VR Troopers VR Troopers is a 90’s Children’s TV show. In the 80's Vitual Reality games started to appear which captivated the children at the time. Saban looked at capitalising on this with VR Troopers. It used the tried and tested formula of bad guys threaten the earth, so a number of young teenagers are given powers to beat them all up. This formula is continued today with the granddaddy of these - Power Rangers, which is also made by Saban.   The tv show was geared up for the US and Japanese markets, which love watching martial arts and beating up bad guys who are in strange rubber suits. The acting is very theatrical when they are in their VR Suits and as usual they wear face masks so that the martial arts experts can be used instead of the real actors. It is really funny when you see Kaitlin driving her red car, as you can tell its a car on a trailer, with guys shaking the car to look like its real. You'll know it when you see it (see first episode).   They definitely had issues with the Grimlord face mask, as it never looked like he was talking. There was virtually no lip movements while he was speaking.     Story  Ryan, Kaitlin and J.B. are friends that hang out together and are members of the Tao Dojo, a martial arts club. They are appalled when they find out that Zictor Industries are gradually demolishing their town.   But one day their lives change when they are contacted by Professor Hart from Virtual Reality. He tells Ryan that he has a message from his father, who has been missing for 10 years, but they will have to go to his lab to get it. But Carl Zictor, a billionaire businessman, doesn't want this meeting to happen and we find out that he lives in another dimension as Grimlord and wants to take over both dimensions. So he sends his evil henchmen to stop them. When they get to the co-ordinates, they find a gateway that transports them to a secret lab. Here they are told to put on the 3 VR Visors, where they see a playback recording from Ryan's father.   He tells them that Grimlord, an evil being, has been looking to break through the reality barrier from the VR dimension and unleash his army of mutant robots onto the planet. Professor Hart and Ryan's Father need their help, by turning them into VR Troopers where they will be given special powers to fight the Evil of Grimlord.   They eventually agree to this and are given 'Transformation Virtualisers'. These allow the friends to turn into VR Troopers, which gives them power and the technological capabilities, plus it allows them to travel between the two realities. If they need to transform then all they need to do is shout out 'Trooper Transform' and hold up the Visualisers, followed by 'We are VR!' (sounds a good way to do some posing).   Not only are they given powers, but they have even been given access to a spaceship to battle the mutants. Some people get all the luck, I know with my luck, they would have given me a toothbrush! To gain access to the spaceship, all they need to do is jump straight at the ship, which opens a hatch at the last second to allow them in (I wonder how many times they hit their head in practice? VR Troopers Characters      Ryan Steel     (played by Brad Hawkins) When he was young, his father taught him karate, but 10 years ago his father disappeared and he has been trying to find him ever since.   He is always reminiscing about his father when he was young. He found out that the laboratory was built by his father. He loves likes riding his Motorbike.   Out of the 3 VR troopers, he is the leader of them all and normally pilots the spacecraft that Professor Hart supplies them.    In this, he can provide air support to the other two VR Troopers that are battling on land.     Kaitlin Star     (played by Sarah Brown) She works as a reporter at the 'Daily Underground Voice' newspaper.   Professor Hart even modified her car, so that it could fly, so she has the one and only flying car in the world. When are they coming out with that model? I want one!   Once transformed, she can use a laser gun to help her.   Most of the time, she partners J.B. in his ground attacks against Grimlord's evil beings.     J.B. Reese     (played by Michael Bacon) He is saving up for his college education and likes riding his Motorbike.   When he transforms, he can turn his sword into a laser lance, which is like a sword, but has a blade either end. When he is ready to finish one of his enemies, he can extend one of the blades to end the battle.   If needed, he can use his laser gun to take advantage of a situation. He is the most violent of the three and loves to go straight into the thick of battle.   His father goes around in his Mobile Library trying to encourage children to read.     