Starship Troopers (1997)

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

I know it's a bold statement, best movie of all time.. but after watching it 1,000 times, and a lot of soul searching, I stand by it. If you don't understand this masterpiece, you are ignorant of history, the nature of humanity, and the dire message that we really need to grasp. Just look at the history of Paul Verhoven. Look at RoboCop and Total Recall. Same message, same staying power of a masterpiece. So if you don't comprehend this movie, it's above your head. Go back to sleep, sheeple.

Paul Verhoevan's Starship troopers is a fantastic dark comedy masquerading as a cheesy science fiction movie. It is tragic that no one- not the critics or the audience gave this film a chance because the underlying theme is deep and worth debating. Much like all of Verhoevn's films this one contains everything from nudity (both male and female) and extreme gore and violence. Time will probably be more considerate to this movie as it is nowhere as bad as its ratings or box office performance imply. (Rico and space bugs are a treat for those who like layered satire)

Which might be just right if I were signing up for this inter-galactic war, because the bad guys are some of the meanest arachnids you've ever seen. The fun part of this movie is that while on the surface it is anti-alien, it is also a campy commentary on the sort of idiot blockheads who get turned on by war. So there are a few twists to this that make it a little hard to tell where the makers were really going, just the same it is rewatchable and features a number of fine performances by the young leads as well as some fun turns by Ironside and Brown. And while I'm at it I'll add this last line just to make it to ten.

Released in 1997 and directed by Paul Verhoeven, "Stormship Troopers" is a sci-fi adventure satire taking place in the 23rd century where high school kids are encouraged to become "citizens" by joining the fascist military where, after boot camp, they find themselves engaged in a full-scale war against a planet of malevolent insects. The protagonists are played by Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Neil Patrick Harris, Jake Busey and Patrick Muldoon. Michael Ironside is on hand as a teacher/officer while Clancy Brown appears as a drill instructor.Right out of the gate the film blatantly advertises that it's not a straight interpretation of Robert A. Heinlein's sci-fi novel. No, this is a full-blown SATIRE showing how easily government and the influence of a biased media can make blatant fascists of any of us, particularly in times of war. Look no further than the Nazi-like uniforms of the good guys. If you get the joke, "Starship Troopers" is very amusing. I found myself laughing out loud on numerous occasions throughout the first half. Verhoeven captures a uniquely enjoyable tone.Unfortunately, the film gets redundant in the second half with the soldiers constantly shooting bullets into the colossal-insect antagonists. And, since we can't take the story & characters seriously, the movie is unable to sustain attention at 129 minutes. It would've been more effective at around 90 minutes. But, if you can handle the over-length and redundancy, this is a well-done and entertaining sci-fi satire.The film runs 129 minutes and was shot in Powder River, Wyoming; Badlands, South Dakota; and Malibu, Agoura Hills, Long Beach, Fountain Valley, Los Angeles and Culver City (studio), California.GRADE: C+ (5.5/10)