Review for Starship Troopers

Released: 1997

Director: Paul Verhoven
Genre: Science Fiction-Action/Adventure

I once read a review of Starship Troopers in which the writer stated, "Starship Troopers is a war satire that outshines even Kubrick's great film Dr. Strangelove." Don't believe it for a second- writing that in a review is the equivalent of saying, "Marley & Me is a comedy that outshines Billy Wilder's great film The Apartment." Such claims are dangerous and lead people to watch unnecessarily bad films in place of redeeming ones. I'm not saying that Paul Verhoven's slapstick, shallowly satirical bugfest is a complete throwaway, but it is hardly a revelation in the world of post Terminator 2 Hollywood blockbuster cinema. Then again, few films are.

In fact, Starship Troopers was made on the same budget as Terminator 2: $100 million, give or take. Too bad the former possesses only a fraction of the imagination that James Cameron's epic follow up to 1984's The Terminator does. Paul Verhoven has made a career out of directing big budget, over the top films (usually with great one-liners) that mock the less appealing aspects of modern American culture; Robocop and Total Recall are two good examples. Starship Troopers was made using the same formula, but it substitutes a good portion of tongue in cheek cleverness with mounds of soldiers being ripped to pieces by giant bugs. Allow me to explain...

The film takes place in the 23rd century, where "service guarantees citizenship" and society is constantly bombarded by propagandistic film and internet clips. These tidbits pop up throughout, and are probably the funniest parts in Starship Troopers. They show how people are doing their part to "destroy the bugs," referring to an alien arachnid species at war with man. The main characters in the movie all come from the same high school, and all enroll in the military in hopes of fighting the enemy. After the bugs launch an asteroid at Earth from their home planet in the Klenadu System (a highly improbable event- and it isn't clear if the government is simply using an asteroid collision as an excuse to take up arms), the human race mobilizes all military personel and equipment, hoping to destroy the entire species. What ensues is a very gory sequence of mind numbing battle scenes that follow the typical story arc of an action blockbuster: the humans initially die by the score when confronting the enemy, then find out how to strike at the head- in this case, a "brain bug" who literally sucks out the brains of men with a straw-like appendage. Though two of the four main characters (and countless extras) perish in the mayhem, all is well in the end, and man vows to continue the extermination of pests.

I understand that the whole presestation of Starship Troopers is meant to be an allegory, parading the Nazi's irrational hatred of the Jews under the veil of American patriotism, but I just didn't find the movie to be a very engaging. It could have been better if certain plot elements and inconsistancies were explained- some, like the part where the Earth is hit by the meteorite supposedly launched by the bugs, aren't even speculated about. Such an action would be impossible, since the aliens in question don't possess calculative powers or equipment necessary to hit a target as miniscule as the Earth on the other side of the galaxy- and in that case it would be an inexcusably large plot hole. But Verhoven doesn't even suggest that the world government might be using the event to manipulate the mindset of the populace, so I was perplexed... and not in a good way.

Overall, Starship Troopers is aggravatingly uneven: the subject matter is very juvenile, but the excessive violence, gore and nudity conflicts with the would-be core audience of preteen boys who enjoy science fiction. The characters take themselves too seriously in some parts and not seriously enough in others. It is no wonder that the film barely turned a profit at the box office, earning a modest $121 million worldwide. That being said, it does have some good scenes; who wouldn't laugh at the part where a commander examines a dead soldier's head and exclaims, in a perfectly serious tone, "they sucked out his brains"?

Do yourself a favor and watch Total Recall instead, it is better in every respect- and it has Arnold Schwarzenegger.

2.00/4.00