Starship Troopers

Plot synopsis:
In the distant future, several hundred years after a revolution by Galactic War Veterans overthrew the world's governments and imposed a militaristic regime titled 'The Global Federation of Earth', humanity is at tense diplomatic relations with an alien race whose homeworld is the planet Klendathu (one of many planets inhabited by these creatures located on the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy) who are named the Arachnids, or 'Bugs'. John 'Johnny' D. Rico (Casper Van Dien), his girlfriend Carmen (Denise Richards), and best friend Carl (Neil Patrick Harris), who possesses psychic abilities, graduate from high school in Buenos Aires. Carmen and Carl enlist in the military to become citizens. Wanting to follow his girlfriend and friend, Johnny goes against his parents' desires and also enlists. But he finds that his grades are too low to join Carmen in Flight School and is assigned to the Mobile Infantry while Carl joins Military Intelligence.Johnny and the rest of the new recruits are drilled by the brutal Career Sergeant Zim (Clancy Brown). Johnny shows himself to be an outstanding leader and is made squad leader. He also meets a former high school classmate, "Dizzy" Flores (Dina Meyer), who has requested transfer to Johnny's unit ostensibly because the unit is the toughest but mainly because she's infatuated with Johnny. Over the next few weeks in boot camp, Johnny learns that Carmen is happy with her training and is working with his high school rival, Zander (Patrick Muldoon). Her decision to make the Fleet her career dashes Johnny's dreams as well as the future of his romance with her. Following a training incident in which one of his squad members is killed, Johnny is demoted from squad leader and publicly flogged in accordance with military law. As Johnny is telling his parents via videophone that he is quitting the Infantry the transmission is interrupted. The 'Bugs' have directed an asteroid at Earth, destroying Buenos Aires, killing his parents and most of the population of that city. As a result of this sneak attack, Earth declares war on the 'Bugs' and Johnny stays with the Infantry.The Federation's forces mount a large-scale invasion of Klendathu, which becomes an unmitigated disaster due to underestimation of their foes combat abilities. 'Bug plasma' energy discharges from the surface by huge 'Tanker Bugs' thought to be flame-spewing battle tanks on the surface now turn out to be giant artillery pieces capable of surface-to-space barrages creating massive damage to the Fleet in space.With much of the Fleet in space destroyed or badly damaged, the Mobile Infantry on the surface now cut off from air support is overcome by swarms of thousands of 'Bug' warriors. Over 100,000 troops are killed before a retreat can be performed and several of Johnny's fellow recruits are killed, Johnny himself being severely wounded.Later at the Ticonderoga Battle Station, where the remains of the Fleet dock, Carmen looks up Johnny Rico's name on a computer screen, (it shows 308,563 casualties from the one-day battle, most of them being KIA or MIA). Johnny's squad is almost wiped out and Carmen, due to an error in the casualty list, believes he is dead.Federation scientists are baffled by the Bugs' use of military tactics and postulate that there must be a caste of 'Brain Bugs' that serve as generals for the Arachnids.After a few days' rest, Johnny, Dizzy, and fellow squad member Ace Levy (Jake Busey) are re-assigned to the 'Roughnecks', a special unit of Mobile Infantry which is led by Johnny's old high-school teacher, Lieutenant Jean Rasczak (Michael Ironside), a veteran of the First Bug War several years earlier who has been brought out of retirement to lead the group. Back on Earth, a new Sky Marshal revises the campaign, using strikes on other planets in the Klendathu system to learn more about the Arachnids' tactics. After aerial napalm strikes against the planets, Lt. Rasczak's squad lands on Planet 'P' to mop up. Johnny's leadership and his skill in combat while destroying a tanker bug earn him a field promotion to Corporal. That night, Lt. Raszcak grants the unit rest and relaxation, during which Johnny and Dizzy wind up in bed.A few days later, the Roughnecks are assigned to investigate an outpost on Planet P; they find the garrison killed and learn that the Bugs have sucked out the brains of some of the dead. They find the cowardly Commanding Officer General Owen (Marshall Bell) still alive, rambling about