Starship Troopers
(1997)
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Some time in the future, a group of friends joins Earth's military forces after high school graduation to battle the insectoid Klendathu. One fights for the chance to be a renowned pilot (Denise Richards), one for revenge (Casper Van Dien), and one for the love of a good man (Dina Meyer), but interpersonal relationships take a backseat to the firepower leveled against (and returned from) the chitinous aliens. Paul Verhoeven's subversively humourous and thrilling sci-fi film is adapted from the classic science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. |
This ultra-violent adaptation of science-fiction writer Robert A Heinlein's classic 1959 novel — a saga about Earth versus alien bugs — is popcorn exploitation at its lip-smacking, blood-spattered best. Whether portraying the chilling spectacle of millions of ugly giant insects swarming over the planet or the astonishing intergalactic battles, the digitally-created special effects are simply outstanding. It's when director Paul Verhoeven cuts to the teenage romance — which the young leads clearly don't have the emotional depth or acting ability to handle — that his sensational cartoon carnage comes unstuck. But the dull bits are never long enough to really matter or do too much damage to one's sheer enjoyment of Verhoeven's absurdly apocalyptic satire.
Halliwell's Film Guide
An uneasy and ambivalent movie: it attempts to subvert the intention of Heinlein's novel, which praises the notion of a military élite, yet remains true to the original's enjoyment of violent battles and military superiority; the cast of bland young actor