Shadow Raiders

War Planets/Shadow Raiders doesn't match up to its predecessor, Reboot, but it's still a notch above your average Saturday morning kiddie-toon. The computer animation is gorgeous, characters are appealing, and the writing, while a little lackluster, certainly has the potential for greatness.

I really liked the whole design of the show. Each of the four planets has inhabitants to match, and a distinctly different culture. Rock, for instance, is starkly militaristic, while Fire seems to have some Arabic roots.

My only real problem, was that each episode tried to do more than it was capable of, and each the entire storyline didn't seem to be tied together too well. Other than that, I can't wait for Season Two.

War Planets has great voice work, characterization, and the animation is the best of all the three SF shows that Mainframe/Alliance has produced. Yet it is an ultimate letdown in writing. The seasons have what I call "mini-arcs" which is to say that after a series of one-shot episodes, we finally try to do something noteworthy. Most of the time, the mini-arcs are fairly good, but are a bit flat because there is no building tension. If focus could be shifted to court intrigues and smaller conflicts within the Alliance, perhaps we might have a better show, but these is a side of WP that has remained woefully untapped for the most part. The opening episodes of the series, for instance, could have been extended and more laid out, but instead Graveheart is exiled too easily. The standard cliches of action animation are glaring here, with plots that seem quick and sometimes banal.

"Shadow Raiders" or "War Planets" as I usually called it was one of the best 3-D animated shows there ever was. It was one of the shows on my WB 3-D animated show line up on Sunday mornings. It had a great plot, good special effects, and I liked the different type of characters on it. It's too bad it was canceled before its time (before it could become a big hit)!

My favorite episodes were: "Behold the Beast", "Uneasy Hangs the Head", and "RagnaRok", parts one and two.

Overall I really enjoyed this show and wish it lasted longer. Anyone who likes 3-D animated shows I believe would like this show. I give this show 9/10 stars.

I happened upon this show based on a whim. I was curious to find out how good of a show it was. After I found all six DVDs, for a great price, I purchased all of them at once and am so glad that I did! The animation is fantastic and the DVD transfer is absolutely perfect. I don't think that I own any DVDs that have a cleaner picture. The story lines are all interesting as well as the dialogue. I STRONGLY recommend this show to everyone. If you like science fiction, animation, and an interesting premise then this is the series for you. I've also watched the 3D animated "Roughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles" and they are nowhere near as impressive as "ShadowRaiders". Try something new and watch ShadowRaiders, I think that you'll be as thrilled as I've been.

Firstly, let me say that I love just about everything that Mainframe puts out. Secondly, this show was just a great space epic, complete with its little side deals and enemy factions. It also had real characters and real character development, which a lot of cartoons tend to skip out on. All in all, just one cool show. Too bad there'll be no Season 3, but let's enjoy what we've got.