My mate Simon worked on the 3d for this show.. it was done in Lightwave 3d same program did Babylon 5 and Star Trek TNG... as i recall the work load was beyond epic for them all.
i was afraid i will called out and bullied when i brought this series to the table of star ship trooper fan, the like of cannon and what's not is quite a trauma for the not so hardcore fans.
I haven't seen this show in many many years and remember almost nothing about it except it was on waaay too early, but I like that they included the Skinnies. They were from the book, in particular my favorite part, which is the whole opening section where the troopers attack a Skinny city.
There is a collectors set (I have one), but would love to see a fitting conclusion. With that mentioned there are a few cgi movies that can be had with a bit of research.
@@HeavyJ713 true, but it does give some form of a continuation, albeit not n the series. At the very least it quenched the desire for some form of a continuation. For now I'll take what I can get.
Thanks so much for the examination of this amazing and groundbreaking show. It was such a joy (and challenge!) to be part of. Many long term professional friendships resulted because, for many of us, it was like being "in the trenches" as we worked hard to meet deadlines and still make the shows both exciting and visually cinematic. Still would be thrilled to have more people rediscover the work which was FAR above most efforts of "kid's shows"... which in many ways this production was not. Track it down, give it a view. It's worth it. (Yes, I'm biased for obvious reasons, but we knew what we were part of even then).
It is my favourite childhood show and I rewatch it every so often. It doesn't lose anything when seen as an adult, in fact it gets better: a treatise on war in its own right. Memorable production values in every respect. I've tracked down the DVDs but it's a real shame it's not digitally available beyond 360p [th-cam.com/play/PLd3gqjVnK75fCu5aqrslAKeI_OcMovo30.html&si=M_JzfJzmSI5id7Iz]. The show makes a case for digital-culture preservation.
As a fan of both the movie and the book (especially the book) it was cool to watch. I loved how there were multiple campaigns for us to follow and the Roughnecks would have members drop and new recruits brought in. Loved the reporter character, seemed like the main character over Rico. Like the rest of the unit, everybody fights, nobody quits. My only complaint was the phrase "live forever apes" because it missed the whole point of the original quote.
I have grandkiddos now - ages 5-10 - and I haven’t showed them the DVDs because of the insect menace, which was pretty scary - but you who watched it as kids seem to be just fine!
I legit thought I imagined this show because I only ever saw a couple episodes before school when I was a kid. It holds up remarkably well considering when and how it was made.
Ahh, the 'Star Wars: Clone Wars' of the late 90s. I remember watching this super late at night when I was a kid at the dawn of the 2000s, and ambitious/dated CG aside I think it flicked a switch in my brain to really love on this kind of fairly gritty military-themed scifi style, like HALO, Edge of Tomorrow, The Expanse, and of course the movie and novel Roughnecks was based on. I found the entire show on youtube a while ago and binged it, and was still fairly entertained as an adult beyond the nostalgia factor. I think my favorite episode looking back was the one where Higgins is collecting video messages for his unit's families and we get glimpses of their civilian lives - Gossard walking with his disabled sister, T'Phai playing with his kids, Higgins being honest and saying he misses his parents. Pretty genuine emotional moment in an all-action show and it stood out well.
I was in University when I first saw this, it was only on Sunday mornings and even that was hit and miss. But I was immediately taken by it and was always searching for it when I got home from my midnight shift on Sat night. Managed to find the series on torrent to download about 7-8 years ago.
While there aren't any officially licensed merchandise persay, Mongoose Publishing released a miniature tabletop game for Starship Troopers in 2005 that's based primarily on the Roughnecks cartoon. While they aren't very articulated, they're still very detailed models and I would highly recommend picking them up if you can afford them. Although, they are out of print so they might be difficult to track down. I own nearly the entire collection and I can definitely say it's worth it. It's better than nothing when it comes to Roughnecks toys.
If you ever watch the 1988 Anime Starship Troopers adaptation the suits they fight in look just like Spartan IIs and look exactly like the Prototype from Halo Legends
Been aware of this show for a long time, as my mother was apart of an online Roughnecks forum for years way back in the early 2000s. She was a regular on there and even went down to Comic Con with a group of forum regulars. A lot of fond memories for her.
Brodu Sullivan I bought a bunch of the DVD sets from Amazon a few years ago - our late son Derek Morton was a motion capture performer for all (I believe) the shows. His sibs all got the full DVD sets.
Brodu Sullivan I bought a bunch of the DVD sets from Amazon a few years ago - our late son Derek Morton was a motion capture performer for all (I believe) the shows. His sibs all got the full DVD sets.
This was a case where more money needed to be thrown at the series, and given a better time slot that Rowan says he remembers seeing it on. Where I lived it came on weekday afternoons.
