sci-fi!
Rob found 4.2 gigs of Starship Troopers: Roughnecks the other day. It's a completely CGI animated TV show that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel a few years ago. We had really high hopes for it, especially considering the two movies. Plus, Rob was familiar with one of the lead artists and his other work was top notch. So.
The intro was pretty cool, though whoever picked their music should be shot. And then, right after the title fades to black:
Paul "I'm a shitfucker who didn't read the book my movie was based on before making it" Verhoeven*
Executive Producer
I held out hope that he was just a name/cash cow with no creative control, but it was not to be. What the show boils down to is a cooler version of the movie. And that's pretty much it, really. Here's a breakdown:
Good (yes!)
* Ship designs. For the most part, very neat.
* Non-human CGI and texture quality is decent. Again, for the most part.
* A few good action sequences, a few compelling plot devices.
Bad (no!)
* Characters aren't even loosely based on their original counterparts, a la Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers
* Still no fucking powersuits. Putting pants on a chimp does not make it a gorilla.
* Character models, animations, and textures are way behind the times
* Fire and explosion renders are teh suxor
* Chronic lack of plot. Holes, everywhere. Wouldn't have happened if they'd either stuck to the goddamn book or made their own, but they tried to do both and failed.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes down to it, the show would have been pretty cool if they took out all the Starship Troopers references. Actually, with a little tweaking it could be a great Starcraft series.
*He's also Dutch
The intro was pretty cool, though whoever picked their music should be shot. And then, right after the title fades to black:
Paul "I'm a shitfucker who didn't read the book my movie was based on before making it" Verhoeven*
Executive Producer
I held out hope that he was just a name/cash cow with no creative control, but it was not to be. What the show boils down to is a cooler version of the movie. And that's pretty much it, really. Here's a breakdown:
Good (yes!)
* Ship designs. For the most part, very neat.
* Non-human CGI and texture quality is decent. Again, for the most part.
* A few good action sequences, a few compelling plot devices.
Bad (no!)
* Characters aren't even loosely based on their original counterparts, a la Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers
* Still no fucking powersuits. Putting pants on a chimp does not make it a gorilla.
* Character models, animations, and textures are way behind the times
* Fire and explosion renders are teh suxor
* Chronic lack of plot. Holes, everywhere. Wouldn't have happened if they'd either stuck to the goddamn book or made their own, but they tried to do both and failed.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. When it comes down to it, the show would have been pretty cool if they took out all the Starship Troopers references. Actually, with a little tweaking it could be a great Starcraft series.
*He's also Dutch