Cool News
HEADS UP: "Starship Troopers" series premiere delayed on Sci Fi Channel !!!
Glen here...
Several days ago, I reported that the Starship Troopers animated series would
premiere on the Sci Fi Channel Friday August 27.
This premiere has been delayed until Monday August 30 - which means ST will now
debut on Sci Fi the same day it debuts everywhere else across the country. ST should
still be airing at the 7:30 a.m. timeslot on Sci Fi.
Here's a message I received, explaining the scheduling change:
"Due to some schedule changes at Bohbot Kids Network,
Starship Troopers
won't debut until Monday, 8/30. On 8/27 we'll be showing
four episodes of Roswell Conspiracies."
So, it's coming folks. We're just gonna have to wait a little longer...
Glen
If you send a message to the above address & bounces back to you,
address!
Or call:
(512) 347-1992
Mail can be sent to:
Glen Oliver
P.O. BOX 160812
Austin, TX 78716-0812
USA
P.O. BOX 160812
Austin, TX 78716-0812
USA
Austin, TX 78716-0812
USA
USA
-
+ Expand All
-
Sour Grapes:
We will probably never see ST series down here in Australia (frequent readers of my work will notice I never use "OZ" as I find it a degrading word to be honest) so HA HA HA for having to wait a few more days for it. I will gladly accept any offers to encode episodes and send them to me (anyone in the states listening??) Oh well.. Enjoy it I guess. I doubt I will.... -
So, did the producers hire the Iron Giant marketing team away from Warner Brothers or something? I would have never heard about this if not for AICN/CoAx.
-
Thank God for VCR's. I would have really been pissed off if had gotten up at 4.30 AM PDT. Instead all I wasted was 30 minutes of tape time. Just one more reason to prove how stupid it is to watch live broadcast of TV shows.
-
I was wondering what happened. I got early just for this reason. I did watch the show that was on, not too bad. Saw a commercial for ST, looked good. Hope they don't delay it again.
-
Dude.. If I gotta wait until Monday, I can do that... geez! Yeah, I want it now, if I could have it now - but I'm not complainin'. My kids are syked and ready, too! I told them it was made like Reboot, only better. But when they saw a few clips this morning from the show, my nine-year-old mistook the characters for real people. Yeah, they were just showing action sequences, so no, we didn't get to see how well facial expressions come across. Got to see several bug sequences tho', and that has them (and me) wanting more. But I can wait (not like there's a choice). It's gunna be solid, man. All you bitchers and moaners, prepare to eat crow. Foundation will are doing fine with this project. And as the series hasn't even started, I would say that the comment about all the episodes not being finished rates a "duh". My other source (other than AICN) has told me what's what with where the series will go, and some of what - at that time - had been completed and where others stood. Things are probably crazy in that dept of FI right now, getting the show off th'ground and all. I can just imagine the buzz in the office. Foundation's survival, should this fail? (As if.) I don't know what all rides on this shows success. I won't even begin to speculate that. I just try to remind myself that this isn't the only thing FI is doing. FX houses don't do just one thing at a time. Nor two. Nor three. Surely. It's just not logical to hold yerself back like that, personally, or in business. Anyhow... My vcr and I will be there Monday mornin'while waiting for school. Might think about the 7am timeslot, rather than the 730. Even the kid that lives across the street from the school wouldn't get to see the end of the episode without taping or being late. :)
-
That's right. Yak vomit. Also, rhinocerous bile. This thing sucks pathetic monkey dicks. The money spent on it *could* have gone to, say, Crusade, which is pretty damn cool after all (despite the early eps), or to stamping out all remnants of Sliders worldwide. Instead: this... this... yak vomit.
-
I can't wait to see this show! A computer animated series about bugs. It's gonna be kinda like a TV version of A Bug's Life, right?
-
In New York it's on Monday through Friday at 6:00 AM !!!! 6:00 AM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SIX O FREAKIN CLOCK IN THE MORNING!!!!
FANTASTIC TIMESLOT GUYS!!!!!
Somebody is forgeting the huge success GIJoe & Transformers were as after school shows. In NY it's on the WB, the same network that shows Batman/Superman. I'm sorry, Starship Troopers should follow that show dammit!!! -
What the hell? Why is Sci-Fi wasting time and money on crap like this? Its a sci-fi show, that will appeal to sci-fi viewers, not little kids. And I sure as hell am not getting up at 7am to watch a ST cartoon. This money would be better spent on Crusade. Its as simple as that. What kind of happy horseshit IS this?
-
No Starship Troopers!!! >grumble< Only just that Robocop: Alpha Command cartoon. I hope SCIFI channel will have it at 7:30.
-
Mikeling's right.
Starship Troopers wasn't on WPIX in NY.
I got up at 5 AM just to make sure everything was right. As the final moments ticked away, I hit the record button. Then, my hear sank. Instead of Starship Troopers, which I've been hyping ever since I first heard the announcement of its development a while ago on AICN, there was a rerun of Robocop.
Frustrated, I went to www.wb11.com. They say that it's airing, but it's not. -
Yeah, I'll definetely have to tune in every 4:30 for this. I'm an early bird, so it ain't all bad now :)
Saw it on Sci-fi and it looks very promising. The animation is great. Characters are not quite as fluid as Mainframe's work on War Planets, but the deatail and mechanical work is astounding. It is very Epic in feel, and the bugs are still as menacing in this PG-rated incarnation.
Lots of tension, great music, and good carryover from both Heinlein and the film.
Later -
Robocop cartoons & Beastwars,
two of the worst cartoons ever was on instead of Troopers!?!?
What the fuck is going on?! It was listed in the TV Guide channel at 6am, fucking Roughnecks, so why did they get us up early just to pull a fast one?! -
I live in California, so it airs at 4:30am for me. I set my vcr to record, and boy was I a happy camper when I woke up. It is awesome. I really enjoyed it. I won't ruin the episode for you. It appears to ignore the movie entirely, which is good.
I am a little confused as to when the next epsidoe is? Is it tommorrow? next week? was this just a preview? the guide says that Battlestar Galatica is on tommorrow. It did list roughnecks on for today? I hope it's on tommorrow. -
After not seeing it on WPIX, I checked with SCIFI channel at 7:30 and it was on! :o) I wonder if we missed maybe one episode, perhaps the one that would have been aired on friday originally? Seemed like there were flashbacks and references to events from a previous episode.
-
It is on at 4:30am on the west coast! Set your VCR everyone! Actually, it is better to tape it. That way you can fast forward thru the commercials.
-
Does anyone know the chitown airings? We have 3 channels showing WB in some capacity or other, and WBkids.com has no info. Same with scifi.com. It is stupid that something so ready for an audience can't be promoted properly. And where's Gorgar?
-
Just watched it, and loved it, the best part was when they showed the "video camera" view, which looked more like video tape than the rest of the show. Nice touch of realism.
-
This show shows potential. I wish Crusade did. I think that Crusade would fare better if it stopped trying to be Starblazers with Gary Cole. Damn, even the captains of the ships have the same name. Good for SciFi for revamping their mornings from Infomercials like they did when they first aired. I appreciate the fact that they are willing to explore new media and not just the most popular, like some channels. The episode was good but I think they are airing them out of sequence, which may not be good, I dunno. Here's hoping that Roughnecks and other comp-gen shows like it get more seasons with better stories and cinematic effects.
-
Saw the first ep of Roughnecks: Starship Troupers chronicals today. Wow!! Surprisingly intense for a childrens timeslot though. But well written and the cgi was nearly flawless.
-
* - Wow, the soundtrack sucks! Especially the Enya-esque number, ick. What is UP with using these lousy New Agey scores for CG sci-fi series (Crusade also comes to mind)? I can see it know with Episode II: Armies of Jedi fighting Sith and Mandalorians...set to Yanni. The soundtrack MUST be changed on Roughnecks! * - The opening credits blow too. I'm spoiled by the excellent opening for Batman Beyond -- such energy and attitude immediately established there. But with Roughnecks, it's just a series of listlessly edited together shots set to the lousy music! * - The action just doesn't have the visceral punch that the movie presented. Are the animators not allowed to depict the Bugs getting ripped apart by the Troopers' gunfire, or is the utterly lame way that the Bugs are shown being brought down a way to cut back on animation rendering time? Whatever the reason, I get more of a thrill watching somebody else blowing away shit in Quake than watching this. * - The hardware design and animation is impressive, definitely. A number of the scenes looked very realistic, almost live-action like. But the humans' faces are definitely CG, and I would hope we'll get to see more of the characters WITHOUT their helmets. Obviously, this is done to cut back the rendering time and complexity of creating the CG. But the overall effect is that everybody is hard to identify from one another. * - I'll definitely keep watching to see how the plot plays itself out over the course of 13 weeks (and to see if the animators will be able to keep producing new episodes on a regular basis).
-
* - Wow, the soundtrack sucks! Especially the Enya-esque number, ick. What is UP with using these lousy New Agey scores for CG sci-fi series (Crusade also comes to mind)? I can see it know with Episode II: Armies of Jedi fighting Sith and Mandalorians...set to Yanni. The soundtrack MUST be changed on Roughnecks! * - The opening credits blow too. I'm spoiled by the excellent opening for Batman Beyond -- such energy and attitude immediately established there. But with Roughnecks, it's just a series of listlessly edited together shots set to the lousy music! * - The action just doesn't have the visceral punch that the movie presented. Are the animators not allowed to depict the Bugs getting ripped apart by the Troopers' gunfire, or is the utterly lame way that the Bugs are shown being brought down a way to cut back on animation rendering time? Whatever the reason, I get more of a thrill watching somebody else blowing away shit in Quake than watching this. * - The hardware design and animation is impressive, definitely. A number of the scenes looked very realistic, almost live-action like. But the humans' faces are definitely CG, and I would hope we'll get to see more of the characters WITHOUT their helmets. Obviously, this is done to cut back the rendering time and complexity of creating the CG. But the overall effect is that everybody is hard to identify from one another. * - I'll definitely keep watching to see how the plot plays itself out over the course of 13 weeks (and to see if the animators will be able to keep producing new episodes on a regular basis).