I still have the full series on one disc, and now that I know this show was know a lot more than I thought and is actually good I'm definitely keeping it
Going to get a little meta I think what also set this series apart is that pull influence from the Vietnam War and not just WW2 like contemporary show such as Space Above and Beyond and Babylon 5.
I re-watched it a couple of months ago, and I basically agree with everything Rowan said. It totally holds up, and I still find it a little gutting that we didnt actually get to see it finish. And really suprising with the rise of Netflix and all the hashtagcampaignsaboutsomethingorother in the last few years, that someone hasn't thought about it; I mean it's 4 episodes. Or just do a full on remake or something. Honestly, Starship Troopers is a wildly underappreciated.
I actually liked the early morning time slot for the show, it was one of the few shows I really loved watching that everyone in my family liked, and I'd turn it on as I was getting up and ready for school... The major thing I remembered from the original run was that it aired right after Beast Wars, and there was the odd cooincidence that on the same day aired both episodes that had the death of Dinobot and Razak...which was kind of depressing for the day.
I always thought this show was in my dreams because every time I mentioned this show nobody has ever seen it! It was insanely underrated with how amazing this was! The only thing that sucks was that we didn’t get an ending!
MY dad and I used to watch this almost religiously when it was on the air. It was one of the few cartoons I could get my dad to watch with me. Great memories, great show. THank you for shining a light on it!!!!
I remember when I was in high school, I'd watch this show every morning before school, at 6am!! Mom would make me an egg and cheese sandwich, while I strained to watch on our extremely small TV perched on the fridge, great memories, great show.
So glad that I own the entire series on DVD. I remember watching these on Sci-Fi channel when I was in high School in 1999, every morning before school.
Exited "would you like to know more" noises. I recently bought the complet series from a DVD shop here in Brisbane. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet
This show was one of my favorite shows growing up. Now that I'm an adult its one of the few shows from my childhood I can watch without feeling like i'm judging myself for enjoying it years later.
I remember seeing this once when I was a kid and thought it was a StarCraft tv show (since the cutscenes of the game and this show was similar enough to my kid mind at the time). It took me years to figure out what it was and even longer to find out what the title was. It really was something to behold when I finally got around to watching the whole thing and I really wish it had managed to cross the finish line before it got canned. I am torn between wanting to see someone reboot this and being thankful that none of the brain dead suits in today's entertainment industry have noticed this gem yet. Anyway, thanks for reminding me that this show existed, Rowan. I'm going to have to check out your fantasy videos now.
Well done for reviewing this forgotten series. My son and I used to watch it on sky, he loved it. I remember complain ing to sky at the time about the episodes were out of sequence. They said they showed the episode s as they were given by the producers. You examined it far better, and after 20 years I have an explanation as to the sequence and the sudden end. Well done and thanks
I was definitely one of those kids who was watching this show at 6:00 on weekday mornings before school (though I think it might have actually been 6:30 or 7:00). I don't know how I first stumbled onto it, but it just clicked with me. I always liked how the bugs' yells and screams sounded like they were shouting "YAAAAAYYYYYY" 😂
I remembering seeing this series so many years ago, even had a friend who some how managed to find a complete DVD collection by accident and brought it underway during a patrol. Between the Transformers and Roughnecks, the Roughnecks won for me. Granted most were on about the Transformers, or Beast Wars as they were called at the time, but seeing the movie then stumbling across this series was a no brainer. Quite literally I was surfing channels before having to head out to meet the bus when my brother and I found the Pluto arc. I never got to finish this series until years later when I was in the navy and quite literally out at sea just cause someone on my crew literally thought this show was going to be one of those cheesy kids gimmick series like Beast Wars, you can imagine what his reaction was after seeing the first arc. Right after episode 2 he was hooked and had a running marathon in the mess decks for everyone else to watch. I for one am grateful to see it getting some attention again. I am also looking to find the entire series as well.
Thank you for making this, more people need to hear about this show. One of my favorites growing up, I remember waking up super early before school to watch it until one day it was gone. I bought the DVD set on ebay years ago and now its hard to find or really expensive so I can't even suggest it other people to watch it.
Jimmy Allen I bought bunch of the new DVD boxed sets of all the campaigns years ago, because our late son was the principle motion-capture performer. At the time, they were about $40 - I just saw a new boxed set on Amazon for about $500! I gave a set to each of our son’s sibs, and kept one for us. It was amazing fun for him to do - he had been a gymnast and had a degree in PE, which is why he was hired - plus he was a good worker and the people at Foundation Imaging liked him! He sure loved that job!
Omg I forgot the name of this show and everyone thought I was crazy for remembering it. I also love how much closer to the books the animated series was (for a kids show)
Still the Bugs are organic since they use the movie version. The book version of Bugs have cybernetic parts and Warriors have beam weaponry as Rico said "stupid races don't build spaceships" meaning their intelligence is roughly on par with humans.
