Subject: Review: Starship Troopers (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Alex Fung)
Date: 17 Nov 1997 17:08:07 GMT

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.

    -------------------------------------------------------------

   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: [email-masked]
          web  : http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/

--
Alex Fung ([email-masked]) | http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~aw220/
"I'll never forget you.  You're too weird."
	- David Krumholtz, ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES