STARSHIP TROOPERS (TriStar - 1997) Starring Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Clancy Brown, Seth Gilliam, Patrick Muldoon, Michael Ironside Screenplay by Ed Neumeier, based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein Produced by Jon Davison, Alan Marshall Directed by Paul Verhoeven Running time: 129 minutes
** (out of four stars)
Alternate Rating: C
Note: Some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers. Be forewarned.
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I screened STARSHIP TROOPERS at a theatre in Ottawa that, to me, had a rather unusual policy -- while an earlier-scheduled screening ran, ticketholders for a later screening of the film were queued *directly outside* the screening room, in the lobby, until the completion of the current screening. (For all I know, this may be standard practice elsewhere, but I've never encountered this before -- usually they don't allow you to loiter in the theatre, based on my experience). Consequently, I patiently waited along with a growing queue of patrons outside the screening room for STARSHIP TROOPERS, where the last fifteen minutes of the film could be heard echoing throughout the hall -- all that I could make out were nonstop alien insectoid squeals and roars, the shouting of troops under siege, sporadic bursts of gunfire, and a suitably heroic anthem playing.
This aural experience essentially encapsulates the latter (and, disturbingly enough, superior) half of Paul Verhoeven's STARSHIP TROOPERS, which in spirit is essentially a B-film with a mega A-budget (a reported $120 million). The film's final action-packed hour is complete carnage, as the human troops do battle with gigantic alien insects of all shapes and sizes on the planet of Klendathu. While the bug battle scenes are neither fresh nor inventive, they are relatively exciting to watch, and the visual effects are spectacular. It's the first half of STARSHIP TROOPERS which is the most unbearably excruciating to endure.
Although both are science-fiction films, in a sense STARSHIP TROOPERS is a literal antithesis of Andrew Niccol's GATTACA, released two weeks earlier: while the latter film is more cerebral in nature, concerned more with ideas than special effects, and has an icy sheen, STARSHIP TROOPERS is loud, noisy, and throbbing with comicbookish machismo.
Yet STARSHIP TROOPERS is not a mindless film merely depicting giant beasts to be slain in heroic fashion. The film has a subtext which is strictly militaristic, and depicted in tongue-in-cheek fashion by Mr. Verhoeven. In this totalitarian society of the future, the esteemed title of "citizen" is earned through a rite of passage in military duty, while "civilians" are looked upon condescendingly. STARSHIP TROOPERS' gung-ho protagonists are remarkably bloodthirsty --consider that in this film, unlike most sci-fi films, it's the humans who are the invaders, and witness the relish in his voice and charged bloodlust in his eyes as the aptly-named Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) directly addresses the camera with "I say we kill them all!" or the sheer excitement of the recruits as the outbreak of war is declared. STARSHIP TROOPERS pokes fun at the war-is-fun, ultra-macho killing mentality by wholeheartedly embracing it -- it has a goofy rah-rah jingoistic feel that would do Roland Emmerich proud; the scene where our protagonists proudly pose with their new "Death From Above" tattoos emblazoned on their biceps speaks volumes. Indeed, what can one say about a film where a declaration of "It's afraid!" is greeted by a chorus of cheers? (I'm not even going to touch thetopic of the Nazi-style uniforms sported by the troopers, most prominently by Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris).)
That this undertone will likely be lost to the majority of STARSHIP TROOPERS' audience is not due to subtlety; the film hardly buries this theme, and is often blatant in its representation. It's simply that this message is being pitched in a context where its usage is mostly ineffectual and in some cases even appears apt. While shots of little children cheerfully stomping on insects will cause chuckles, scenes of the troopers' homicidal tendencies being stirred up prior to engaging in battle will have the effect of similarly enticing the us-versus-them, xenophobic mentality of many in the audience.
The film opens with a teaser sequence on the alien planet as chaos and mayhem ensues, and the bodycount skyrockets courtesy of the bloodthirsty insects overrunning and essentially decimating the human contingent. Much has been made of the film's violence, which is admittedly brutal but not overly so -- it's much along the same aesthetic as Mr. Verhoeven's ROBOCOP, which featured blood spurting out of wounds; here, we have impalement by insectoid pincers, decapitations, and bodies torn apart limb from limb, but none of it is excessively gory as STARSHIP TROOPERS spends little time to linger or dwell upon it, instead determinedly charging forward.