I accidentally discovered the series watching Saturday morning cartoons and was hooked but it was so hard to find the complete series. Really excellent writing if you could get past the rough animation. Also it is way more true to the book with the skinnies and the mech suits.
As a Kid i was facinated with how good shkw was and what a serious problems characters have met. Even now its still nice. It has kinda a bit similar atmosphere with MIB show. Show a bit outdated sadly. More in terms of dynamic and plot that in graphic for me. But i still love and value the show. Would totally love to see a new respectable reboot of it. With new arcs, good homage artstyle and dome improvments. But yeah, i understand it will not happened, hah. Thanks for the video. Its always nice to see if someone still remember this show!
I was one of those who watched the show when it originally aired. I was so glad when the series came out on dvd and I could watch them in order. I really wish the studio could have gotten funded for the last 5 episodes. It would have been nice to finish the Earth story arc.
I loved this cartoon. Watched it all the way through and missed it when it was gone. When I first saw this video I thought it was Space Above and Beyond for a moment..another favorite of mine.
I got a vhs of the first campaign in college and loved it. I couldn't find the others at the time. Netflix had it when I first got the streaming service in, I think, 2007? But I only got through two more campaigns before it was dropped and has never returned. Great series 👍.
Used to wake up early to watch this and beast wars before school. Saw the complete series on DVD at circuit city about 15 years ago and picked it up for the kids I didn't have yet. My children are now 6 and 10 and we have been watching it before school in the mornings. Just finished the Tophet campaign and my 6 year old son is absolutely hooked. Such a great show. Thanks for shining some light on it. Hidden gem indeed.
I remember watching this in the original run and at least once since then. Great series, especially for what is basically a 90s CGI kid show. Sounds like I was one of the lucky ones, for in my area the show aired in the afternoon.
Thanks for featuring Roughnecks. I have all of the campaigns on DVD and the added commentaries from directors and production artist are amazing. The different animation houses that were hired mostly used Lightwave, but one used 3DS Max and still made it work. Good review!
I remember watching this back in the day. The channel it was on didn't always show it at the same time, so it was difficult to watch with any sense of continuity, but I did my best because it was THAT GOOD!
This always used to be on at a really awkward time in the morning which meant I always got to see about 10 minutes of it before I had to leave the house for the day. I've never been able to find it to watch it again though.
Roughnecks was such a great show. Wish it was available on blueray or just as a digital streaming source. I saw the first 24 or so episdoes and would really like to rewatch and and get the last handful watched.
June 10, 2020----Red Starship Troopers when I was a kid (I'm 67). In my stash of dvd's, got 4 or 6 Starship Troopers chronicles episodes. Possibly may have them all. Don't know as I haven't watched them in about 10 years. Just checked and at least one of them is available on Ebay.
Great show. I want to say that the same company (Mainframe entertainment?) made both Beast Wars and Roughnecks. Now I learn they were doing these two series at the same time? Impossible schedule!
Read the book! I loved this novel as a teen and it's still a decent read. I was so excited when I first heard they were making a film of it.....only to be sadly disappointed (but not nearly as disgusted by Battlefield Earth). Yes, the Verhoeven film is campy fun but Roughnecks really had more in line with Heinlein's novel. It's not a "hidden gem" for Starship Troopers nuts like me.....I enjoyed playing the Avalon Hill "bookcase" game (c.1976), which my older brother would consistently beat me at. Great video! Roughnecks deserves more love from the sci-fi community!
I came across the DVD of this show back in 2007 or something, it wasn't a complete set only few dozen episodes, watched it on my PS2 and loved it. Thanks for talking about it, brought up some good memories. Maybe I can find full series on the internet.
This is the best Adaption towards The Original Starship Troopers. I fell in love with this show and it's plots, Maybe Paul Veerhoven read the original novel and make it unique. This is what you called a hidden gem. This is my ideal Starship Troopers than the Movie itself.
I loved this show as a kid. It really got me into the movies. I have about half the show on DVD and if you're interested in toys there WAS a Starship Troopers Tabletop Miniature game by Mongoose Publishing. Pretty sure it's dead now, but the models were really cool and they definitely took a lot of inspiration from the show.
Rewatched this agin recently. It is head and shoulders above the live action films, primarily because the characters are much more developed and the scripts tighter, resulting in you starting to actually care what happens to them. There’s not too much chest thumping, although this was made 20 years ago and was aimed at young teens, so be prepared for some. The boxed set is spectacularly expensive, so shop around and/or check out your streaming service. You won’t be disappointed.
I was able to order 7 dvd's (36 episodes) many years ago from what was my local Blockbuster video store :) I found out later that episodes 37 thru 44 were not available on dvd (at the time).
This was part of my childhood, one of those "I know this existed but I can't find it" shows. Thank you for both reminding me and giving me something to hunt down!
