Starship Troopers

Paul Verhoeoven, USA 1997, 129 mins

Set in the 23rd Century Mankind is at war with "The Bugs" arachnid like creatures from the planet Klendathu to quote the film: "It's an ugly planet; a bug planet. A planet hostile to life as we know it.". The film centers around Ju an (Johnny) Rico who decides to join the federation army instead of go to univer sity to follow his high school girl-friend (Carmen) but they get assigned to dif ferent sections, Rico to the mobile infantry and her to flight school. Rico exce ls in the tough training and is promoted to squad leader but after the death of one of his men in a training accident he decides to quit. During this his home i s destroyed, and his parents killed, by an asteroid sent by "the bugs" he reenlists and is sent as part of a massive attack force to Klendathu.

This film is Verhoeven's greatest film to date, better than Robocop and Total Recall. It is an excellent satire of militarism and fascism with its recruitment adverts "Everyone is doing their part. Are you?" and seeming to be one long infomercial. It is also an excellent action movie with plenty of one-liners, gore and explosions with fantastic special effects. It is one of my favorite films of all time and should be seen by everyone.

Review by N. A. Grom
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2007

Starship Troopers marks Verhoeven's return to sci-fi after Basic Instinct and Showgirls. He carries it off, if not in style, with bucket loads of gore and a whole mess of monsters.

The plot, taken from Heinlein's fascist pulp novel, follows the exploits of a handful of wet-behind- the-ears teenagers in the distant future during an intergalactic war. They get signed up into the marines, trained to kill, become disillusioned about the war and then invariably die grotesque deaths.

A critic described the film as a `pure adrenaline rush', which it has in common with Robocop. However, unlike Verhoeven's other famous sci-fi effort, Total Recall, it's not crap. The action is relentless, and often brutal, but the comic-book setting ensures that it does not generate controversy. With many of the cast dying during the piece, Verhoeven took the easy way to get the audience to relate to the characters, by hiring only young beautiful hopefuls. So don't expect any thespian outbursts, or even any of the touchingly human moments that elevated Robocop to its position of greatness. Instead, you can gleefully pick which model will get dismembered next.

The best way to describe the film is simply "In Your Face". Starship Troopers has no inner meaning and the audience will more than likely take none of it away with them, so why go to see it? The special effects are certainly impressive, which is no easy task in cinema today and the rousing score by Basil Poledouris accompanies the action spectacularly. The design of the alien arachnids is to be commended also, for managing to still find an original way to depict big bugs in a horror film. However, the whole tone of the film, which seems to have transplanted its morals for a sick, black streak of humour provides its originality. The overall impression of a military earth in which there are no longer any nice people left is presented in a manner that makes it seem not so distant from our own. The war with the aliens is seen as a penance that will either destroy civilisation, or save mankind. Or maybe you just want to see a really mental film with giant bugs and loads of gore. Cool.

Gordon Johnson
EUFS Programme 1998-99