-
Definitely a mixed bag. Some great visuals, but a strange lack of impact to the action. Obviously, they're dealing with some constraints on the violence, to the point of having "Razak" declare that the bugs "are not life as we know it." Presumably, this'll make the wholesale slaughter more palatable, and they hedge their bets further by not showing damage to the bugs, which just sort of tip over when shot enough times. -- Overall, the design work isn't bad. The troopers' suits actually look a bit like some of the earlier illustrations from the book, which I found to be a nice touch. The character faces are kind of disturbing. -- It's a shame this has to be a kids' show. I have to cringe at military jargon like "R-Triple-D. Really Deep Doo-Doo." I'm sure they wanted to take things further, but what're you gonna do? If the movie had done just a little better, this might've been an hour-long live action show.
-
I can't believe it. The new series has Reduced the RPM's of heinlein's grave! The armor is back! the bugs are smarter! And hear the elusive Skinnies are coming out of hiding! So what if the guy who died on pluto came back to life as a psychic MI Grunt. I would have thought him more valueable than that. Gee; You come back from the stomach of a big bug and all you get is a draft order. Now if only we can save Ep. II from that race of retarded, flop-eared, scaly ewoks, the gungans, then maybe Science fiction has a chance of survival. Now if only MST#K could get their puppets on the verhoven film.... they could begin again.
But i digress..... SST:Bug wars(roughnecks?) is a great show in the eyes of this MI fan. -
In defence of the Roughnecks!
By now, all Citizens should have received the time-delayed feed from Pluto. We all had our unique expectations for this project. A wait of nearly two years... for some: "Alll-rrright! Damn cool! Keep it going! Getting my Troopers 'fix' never felt soo good! Yeeeaaah-Babby! Yeeah!" You get the idea. For others, they had the "Phantom Letdown Again Sydrome Effect" or... "PLEASE". :-)
Here are my observations, and why they might have handeled it the way they did.
1, Exploding Bugs. Remember it's a "kid's" show. In light of the receint school shootings, I think they were correct in not glorifying the splattered, dismembered, twitch-of-death gore from the film. Not having the rounds "impact" the body, in a way, takes the "fun" out of shooting something.
2, Space laser sounding Morita's. See above. It removes the gore-effect and impact of shooting and killing something. Also, if they hold 100's of rounds, they would be smaller caliber (caseless) rounds.
3, Less face-shots. Theyre in space, they're soldiers. They have armor and helmets on. It's only the first episode...
4, The music. The teaser trailer I saw at AnimeExpo'99, had a soundtrack that shifted your butt to the edge of the seat! Kind of a techno-industrial sound, a-la "Blade". Here in California, the show airs at 4:30am... maybe not the best time to "crank-it". But I hope they put it on the soundtrack. Maybe when it goes to DVD.
All I know is... I'm recording it simultaneously on SVHS and Super-Betamax! Then watching it durring breakfast...
FYI: For those of you who know, I have a web page: "www.TrooperPX.com". This week I will be uploading the episode timeline first draft from 10/97, early chara and mecha designs as well as possible character developments. Please stop by and say hi to a fellow Citizen.
-
...as well as the SciFi channel at 4:30AM.
-
I thought it was pretty good for a sci-fi show, BUT they should dump the kiddie angle tho and pump it up. As it it now, you know its been watered down like a movie theater soda.
The animation was top notch. It didn't have the half done feel of shows like War Planets or Voltron show where it seems they skip details in animation. In Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles it really looks great. They totally detailed out every scene, character, weapons systems, etc. I loved the drop scene, the new Heavy Weapons Mechanized robots, the dropships, etc. I look foward to the battles shown in the opening sequence ( the battle on a collapsing bridge, a narrow escape in a APC, etc.). I will definitely TAPE the show and keep it.
SCI-FI CHANNEL change it's air time. 4:30 AM is INSANE!!! Its a great show with great promise, move it to late afternoons / early evenings. AND dump the kiddie angle! -
This show is cool. Well done. Facial animations aren't the hottest, but the fact that this is a daily CG cartoon makes up for that fact ;)
Judging by that fact alone, this series is pretty damn amazing. I feel sorry for the fine folks at Foundation...
About the gore: The first few bug deaths in the first episode were completely gore free. Sparks coming off the shells as the rounds hit were about it. Even then, it was hard to tell what was happening. Later on, the green bug blood splatters became much more prominent.