Loved this show when it came out. Bought the DVDs on ebay as a set when they came out years ago. One of my most expensive purchases for DVDs at $200 for the set at the time. This was for the 8 DVD set, not the later condensed set. Still have them on my shelf actually. But if I recall correctly, I thought the reason we did not get the final 4 episodes was because the studio that was in charge of those final episodes went out of business. That's why the show ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. And the 4 clip episodes were used to pad out the full amount that was promised. I believe they even recorded the lines for those final episodes, but never got to use them.
That would be perhaps the ultimate add on for a collected edition. Provide storyboards for the lines already recorded. (or if you've the budget, contract some CGI house to outright make the last four episodes using the audio. Lord knows the models and vfx are a cakewalk to modern equipment.)
Apparently the script for the final episodes leaked years back. There was supposed to be a big battle on Earth and I do believe that Rico was supposed to end up losing an eye.
Remember renting them from Choices rentals back in the day and loving them. Had no idea there were so many episodes. Are they out there on the high seas I wonder?
Subscribe to my gaming channel here - th-cam.com/channels/4AQjWVhQBOoHlOrKn_SJqA.html
Please review SDF Macross. Its a classic in its own right.
Subbed
Well, if talking starship troopees hidden gems, ever seen the animated movues? "Starship Troopers Invasion" and "Traitors of Mars" ?
would like to if TH-cam didn't already unsub me from your channel.
My mate Simon worked on the 3d for this show.. it was done in Lightwave 3d same program did Babylon 5 and Star Trek TNG... as i recall the work load was beyond epic for them all.
I've waited 20 years for someone to discuss this show so thank you for finally doing it.
Couldn't agree more
10 years ... yes, i am late to this, i know ^^
@Daniel got it all on dvd .. think im only missing the last one
I ducking loved this show. It was awesome I watched it when I was a kid. The movie sucked by the show was good
i was afraid i will called out and bullied when i brought this series to the table of star ship trooper fan, the like of cannon and what's not is quite a trauma for the not so hardcore fans.
The fact I instantly recalled the humanoid aliens are nicknamed "skinnies" is a testament to how memorable the show was.
A solid gem indeed.
Glad I’m not the only one having flashbacks..... ;-)
I haven't seen this show in many many years and remember almost nothing about it except it was on waaay too early, but I like that they included the Skinnies. They were from the book, in particular my favorite part, which is the whole opening section where the troopers attack a Skinny city.
used to watch at 5:30am before school. loved the Colonel.
Same, get up bright and early, watch this and gargoyles. Those were the days.
Same
I guess I was lucky. I get to watch the series in the evening.
me too! I didn't know anyone from my school that watched the show at the time. It was shown with duck tales and pokemon.
The way I remember it, it came on at 4:30 AM. Then at 5 AM Monster Rancher came on.
This show need a remaster or something. And a proper ending too.
There is a collectors set (I have one), but would love to see a fitting conclusion. With that mentioned there are a few cgi movies that can be had with a bit of research.
@@themorn2112 yeah but those movies are not in this continuity
@@HeavyJ713 true, but it does give some form of a continuation, albeit not n the series. At the very least it quenched the desire for some form of a continuation. For now I'll take what I can get.
Agreed. What a way they cucked its audience of an ending.
Honestly I think it would be a good idea to be brought back.
Thanks so much for the examination of this amazing and groundbreaking show. It was such a joy (and challenge!) to be part of. Many long term professional friendships resulted because, for many of us, it was like being "in the trenches" as we worked hard to meet deadlines and still make the shows both exciting and visually cinematic. Still would be thrilled to have more people rediscover the work which was FAR above most efforts of "kid's shows"... which in many ways this production was not. Track it down, give it a view. It's worth it. (Yes, I'm biased for obvious reasons, but we knew what we were part of even then).
It's a fantastic show, thanks for your help making it happen. Wish it got a remake.
It is my favourite childhood show and I rewatch it every so often. It doesn't lose anything when seen as an adult, in fact it gets better: a treatise on war in its own right. Memorable production values in every respect. I've tracked down the DVDs but it's a real shame it's not digitally available beyond 360p [th-cam.com/play/PLd3gqjVnK75fCu5aqrslAKeI_OcMovo30.html&si=M_JzfJzmSI5id7Iz]. The show makes a case for digital-culture preservation.
As a fan of both the movie and the book (especially the book) it was cool to watch. I loved how there were multiple campaigns for us to follow and the Roughnecks would have members drop and new recruits brought in. Loved the reporter character, seemed like the main character over Rico. Like the rest of the unit, everybody fights, nobody quits. My only complaint was the phrase "live forever apes" because it missed the whole point of the original quote.
I just had flashbacks to the combat robot who sacrificed himself... I'm not crying, you're crying.
"ROUGHNECKS, HO"!!!
CHADZ will never be forgotten.
He learned to be an ape.
Derps With Wolves That WAS awesome, wasn’t it! It was a situation that you could kinda see coming, and wanted it not to happen...