the existence of some kind of leader bug responsible for the massacre. Suddenly, the outpost is ambushed by thousands of warrior bugs, with some tanker bugs in support. Most of the squad is killed, including General Owen, and Lt. Rasczak. Johnny takes command and requests an evacuation ship, which happens to be flown by Carmen and Zander. Dizzy is fatally stabbed by a warrior bug and dies in Johnny's arms.After Dizzy's funeral aboard a starship, Johnny and Carmen are joined by Carl, now a high-ranking colonel in military intelligence. Carl admits that the Roughnecks had been used as bait to test a theory, which enrages Johnny, but the theory has proven correct; the existence of 'Brain Bugs' that control much of the Arachnid behaviour. Carl assigns the Roughnecks to search for a 'brain bug'. Carl gives Johnny a promotion to Lieutenant and command of the Roughnecks.As the Roughnecks explore the surface of the planet, the Fleet in space is again fired upon by hundreds of planetary tanker bugs. During the attack the warship 'Rodger Young' on which Carmen is stationed as the pilot, is hit by Arachnid plasma energy fire. Cutting the ship in two, Carmen and Zander manage to evacuate in an escape pod that crashes deep inside a Bug nest several meters underground. Johnny learns of Carmen's situation and tells the rest of the squad to keep scouring the surface while he, Ace, and Sugar Watkins (Seth Gilliam) search for Carmen in the tunnels. Carl, who has telepathic powers, is able to provide Johnny some guidance through his mind. Eventually they discover Carmen and Zander just as Zander's brain is sucked out by the brain bug leader. Carmen saves herself by injuring the bug with a knife that Zander had handed to her earlier. Watkins, injured, sacrifices himself to wipe out the bug nest with a small nuclear warhead. Johnny, Ace and Carmen arrive on the surface and learn that the brain bug has been caught by the Mobile Infantry, led by former Sergeant Zim, who has been demoted to Private in order to take part in combat. As everyone celebrates, Carl joins Johnny and Carmen on the surface, explaining that they will be able to learn how the Bugs think and can turn the tide of the war.Concluding with another propaganda News Reel, it is shown that Johnny, Ace, and Carmen continue their service in the military as heroes. Prime examples to incoming recruits with Johnny as leader of the 'Roughnecks' and Carmen as Captain of her own ship as the war against the bugs continues.

Tags: comedy, murder, paranormal, cult, violence, good versus evil, humor, satire, romantic, entertaining, sci-fi

Review:
But guess what: it is fun (by the truckload - at least if you have a pitch-black sense of humour and you do realise what this film is and what it wants to achieve).Paul Verhoeven was a master at making Sci-Fi films which worked both as perfect mainstream popcorn cinema and as very intelligent social commentary on the direction - he felt - society was headed.
And despite the fact that the over-the-top satirical elements and highly political undercurrents in his two previous sci-fi extravaganzas Robocop and Total Recall were only appreciated by a few critics at the time, those two films became huge hits at the box office: because they also offered great action, amazing special effects and overall great entertainment.My guess is that Verhoeven felt encouraged by that success, and so with Starship Troopers, he didn't just sneak in some subversive parts: he went full-blown satire.
And much like another glitch in the Hollywood machine, David Fincher's Fight Club, films like that rarely get made (and not with such budgets), because more often than not, they end up as flops.Apart from the underlying themes, on the surface Starship Troopers also has a lot going for it: amazing effects that still hold up very well and insanely intense battle scenes with more blood and guts than even the meanest gore-hound could wish for.
It really is a shame that despite the squeaky-clean heroes plucked straight from the soaps, the Mormon extremists, the multiple-amputee mobile infantry retirees and the propaganda shorts masquerading as news, the vast majority still seems to regard Starship Troopers as a stupid action movie and, for some reason, absolutely refuse to consider that it might be something more.10/10.
Heinlein novel, Starship Troopers is set in a world of the future where militarism is the norm, largely because we've discovered alien civilizations of huge insect-like creatures and we're at war with them.