In episode two, it is getting MUCH closer to the film. Bugs breaking into gooey parts, visible green blob bullet impacts, bugs getting smashing in doors and the resulting splatter, bug blood splattering on trooper helmets. Yup. Damn tasty. I hope the show keeps it up and shows Trooper fatality soon. Some of those pretty boys (and girls) have gotta go ;)
As far as the PG elements. It works. It's good sci-fi adventure fun. I loved the flick, in my own way. It is NOT a stupid film. Sure, it tries hard to convince you it is, but it has a bit of an aggenda.
Language? The film didn't have any bad words, and neither does the tv show. Their exclamations are as funny here as they were on the big screen.
I miss the ultra-violence and sexual overtones, but this show doesn't need them. For a cartoon, aimed at the male kidlet, it is pretty damn nifty. Can't wait for the parental figures to jump on this one. Way more intense than most cartoon fare.
Gorgeous visuals, decent dialogue and humor, and I like the music. It works for me. And Enya? C'mon, that didn't sound a thing like ENYA. More like the diva from fifth element... Classical meets techno.
Later -
This show is cool. Well done. Facial animations aren't the hottest, but the fact that this is a daily CG cartoon makes up for that fact ;)
Judging by that fact alone, this series is pretty damn amazing. I feel sorry for the fine folks at Foundation...
About the gore: The first few bug deaths in the first episode were completely gore free. Sparks coming off the shells as the rounds hit were about it. Even then, it was hard to tell what was happening. Later on, the green bug blood splatters became much more prominent.
In episode two, it is getting MUCH closer to the film. Bugs breaking into gooey parts, visible green blob bullet impacts, bugs getting smashing in doors and the resulting splatter, bug blood splattering on trooper helmets. Yup. Damn tasty. I hope the show keeps it up and shows Trooper fatality soon. Some of those pretty boys (and girls) have gotta go ;)
As far as the PG elements. It works. It's good sci-fi adventure fun. I loved the flick, in my own way. It is NOT a stupid film. Sure, it tries hard to convince you it is, but it has a bit of an aggenda.
Language? The film didn't have any bad words, and neither does the tv show. Their exclamations are as funny here as they were on the big screen.
I miss the ultra-violence and sexual overtones, but this show doesn't need them. For a cartoon, aimed at the male kidlet, it is pretty damn nifty. Can't wait for the parental figures to jump on this one. Way more intense than most cartoon fare.
Gorgeous visuals, decent dialogue and humor, and I like the music. It works for me. And Enya? C'mon, that didn't sound a thing like ENYA. More like the diva from fifth element... Classical meets techno.
Later -
It's too early to know what the series will look like from just the two episodes. The show is way more ambitious than anything done on TV so far. With the exception of Beastwars, none of the other all-CG3d series is a daily show and that one isn't attempting photorealistic humans and environments. I doubt there are many animators with mainframe's series experience out there for foundation & flat earth to hire, so doing work like this and in such a short length of time is a totally new experience. They are doing hundreds of scenes episode in a very VERY short length of time each, so they don't have ANY TIME TO SPARE to finesse the stuff. This probably means they will take the experience to the next episode and hopeful do it right that time, and so on and so forth. Anything short of an onscreen disaster would probably stay in I suspect. Later on, when it's being done better/faster due to experience and it'll be when we could gauge the success of the animation work done on the show.
-
.. except for the Sci-Fi Channel.
I spoke earlier with the woman in charge of the programming department at WPIX 11 in NYC and she told me that due to some last minute changes in the contract from the distributor they would not be airing the show as they had planned nor the several other animated shows that were part of the package.
I asked if the changes had anything to do with Sci-Fi also showing the program on the Cable Systems and she said that she did not know the nature of the changes only that the contract fell through and that they would not be airing the show at all.
So.. if you are in NYC and don't have Sci-Fi (weekdays at 7:30am) you are S.O.L.... -
For those people who liked the show, just so you know they have only produced about 7 episodes right now. Here is the scedule:
Mon 8/30 - #101
Tue 8/31 - #102
Wed 9/1 - #103
Thu 9/2 - #112
Fri 9/3 - #104
Mon 9/6 - #103 (again)
Tue 9/7 - #112 (again)
Wed 9/8 - #113 (woowoo new ep)
Thu 9/9 - #105 (2 in a row!)
Fri 9/10 - #106 (3 in a row!)
Mon 9/13 - #104 (again)
Tue 9/14 - #101 (again)
Wed 9/15 - #102 (again)
Thu 9/16 - #114 (new ep!)
Fri 9/17 - #107 (2 in a row!)
Mon 9/20 - #113 (*sigh*)
Tue 9/21 - #106 (*sigh*)
Wed 9/22 - #105 (again)
Thu 9/23 - #103 (o man)
Fri 9/24 - #112 (that week sucks)
Mon 9/27 - #114 (nother repeat)
Tue 9/28 - #107
Wed 9/29 - #104
Thu 9/30 - #101 (3rd time)
Fri 10/1 - #102 (3rd time again)
5 weeks and only 10 episodes. Not a very livly scedule!