I always got choked up on that episode.
F for CHADZ
I'll never forget when this show actually tackled, how the heck the bugs even traveled. It was awesome, it was horrifying.
I have grandkiddos now - ages 5-10 - and I haven’t showed them the DVDs because of the insect menace, which was pretty scary - but you who watched it as kids seem to be just fine!
As someone who has owned the DVD set for over a decade, I'm just happy someone else even remembers it.
Same here, I make it an annual tradition to rewatch them all the way through every summer lol
You should upload it on TH-cam.
I legit thought I imagined this show because I only ever saw a couple episodes before school when I was a kid. It holds up remarkably well considering when and how it was made.
This show so deserves a reboot. Modern 3D animation tech combined with that shows caliber of writing would make for an amazing show
since everyone wants to make remakes why not remake the whole series. Keep the sound trash the old CGI
Remake this show as a live action
@@youaretoooocool NO! Modern casting directors will just make averyone balck and gay.
Needs ai to redo it with a decent person overlooking the writing and design.
Whomever worked on this show, thank you. I always recommend Roughnecks to anyone that's a Sci-Fi fan.
Rallisport Our late son Derek Morton did about half of the motion capture for the show. Thank you for your kind remark.
@@carolmorton7213 You're very welcome ma'am. Your son brought joy to me and mine. May God bless you.
It was a lot of work, believe me. But we really wanted to make it a good show. We put everything we had into it.
Ahh, the 'Star Wars: Clone Wars' of the late 90s. I remember watching this super late at night when I was a kid at the dawn of the 2000s, and ambitious/dated CG aside I think it flicked a switch in my brain to really love on this kind of fairly gritty military-themed scifi style, like HALO, Edge of Tomorrow, The Expanse, and of course the movie and novel Roughnecks was based on.
I found the entire show on youtube a while ago and binged it, and was still fairly entertained as an adult beyond the nostalgia factor. I think my favorite episode looking back was the one where Higgins is collecting video messages for his unit's families and we get glimpses of their civilian lives - Gossard walking with his disabled sister, T'Phai playing with his kids, Higgins being honest and saying he misses his parents. Pretty genuine emotional moment in an all-action show and it stood out well.
I was in University when I first saw this, it was only on Sunday mornings and even that was hit and miss. But I was immediately taken by it and was always searching for it when I got home from my midnight shift on Sat night. Managed to find the series on torrent to download about 7-8 years ago.
While there aren't any officially licensed merchandise persay, Mongoose Publishing released a miniature tabletop game for Starship Troopers in 2005 that's based primarily on the Roughnecks cartoon. While they aren't very articulated, they're still very detailed models and I would highly recommend picking them up if you can afford them. Although, they are out of print so they might be difficult to track down. I own nearly the entire collection and I can definitely say it's worth it. It's better than nothing when it comes to Roughnecks toys.
When Halo first came out the models (Master Chief and the pelican) always made me think it was just ripped from this show.
Same
If you ever watch the 1988 Anime Starship Troopers adaptation the suits they fight in look just like Spartan IIs and look exactly like the Prototype from Halo Legends
Halo 1 the pod drop to the ring at the start works just like MI drop capsule from the book.
Got the intro song stuck in my head. Like that they had each season be a different planet.
I watched it properly; about 10 years ago -rewatched maybe twice since then.
Loved the show -I'm a sucker for decent military scifi.
Going on a dozen rewatches at this point myself. I find the show so good I made it an annual tradition to rewatch the series every summer lol
I also bought all the merchandise for the Miniatures Game since that's the only Roughnecks toys that'll exist persay
Been aware of this show for a long time, as my mother was apart of an online Roughnecks forum for years way back in the early 2000s. She was a regular on there and even went down to Comic Con with a group of forum regulars. A lot of fond memories for her.
i wish they had completed the series. it's a great show. even had the DVDs until they were lost and scratched.
Brodu Sullivan I bought a bunch of the DVD sets from Amazon a few years ago - our late son Derek Morton was a motion capture performer for all (I believe) the shows. His sibs all got the full DVD sets.
Brodu Sullivan I bought a bunch of the DVD sets from Amazon a few years ago - our late son Derek Morton was a motion capture performer for all (I believe) the shows. His sibs all got the full DVD sets.
This was a case where more money needed to be thrown at the series, and given a better time slot that Rowan says he remembers seeing it on. Where I lived it came on weekday afternoons.
@@drewstar412 this is also the solution for Firefly.
I still have the full series on one disc, and now that I know this show was know a lot more than I thought and is actually good I'm definitely keeping it
Going to get a little meta I think what also set this series apart is that pull influence from the Vietnam War and not just WW2 like contemporary show such as Space Above and Beyond and Babylon 5.
