Movie:
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles is a CGI TV series that debuted in August of 1999. Based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein that inspired the movie, Roughnecks adds more anti-bug campaigns than were featured in the movie, effectively filling in some gaps and adding lots of character development. Fans of the film will recognize Rico, Flores, Ibanez, Jenkins, and Razak. This DVD contains episodes 26-30 of the show, which is the entire five part Klendathu Campaign.

While transporting captured bug specimens back to SICON, the Roughnecks pull watch duty on the Valley Forge. What promises to be an uneventful voyage turns deadly when Zander, infected by a bug virus, breaks out of stasis in a mutated half-bug, half-human form. The Roughnecks manage to force his retreat from the vessel, but not before he pilots the Valley Forge to Klendathu. Now on the bug's home planet, the Roughnecks must find Zander and exterminate the Queen.

The Klendathu Campaign is another great arc in the Roughnecks series. The return of Jenkins, a few cameos by the CHAS robots, and a guest spot by Lee R. Ermey (Sky Marshall Sanchez) are a few of the things that make it so great. One of the troopers gets paralyzed, prompting Rico's promotion to squad leader and, of course, there's more of the Rico/Ibanez/Flores love triangle. The Klendathu Campaign follows the The Ice Asteroid Campaign, which has yet to be released on DVD: that arc features Zander getting infected, which leads to his mutation in episode 26. Most importantly, The Klendathu Campaign has what every Trooper wants - lots of bug extermination.

Picture:
Roughnecks is presented in 1.33:1 full frame, as it originally aired on TV. While much of the CGI is exceptional, some of it is a bit jerky, and not all of it is of the same quality. Characters in causal wear, for example, are less detailed and roughly animated. Some of the environments are rather sparse as well, though I suspect that's more to budget constraints as the series progressed. There is also some slight grain and some shimmer throughout the episodes, though it is easily overlooked.

Sound:
Roughnecks is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 in English and Dolby 2.0 Surround in French and Spanish. The 5.1 surround track is amazing, especially when considering that this was originally a TV show. Throughout the episodes, the front surrounds stay almost constantly active with the sounds of war and the series' music. There are quite a few split surround effects and front to rear surrounds, both of which sound excellent and add greatly to the experience. Dialogue throughout the episodes is crisp and clean, with no distortion that I could detect. Subtitles are also available in English, Spanish, and French.

Extras:
The main extras on the disc are the two screen-specific audio commentaries, a filmmaker's commentary and a technical commentary. As with the previous Roughneck DVDs (except The Pluto Campaign), the commentaries feature rotating participants.

The filmmaker's commentary is hosted by Audu Paden. Joining him for episodes 26, 27, and 28 are Tom Pugsley (Story Editor) and Wayne Boon (Composer). Susan Blue (Casting Director) joins him for episodes 29 and 30. Other participants include (credit, episode): David Hartman (Director, 26), Alan Caldwell (Director, 27), Jay Oliva (Director, 28), E.G. Dailey (voice of Flores, 29), Tish Hicks (voice of Ibanez, 29), James Horan (voice of Doc, 30), and Alex Polinsky (voice of Higgins, 30).

The technical commentary is again hosted by Audu Paden, who is the only participant that remains for all five episodes. Joining him is a wide variety of people from the animation teams at Flat Earth and Foundation, including the animation directors. Each episode has about four participants (Paden, the episode CGI director, and two other animators).

As with previous Roughneck commentaries, I enjoyed the filmmaker's one the most. Commentary for the first three episodes on the disc is primarily focused on story ideas, conceptualization, some trimmed sequences, sources used for reference, where The Klendathu Campaign fits in the Roughnecks series, and a few stories of what it was like working with Lee R. Ermey. The last two episode commentaries, both of which feature two voice actors apiece, are great. Having voice actors appear on previous Roughneck commentaries was a terrific idea and easily highlighted those tracks. These voice actors, especially E.G. Dailey, provide another interesting and entertaining experience.

The technical commentary delves more into how the show was brought to life through animation. The participants discuss the puppets, sets, designs, lighting, and the challenges associated both with filming a CG television show and having two teams collaborate on the series.

Also rounding out the disc are a trailer for the Roughnecks series and filmographies for seven of the voice actors and two of the producers.

Summary:
Fans following the exploits of the Roughnecks for the first time on DVD might be a bit confused as to the beginning of The Klendathu Campaign due to the lack of the previous campaign being available on DVD. Even so, no Trooper should pass up viewing The Klendathu Campaign. With a terrific audiovisual presentation and two great commentaries, The Klendathu Campaign is Highly Recommended!