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 wasn'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 isn'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 isn'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 aren't required to know everything , but some plot holes are left unanswered . 
thankfully we are not intended to notice , and we really don'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 haven'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 : don'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 !