I re-watched it a couple of months ago, and I basically agree with everything Rowan said. It totally holds up, and I still find it a little gutting that we didnt actually get to see it finish. And really suprising with the rise of Netflix and all the hashtagcampaignsaboutsomethingorother in the last few years, that someone hasn't thought about it; I mean it's 4 episodes. Or just do a full on remake or something.
Honestly, Starship Troopers is a wildly underappreciated.
I actually liked the early morning time slot for the show, it was one of the few shows I really loved watching that everyone in my family liked, and I'd turn it on as I was getting up and ready for school...
The major thing I remembered from the original run was that it aired right after Beast Wars, and there was the odd cooincidence that on the same day aired both episodes that had the death of Dinobot and Razak...which was kind of depressing for the day.
02 gems of a show
I always thought this show was in my dreams because every time I mentioned this show nobody has ever seen it! It was insanely underrated with how amazing this was!
The only thing that sucks was that we didn’t get an ending!
Same!
MY dad and I used to watch this almost religiously when it was on the air. It was one of the few cartoons I could get my dad to watch with me. Great memories, great show. THank you for shining a light on it!!!!
I remember when I was in high school, I'd watch this show every morning before school, at 6am!! Mom would make me an egg and cheese sandwich, while I strained to watch on our extremely small TV perched on the fridge, great memories, great show.
So glad that I own the entire series on DVD. I remember watching these on Sci-Fi channel when I was in high School in 1999, every morning before school.
Nice, this show is soooooooooooo solid! My favourite CGI of that era. Still great storytelling.
I sooo hate kliffhanger endings for canceled shows. Space above and Beyond makes me ANGRY to this day.
oh god why did you have to mention that show... thought i had finally gotten past that
@@tyguy6296 the cliff hanger for SAAB is only made worse when you find out what had been planned for a second season.
I wish the missing 3 last episodes of Earth Campaign will be finished when it had a chance.
Exited "would you like to know more" noises. I recently bought the complet series from a DVD shop here in Brisbane. I haven't had a chance to watch it yet
man my school mornings were spent watching this on scifi before the school bus showed up.
This show was one of my favorite shows growing up. Now that I'm an adult its one of the few shows from my childhood I can watch without feeling like i'm judging myself for enjoying it years later.
I remember seeing this once when I was a kid and thought it was a StarCraft tv show (since the cutscenes of the game and this show was similar enough to my kid mind at the time). It took me years to figure out what it was and even longer to find out what the title was. It really was something to behold when I finally got around to watching the whole thing and I really wish it had managed to cross the finish line before it got canned. I am torn between wanting to see someone reboot this and being thankful that none of the brain dead suits in today's entertainment industry have noticed this gem yet.
Anyway, thanks for reminding me that this show existed, Rowan. I'm going to have to check out your fantasy videos now.
Loved this show. This and Exo Squad.
Exo-Squad is also a hidden gem
@@Sovcio Yes it is! Goes well with Pirates of Dark water.
iu used to have some exo squad toys when i was a kid
@@OrbitalHUB Nice to see someone that remember that cartoon too.
Yeeeeeh Exo Squad. I watch it on tv wen I was 4 year old. Oh man such a great show
I remember watching this show in the mornings before school while I ate my toaster strudels.
Well done for reviewing this forgotten series. My son and I used to watch it on sky, he loved it. I remember complain ing to sky at the time about the episodes were out of sequence. They said they showed the episode s as they were given by the producers. You examined it far better, and after 20 years I have an explanation as to the sequence and the sudden end. Well done and thanks
I was definitely one of those kids who was watching this show at 6:00 on weekday mornings before school (though I think it might have actually been 6:30 or 7:00). I don't know how I first stumbled onto it, but it just clicked with me. I always liked how the bugs' yells and screams sounded like they were shouting "YAAAAAYYYYYY" 😂
Such a shame that it's incompleted and no remastering quality for this series.
I still quote this during online games, "Running low on ammo, someone will have to share," "we don't retreat, we beat feet" "fogs rolling in".
Awesome. You're quite the chad 👍
One of my favorite shows as a kid. I actually own the DVD set. It introduced it to my son a couple years ago and he loves the show too.
I remembering seeing this series so many years ago, even had a friend who some how managed to find a complete DVD collection by accident and brought it underway during a patrol. Between the Transformers and Roughnecks, the Roughnecks won for me. Granted most were on about the Transformers, or Beast Wars as they were called at the time, but seeing the movie then stumbling across this series was a no brainer. Quite literally I was surfing channels before having to head out to meet the bus when my brother and I found the Pluto arc. I never got to finish this series until years later when I was in the navy and quite literally out at sea just cause someone on my crew literally thought this show was going to be one of those cheesy kids gimmick series like Beast Wars, you can imagine what his reaction was after seeing the first arc. Right after episode 2 he was hooked and had a running marathon in the mess decks for everyone else to watch. I for one am grateful to see it getting some attention again. I am also looking to find the entire series as well.
