44 replies to this topic

[Crook]

Have you seen this???

[Lusankya]

Yep watched it as a kid when it first aired. I have to admit it, this is what got me hooked on Battletech .

[Jakob Knight]

You would have had to see the promo trailer they did for this at one of the GenCon game faires to understand how disappointed alot of us were when this finally came on the air. The trailer featured Babylon 5-quality graphics, compared to the simplistic quality actually delivered, and stills from it were actually put into the Rules of Warfare core rulebook put out about the same time.

Unfortunately, the 'G.I. Joe' style of animation, characters, and storyline didn't help. Most regular players saw it as a severe dumbing-down of the entire setting to appeal to kids, and I guess that was what it was intended to be. However, compared the the animation series that inspired Battletech in the first place, it was woefully underdeveloped and painfully simplistic.

I think those of us who really loved the setting of Battletech and read the novels (even at the time this came out) don't like thinking of this series because it basically killed any chance for a better series/movie.

[DarkDevilDancer]

I watched the whole series on YouTube not too long back, it's cheesy as hell and does suffer from gi joeitis as no one ever dies.

It's okay but when I think of other shows like exo squad that were on at the time I can never call it good.

[Pariah Devalis]

My favorite part about the series (aside from Malthus' random neck spasms) was the retcon that was made in Universe and in the books that came afterwards, where the TV show was referred to as a "cheezy kid's holovid." The humor even the writers found from the series' failures is pretty fantastic.

Edited by Pariah Devalis, 10 November 2013 - 04:19 PM.

[dal10]

that and everyone who ever watched it now imagines that all clanners have mohawks.

[GalaxyBluestar]

Marack Drock, on 10 November 2013 - 09:28 PM, said:

YOU DARE DEFAME MY TV SHOW!!!???



INNER SPHERE BARBARIAN!!!!!!!!!

GalaxyBluestar, on 29 September 2013 - 03:05 AM, said:

go home clanner you're drunk on power!

[reign]

From Wars of Reaving source book

“I guess it is more culture shock than anything,” he
surmised. “I mean, listen to them on the band. They use
nicknames, not proper warrior code. Contractions everywhere. It is like watching one of those Spheroid trivid
battle movies.”
“The Solaris feeds we watched when we were little.
Or that idiotic cartoon about the Jade Falcons.” She was
chuckling out loud now. “Can you imagine if our Khans
talked like that? ‘You will pay for your treachery, Adam
Steiner,’” she screeched.

Even Catalyst gaming group makes fun of that cartoon

[Vassago Rain]

It has pretty good writing, and the characters are interesting.

Animation is awful. I love Nicolai's everything.

[akakiwu490]

I'm three episodes in, and I think it's a great intro to BattleTech. As someone who spends time between matches obsessively reading Sarna and sourcebooks, I still have a LONG way to go on the lore of BattleTech. The TV show, in some ways, helps make some of the things clearer. I know watching it that the concepts are sometimes simplified or dumbed down, but seeing some of the Clan culture in the show has clarified things.

That said, I've played BT games since MW2 first came out, and have been an avid JF since day one. I had never envisioned the Jade Falcons as feeling it necessary or prudent to paint their faces in the garish colors they do. For some reason it reminds me of those old G.I. Joe action figures that changed color in some places when you put them in water. Not sure why.

[dal10]

to put it simply why they are made that way. in the 80s punks were considered bad. therefore the bad guys dress as punks.

[Lusankya]

The one thing I always laugh at from watching the show when I was younger was how fragile the Maulers arms are lol . They always seem to get blown off very easy.

[dal10]

Marack Drock, on 13 November 2013 - 07:04 AM, said:

YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR FREEBIRTH OPINION!!!!!

make me.

[Will9761]

My favorite episode was the debut of Clan Wolf, it's a pity they didn't get as much screen time as the Jade Falcons did.

Edited by Will9761, 14 November 2013 - 09:59 PM.

[Jakob Knight]

akakiwu490, on 12 November 2013 - 08:07 PM, said:

That said, I've played BT games since MW2 first came out, and have been an avid JF since day one. I had never envisioned the Jade Falcons as feeling it necessary or prudent to paint their faces in the garish colors they do. For some reason it reminds me of those old G.I. Joe action figures that changed color in some places when you put them in water. Not sure why.

Simply put, because, like G.I. Joe, it was made solely to sell toys and action figures.

This is how U.S. commercial animation was/is set up, as a marketing tool for the toy companies. In the US, the animated series are seen as something only for kids, and the quality of both animation and story are limited to what the toy companies think will sell their product (i.e. target audience of about 8-12 years old). For this reason, they tend to not work overtime or put much effort into them, as the belief is that kids won't care beyond seeing lasers flash and good guys always beating the bad guys (and don't confuse them with anything but simple stereotypes). Also, this means the same animators can be free to do other series quickly without looking for better talent.

By comparison, the animation in Japan (where just about everything in Battletech except for the actual tactics and means of getting to the battle came from) is something viewed as an artform, meant for both adults and kids, and the detail and complexity of the series is much, much more developed. Characters who were evil badguys can end up being shown to actually have good intentions, even turning into the 'good guys' staunchest allies (Dessler from 'Space Cruiser Yamato'). Artwork isn't always seen as something to be shortcutted, and thought is given to many machines as to how they work rather than what the toy company thought looked 'leet'. While the toy companies still produce the shows to market the models and props from them, it's more of a partnership than an employee relationship.

So, the reason things in the show remind you of G.I. Joe and the toys of that brand is because they were made by the same kind of companies and probably the same animators and storywriters (yes, they did have storywriters, even if those writers were wageslaves looking at the results of their efforts as just another 9-5 job).

Edited by Jakob Knight, 15 November 2013 - 12:28 PM.

[dal10]

and that is why transformer's plot sucked pretty hard.

[CDLord HHGD]

I'd like to see them make a LotR-esq version of Stackpole's Warrior and BoK trilogies. It would be EPIC.
EPIC I SAY!!!

[Saori Arai]

A live-action movie would be preferred. I'd recommend the Battle of Misery with the main antagonist being Nicholas Cage as Jamie Wolf.

[LoPanShui]

And Tom Hiddleston as Natasha Kerensky.

[Strum Wealh]

Escudero, on 18 November 2013 - 12:14 PM, said:

A live-action movie would be preferred. I'd recommend the Battle of Misery with the main antagonist being Nicholas Cage as Jamie Wolf.

LoPanShui, on 18 November 2013 - 12:25 PM, said:

And Tom Hiddleston as Natasha Kerensky.

Nicolas Cage as Jamie Wolf, Cate Blanchett as Natasha Kerensky, and Denzel Washington as Minobu Tetsuhara?
Jonathan Frakes as Grieg Samsonov, Ken Watanabe as Jerry Akuma, and George Takei as Takashi Kurita?

EDIT: Upon further consideration, it might also workwith Frakes and Cage reversed - that is, with Frakes as Colonel Wolf and Cage as Warlord Samsonov...

Edited by Strum Wealh, 22 November 2013 - 05:46 AM.