The film follows a quartet of high school friends as they make their varied ways through the military.Starship Troopers is both a tongue-in-cheek satire of society and an intense sci-fi/action/war film filled with horror-like insect monsters and a healthy dose of graphic gore.
Like Platoon, the basic training scenes show order and a clear sense of purpose, while the wartime scenes show comparative chaos.That the film could be compared to something like Platoon shows that although director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Edward Neumeier are aware that the material could easily be seen as absurd, they have the chops to make it believable and suspenseful at the same time.This is not to say that Starship Troopers is a rip-off of any other movie.
The truth is that this is a brilliant film that, like Verhoeven's earlier "Robocop", is an insightful satire and critique of fascism and at the same time succeeds as a sci-fi thriller.
That's the strange and wonderful thing about "Starship Troopers" and "Robocop" -- one viewer might totally not get it, while to another, the critical/satirical level is totally in your face and is what the film is really all about.I don't know if I'm describing it well, but watch it with the film-makers' commentary turned on (on the DVD version), and director Paul Verhoeven and writer Ed Neumeier lay it all out very clearly: the film is about how war makes fascists of us all.
The acting is excellent, and the balance between the characters' interpersonal story line, the bug war story line, and the underlying political satire and critique, is perfectly handled.A truly exceptional film, Verhoeven's best so far, topping even "Robocop" in my opinion, and fully deserving a 10 out of 10 score, which I rarely give..
I remember wait to see and action film about great space heroes, and even when I found heroes and action, I found a awesome and satirical story about the evolution of the human race and how the path of war falls in a road to hell.
More than that, Starship troopers it's that kind of science fiction films with great a big special effects but at the same time a terrific script.
After this you can read the book of Robert Heinlein founding how far goes Paul Verhoeven in every scene and every character creating.
Three, is a mix of the above, and it's the way I think a lot of people have started to watch this movie, at least that is the case for me.When I first saw this movie in the theatre, I loved the movie for really simple reasons(not bad, but simple) it was visually stunning for it's time, it had funny, over the top characters that you just can't help but to love, and a cast of really easy on the eye actors.Then I bought the DVD, and started to notice all the social commentary that I kinda missed the first time around, and now I hold this film as one of my all-time favorites, maybe even top 5.I see a lot of difference in opinion on these boards, and I can't help but to think that the people that do not like this movie, have not moved away from the first example I wrote on how to watch this film, and simply do not like sci-fi films, and don't want to give credibility to the genre.For people who DO like sci-fi, and are open to new takes on the sci-fi genre, this movie is a godsend.
But Starship Troopers is one of those great films that grows on you the more you see it.Verhoeven has said his life was changed by witnessing the violence of WWII up close and personal.
The opening TV news show even says that the conflict started when Mormons opened a mission on the bug planet (this is something I missed first time around.) But again, the relatively lame ending soft pedals this theme, so by the time Doogie Houser shows up wearing an SS trenchcoat, torturing the poor Brain Bug, people tend to laugh and dismiss the deeper meaning.Starship Troopers also has some of the best FX ever!
Taking a few names from Starship Troopers (the novel), the points that Verhoeven makes in his (IMHO) ham-handed manner are made at the expense of the points made in the book.
I've seen comments saying that "perhaps it wasn't close enough to the book." There is no perhaps in this case, this movie took a few proper nouns and the idea that the main enemies are "bugs," and that is the sum total of Verhoeven's theft.
I am a long-time Heinlein fan and have read Starship Troopers.Being a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Robert Heinlein had a lot of respect for military service as a way to serve humanity in a cause bigger than yourself.
It is a pretty controversial book in that Heinlein makes the case that only those who have served in the military, i.e. served a cause bigger than themselves, should be enfranchised with the vote as they have demonstrated themselves to be responsible enough to think about more than just themselves.You won't get any of that out of the film.
Perhaps if you go to this movie looking for some good mindless action and some pretty faces you won't be disappointed; as I was, but make no mistake you are not seeing anything truly related to the book this film was allegedly based on..