Happy viewing!
for those who really like the show and would like nice edited copies, send me an email
dest_2000@yahoo.com -
Just wandered to the SciFi site and have a DIFFERENT schedule from what was posted! First off, Roughnecks is only showing MONDAY THRU THURSDAY! Friday is a different block of shows (Double Dragon, Street Sharks, Rambo and Roswell Cons.) The shedule they have for the rest of the month is 12 New episodes...
8/30 - Freefall *
8/31 - Plasma Bugs of Navarone *
9/1 - Handle With Care *
9/2 - Stranded *
9/6 - Handle With Care *
9/7 - Stranded
9/8 - Of Flesh and Steel *
9/9 - Deep Trouble *
9/13 - Basic Training *
9/14 - Freefall
9/15 - Plasma Bugs of Navarone
9/16 - Captured *
9/20 - Of Flesh and Steel *
9/21 - Water, Water Everywhere *
9/22 - Deep Trouble
9/23 - Handle With Care
9/27 - Captured
9/28 - Swarm *
9/29 - Basic Training
9/30 - Freefall
(I hope that didn't get screwed up..) Now can we match the Episode titles to the production numbers? Where's a web site for this?
FYI. I'm capturing these straight from Digital Cable to MPEG-1 format and making NTSC VCD's, three at a time.. if you're somewhere they DON'T show it..
(left as an exercise to the reader)
-
Yeah, I'm liking this show more and more. This episode was far and away the best in terms of production, story, and fun factor. The Roughnecks have a bitchy new intelligence CO, which pisses off Razak to no end. They have to capture a live baby plasma bug, and transport it to a pre-planned pick up zone. The fun starts with diversionary tactics to storm the nest. They find the baby, but it wants to fight back, and even though it's an infant, it's the size of a truck. They manage to tranquilize it in the ass, but only right before it was about to expel plasma poop, so it's a ticking time bomb now, and a live wire.
The troopers manage to salvage some shipping vehicles, and begin to transport, but first they have to cross plasma bug territory. Very cool chase scene, and very intense visuals. Then comes a derelict bridge (seen in the opening). It's been neglected for what looks like years, and has been weathered by Pluto's atmospherics, i.e ICE. Not only is it a slippery son of a bitch, it's rusted and falling to pieces. Razak volunteers Rico to transport the bug across.
Needless to say, all hell breaks loose, wasp like bugs swarm in and attack, the transport gets stuck, and the baby bug wakes up.
An incredible action scene follows with them crossing with Razak's fast thinking, while bug warriors swarm the bridge.
One trooper slips and falls on an ice patch while launching a grenade at the oncoming swarm, blowing the bridge apart in the middle. The resulatant chaos was damn cool.
What follows is a mad dask through rough territory with an explosive bug on board, with adult plasma bug's attacking from behind. Very impressive camera work.
They finally make it to the drop ship, and load the baby on board. Razak watches on a monitor as several battalions flee, and the bugs gain ground on them. He goes against orders and drops the baby bug on other plasma bugs, resulting in an economic and tactical explosion, saving the MI troopers.
Very fun episode, got to see a trooper go down in battle (in a maurader at the beginning), bug deaths are getting more gruesome and inhumane ;), nice flying bug splatters, and overall, a super-fast, action packed 30 minutes of television. It REALLY doesn't seem like a PG-rated cartoon to me, of course that's just my opinion.
This show keeps looking better and better. Kinda sad to hear they'll be jumping episodes around, but what can ya do?
Later -
Well kids.. I JUST ABOUT got the air schedule figured out on this.. as a side note, those of you with DIRECT TV have the one chance to get the show.. those with DISHNETWORK get it either 2 or 3 times a day (huh? just a minute, I'll explain).
Alright... it APPEARS that the NORMAL SYNDICATION SCHEDULE is for 5 days a week, with the Rambo/Street Sharks/Roswell block showing on Saturdays. SCIFI channel is only going for a 4-DAY run on Troopers, with the other block on Saturday (saving their Saturday morning for infomercials.. oh joy).
So.. that means that BOTH the schedules posted above are right.. The SCIFI run will miss the 1st showings of #104, #106 and #107 (Fridays) and not get them till a coupla week later. CONFUSED? I thought you might be :) For anyone keeping score.. this APPEARS to be the episode/title listing as best as can be determined (I WISH I could format columns in here.. oh well)#101/Freefall *
#102/Plasma Bugs of Navarone *
#103/Handle With Care *
#104/Basic Training *
#105/Deep Trouble *
#106/Water, Water Everywhere *
#107/Swarm *
#112/Stranded *
#113/Of Flesh and Steel *
#114/Captured *
-
I have totally enjoyed the first 3 eps of Roughnecks, but I failed to notice something. Has anyone seen a credit for Robert Heinlein? Isn't this show based upon his novel "Starship Troopers"?
-
Bohbot did it again! They have changed the syndicated feed schedule again. Looks like eps 105 and 106 have been delayed. I will post again when I get the revised sched. *sigh*
-
Ninja Nerd reporting from the Cultural Center Of The Universe.
