Review of Starship Troopers (1997) by Johnathon W — 30 Jul 2017

Solid action movie satire that suffers from not fully honoring the source material nor being as satirical as it thinks it is. The acting is solid, for the most part, with the leads Casper Van Dien & Denise Richards giving necessary but wooden performances (based on their screen tests, that may have been the point).

Thankfully, the supporting cast is superb, notably Michael Ironside is the experienced, no-nonsense lieutenant. Behind the camera, Paul Verhoeven crafts a fun action filled satire meant to make fun of propaganda action films, but doesn't quite get there.

The action is top notch, while the the news reel clips have the same satirical film as "Robocop", but this isn't true Heinlein's original book. The society in the book is not nearly fascist as the one in the film and it would have been nice to see the mobile, armor suits.

Plus, the humans have a pretty good cause to fight the bugs (they do attack the Earth and kill millions) and some scenes, like a colonel willing to sacrifice a squad for the greater mission, is something even Eisenhower understood during D-Day.

However, the bugs are more interesting in the movie, fully alien instead being humanoid like in the book, and Verhoeven delivers some top notch action. Overall, despite it flaws, a fun action movie with a bit of satire, but not the the masterpiece that is "Robocop".