Why don't they use artillery?They've got the capability of making these huge space ships, yet they are completely unprotected from the bugs' low-speed anti-spacecraft missiles.How can Ibanez take a 4-inch diameter bug leg through the shoulder and still be able to hold up one of those stupid massive automatic weapons, and apparently not lose any blood?I watched more of this movie that I should have, just because I couldn't believe how incredibly stupid it was.
If you hated this movie because of its thematic content, then I can honestly suggest you read the book because the book is very good and has exactly the opposite theme.The film stank for my friends because they like interesting movies with one or more of the following: a good plot, good acting, good character development, or a good visual show.
Ranking on my all-time bad movie list--right up there with Waterworld--Starship Troopers could not have disappointed me more than it did.
I'm not sure how many of you have read Starship Troopers the book before reading it, but I'd like to point out a few things.
An absolute waste of time and money which could have been better spent doing anything else rather than watching this apology for a film.Apart from the fact that it's an awful adaptation of the storyline of one of the best SF novels ever written, it's shallow, missing all of the depth of the novel and the characters were all far too easy to hate.
Of course it's a satire on multiple levels so congratulations to Verhoeven and the entire film-making team for doing this so well, yet also succeeding brilliantly at the shoot-em-up thrills and coming-of-age story aspects (which latter I thought were non-trivial despite some probably deliberate clichés).It seems to me that Heinlein was more ambivalent than Verhoven about fascism, although far from unaware of its dangers.
However, Verhoeven's apparent preoccupation with the lessons of the Nazi era may have obscured some of Heinlein's themes.Heinlein was an adult by the time of the war, lived in the US, and never served in the European theatre, so the war's emotional effects on him were different.The heart-rending nature of the screams of the dying arachnids is another of the subtle features of the satire - you may not notice this during a first viewing of the relevant scenes.Apart from that I've nothing to add to earlier reviews except no one seems to have mentioned the comparison that strikes me between the battle scene at the fort, near the end of the film, and at least one major scene in "Zulu".
Anybody who's actually read the great book by Robert Heinlein on which this movie is supposedly based will not help but give it a trash rating.
I'm not really going to say too much about this movie, I just wanted to give a little advice to writters and directors who plan to adapt a book to film.
Second Step, If you don't agree with the philosophy behind the book, don't do the movie!I will be first to admit that I don't really agree with Heinlein's military based society, but he presents a clear philosophy in a straight forward and fascinating story.
I haven't seen a film that has concealed that it's a satire in a better way, in fact it looks like as if it contains any message it is totally drowned in the gory, stupidly-patriotic, bad-acting parts, with the the blatantly typical stereotypes and the dumb sexual plot!
The Starship Troopers Film adaptation (Henceforth reffered to as "Nazis in Space") is the worst interpratation of Heinlein's novel.
Think "Top Gun" without the Fighter Jets, that's the same scenario you have with "Nazis in Space".In conclusion: If you want to check out Heinlein's work, go read the book or watch a "Fansub" of the Japanese Anime version (Yes there is one out).
No matter how much you try to explain it away you're left thinking of what a ridiculous idea it is to send ground troops to a planet to engage in pitched battles with literally billions of self aware homicidal insectsActually I've just realised why , because if humanity nuked the bugs then we'd be left with two hours of THE OC IN OUTER SPACE with the last two minutes composed of a couple of large explosions and that would have made for an extremely boring film .
Say what you like about the first sixty minutes of the running time ( And if you've nothing nice to say about it I'll agree with you ) but the second half of STARSHIP TROOPERS is very gory fun with Verhoeeven delivering the goods .
Eliminating the power armor and other advanced weapons aside, the true story of Johnny Rico was never touched in this movie and Neumier (sp?) should have left the script titled "Bug Hunt" and kept his hands off the Starship Troopers name because he obviously took the original work with a grain of salt, so why did the think he could do much better?
For those that would like to see a more truthful adaptation of this world and word of Heinlein with out the egregious and grandiosly innappropriate transformations of Verhoeven, then you really should check out "Roughnecks Starship Troopers Chronicles" which is out on a series of DVDs. Here the pretense of making a fascist statement where there really is none is dispensed with.
