ladies and gentlemen , 1997 's independence day is here !
it 's title : starship troopers .
and surprisingly , it is more entertaining than id4 .
i realize that i gave last year 's
sci - fi hit a 4 star rating , but i was under the spell of the powerful first hour .
after subsequent viewings , i feel that independence day really was n't as great as it seemed -- though i still give it a positive review .
starship troopers , on the other hand , has a mocking sense of humor , knowing perfectly well how ridiculous it may seem . as a result , starship troopers is a more exciting , energetic , and lively science fiction film .
in fact , i probably could never get tired of watching this film .
starship troopers is very reminiscient of star wars , another kick - ass space opera which reinvented the sci - fi drama altogether .
while starship troopers is no star wars , it comes quite close , and the easiest assessment would be to call this film : " the ' star wars ' of the 90s .
" am i being to generous to this film ?
perhaps , but when a science fiction film comes along that can mix humor and romance , effectively , into the warring races .
in essence , this is the science fiction equivolence of pulp fiction .
the easiest way to write a review of this film would be to compare it to other science fiction films , and i may have to .
starship troopers is not quite an original film persay , but director paul verhoeven gives the film a " kick - the - aliens'-asses " style .
id4 had this same style , except it was forced , most likely the cause of will smith having a major role .
this new " star wars " has a very simple , basic plot : mankind vs .
an alien species .
the alien species in question here is the bugs , a seemingly advanced civilization of arachnid - type insects .
however , the underlying morals of starship troopers are fleshed out with deadly accuracy .
sometimes the morals are buried by the bloody violence and intense action scenes , but during quiet moments , we realize that starship troopers has something to tell us about our civilization .
more than likely , these morals will be overpowered and quickly forgotten by the time the movie ends .
and they should be .
i doubt verhoeven intended this film to be a thought - provoking film .
this is an " event " film , but surprisingly above average .
it is extremely refreshing to watch a sci - fi war film , and actually root for the human side ( something independence day never achieved ) .
starship troopers begins with a satirical portrayal of those strange " join the army " ads .
mixing a web - based interface , these summations of events are refreshingly original . stating , " would you like to know more ? " , these short news bulletins give the film an immediate sense of humor , and we know we should not take it seriously .
however , we also witness the murder of several troopers in battle , in a gory , yet funny , way .
after witnessing the slaughter , the film jumps back one year , to setup what we just saw .
we are introduced to johnny rico ( casper van dien ) and carmen ibanez ( denise richards ) .
rico flirts with carmen by sending her messages over computer terminals in school classrooms .
however , carmen is n't as interested in rico as she is in becoming a pilot .
however , another classmate , dizzy flores ( dina meyer ) , has her eye on rico .
unfortunately , rico is n't interested in dizzy .
this setup is rather cliched , as is the result of the setup , but it still is fun to watch .
carmen signs up to become a starship trooper , and as a result , rico signs up .
and as a result , dizzy signs up .
everyone is assigned a certain position in the academy : carmen gets the pilot position she wanted , carl jenkins ( neil patrick harris ) , a psychic , gets a position in the training program , and rico is left in the lowest class of the starship troopers : the mobile infantry .
the main story follows rico through his trials and relationships .
in reality , i found myself watching a space version of " melrose place , " but with better special effects .
an hour into the film , the war begins .
a sense of tension grew in the audience
i watched this film with .
the first hour may have been a funny ( sometimes unintentionally ) setup , but we grew to care for the flat characters , because no matter how hard i tried not to like the characters , their gorgeous looks won me over ( call me superficial , if you must ) .
following the training sessions , which had many dramas in themselves ( too many to mention here ) , the troopers are sent to war .
the bugs live on the planet klendathu , a planet which consists of dirt and rock , and pretty much nothing else .
many dramas occur during the war , until finally the troopers realize that their is something behind the bugs ' attacks .
a sort of intelligence which masterminds the defense .
the troopers are ordered to locate the " brain " and capture it .
i hopefully left the plot as vague as possible , because starship troopers is not about plot .
it 's about special effects and gory violence .
director verhoeven , most known for his nudie film showgirls and basic instinct , returns to his sci - fi days , which gave us good films like total recall .
verhoeven likes to push the envelope of the mpaa , but despite all the violence , the comic book feel gives the film a sense of falsehood .
starship troopers is extremely violent , with more gore than this year 's event horizon .
the r rating is well deserved , and hopefully parents will not allow their 12 year old children to see it .
my guess is that verhoeven 's target audience is the 18 to 25 male group .
the film has a testosterone level off the charts , with chiseled men and beautiful women .
despite these superficial elements , starship troopers also creates a world which made star wars so successful .
while watching the film , we never second guess the character 's decisions because they seem perfectly clear .
thankfully , no hero is punching aliens in the face , which gives the flat characters some depth for which we can identify with .
the cast of starship troopers is quite annoying to begin with , but they soon grow on you .
casper van dien has the chiseled facial features and tan skin which will make most girls swoon .
to most guys , he will come across as artificial .
fortunately , van dien is the worst of the cast , despite how hard he tries to come off as a real character .
dina meyer does a much better job of fleshing out her character .
her dizzy is extremely likeable .
denise richards also does a good job , and her scenes are very well done .
jake busey , gary busey 's son , gives a wonderfully funny performance , and provides one of the biggest laughs of the film .
neil patrick harris
( remember , he was doogie howser )
is a little wooden , and slightly out of place with the rest of the cast . however ,
he does give a good performance .
michael ironside gives the best performance of the film as the teacher with one arm .
his performance rises above the rest .
perhaps it is because his character is the most developed , but i think it is just ironside 's presence on screen .
unfortunately , no particular cast member gives a star - making performance , which is too bad because the material here could have made many of the cast members stars
.
director verhoeven is the main star of the film .
his direction is fast and unrelentless .
he never slows down his pace , which makes for a wild ride .
writer edward neumeier adapted the screenplay from the book by robert heinlein .
the writing is usually very funny , and sometimes very corny .
the dialogue is smart but not too smart .
we are n't required to know everything , but some plot holes are left unanswered .
thankfully we are not intended to notice , and we really do n't ( except for one which lingered in my mind for quite a while ) .
amazingly , with all the wars and romance going on , the screenplay manages to include some surprising governmental issues .
in fact , these governmental changes seem fairly plausible , and this adds another layer to the story .
the moral debate of the characters is quite surprising to find in a film of this genre , but what is even more surprising is the amount of humor included into all the carnage .
i have n't laughed this loud , even in some comedies .
oh , and the special effects are first rate .
starship troopers is rated r for graphic sci - fi violence and gore , and for some language and nudity .
believe me when i say this : do n't take young kids to see this film .
it is extremely violent .
in fact , it is probably the most violent film out this year .
however , if you are old enough ( over 17 ) to see it , starship troopers is guaranteed to entertain .
it 's been a long time since i have cheered for the heros , while also cheering for the bad guys .
and still , it is my dream to see a sci - fi film in which the alien race destroys mankind , and take over the world .
now that would be entertaining !
Output: P