Review of Starship Troopers (1997) by Smoothrunner — 12 Sep 2016

Heinlein's "Starship Troopers", along with his "Double Star", "Between Planets" and "Orphans of the Sky", was one of the first books that began my acquaintance with the Science fiction genre. Then, at the first reading in adolescence, "Starship Troopers", as I now realize, had an opposite influence on me to that conceived by the author, although it caused an intense inner dialogue. Perhaps it is due to its peculiar "extremist" philosophy, conjugated with an idealized description of an army life and the nuances of the officers' service, I've remembered this book among hundreds and thousands of others which I've read at the same period. Although at the time it was seen by me more like an action adventure, and not as political manifesto of the author. Over time, of course, the book is perceived quite differently, and I fully agree with and support the decision of the publisher, who refused to publish the "Troopers" for young audience, because instead of novel of professional science fiction writer, young readers would've received novel of an unprofessional philosopher. Although, I must stress this again, at my teen age book had the opposite effect on me than what was intended by the author.

The irony is that the same story has happened with the adaptation of "Troopers" by Verhoeven - what the director intended as a vicious satire on militarism in general and in particular on Heinlein's book, which was almost forgotten, served as the book's advertising. Despite the different tones, narrative styles and incorporated ideas, in an artistic sense I would call the book and the movie to be equal. If the book is more sincere and deep, actual science fiction and social modelling, the film is more social satire, caricature and propaganda poster on the verge of trash. It is difficult to say which is better or worse, because they are completely different art expressions. And although to me either Heinlein's idealistic military meritocracy and Verhoeven's leftist pacifism are equally unsympathetic, I can not help but admit that aesthetically I like both the novel and the film - each in its own way. That, of course, does not negate the madness of the inflated to absurd ideas underlying both works. Actually, I would advise to watch a movie to those who are able to separate the ideological background from the artistic value of these works. After all, the movie has a fascinating story, there are intense action, beautiful actors, love melodrama, as well as an original, colorful cartoon aesthetic and political satire.