Subject: Review: Starship Troopers (1997)

From: "Choo Eng Aun, Jack" <[email-masked]>
Date: 5 Jan 1998 17:10:45 GMT

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.