Review of Shadow Raiders: Season 1

Introduction

I have fond memories of ReBoot. Back in the mid-nineties this was one of the first CGI animations that went beyond technical wizardry and told a story that was entertaining and original. Set inside a computer world a la Tron, it followed the various inhabitants as they fought off viruses, and dealt with the various games that were loaded into their system. Commissioned by ABC, it was made by the Canadian company Mainframe and lasted three seasons. After the first two seasons, ABC discontinued their association, and free of US restrictions, the series took a more adult tone. It took a while for ITV to realise this in the UK and ReBoot vanished from our screens halfway through the third season. ReBoot is still to be released on DVD in the UK by the way, but Shadow Raiders makes its UK debut courtesy of Metrodome. Shadow Raiders, also known as War Planets was the follow up animation from Mainframe that was first broadcast in 1998 and lasted two seasons. ADV released these episodes over several volumes in the US, but Metrodome will release both seasons in two-disc sets this summer.

Shadow Raiders takes everything learned and developed in ReBoot and applies it to a new story. More detailed characters, larger, more intricate worlds and plenty of graphical loveliness are all steps up from the earlier series and promise more visual splendour. Based on a range of toys (what else?) Shadow Raiders sees the planet Tex destroyed by the evil Beast. Only one person survives, the Princess Tekla, and she escapes to warn the universe of the Beast`s coming. The next target is a system of four worlds, Ice, Bone, Fire and Rock that are at war among themselves. She`ll have to convince them to work together or The Beast will devour all. This first season contains 14 episodes.

Disc 1

1. Behold The Beast
Tekla interrupts a confrontation on Ice between King Cryos and a raiding party lead by Rock miner Graveheart by crashing her ship in the midst of the standoff. A Beast scouting party isn`t far behind and decimates both sides. Only Graveheart has the strength and courage to put aside their differences.

2. On The Rocks
Cryos and Graveheart travel to Rock to warn King Mantel of the Beast threat. Mantel isn`t in the mood to listen, and evicts Cryos from his court, sentencing Graveheart to death. Fortunately Graveheart`s old friend Jade is more amenable to his evidence.

3. Born In Fire
There is a better chance of forming an alliance with the people of Fire, as Prince Pyrus may be inexperienced, but he is open to negotiation. The same can`t be said of his grand Vizier though, who sets Graveheart and Cryos a Test Of Fire.

4. Bad To The Bone
With Fire on board, the alliance is almost formed. It`s time to go to the planet Bone to convince their leader Femur of the benefits of standing together against the Beast. But there is already an alliance in the offing, between Femur and Lamprey of the Beast.

5. Wolf In The Fold
There is a meeting between the members of the Alliance on Ice, but a personality clash is inevitable. Meanwhile Lamprey has an insidious plan to disrupt the Alliance, and she will use the comatose Tekla to put it into effect.

6. Mind War
The possessed Tekla takes refuge with Femur on his way back to Bone. In Tekla`s mind a battle rages between Tekla and Lamprey for control, only Femur feels the effects first hand.

7. J`Accuse
The fledgling Alliance is sorely tested when Jade gets into trouble on planet Fire as she is accused of murder. Graveheart only has a few hours to clear her name when Lamprey`s up to her old tricks again.

Disc 2

8. Blood Is Thicker
Lady Zera`s ship returns but she is not on board. Her father Cryos is concerned and begins a search, but Beast infiltrators have arrived with the ship. It`s a prelude to a full-scale invasion and soon Cryos has to face an agonising choice.

9. Rock and Ruin
The Alliance leaders visit Rock once more to convince Mantel to join the effort. He still isn`t receptive, so Femur plans something underhand that threatens to blow up in everyone`s face.

10. Against All Odds
Pyrus and Zera are flying home when the Beast attacks their flight. Their escort wiped out, their ship damaged, they are forced to crash on Remora, the dead world. They`ll have their work cut out to survive, especially with the Beast already there.

11. Uneasy Hangs The Head
Graveheart is feeling the pressure of heading the Alliance and seeks to convince Tekla to take his place on the verge of the attack on Remora.

12. Ragnarok - Part I
The Alliance fleet heads to Remora to do battle with the Beast. Everything seems to be going the Alliance way, but the Beast still have a trick or two up their sleeve.

13. Ragnarok - Part II
The Beast are in the ascendant and the Alliance fleet in disarray. But Cryos finds a weakness in Remora`s defences. Meanwhile Tekla and Jade pursue missions of their own.

