Plot: What’s it about?
After a series of intense battles on Pluto, Lt. Razak and his Roughnecks have a new destination in mind, the aquatic planet of Hydora. This is where the troopers hope to locate and demolish the enemy’s base, which they were led to by a transport insect. But of course, things won’t be as simple as they all hope and that means gun battles galore, though Razak and his troopers are always prepared. As they traverse Hydora, the soldiers encounter the usual bug forces and defeat them, but they also run into some new opposition. The troops wind up caught inside massive insect, tangle with some larger than life mosquitoes, and some other unknown bug henchman that try to wipe them off the face of Hydora. As it turns out, this watery land is not the homeworld of the insect menace as expected, but there is an important piece to the puzzle located on Hydora. This is one of the most important forces in the entire insect world and while the Roughnecks manage to find it, can they somehow defeat, or even control it?
This excellent computer animated series was handed a miserable time slot and ended up sinking, even though it found a sizable audience. But Columbia has seen that audience now and as such, we have Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles on DVD, complete with some cool bonus materials. The approach taken is to release the episodes in campaign packs, so one story arc (five episodes) per disc and that works out well, I think. In the grand scheme of things, The Hydora Campaign should be watched in the second slot, behind The Pluto Campaign and for storyline reasons, I recommend viewing this series in the proper order. This campaign is a good one and offers some nice turns, including of course, some enjoyable battle scenes as the Roughnecks wage war on the insect menace. The show is geared to all ages and that means lessened gore, violence, and language, but the filmmakers are able to overcome the limitations. The animation is crisp and looks impressive, the voice talent is well chosen, and the storylines are fun to watch play out, so of course, this next campaign is highly recommended.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in full frame transfers, as intended. Due to the nature of the animation, some shimmering and edge enhancement is present, but not enough to stress over and in this case, I doubt it was unavoidable. The animation looks smooth and hasn’t suffered at all in transition however, which is terrific news. The colors look bold when needed, but also muted at times, depending on what the visual approach calls for at that moment. I saw no errors with contrast either, as black levels were refined and sharp from start to finish here. I think given the nature of the animation, this is about as good as it gets and that’s all we can ask.
Audio: How does it sound?
In a welcome move, Columbia has included a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround option for these episodes, whereas prior campaigns were in 2.0 surround. The rear channels are used often to enhance the battle scenes, as well as add some ambient noise and of course, this elevates the experience. You won’t be blown away by the surround presence, but it is quite good and given the material, this is one terrific mix. The vocals are crisp and clean at all times, with no problems in the least to report, impressive stuff. This disc also includes language options in French, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Thai, Korean, and Chinese.
Supplements: What are the extras?
I was pleased to find not one, but two audio commentary tracks on this disc, both loaded with behind the scenes information. The first session is a filmmakers’ track and is hosted by producer Audu Paden, who is joined at times by various members of the cast & crew, including other producers, voice actors, the story editor, the composer, and several others. This track is jam packed with data and since the participants rotate with each episode, each has plenty of time to dish out their thoughts & insight. Paden returns to host the technical commentary, which features a number of people involved in the animation process. The speakers discuss the finer points of how the show is put together, animated, and of course, the troubles of animated a CG television series, in terms of schedule & budget. This disc also includes some conceptual artwork, talent files, and bonus trailers for other Roughnecks releases.
