STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997) Reviewed by Jack Choo
Directed by Paul Verhoeven
Starring : Casper Van Dien (Johnny Rico)
Denise Richards (Carmen)
Dina Meyer (Dizzy)
Michael Ironside
Running Time : 2hrs 15mins
Overall rating : *** out of *****
INTERGALACTIC PEST WARFARE
STARSHIP TROOPERS is a US$100++ million action film. I can't say if Hollywood is wasting money on such films because at the end of the day, the business part of film-making rules in Hollywood. The trailers have probably given you the idea that this film is a special-effects laden piece of work and in this department, it does not disappoint at all. Perhaps if we look into the direction of Paul Verhoeven, we can understand why STARSHIP TROOPERS is what it is. He gave us the violent ROBOCOP (his US film debut), then onto the sexual-thriller BASIC INSTINCT, the clever TOTAL RECALL and most recently, his infamous work on the violently illicit SHOWGIRLS. Violence is a recurring thing in all his films, not action and in STARSHIP TROOPERS, he has shown his love for mayhem yet again, this time with a lot of money.
I have not read the Robert Heinlein book in which it is supposed to be based on but from what I hear over the internet, fans of the book are running amok, burning down theatres showing the film. Of course I was joking but you get the idea. Verhoeven has interlaced STARSHIP TROOPERS with media inspired propaganda advertisements of the military in conveying this film. This is perhaps the more interesting feature of the movie and they are almost always very funny. Audiences who feel like they are watching bits and pieces of SWEET VALLEY HIGH and BEVERLY HILLS 90210 are advised not to worry, it has been obviously intended but intention does not necessarily coincide with preferences, thus the feeling of being cheated out of the $7 that you paid. The actors and actresses were actually from the above mentioned shows. The story has a group of teenagers living in an almost sterile, militarized society and inspired to join the military. Johnny Rico enlists himself in the military in his quest to win Carmen's love, who incidentally is fanatical whn it comes to flying starships. Rico ends up with a ground-based grunt squad while Carmen gets to pursue her dreams of commanding a starship.
When the city of Buenos Aires was devastated by an asteroid sent from the Klendathu system, a system infested with primal bugs the size of elephants, Earth unites and sends their brave your men and women to rid our planet from this threat. The bugs are not as primitive as we may expect, they have special bugs for special purposes. We have the standard grunt-bug which goes around stabbing people, the giant-cannon-bug which fires plasma blasts from its abdomen at starships hovering above and of course the flying-bug, their version of our fighter planes. The CGI effects are amazing, not so because they are anything new but rather the sheer numbers and fluidity in movements when they swarm across the landscape of Klendathu. Verhoeven's conveyance of violence is at-your-face level. He does not use hints of terror or gore, he shows them in full glory, in widescreen. Singapore audiences may not be able to `enjoy' fully the action because of censors here and there but to give you an idea of what to expect; heads fly off, bodies dismember and brains are sucked.
Many people I know hated the film. I can't say I loved it myself but I did like it for its satirical view of the future and also of course, the CG effects. Plot and scriptwise, STARSHIP TROOPERS is no better than any normal B-grade film. Verhoeven's direction was such that the movie did not try too hard at all; the parameters for the film have been more or less laid out in the beginning and audiences should be able to tell whether they are gonna hate it or love it right from then on. It is more of an alternative-mainstream movie, very much like MARS ATTACKS!, released a year ago.
Bottom line: watch at your own risk, do not bring children, not so much because of its violence but more of how it is potrayed (I'd prefer the world `glorified' actually). Go for the special effects and action. And if you can actually tell yourself that you can enjoy a cheesily written and scripted action film, by all means, it should do you some good.
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