14. World Within Worlds
The Beast world enters the system. The real war has only just begun.

Video

The advantage of a digital source means that Shadow Raiders gets a nigh on perfect transfers. Everything is clear and sharp, and you don`t have to worry about trivialities like print damage or grain. The character design is vivid and the animation is fluid. However signs of age do poke through, especially when we are now used to Pixar level quality in digital animation. The images are hyper-sharp, there is no blurring with distance, there are rare instances of jaggies, the texture maps occasionally slip and once or twice a polygon went walkabout. This is also the era when computers couldn`t really handle complex motion like flame, water or explosions, and that certainly shows. The thing is that the characterisations are strong, and the stories involving enough that you probably won`t notice.

Audio

You get an English DD 2.0 Stereo track without subtitles. Prologic works its magic though. Once or twice the dialogue can be drowned out by the action, but it`s clear for the most part. The music is repetitive and the war drums quickly begin to grate, but I don`t think you`re supposed to watch all 14 episodes in a row.

Features

The scripts are provided as PDF files on the disc, useful if you have a PC or Mac with Adobe Acrobat installed.

Conclusion

When all is said and done, and the eye-candy is taken into account, Shadow Raiders is simply a Saturday morning action cartoon, if an exceptional one. It`s your basic good guys versus bad guys situation, with plenty of stereotypical characters and some predictable stories. What elevates this above similar fare is that there is some lip service paid to character development, and there is a strong continuity running through the series. That coupled with the excellent CGI animation and expansive world designs make Shadow Raiders an enjoyable experience. That it is laden with cliché is undeniable, and the morals are extremely simplified, but as it is aimed at the pre-teen toy purchasing demographic, that becomes less of a concern.

I can`t help comparing it with ReBoot though. The animation that preceded it has a warm place in my heart, and not just for reasons of nostalgia. ReBoot was set in an environment where the animation style worked in its favour. Similarly, the shows format allowed the stories to be opened up no end. Every successive `incoming game` could allow another genre to be explored, and the show was laden with pop-culture references and in-jokes, something that appealed to the university student demographic. I still remember the episode where Special Agents Fax Modem and Dana Nully investigated mysterious disappearances. Shadow Raiders is set in the `real world` and as such is more limited in what stories it can explore. While the improvements in animation allow for a greater realism in the worlds displayed, that same thickly layered pop-culture vibe doesn`t make the transition. The worlds shown here need to stick to and follow their own rules.

That doesn`t stop the occasional wink to the viewer though, not least with the hero of the piece, Graveheart who has a blue and white marble face. There are also quotes from Shakespeare, a nod to Psycho and a wonderful shot for shot remake of the climax of Star Wars, with a Millennium Falcon type ship racing to the rescue out of the sun. The characters are easily recognisable, the gravel voiced hero, the genteel statesman, the impetuous teen, the cowardly quisling, the roll call of good guys is unmistakeable from a myriad similar cartoons. Similarly the bad guys have their own vampish femme fatale, oafish muscle-bound warmonger and legion of cannon fodder drones. The character designs are spectacular though, pushing the limits of what was then cutting edge technology. The bad guys are particularly inventive, with their null matter forms spectacular to look at. The scripts also display some wit, making the characters individualistic and developed. Femur is the cowardly lizard-like double-crosser from Bone, and he`s based loosely on Danny DeVito`s character from Taxi, displaying a gift for sexual innuendo that may make potential purchasers think twice about buying this for little Timmy. Block is the muscle-bound bad guy who has watched one too many Arnie movies, even saving an "I`ll Be Back!" for an appropriate occasion.

Shadow Raiders starts off well, setting the scene for a decent good guy versus bad guy clash. The formation of the Alliance is handled well with the plot going down some interesting routes, but there is a dip in quality in the middle of the run, with some space filler episodes as well as a worn out Saturday morning possession cliché wheeled out. By the second disc, things pick up again, with some spectacular action set pieces, and exciting plot developments. Uneasy Hangs The Head may seem like the kind of clip show that signals a paucity of budget, but it is perfectly placed in the run as a reminder of what has come before, just prior to the season climax. That climax is spectacular indeed, surpassing everything I have seen in the genre when it comes to scale, action and sheer eye-candy. The space battles definitely owe much to George Lucas in their staging and direction, and it is undeniably edge of the seat stuff. The final episode ensures that you`ll be reaching into your pockets for Season 2, not only with a nail-biting cliff-hanger, but a couple of intriguing plot developments too.

Excellent picture quality is a selling point of this disc, and the sound isn`t bad either. The only thing that would give me pause is a lack of subtitles. Otherwise Shadow Raiders tells a good solid Saturday morning story, with wit and style and some amazing graphical splendour.