I've now seen the first 3 episodes of "Roughnecks" on Sci-Fi Channel ( 6:30 a.m. !! ) and have a preliminary reaction.
You should know that I own several copies of the original Heinlein book and I've read it at LEAST a dozen times. In addition, I served in the military during VietNam (yes, I'm really old). I suppose this contributed to the fact that the movie basically sucked rocks for me. The decision to forgo the powered suits still astounds me; only one of the coolest things ABOUT the book. Robert Heinlein would have kicked ass if he had survived to see that big budget stupidity.
Now, the animated version hits the airwaves in the form of "Roughnecks:The Starship Trooper Chronicles".
At the outset, this version does NOT suck rocks. It appears to be closer to what RAH intended. There are elements from the film; the plasma bugs squirting blue flame from their posteriors, Flores is (a) a girl and (b) still alive, the pretentious Xander Barcalow Fleet officer character that gets brain sucked in the movie, and the overall look of the bugs themselves (this is a good thing...that was one thing the movie designers did RIGHT)
The first three episodes have been on Pluto and feel a LOT like "Space:Above And Beyond". The bugs are menacing, the music grows on you, and this definitely has potential. The voice acting is average. Since the characters are in body armor or suits 95% of the time, it's hard to get a feel for individuals, even Rico, Flores, etc.
Minor quibbles:
(1) Lt. Raczack is a character, still alive, and in charge of the Roughnecks. However, his name on his helmet is spelled "Razak".
(2) In ep 2. Xander was MAJOR Barcalow, today in ep. 3, he's a Lieutenant.
(3) No flashbacks, etc. detailing Colonel Dubuois, Camp Curry and basic training, Sgt. Zim, etc. as of yet.
(4) Very dark overall; watch it on a large TV if possible.
(5) This is a little intense for younger kids.
Overall, I can live with this incarnation of Troopers. I'm anxious to see the other 37 episodes at least. And I think Heinlein would have at least tolerated if not approved of this version.
-
I'm sticking with watching this series but, I dunno I guess it's just me, the CG humans are still disconcerting for me to watch. I simply have a hard time relating to any of these characters beyond their voices. Perhaps the series should have incorporated real actors, a la Power Rangers (young, squeaky clean cast). The show would still be primarily CG, but whenever they need close-ups of the characters for dialogue sequences, you shoot footage of the actors, in uniform, standing against a green-screen set. Long shots of the troopers battling it out would still be in CG. There would be no "real" set -- just a green-screen set with various ramps, boxes, walls, etc. that could be arranged for whatever position is required for specific shots. They wouldn't need to use film, just shoot it on digital video. Sure the overall effect might be cheesy but if done well it could be cheesy in that Power Rangers sort of way (thus pulling in the kiddies), while the intense CG action draws in the older set. To me, it looks like it would be easier on the animators if they didn't have to bother with the characters themselves, just worry about the vehicles, bugs, soldiers and overall environment. Also, they should switch off the simulated film grain look they're trying to go for with the animation -- it makes everything look mucky and hard to see! Oh, yeah, the music still blows.
-
Oh, yeah, one more bitch: I'm glad to see that the Bugs are getting torn apart a little by the Troopers' gunfire, but, goshdarnit!, there needs to be more, as much carnage as can be slid by S&P! It still feels like I'm watching Orkin Men: The CG Series.
-
Nicole de Boer(sp) looks great as the cgi Carmen, don't you think?
I'm surprised at how much I like the show. It does a good job of incorporating the book's tech with tbe flick's take on the bugs. While it's seems to side step the facist crap of the book ( I haven't seen the first episode yet), the characters are fairly diverse racially, and I like the way the neutral way the Fed military is portrayed. And did I mention how cute Carmen is? We're talking Dot Matrix range... and she isn't even green.
This show is fun, and deserves a good run. And if anyone gets irritated about me calling Heinleins ST facist, well, sorry, but you gotta call it as you see it. I didn't like the book much, enjoyed the movies slightly subversive tone and and decent action. The 'toon seems to have a bit of humanity too it, more so than either of the previous ST incarnations.
Bring on some more! -
Is it just me or was a whole new, non bug alien race introduced? Those constrictors do NOT look like they come from the same bug speciies. They also seemed to be carrying weapons. Did I see right?
-
This episode was damn cool. New locale, and two new bad creatures to kill in the name of whatever. The skinnies looked a lot like Protoss from Starcraft, or is that the other way around ;)
They had on tribal looking outfits and these kick ass new constrictor guns, which crunches the trooper outfits but good.
I'd like to see more of the Skinnies, 'cause in this episode they're just barely there as enemies. By the way, the 'undergrowth' and new planet looked splendid. The 'lava planet' look was unique and provided for some cool scenarios. I liked Razak's raft.
Speaking of the ol' Roughneck, you get to learn what happened to his last outfit. Not too pretty.