This show is actually on youtube! Whathappening360 has uploaded nearly all of it with some cuts for copyright reasons.
Thank you for making this, more people need to hear about this show. One of my favorites growing up, I remember waking up super early before school to watch it until one day it was gone. I bought the DVD set on ebay years ago and now its hard to find or really expensive so I can't even suggest it other people to watch it.
Jimmy Allen I bought bunch of the new DVD boxed sets of all the campaigns years ago, because our late son was the principle motion-capture performer. At the time, they were about $40 - I just saw a new boxed set on Amazon for about $500! I gave a set to each of our son’s sibs,
and kept one for us. It was amazing fun for him to do - he had been a gymnast and had a degree in PE, which is why he was hired - plus he was
a good worker and the people at Foundation Imaging liked him! He sure loved that job!
Omg I forgot the name of this show and everyone thought I was crazy for remembering it.
I also love how much closer to the books the animated series was (for a kids show)
Still the Bugs are organic since they use the movie version. The book version of Bugs have cybernetic parts and Warriors have beam weaponry as Rico said "stupid races don't build spaceships" meaning their intelligence is roughly on par with humans.
I accidentally discovered the series watching Saturday morning cartoons and was hooked but it was so hard to find the complete series. Really excellent writing if you could get past the rough animation. Also it is way more true to the book with the skinnies and the mech suits.
As a Kid i was facinated with how good shkw was and what a serious problems characters have met. Even now its still nice. It has kinda a bit similar atmosphere with MIB show.
Show a bit outdated sadly. More in terms of dynamic and plot that in graphic for me.
But i still love and value the show. Would totally love to see a new respectable reboot of it. With new arcs, good homage artstyle and dome improvments. But yeah, i understand it will not happened, hah.
Thanks for the video. Its always nice to see if someone still remember this show!
I was one of those who watched the show when it originally aired. I was so glad when the series came out on dvd and I could watch them in order. I really wish the studio could have gotten funded for the last 5 episodes. It would have been nice to finish the Earth story arc.
I loved this cartoon. Watched it all the way through and missed it when it was gone. When I first saw this video I thought it was Space Above and Beyond for a moment..another favorite of mine.
I got a vhs of the first campaign in college and loved it. I couldn't find the others at the time. Netflix had it when I first got the streaming service in, I think, 2007? But I only got through two more campaigns before it was dropped and has never returned. Great series 👍.
I'd almost forgotten this existed, used to love this when i was younger
Used to wake up early to watch this and beast wars before school. Saw the complete series on DVD at circuit city about 15 years ago and picked it up for the kids I didn't have yet. My children are now 6 and 10 and we have been watching it before school in the mornings. Just finished the Tophet campaign and my 6 year old son is absolutely hooked. Such a great show. Thanks for shining some light on it. Hidden gem indeed.
I remember watching this in the original run and at least once since then. Great series, especially for what is basically a 90s CGI kid show. Sounds like I was one of the lucky ones, for in my area the show aired in the afternoon.
Whoa! This takes me back to when I didn't have the complications of being an adult.....
loved this show when i was a kid, skippd so many school days watching this that year lol
2 minutes in and I start realizing I saw this show as a kid. Took a while but there was this one scene shown that broke through the memory fog.
Used to love watching this at 530am in the morning before going to high school!!
When I was a little kid, I used to watch this every morning before going to school.
A fascinating find! Especially the production issue troubles, very undeserved for a project with such potential
Thanks for featuring Roughnecks.
I have all of the campaigns on DVD and the added commentaries from directors and production artist are amazing. The different animation houses that were hired mostly used Lightwave, but one used 3DS Max and still made it work.
Good review!
YES! I LOVE this show! I bought all of the show on DVD. Love it!
A true hidden gem, love this show whenever I get on a Starship Troopers kick. They did make a shortlived tabletop wargame based off the series.
I own this whole series on DVD and loved every freaking second of it. This was everything that the movie would never be.
This series went into production some months before I left Foundation Imaging, one of the studios contracted for this show.
Houston Helicopter Tours Our son Derek Morton was at FI, doing the motion capture for Roughnecks.
I remember this well and loved watching it any time it was on.
That 6am start time was amazing... I remember watching this every morning before school.
I remember watching this back in the day. The channel it was on didn't always show it at the same time, so it was difficult to watch with any sense of continuity, but I did my best because it was THAT GOOD!
90's cartoons, so deep you'll remember it even after climbing out of the rabbit hole that led you there.
This always used to be on at a really awkward time in the morning which meant I always got to see about 10 minutes of it before I had to leave the house for the day. I've never been able to find it to watch it again though.
I used to watch it on Fox every weekday at 5:30 in the morning
I remember this show. I'm glad someone has finally reviewed this in modern times.