The action gives way as STARSHIP TROOPERS employs the groanworthy "One year earlier" device, and we rejoin the film's protagonists in a more peaceful setting -- high school graduation day, Earth. (Buenos Aires actually, although before it was revealed in the film, I would have never guessed -- I thought it was Beverly Hills.) Yes, our heroes are fresh-faced youngsters, and for the first half of the film we're to endure their dopey generic tribulations: amorous rivalry, parental strife, and so forth. It's so remarkably campy and simple-minded that it makes the cliched, paper-thin characters of INDEPENDENCE DAY look like inspired screenwriting. STARSHIP TROOPERS' first hour is complete cornball material -- with these youthful pretty faces, it's like having the cast of MELROSE PLACE serving as our grizzled warriors against the alien marauders. (New troopers introduced later in the film seem to be have been enlisted straight out of SWEET VALLEY HIGH and drafted from THE BABYSITTERS' CLUB.) I shun television so I can avoid corny, eye-roll-inducing melodrama like this, so an hour's worth of it in a feature film doesn't exactly inspire high marks with me; are we supposed to care at all about these characters and their silly love lives? (I later learned that much of the young cast have indeed appeared in the various Aaron Spelling TV productions -- egad.) There's an exchange between Johnny Rico and fellow trooper Ace Levy (Jake Busey) where Ace sympathetically clucks, "They want to be friends after they tear your guts out." Johnny sadly retorts, "I *deserve* to get my guts torn out." In the audience, I silently agreed -- surely somebody other than those in the audience deserved to suffer for the aggravating first hour of STARSHIP TROOPERS. It's exasperating enough to make one stifle an anguished scream. Barely stifle.
After an interlude which features perhaps the worst use of Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You" that one can possibly imagine and some obligatory nude scenes from self-professed breast fetishist Mr. Verhoeven, our protagonists find themselves in fierce battle with spectacularly-rendered giant insects on a barren alien world. The insectoid marauders look terrific, although the manner in which they are ultimately dispatched is familiar stuff and their indestructibility and ferociousness varies depending upon the necessity of the plot. Nevertheless, the sight of thousands of computer-generated insects scurrying forth in attack formation is breathtaking, while the space battle scenes in orbit around Klendathu is solid if not outstanding work.
After the first attack by the troopers has been thoroughly trounced by the defending aliens, they conclude that there must be a a "smart" bug masterminding the insectoid military strategy, and STARSHIP TROOPERS ultimately focuses on the protagonists targeting this unseen entity. That this bug is deemed "smart" because the human interlopers were simply too stupid to bomb down the planet before pulling their commando-style raid seems to have been overlooked -- hasn't anything been learned from the Gulf War? (The bug also appears to be "smart" because it enjoys brain milkshakes and literally absorbs knowledge from its victim -- how inventive.)
While I haven't seen much of Paul Verhoeven's Dutch film output from the 1970s and early 1980s, I've seen nearly all of his English-language work and his 1987 film ROBOCOP is my favourite from his oeuvre -- a fine sci-fi action film which works both as pure visceral entertainment, and also on a more philosophical level. (I admittedly haven't seen his SHOWGIRLS, but I feel fairly safe in assuming that it won't challenge for the top spot on his resume.) STARSHIP TROOPERS marks somewhat of a reunion for many of the key players in the making of ROBOCOP: prolific Basil Poledouris composed an anthemic score which vaguely echoes that for the 1987 film, cinematographer Jost Vacano's photography is crisp and sharp, and screenwriter Ed Neumeier once again sprinkles various amusingly satiric news/propaganda insert clips throughout the film which depict the state of this future society -- it's striking and telling how much these blurbs resemble old WWII propaganda footage in tone and spirit. Hey, I'd buy that for a dollar!
Barring these satiric interludes, this is not a great screenplay, full of cornball B-film cliches, such as an impossible heroic survival of an attack which leaves the rest of the cast presuming that he's perished, and noble deathbed gestures and proclamations. This is the kind of script where when a character declares, "I'd expect any one of you to do the same for me", you know it's because someone will have to, and where when you see Johnny Rico perform a triple flip in a football game, it's merely a matter of time before the same maneuver is used at a fortuitous moment in the film.
Among the cast, Michael Ironside (who appeared in Mr. Verhoeven's TOTAL RECALL) and Clancy Brown are the two brights spots as characters they often play elsewhere, and play well -- Mr. Ironside as the humourless, tough-as-nails Lieutenant Rasczak, and Mr. Brown as drill sergeant Zim (echoing his best performance in Frank Darabont's THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION as the tough screw prison guard). None of the rest of the cast makes much of an impression (although Mr. Van Dien is, as of this writing, now getting seven-figure deals for future projects), though Denise Richards acts in the film as if she's auditioning for a toothpaste commercial.
Standing outside that screening room in Ottawa, I observed the reactions of the patrons exiting -- most had a little goofy grin, glazed eyes, and a slightly dazed expression on their face. There was, however, one guy who burst through the screening room doors shouting to anyone who would listen, "It sucks! It sucks!" Although I would neither be that dramatic nor severe, I could somewhat see his point -- particularly if he had burst out of the theatre after an hour, instead of two.
- Alex Fung
email: aw220@freenet.carleton.ca
web : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/ "I'll never forget you. You're too weird." - David Krumholtz, ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES
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