The other new bad guy, the acid bug provided for some cool new visual flourishes. They are like the aliens from alien(s), only their acid looks way cooler. The sight of them dissolving the stronghold from top to bottom was a sight, and the effect worked well.
Overall, another intense and fun episode, but it was over too fast for me. So many new developments, coupled with an action storyline made it hard to follow, and repeat viewings a necessity.
I can understand why dialogue and human drama have been limited, but I think I have yet to see a reflective moment or a dramatic pause (beat) in the whole show :)
All work (2 hours of rest in the the utopian future :( I'll pass, I like sleep) and no time to even blink. Poor MI troopers.
Keep up the great work Foundation, and I'll keep watching!
Later -
In looking at the Sci-Fi Channel's schedulebot for this series, and comparing it with a station in Sacramento, CA, it looks like in the month, we'll only see ten original episodes of STARSHIP TROOPERS.
Four aired this week, two air next week, two air the week after that. The remaining two are hidden in a wealth of reruns of the other episodes.
For people keeping track:
101 - Freefall
102 - Plasma Bugs of Navarone
103 - Handle With Care
104 - Stranded
105 - Of Flesh and Steel
106 - Deep Trouble
I'll post more titles as they come my way.
-
This may not be the best place to ask this, but I'll risk getting flamed on my first post to AICN.
Does anyone know where you can find a lising of the episodes of R:STC on line. Since the SCIFI channel in their infinate wisdom isn't showing them on Fridays, I am in the position of taping them off the repeats to keep them in order.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Thanks -
This is a U.S. cartoon, right? Well, where are all the new toys? This would be a great opertunity to make some cool, and actually accurate ones. They have all the 3-D stuff in the computer, all they need is to get it to market. Heck, I bought all the crappy action figures that Galoob put out (the mecha and bugs were great, but the figures wern't in any scale... didn't go with any of the bugs, and couldn't be posed worth-a-damn). That's why we originaly made Roughneck Joe: to satisfy our own need for a good action figure. If they can make a Tarzan figure with a jet-pack-rocket-launcher-grappling hook, they can make us Citizens some decent toys to play with.
-
Okay. Watched this one on WB. It is new to my eyes, but the episode I saw yesterday seems to come much after this one, as it is on a new planet with a new enemy. This still looks to be on Pluto, but adds a lot more story. Very cool, will write up a bit later... I'm not sure what this one is called, or where it goes in chronological order...
-
In case you didn't know, there is a Starship Troopers newsgroup at: rec.arts.sf-lovers.starshiptroopers
If you don't know how to access newsgroups, you can also access it via your web browser at: news:rec.arts.sf-lovers.starshiptroopers
-
anyone else notice how the animation tends to get choppy in a lot of the non-combat scenes? it's not a big problem, but it is a little annoying...
I also don't like the 7:30 timeslot... 6:30 (EST) would be much better in my case, but I don't expect it to change -
**** News Flash!! **** Hey Citizens! Check your local listings. I'm in Los Angeles, and guess what's comming to regular TV. Yes, Roughnecks will be on KCAL-9 starting this Tuesday (Sept. 7), at 7:30am PST. It would have started Monday, but it's the Jerry MS-Telethon... Hey, twice a day!
-
This isn't Starship Troopers related (and I still haven't seen the damn series 'cause WPIX dropped out at the last minute), but I'm trying to spread the news that RONIN WARRIORS WILL PREMIERE ON CARTOON NETWORK SEPTEMBER 27TH!!!
-
I have it on good authority that Flat Earth did the 2 episodes that were on the Desert/Lava planet. Flat Earth also shared the task of building the bugs and hardware with Foundation Imaging. Foundation built all the characters and handled Pluto while Flat Earth was going to handle Tophet "The Desert/Lava Planet."
-
The Sept 7th edition of Mania magazine's Trailer park has details on the first 20 episodes with more info promised for Friday. Also, previous schedule postings are now obsolete at least for the SFC, which changed their schedules on Tuesday. Url for Trailer Park is http://www.anotheruniverse.com/columns/park/park090799.html
Recent editions of their Animated Shorts columns have info on Troopers and Roswell Conspiracies.
http://www.anotheruniverse.com/columns/animated/animated082799.html
and
http://www.anotheruniverse.com/columns/animated/animated091099.html
-
I totally missed out on this one, I am a big fan of the Robert Heinlein book, the movie was alright, even if it did lose the entire focus of the book for sake of big effects, sex, and violence (all good things!).
We don't get the WB where I live, so I can't comment on Batman Beyond (no SMG either)but Reboot season 3 has to be one of my favorites animated series (season 1 and 2 were OK). Right now I am waiting for new eps of DBZ on the 13th. -
Here's the current schedule of episodes for the rest of the month as listed on SciFi.com:
Mon 9/13 - #104 - Basic Training
Tue 9/14 - #103 - Handle With Care
Wed 9/15 - #101 - Freefall
Thu 9/16 - #102 - Plasma Bugs of Navarone
Mon 9/20 - #112 - Stranded
Tue 9/21 - #??? -
Wow! "Basic Training" (this Monday) was the best episode so far. It gave us great views of the MI pressure suits that they wear under the armor. Cool! I love details like that, and for those guys to give it enough attention to do it well. I also liked the unit markings on the chest of the other squad. Give-it-up for the shoulder-mounted Gatling Morita!
