Review of Starship Troopers (1997) by Elin T — 02 Apr 2012

See it and prepare yourself for gratuitous nudity and gore. The best "Hard R" of the 1990's.

Sometimes you see a rated R movie and wonder what uptight nimrod gave it an R rating. Barely a boobie or a passing F word and into the "R" bin it goes. In this movie - you will not have to wonder about it at all. In the 70's every horror movie was gory and the actresses all got naked. Every movie was essentially the same in this respect. This movie follows in that tradition and then takes it to the next level.

Not that I'm complaining.

This was a film I had no preconceptions about before seeing it. I remember that my first go-around - I was disturbed by the content and the cheesy fighting sequences and lame dialogue. It was campy. I don't know what I was expecting - but it was not this.

Since then I have seen the movie a few more times and read the book. The book is terrific and I have come to appreciate the movie. I think they would have been better suited to stick closer to the book - but the overall image of a future or alternate universe is interesting. The idea of citizenship only through service to your country is intriguing and I found it fascinating to follow their logic. It was well thought out.

The campiness of the movie seemed to go along with the WWII culture of war clips before the movies start. Shamelessly patriotic and gung-ho. The fresh faced recruits to grizzled veterans transition and the massive casualties including main characters make it seem more realistic for a sci-fi film.

The book/movie content helped inspire "The Forever War" and - although he denies it - Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" - both masterpieces in their own right. Not quite as thought provoking as Gattaca nor as intense as Full Metal Jacket. It tries to be the best of both films (not that it stole material - just is reminiscent of both) - and fails in that but it was fun and worth your time.