VR Troopers

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:VRTroopers.jpg

VR Troopers (Virtual Reality Troopers) was a syndicated live action show from the creators of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The show tried to cash in on the short-lived Virtual Reality fad of the 1990's as well as the success of Power Rangers. The show featured early CGI and video effects mixed with Japanese stock footage from 3 different "Metal Heroes" series : Super Machine Metalder , Jiku Senshi Speilban , and Uchuu Keiji Shaider.

Contents

[edit]

Plot

The series centered around a character named Ryan Steele, a young man searching for his missing father, Tyler Steele a computer expert who (by all accounts) was taken by the Evil Grimlord and is lost somewhere in the Virtual world. Many episodes begin and end with Ryan pondering on lessons he has learned from his father. The VR Troopers' transformation was initialized with the transformation call, "Trooper Transform. We are VR!"

[edit]

Production

[edit]

Cast

[edit]

Main Characters

  • Ryan Steele

Played by Brad Hawkins, who is currently a country music singer.

The star of the series and leader of the VR Troopers. Ryan is the only character to have two different uniforms, as there was not enough stock footage of his Red/Blue uniform for the second season. See Ryan Steele for more info.

  • JB Reese

Played by Michael Bacon

JB was both a computer genius and an expert black belt. JB was always obsessed with technology and constantly relies on it for solutions. But his ongoing experience as a VR Trooper has taught him to appreciate life outside the convenience of technology. JB was quite capable of holding his own in battle, armed with a laser gun and using his primary weapon, the Laser Lance, as a finishing manuever against Grimlords monsters. Also in JBs arsenal was the VR Techno Bazooka; the VR Skybase would transform into a double-barrel cannon and JB would project a giant virtual image of himself to pull the trigger. When the battle grew too dangerous for reality, he activated a Vortex Command on his waist to transport himself and the enemy in virtual reality.

  • Kaitlin Starr

Played by Sarah Brown, who appeared later on General Hospital.

Kaitlin is a reporter and photographer for a newspaper called Voice Underground Daily. When she wasn't saving the world as a heroine, she was saving it through her journalism and photography. As a Trooper, Kailtin didn't have as many personal weapons and attacks. She carried around a hand pistol, occasionally a hatchet weapon, and later gained the ability to split into two dubbed "VR Double Team." She mainly fought along side JB and often served as backup for both male troopers via the VR Skybase. Kaitlin, on two events, demonstrated the ability to heal a fellow trooper by transferring some of her power to reenergize the other.

  • Jeb

Played by Zeb and voiced by Kerrigan Mahan

Ryan's pet bloodhound, whom he had since he was young. Jeb was accidentally subjected to a power surge in the part two of "The Battle Begins" that gave the dog the ability of speech. Jeb spoke in a Jack Nicholson-esque manner and had a tendency to be a little mischievous, especially towards Percy. Jeb has to always be silent around everyone, so people won't discover that he can talk. Jeb has proven to be quite useful to the Troopers ala Alpha 5, even if he cannot fight along side them.

  • Professor Horatio Hart

Played by Julian Combs

The Professor served as the Zordon of the series. He was a computerized being who would provide and construct the necessary arsenal and equipment that the Troopers would use throughout the series. Hart was once a flesh and blood human who worked along side Tyler Steele on the VR Trooper project. Until one day, he was mortally injured by Grimlord; to keep Hart alive, Tyler virtualized his brain.

  • Grimlord/Karl Ziktor

Both are played and voiced by Gardner Baldwin

The main nemesis. A sinister warlord from the virtual world who also has a human alter-ego, a computer company chairman named Karl Ziktor. His marble desk was devoid of anything a CEO might actually need on his desk (nameplate, computer, etc), only an intercom and more importantly a crystal ball that allowed him to morph into Grimlord and return to his palace in Virtual Reality. To activate the transformation into Grimlord, Ziktor placed his left hand on the ball, which shut his blinds automatically, darkening the room; he then said the words "Forces of Darkness, empower me! Take me back to my virtual reality!" This was similar to the villain from Metalder. In Season 2, he would use a green crystal to transform (this same crystal was the one used to collect info on Tyler Steele in the five-part miniseries "Quest For Power.") Karl Ziktor kept a large iguana as a pet named Juliet that was capable of fending for itself while Ziktor was busy as Grimlord. In both of his strongholds, he had minions like General Ivar, Col. Icebot, Decimator, Despera, Doom Master and the Vixens, and Oraclon as well as an army of Mutants and Cyborgs. In the second season Grimlord looks somewhat different and is actually able to move around.