Good to see everyone's face at last. Good body shots. I liked the part where Dizzy helps him off (by putting his arm over her shoulder)... good interaction, good movement.
I don't know what to do about this schedule. I have both VCRs set just in case they change their minds again. But, hey! I think I finally got most of the saught-out details under one roof. Stop by and visit: http://www.trooperpx.com/Collect/imgcolec/Story/series.html
Thanks, Citizens... -
Sep 20, 1999 9:02:09 AM CDT
We've been screwed!!! Roughnecks gone from SciFi in October?!?!?
by h.m.murdock
DAMMIT!.. Just checked the November schedule and Roughnecks HAS BEEN PULLED!!! What do we get instead??? 'Sonic Underground', 'Jumanji' and 'Beakmans World'??? What kind of happy horse pucky is this? Who knows who to call at SciFi? Beuler???
Anyone who's getting the show off another souces PLEASE CONTACT ME.. I want to continue to make the 'definative archive' on VCD of the show... Need someone to tape in VHS-SP/SVHS with all openings/closing/commercials intact... -
DAMMIT!.. Just checked the November schedule and Roughnecks HAS BEEN PULLED!!! What do we get instead??? 'Sonic Underground', 'Jumanji' and 'Beakmans World'??? What kind of happy horse pucky is this? Who knows who to call at SciFi? Beuler???
Anyone who's getting the show off another souces PLEASE CONTACT ME.. I want to continue to make the 'definative archive' on VCD of the show... Need someone to tape in VHS-SP/SVHS with all openings/closing/commercials intact... -
After 10 calls trying to get past the inoperative voice mail system.. I finally got someone at Viewer Services at SciFi.. and they were totally clueless as to what's going on... confirmed: Roughnecks is GONE as of end of the month.. reason - totally unknown... Confirmed: Lame schedule (Jumanji, Sonic Underground, Monster Rancher, Beakmans World) for October AND November. Confirmed: TOTALLY SOMETHING ELSE IN DECEMBER and it DOES NOT include Roughnecks...
Way to go SciFi.. get a good series and screw it up and not even give a reason why...
Start those emails and calls people.. let's find out WHO is screwing us here... -
Well, this is all UNCONFIRMED but I'm researching it more... there are two different versions of what happened to 'Troopers' going about (and "Extreme Ghostbusters", and 'Mummies Alive!" all are related.. read on). The first is that SciFi 'lost their rights to air the show with some conflict with BKN' UhHuh.. why would BKN want to lose a NATIONAL distribution channel?? The other, more dasterly reason that is being talked is that SCIFI *CAVED TO PRESSURE* from a parents/religious group (still unsure which or both) that these three shows 'represented far too much violence (Troopers) and satanic/occult influence (Ghostbusters, Mummies) for children in the morning hours'.
REPEAT - THE SECOND LEAD IS UNCONFIRMED AT THIS TIME but I'm still diggin on it. Write the SciFi channel immediately and tell them WE WANT OUR ROUGHNECKS... put it on in the afternoon (a better time for us all yes??) -
The SciFi Channel has pulled Roughnecks. (Or Sony pulled it from SciFi, your guess is as good as mine.) But nonetheless, the show is no longer on SciFi after Sept. Here we go to local programming. Does anyone know a source of a list of all 40 episodes in order? That two part Mania article from AnotherUniverse.com was missing two. Also is there a site that lists which episodes are being aired when? I'm trying to tape them and they are messing me all up. Thanks!
-
Saw in newsgroup posting that Sci-Fi is dropping Roughnecks at the end of the month. The ScheduleBot shows different programming for October....FYI.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 419 total posts 209 posts
- WTF HOLLYWOOD: SOLARBABIES -- 131 total posts 129 posts
- Herc’s Seen Tonight’s Return Of THE WALKING DEAD!! Discuss Also DOWNTON ABBEY, FEAR FACTOR, PAN AM, ONCE, SIMPSONS, DYNAMITE, LUCK, SHAMELESS, BAIT CAR, THE GRAMMYS And More!! Sunday Is Sweeps Day 11!! -- 123 total posts 122 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 124 total posts 58 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 191 total posts 47 posts
- Avid Comic Reader Hercules Does Battle With Tedium During Kevin Smith’s COMIC BOOK MEN! -- 43 total posts 43 posts
- If the Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day drops her pen, pick it up, but don’t look at her legs or else it will be on your record. -- 60 total posts 42 posts
- I am The Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day! No, I’m the Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day! -- 27 total posts 27 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 506 total posts 26 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 77 total posts 24 posts