings the developed storyline of an anime and the American styled shootem up action film in one. Not only is their great character development but a great entertainment; that is why i feel Roughnecks should be put back on T.V. immediatley.
Rating:
Summary: this is the best ever
Review: I never saw this one on television or in the store, and I rented this on impulse! And boy am I glad I did! Pluto Campaign, was really neat! The animation top notch, the voice-acting really excellent. My father, a big fan of Starship Troopers, (the novel) was really impressed with the computerized animation, and he hates all animation! The story: Numerous encounters between the hardened marines nicknamed "Roughnecks" and the alien invaders a.k.a "bugs" Characters introduced are: Jonny Rico, Dizzy, Sarge and others. The bugs have invaded Pluto and its up to the Roughnecks to help out! The only thing I disliked was the fact that there were no casualties amongst the marines, not even serious injuries. In order for the bug threat to be believable, some humans must be injured at the very least seriously hurt. (I understand however, the producers desire to shield younger audience members from 'realistic' violence, but I felt this aspect of 'war' should not be quite so candy-coated). I liked the budding romance between Dizzy and one of the other troopers. Great work! can't wait for the next one!
Rating:
Summary: Wow hard SCIFI was never like this
Review: Being a Robetert Heinline fan from Childhood I had read Starship Troopers as a kid. Actually reread it many times as a kid and had all kinds of fantasys about the battle sequences and the hardware and equipment involved.
BUT with Verhoevens vision coming to CGI and this story being his target, My fantasys have come very close to life. Having seen the entire set of six DVD's I must admit this first episode Pluto was a bit slow compared to the following DVD stories. I wont recap it because that has been done before.
BUt I will say that if your a hard SciFi Fan and love to see alien species come to life and the combat scenarios that would go with that experience then this first movie is for you.
Less gory than the movie Starship Troopers, little blood and few severed limbs, but heck the action is non-stop, the bullets and weaponry rattle endlessly and you will be out of breath by halfway through the first half hour.
The only thumb down would be the sense of repetition that occurs about 3/4 of the way into the DVD. All that action can't possibly be sustained for that long without some kind of R&R for these poor troopers. But it does happen and it all seems to happen in the short space of a few days on Pluto. It does wear on a guys nerves a bit, just gimme a break and say something more than "Hey Rico", "Watch your back" or "Bugs!"
It is long and that has some disadvantages to guys like me. As I tend to stay glued to the screen when I sit down to watch something like this. I can get myopia after a while and can't see anything around me for a few moments after the show ends.
YES this gets 4 big tentacles up for GREAT CGI Animation, story line, character building (though it was a bit slow), staying so close to the novels original hardware vision, and the characters and one wiggly tentacle down for repetitive scenarios.
| 
