Grumble, grumble...missing episodes... by Gord Lacey (All reviews)
5/27/2002
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles "The Homefront Campaign" is the sixth volume in the series, but the seventh episode arc containing episodes 32, 34, 35, 36 and 37. Yup, you read that right...no episode 31 or 33. When I first heard this I was really upset, but then I calmed down after listening to the commentary track. Episode 33 was never finished so it's no surprise that it isn't included however, episode 31 does exist and I'm rather upset that it's not included here. This disc should have had the 6 episodes instead of just the 5. Episode 31 sounded pretty awesome from the descriptions given in the commentary track but unfortunately I doubt we'll ever see it on DVD.
They ran out of money near the end of the series and episodes 33, 38, 39 and 40 were never completed. The producers of the show have always mentioned in the commentary tracks that they hope money could be found to finish the show for DVD.
Video
As with the previous volumes, there are a few rendering problems. Objects that appear in the distance shimmer due to the increased resolution of the DVD format, and probably due to some settings used in Lightwave, the 3D program used to animate the series. A bit of video noise is present in the in the picture. The shimmering in this release is worse than some of the other releases. I probably has to do with the rocks and trees found on earth.
Audio
There's a wonderful English Dolby Digital 5.1 track on this release. The rear speakers are "alive" with ambient effects and other sound effects. Bullets, birds and other ambient sounds come from the rear speakers and the front speakers have some nice panning effects. French and Spanish tracks are also included on this release along with English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Filmmakers' Commentary
I just can't say enough about the commentary tracks included on the "Roughnecks" DVD releases. We have a great commentary track with Audu Paden (Producer), Jeff Kline (Co-Executive Producer) and others. The track is full of excellent information about the series, the problems and the history. This track is probably the most important to listen to because they discuss the problems with the final episodes in detail.
Technical Commentary
The animators share their insight into the show and reveal interesting "hidden" things in the episodes.
Filmographies
Filmographies for Jeff Kline (Co-Executive Producer), Audu Paden (Producer), Tish Hicks (Carmen), Rider Strong (Carl), E.G. Daily (Dizzy), James Horan (Doc), Alexander Polinsky (Higgins), Jamie Hanes (Razak) and Rino Romano (Rico).
Trailer
A trailer for the Roughnecks DVDs is included.
Summary
There's no excuse for leaving episode 31 off this DVD and that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. The script for episode 31 and 33 should have been added as extras so people could at least read about what happened. Quite a bummer. I think there's a possiblity that the Asteroid campaign could be released, but I have doubts that we'll ever see episodes 31, 33, 38, 39 and 40. That would make for a very strange release because the episodes wouldn't flow at all.