Roughnecks was such a great show. Wish it was available on blueray or just as a digital streaming source. I saw the first 24 or so episdoes and would really like to rewatch and and get the last handful watched.
I genuinely thought I just dreamed this show existed.
YES!
Someone else remembers this series!
it was available on Netflix 10 years ago
watched it when I came home from High school
For its time amazingly well done series👍
I watched this as much as i could as a kid as i loved the movies, thank you so much for unlocking some of my core memories
I remember waking up early before school just to watch this show! I still think those walking mech suits are 100% a plausible design 😎
I remember watching this when I was a kid. Never knew the full title until now, thought it was just “Starships Troopers”.
Give me a reboot. Watched this as a kid, I LOVED IT. Thanks for analyzing it and reminding me of how awesome it was.
Found memories of the series. Used to watch it with my Dad when it first came out.
I watched this with my son, great show for kid and adult kids. Toys where available at the time from micro machines got full set.
June 10, 2020----Red Starship Troopers when I was a kid (I'm 67). In my stash of dvd's, got 4 or 6 Starship Troopers chronicles episodes. Possibly may have them all. Don't know as I haven't watched them in about 10 years. Just checked and at least one of them is available on Ebay.
Great show. I want to say that the same company (Mainframe entertainment?) made both Beast Wars and Roughnecks. Now I learn they were doing these two series at the same time? Impossible schedule!
Very fond memories watching that series back in the day, if they ever decided to release the remaining seasons I would jump to the chance to watch it!
I used to watch this every morning before school while eating cereal. Good times lol
Read the book! I loved this novel as a teen and it's still a decent read.
I was so excited when I first heard they were making a film of it.....only to be sadly disappointed (but not nearly as disgusted by Battlefield Earth).
Yes, the Verhoeven film is campy fun but Roughnecks really had more in line with Heinlein's novel. It's not a "hidden gem" for Starship Troopers nuts like me.....I enjoyed playing the Avalon Hill "bookcase" game (c.1976), which my older brother would consistently beat me at.
Great video! Roughnecks deserves more love from the sci-fi community!
I came across the DVD of this show back in 2007 or something, it wasn't a complete set only few dozen episodes, watched it on my PS2 and loved it. Thanks for talking about it, brought up some good memories. Maybe I can find full series on the internet.
God I miss this show
I wish they continue the show
I had forgotten I actually have the DVDs! Giving the series a binge this weekend.
This is the best Adaption towards The Original Starship Troopers. I fell in love with this show and it's plots, Maybe Paul Veerhoven read the original novel and make it unique. This is what you called a hidden gem.
This is my ideal Starship Troopers than the Movie itself.
I loved this show as a kid. It really got me into the movies. I have about half the show on DVD and if you're interested in toys there WAS a Starship Troopers Tabletop Miniature game by Mongoose Publishing. Pretty sure it's dead now, but the models were really cool and they definitely took a lot of inspiration from the show.
Rewatched this agin recently. It is head and shoulders above the live action films, primarily because the characters are much more developed and the scripts tighter, resulting in you starting to actually care what happens to them.
There’s not too much chest thumping, although this was made 20 years ago and was aimed at young teens, so be prepared for some.
The boxed set is spectacularly expensive, so shop around and/or check out your streaming service. You won’t be disappointed.
I was able to order 7 dvd's (36 episodes) many years ago from what was my local Blockbuster video store :)
I found out later that episodes 37 thru 44 were not available on dvd (at the time).
The Rough Necks was an excellant show. Many happy hours of viewing.
I can't believe this was a weekday morning show, back when that was a thing
This was part of my childhood, one of those "I know this existed but I can't find it" shows. Thank you for both reminding me and giving me something to hunt down!
This was a classic and important part of my animation consumption back in the day. Thanks for giving it a good break down.
This was the coolest thing i ever saw as a kid, didn't manage to watch all the episodes until i was older and able to find them ALL online.
Loved this show when it came out. Bought the DVDs on ebay as a set when they came out years ago. One of my most expensive purchases for DVDs at $200 for the set at the time. This was for the 8 DVD set, not the later condensed set. Still have them on my shelf actually. But if I recall correctly, I thought the reason we did not get the final 4 episodes was because the studio that was in charge of those final episodes went out of business. That's why the show ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. And the 4 clip episodes were used to pad out the full amount that was promised. I believe they even recorded the lines for those final episodes, but never got to use them.
That would be perhaps the ultimate add on for a collected edition. Provide storyboards for the lines already recorded. (or if you've the budget, contract some CGI house to outright make the last four episodes using the audio. Lord knows the models and vfx are a cakewalk to modern equipment.)
Apparently the script for the final episodes leaked years back. There was supposed to be a big battle on Earth and I do believe that Rico was supposed to end up losing an eye.
Remember renting them from Choices rentals back in the day and loving them. Had no idea there were so many episodes. Are they out there on the high seas I wonder?