The fact that there are people who have talked themselves into believing Paul Verhoeven's "Starship Troopers" is a witty, satirical social commentary is a frightening example of how easy it is to delude yourself.
My title is a quote from director Paul Veerhoven who makes no attempt to water down his political views in "Starship Troopers", a merciless, satirical skewering of those superpowers throughout history who believe war solves the world's problems.That opening sentence is a mouthful, so let me explain a little further.
The rest of the movie is peppered with such dark comedic skits, a lot like Veerhoven's "Robocop" a decade earlier.Where the film is brilliant (or disastrous, see below) is in the way the battle scenes do thrill us, almost to the point that we lose ourselves in the hysteria of warfare, and only upon sober reflection do we realize that Mr. Veerhoven has just proved how easy it is to become a mindless minion of violence.
well, if you are going to try to tell me they hurled a rock thousands of light years, I suppose you can't expect me to quibble that on the way it might 'scrape' the Rodger Young.A lot of people have written about the fascist undertone of the society which was played up very strongly in the novel but actually only touched on in the film.
This is not an action sci-fi movie it's a satire of the society at the time of war.
Starship Troopers is a very clever and funny satire and even more than that: a big entertaining movie like you've never seen before.**** out of ****.
Heinlein at least suggests the possibility that humans attempted to settle a bug world, however this is lost in the xenophobic frenzy that this movie is.The movie isn't half of what it could have been had it followed the book more closely without a loss of any of the director's all too important action sequences..
The movie "Starship Troopers" lacks the book's character development, plot, motivation, terrene form of government, time line, character interaction, and literary merit.
Starship Troopers was a magnificent book and I was very excited to learn that a movie version of it was finally being made.
However, in the book, extradetails about the society that people live in are shown.The movie makes fun of the "fascist" government, whereas thebook tries to explain how things got to be like that.
It turned this book into yet another special-effects festival, with lots of blood, gore, and death, following a bunch of future teenagers having the same kind of fun killing bugs as they would at a high school football game.I have no doubt that the author will find a way to come back and haunt the producers, writers, and director of this drek fest for the rest of their natural lives..
Starship Troopers Is one of my all time favorite Science Fiction films and I've been hoping for a sequel.I am 58 years old and started watching Science Fiction in the 50's with classics like War of the Worlds, Earth v.
WWII movies could get away without supplying the premise for why we were fighting WWII, because it is to this day universally known why, but I'm afraid that the WWII formula won't work in the Starship Trooper context, we need a plot including the premises for why this war started in the first place.Next, let's look at the credibility of some of the things seen in this movie--Reporters standing in the middle of a combat mission?
It had the potential to be no more than a B-Grade Sci-fi monster movie with classy special effects, but for some reason Verhoeven decided he had to make it into a twisted version of Heinlein's excellent novel.Those who have seen the movie but not read the book may be shocked to learn that what Heinlein actually wrote was a story about a fundamentally noble human culture and the moral justifications for war against an implacable enemy.
I'm not sure if he ever affiliated himself with any political party, but I think that by the time he wrote Starship Troopers, he was a libertarian, which is about as far from being a fascist as you can get.Still, it's a fun movie.
You might be a bit disappointed if you're expecting it to be as good as James Cameron's Aliens, but I'd say Starship Troopers is definitely worth seeing if you like sci-fi action movies..
There are thousands of better SF or war films to chose from, so avoid Starship Troopers if you value your time.
Critics, some people and also as I know, the director, Paul Verhoeven say that the movie has a lot of political, social messages, it is a satire.
However, people love Aliens which is also according to them one of the best action movies, but the rating of Starship Troopers is one of the most bothersome ratings in IMDb history!
Paul Verhoeven is, obviously, a magnificent filmmaker (even if he directed the universally hated "Showgirls"), and he really knows how to make both a smart and fun movie!On the surface, it is an action-packed science fiction film.
Plus, it is a really entertaining action movie, so even if you aren't into satire, you still might really enjoy "Starship Troopers"!Highly recommended.