STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)
Anytime you think I'm being too rough, anytime you think I'm being too tough, anytime you miss-your-mommy, QUIT! You sign your 1240-A, you get your gear, and you take a stroll down washout lane. Do you get me? – Sgt Zim
Okay so in this one we are basically in the distant future and we are in a world where to become a citizen, you need to get into the military (or maybe there are other ways, but the movie doesn’t get into that). What you do in the military is all based on tests, and basically, if you aren’t super smart you end up in the infantry. The military's main purpose in the movie is to fight off giant bugs after the “Federation” has kinda been advancing into “bug territory” and their “home planet”. These insects are pretty freakin smart and have “butt weapons” that shoot some acidic plasma into the atmosphere that can destroy the Federation’s military transport ships. Also at the start of the movie, they are really freakin hard to kill, but at the end, it seems like they die just a lot easier. Maybe the guns are better?
The plot mostly revolved around Johnny Rico (played by Casper Van Dien) who is basically that one dude in high school that you avoid asking any tough questions because you know you are going to get a generic answer. He’s dating Carmen Ibanez (played by Denise Richards who unlike in 007 THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH actually does fit well in this movie) but she’s got ambitions that go beyond him. Because like I said… he’s generic. I guess she’s generic too, just smarter. As the plot moves along Johnnie's character does get better. Dina Meyer plays a strong character in this named Dizzy Flores and we also get a lot of decent backup characters like Zander Baraclow (played by Patrick Muldoon best known for his 20-year stint on Days Of Our Lives), Carl (played by Neil Patrick Harris) and Jean Rasczak whose role is perfectly played by Michael Ironside. In case you are wondering what happened to Michael Ironside, don’t worry about him, that dude has 10 current movies either in post-production or announced. We even get a brief Rue McLCanahan appearance. Yeah, the Golden Girl.
The effects in this thing are pretty decent even by today’s standards. The ships are okay, but the CGI on the bugs is pretty incredible. We get some over-the-top serviceable acting from the leads, but Dine Meyer, Clancy Brown (as Sgt. Zim), and Michael Ironside put the rest of the cast to shame. This movie is loaded with political overtones and shots at how the government kind of glorifies war at times, it even takes a quick pot-shot at democracy, but to be honest, I really didn’t get too caught up in that. The film is also world-building and I think director Paul Verhoeven does a good job of presenting that world as is. At this point, STARSHIP TROOPERS is rightfully regarded as a sci-fi classic for being both over-the-top goofy and ridiculously raw. So of course…it also flopped at the box office.
I give STARSHIP TROOPERS a solid 5 out of 7. It’s not a movie I’d watch over and over, but it does what it set out to do and offers no apologies.
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