[edit]

Supporting Characters

  • Tao Chong (Richard Rabago): Proprietor of Tao Dojo, an old friend of Tyler's and the Trooper's sensei. Tao is an old fashioned man, and occasionally his advice and teachings have proven useful for the Troopers, even though he is unaware of their identities.
  • Woody Stocker (Michael Sorich): Chief editor of Underground Voice Daily paper and Kaitlin's goofy boss. Woody's workspace is filled with novelty toys and he always comes to work with a different hat. On the side, he comes up with new snack recipes, some good and some that are just weird.
  • Percival "Percy" Rooney III (Aaron Pruner): The show's version of Bulk and Skull, combined. He is the mayor's nephew and Kaitlin's so-called rival. He is highly alergic to animals, mostly dogs. Jeb always enjoys pulling pranks on Percy. At work, Percy often tries to outdo Kaitlin, by often ends up getting into trouble with Woody, or even Grimlord.
  • Tyler Steele (David Carr): see Tyler Steele
  • Young Ryan (Farrand Thompson): Ryan's younger self; seen at the beginning of every episode. Whenever Ryan recalls his past, his younger self is often seen with Tyler. Most of the time, Young Ryan is training or doing father-son activities. He does get the spotlight in two episodes. In one episode, he and the other Troopers are reduced to ages of children. As kids, the Troopers only have limited time to defeat Grimlord's army. He also played a role in another episode when Ziktor sent Strictland through time to capture him, but his older half came into the past to save him.
[edit]

Other Voices

[edit]

Crew

  • Supervising Producers: Tony Oliver, Scott Page-Pagter
  • Producers: Robert Hughes
  • Writers: Doug Sloan, Mark Litton, Cheryl Saban, Judd Lynn, Worth Keeter, et al
  • Directors: Worth Keeter, Doug Sloan, et al
  • Assistant Stunt Coordinator: Frank Tahoe
  • Music Producer: Ron Wasserman
  • ADR Directors: Michael Sorich, Wendee Lee, Scott Page-Pagter
  • Executive Producers: Haim Saban and Shuki Levi
[edit]

Origins

Like Power Rangers, VR Troopers used a combination of American footage spliced with fight scenes from Japanese shows. The Japanese shows adapted in to VR Troopers are Space Sheriff Shaider, Dimensional Warrior Spielban, & Super Machine Metalder which are all from the Metal Heroes series produced by Toei. Because more than one Japanese show was used in an episode at any given time, Ryan's alter-ego was never in the same action scene as JB or Kaitlin's (since they were taken from two different shows). The only time the group fought "together" was all original American footage.

[edit]

Television Run

VR Troopers lasted 2 seasons (1994-95 and 95-96) and almost 100 episodes before it was cancelled in favour of another live action show, 'Big Bad Beetleborgs', which continued to use footage from the Metal Heros shows.

[edit]

Trivia

  • There was no given names to refer to the VR 'morphed' forms since none of them had one main color.
  • The show was originally called "Cybertron." It is likely the name was changed because of the TV series "Transformers." However, the production studio kept the name Cybertron Productions for the show's lifespan, much like how Saban's "other" wing MMPR Productions kept its name until its shutdown in 2002.
  • The part of Ryan Steele was originally given to Jason David Frank (Tommy from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers). He filmed one episode back when the show was known as Cybertron.
  • The VR Troopers used American made suits for use in the Battle Grid sequences. The helmets and suits were recolors from the orignal Red Ranger costume in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, with the color scheme matching the colores from the full-armoured suits.
  • Some Power Rangers fans look at V.R Troopers as being a prototype for the kind of arc driven storytelling that would eventually be carried into Power Rangers, which only had the Green Rangers' battle to maintain his powers as its' primary development for much of the first season, which would change during the second. Troopers balanced the standard monster battles with occasional dips into developing the various characters.
  • One of Haim Saban's earliest dreams was to release an English dub of the Metal Heroes series Choujinki Metalder in the United States. He was never able to do this, but did use both the Metalder costume (as Ryan Steele's first costume), and large amounts of footage for VR Troopers.
  • Most of the VRT stories are derived more from Metalder than Shaider and Speilban.
  • Since some of the costumes of the Mutants and Cyborgs (whether the ones in the Virtual Dungeon or the Virtual Dark Fourtress) never appeared in U.S.A., none of them made cameos in any Power Rangers series. However, some character costumes were reproduced to interact with the American actors: the Vixens, Doommaster, Despera, and both Skugs. Parts of Dark Heart were also recreated and used in the final scenes of "Defending Dark Heart".
  • On an interview posted on Rangerboard, Brad Hawkins said he and his fellow cast members Bacon and Brown got to keep their Virtualizers after the series finished.
[edit]

See also

Retrieved from "http://www.netipedia.com/index.php/VR_Troopers"