Carl Zictor / Grimlord     (played by Gardner Baldwin) He is head of Zictor Industries and he demolished a number of buildings to build a nuclear power plant. He has a pet lizard called Miss Juliet and surrounds himself by a number of beautiful female bodyguards who all wear the same style black dresses, with their hair in a bun (do you think he saw the video to Robert Palmer's Addicted to Love?). He wants to control of the citizens of the local town (and then beyond).   But Carl Zictor comes from another dimension and is really an evil being called Grimlord, who wants to take over our dimension. When he wants to turn into Grimlord and return to Virtual Reality he shouts: "Forces of Darkness empower me Take me back to my virtual reality" Then he grabs his orb and transforms into Grimlord, the Master of the Virtual World (it looks like he needs to moisturise his face).   Back in Virtual Reality, Grimlord commands mutants called Skugs, who can operate freely in both realities and he uses General Ivar, Decimator, Celton, Paxzoid, Blue Boar, Air Striker and Fighter Bot to help them. Once, he tried to destroy all the knowledge about solar energy, so he would be the only person that would know how to harness it. So he tried to destroy all libraries.     Tao     (played by Richard Rabago) Tao runs the local Dojo martial arts club. He is on the look out for partners to run the Dojo with him.     Woody     (played by Michael Sorich) He works as the editor of the 'Daily Underground Voice' newspaper and is a bit of a nutter / fruit loop etc. Each time he is seen, he is wearing a different hat. Looks like he is sensitive about going bald!     Professor Horacio Hart     (played by Julian Combs) The Professor lives in Virtual Reality, where he tries to help Ryan and his friends. He keeps an eye on Grimlord and calls the gang together when their help is needed. He used to work with Ryan's father. If Ryan and his friends need to talk to him, then they use the special disk he gave to them. This can be inserted into any computer and it then allows them to see and hear him on the screen.     Jeb     (played by Zeb) Jeb isn't very good at doing tricks, but his life changed when he accidentally started one of the machines in Professor Hart's lab. It looked like nothing had happened to Jeb, but when he tried to bark at the others, they were in for a shock as he started talking to him. Not only that, he sounds like Jack Nicholson. Roll up, Roll up...come and see the talking dog (they could make a fortune).   He loves to attack Mrs Rooney, the Mayors wife. This mostly consists of pushing her over and licking her face.   VR Troopers T-Shirts - NONE VR Troopers DVDs Region 2 (Europe) - VR Troopers DVDs Region 1 (USA) - NONE VR Troopers Video VR Troopers Episodes Series 1 (1994)  1. The Battle Begins - Part 1  2. The Battle Begins - Part 2  3. Error in the System  4. Lost Memories  5. Battle for the Books  6. Oh Brother  7. Grimlord's Challenge  8. Computer Captive  9. Katlin's Little Helper  10. The Virtual Spy  11. The Virtual V-6  12. No One's Friend  13. Dogmatic Change  14. Searching for Tyler Steele  15. Save the Trees  16. A Dirty Trick  17. Kaitlin's Front Page  18. The Dognapping  19. My Dog's Girlfriend  20. Digging for Fire  21. The Great Brain Robbery  22. The Dojo Plot  23. Grimlord's Greatest Hits  24. The Disappearance  25. Nightmares  26. Secret Admirer  27. Grimlord's House of Fear  28. Three Strikes  29. Danger in the Deep  30. Small But Mighty  31. Defending Dark Heart (1)  32. Defending Dark Heart - Part 2  33. Defending Dark Heart - Part 3  34. Defending Dark Heart - Part 4  35. Ghost Biker  36. Endangered Species  37. Field Goal  38. The Littlest Trooper  39. The Reality Virus  40. Friends in Need  41. Good Trooper, Bad Trooper  42. The Transmutant  43. Who's King of the Mountain?  44. The Couch Potato Kid  45. The Old Switcharoo  46. Race to the Rescue  47. Fiddler on the Loose  48. Virtually Powerless  49. New Kids on the Planet  50. Message from Space  51. The Rise of the Red Python - Part 1  52. The Rise of the Red Python - Part 2   Series 2 (1995)   1. Mutant Mutiny  2. Trooper out of Time  3. Secret Power  4. Quest for Power - Part 1  5. Quest for Power - Part 2  6. Quest for Power - Part 3  7. Quest for Power - Part 4  8. Quest for Power - Part 5  9. Fashion Victims  10. Game Over  11. Watered Down  12. The Negative Factor  13. Kaitlin Through the Looking Glass -           Part 1  14. Kaitlin Through the Looking Glass -           Part 2  15. Kaitlin Goes Hollywood  16. Grimlord Takes Root  17. The Disk  18. Virtual Venom  19. New World Order  20. Grimlord's Children  21. The Millennium Sabre  22. Grimlord's Dark Secret - Part 1  23. Grimlord's Dark Secret - Part 2  24. On the Wrong Track  25. Forward into the Past  26. Into Oraclon's Web  27. Santa's Secret Trooper  28. The Charmeeka Invasion  29. Dream Battle  30. A Hard Day's Mutant  31. Magnetic Attraction  32. Get Me to the Lab on Time  33. Grimlord's Big Breakout  34. Field and Scream  35. The Duplitron Dilemma  36. Despera Strikes Back  37. The Ghost of Cross World Forrest  38. Grimlord's Dummy  39. Time Out  40. 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