Starship Troopers: For this review, we were at a screening of Starship Troopers (in my living room the past weekend). I had heard that it was a great movie that just didn't have a huge advertising budget, so my hopes were kinda high going in. I know that Peter Verhooven directed this, and also directed Robocop, so I was also expecting a movie that worked on a few different levels. That's what I got.
On the esoteric level, Starship Troopers seems to make a pretty clear anti-military, and anti-war statement. The movie opens up with futuristic pro-war propoganda film reel imploring people to "do your part" with patriotism running high. From there, we're exposed to the brutality of future boot camp (sometimes in graphic pictures). We also are pounded over the head with the easy inter-changability of people in the ranks -- "I'll be in command until someone better comes along or I die" -- watching the mentored become the mentor in the revolving death door that is the caste system called the military and the casual disregard for death the non-fighting elite have for the fighting and the ... wait. I'll bet you're thinking I'm projecting here. Well, I'm not. I prefer the term intellectualizing.
Anyway, so there's THAT level. Then, there's this big alien bug threat (MiB?) that is squashing out life on our speck of rock called Earth. These bugs keep hurtling these really big rocks towards Earth (where's Bruce Willis' drill bit when you need it!?) and wiping out cities. So, in order to kill these bugs, we decide to invade their planet! (Like Planet of the Apes' irony, we have a hard time believing that we aren't the smartest beings in the universe.) When Earthkind lands on alien soil and gets slaughtered in mano-a-antennae fighting, what do we do? Send more. Why not just nuke the damn planet instead of wasting endless rounds of ammo? Hey, at least the bugs are smart enough to destroy us long-distance. But I digress.
There's a love story in here somewhere that has something to do with the jock wanting the prom queen but he's really being pursued by the school vixen. All in all, that whole romance element didn't work for me in this film. So, we'll move on.
In short, this was a campy movie that wasn't taking itself too seriously while it tried
to make its point(s). Think of your favorite "save the world from destruction
film" with a Mars Attacks-campiness. Mostly, it works. I can see how most fans of the
story's author would feel short-changed by plot deviation and how some looking for the
next Star Wars would be let down. An entertaining movie that satirizes better than it
romanticizes. A 6.