Starship Troopers (1997)

Starship Troopers (1997)

Directed by: Paul Verhoeven

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, and Dina Meyer.

Plot: In the Not-too-distant future, humanity is controlled by a super-government called the Federation, where citizenship is granted to civilians by joining the military.  During one of their spacefaring travels, humanity encounters an alien species called Arachnids or "Bugs".  Meanwhile, Johnny Rico, along with his girlfriend Carmen Ibanez, have just graduated high school in Buenos Aires, and want to enlist for citizenship,  Carmen becomes a pilot (due to her high test scores) and Johnny is relegated to the mobile infantry (due to his physical prowess).  Shortly after going through boot camp, Johnny and the rest of the world realize that Buenos Aires has been hit by a meteorite sent by the Arachnids.  Shortly after, the Federation declares war on the Bugs, and our heroes suddenly find themselves on the front lines.  Will they survive the carnage of war and protect their world, or will they become Bug chow?

Good: The acting in the film, while not excellent, is still pretty good.  All the cast members pull off the action scenes convincingly, and as the film goes on, they all grow a believable camaraderie with each other, especially those in the mobile infantry.  They also do a great job showing how war changes their characters, making them hardened and wise by the end of the film.  Casper Van Dien is fine as Johnny, making him a sympathetic and likable lead.  Denise Richards is also serviceable as Carmen, and the audience buys her chemistry with Van Dien.  Other entertaining performances come from Neil Patrick Harris as Carl (Johnny's psychic best friend) and Micheal Ironside as Jean Rasczak (Johnny's teacher and military superior).  However, the best performance comes from Dina Meyer as Dizzy, Johnny's friend and fellow infantryman.  She's very charismatic, she has the best chemistry with her cast mates, and the audience sympathizes with her as the story goes on.  Another great thing about the film is the visual effects.  The fusion of practical and computer imagery make for effects that are (for the most part) still impressive to this day.  The designs of the bugs are imaginative and iconic, with the warrior bugs being particular stand-outs.  The action is also very well done, showing the brutality of war while also entertaining the audience.  But the best thing about this film would have to be the humor.  Like in his previous film Robocop, Verhoeven adds snippets of satire in the form of news reports and propaganda, while also being woven throughout the main story.  These are probably the funniest parts of the film, shedding light on the over-militarization of America creating a fascist society, and the dehumanization of enemies of the nation.  This is done by having the uniforms look like those worn by the Nazis, and making the enemies invertebrates.  It also remains relevant today, especially in a post-9/11 world.    

Bad: One of the film's problems is the pacing.  It takes about an hour before they get to get to the first big action scene, and then the rest of the film is non-stop action.  The first half could have been shortened considerably by taking out some of the less important scenes, such as the love triangle between Johnny, Carmen, and her copilot, Zander.  The scenes in boot camp could've also been shortened considerably.  Also, while many of the computer effects are very well done, there are a few shots that don't look quite up to par with the rest of the film.  A good example of this is the brain bug, which doesn't look that great when it's all done with CGI.  However, the practical effects for the close-up shots of it do look very good.

Trivia:

• Paul Verhoeven never read the entire book that the film is based on.  He claims that he got too bored halfway through and gave up.
• Mark Wahlberg turned down the role of Johnny Rico.
• In order to elicit the right reactions during fights with the Bugs, Verhoeven would jump in front of the actors and scream.
• The armor that the mobile infantry wears has been used in other projects, such as Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy and Firefly.

Final Verdict: While it does have some pacing issues and minor special effect errors, this film is still an excellent watch.  The satire makes it much more than a standard sci-fi action flick, and something that should be analyzed more often, especially with today's social and political climate.  Even without the social commentary, it's still a very entertaining movie, with great action and likable characters.  Overall, it's a great movie that I highly recommend, unless you can't stand the violence, since there is quite a bit of it.

Next week, I'll look at one of the most controversial movies of 2014, The Interview.

Stay Tuned