Film 19/52: Starship Troopers (1997)


We had enjoyed Starship Troopers as a popcorn action flick when we saw it in the theater, and hadn't revisited it in years, and never on The Slaughtered Lamb Cinema screen, so for our S movie, I thought it might be fun to experience in Dolby Atmos.

Right off the bat you're exposed to jingoistic propaganda that sets the stage for what you're in for. Though I'm not a big fan of the original Robert Heinlein novel, which I read after first seeing the film, Verhoeven has fun satirizing what most consider a right-wing, pro-military novel. At the end of the day, it's easy to enjoy it for what it is at the most basic level — hapless soldiers versus space bugs (which are pretty cool — and refreshingly non-Giger-esque — designs).

The film is a loud, boisterous, flashy, non-stop adventure; just what you would expect from the director of Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Showgirls... While the two leads, portrayed by Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards, are pretty vanilla and not particularly charismatic, they are surrounded by others who more than make up for it: Dina (Dragonheart) Meyer, Jake (Frighteners) Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Clancy (Highlander) Brown and Michael (Scanners) Ironside. And did I mention the bugs? Several variations show up throughout the film, but the swarms of the primary arachnids are quite a site to behold (thanks to great visual effects from Phil Tippet's team).

For a twenty-five year-old film, I was pleasantly surprised that the visual effects held up as well as they did. And while I'm not compelled to rush out and watch the follow-on live-action and animated films or TV series in the franchise, it was an entertaining re-watch on the big screen. Starship Troopers is not Paul Verhoeven's greatest film, but another in a string of very watchable films. I think he peaked with Black Book a few films later, though I've yet to see his latest controversial release, Benedetta, which I've got on pre-order.


 

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