Think of Ender's Game, but
with blood, boobs, and blood.
Welcome to a segment I like to call Deep-Fried Goodness. In
this segment, I mostly just ramble on about old movies I like, or have made
some lasting impression on me in one way or another. Today's subject is,
well... Starship Troopers!
Growing
up, I was exposed to a lot of my Dad's stuff. I was introduced to Star Wars at the age of 3, and to Jurassic Park not long after. Lord of
the Rings followed shortly after, and I was very pleasantly acquainted with The Scorpion King not too long after
that. In time, I was eventually introduced to Starship Troopers.
I know
what you're thinking. What kind of parent would let a child watch Starship Troopers?!
To be
clear, I didn't watch the movie in its entirety - just most of the epic battle
sequences.
Most especially this one.
I was
around 7 or 8 at the time, and I found the whole Battle of Klendathu sequence to be both really freaking awesome and
pants-sh*ttingly terrifying at the same time. By then, the most violence I'd
been exposed to was Half-Life 2.
Seeing someone get sawed in half by an Arachnid was simultaneously the coolest
and the grossest thing I had ever seen in my life.
Unfortunately
that was the only thing I remembered about that movie, and a lot of the details
about that battle scene became memories I kept in the back of my head right
next to the other (somewhat more) forgettable aspects of my childhood...
Right next to this game.
Starship Troopers would
never cross my mind for another 11 or so years, until I saw my littlest brother
mercilessly slaughtering them on Garry’s
Mod.
And I
actually don't regret watching it at all.
Directed
by Paul Verhoeven and released in 1997, Starship
Troopers was a hellishly brutal sci-fi war movie starring Casper van Dien,
Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, and... Neil Patrick Harris?
No, really.
The
movie's supporting cast consisted of Michael Ironside, Jake Busey, Seth
Gilliam, and Mr. Krabs himself, Clancy Brown.
Starship Troopers
revolves around the adventures of a young soldier named Johnny Rico, who joins
the Terran Mobile Infantry at the objection of his parents. It's really nicely
paced, as well as riddled with political satire that plays on the United
States' militaristic world view. It's an action movie that provokes thought,
surprisingly, and brings to the table an equally thought-provoking message:
"War makes fascists of us all."
As for
the more literary aspects of the film, to be perfectly honest, Starship Troopers isn't exactly
well-written with regards to character dialogue, but more than makes up for its
sappy writing with really nice characterization, albeit very minimalistic.
While these characters can sometimes be as flat as a board, they're still really
fun to watch, and the character dynamic makes for some really interesting and
memorable exchanges between characters.
In fact, these a**holes
killed off more of my favorite characters in 2-and-a-half hours than Game of Thrones
has in 4 seasons.
The
action sequences (as I had mentioned earlier) are, for lack of an adequate
term, fan-freaking-tastic. Normally, one wouldn't expect gore-fests to have a
proper sense of tension, or at least feel as if one side is actually fighting
for something, but, hot damn, does Paul Verhoeven mix it and mix it well. I
don't know how he did it, but Verhoeven genuinely made me feel as if humanity
was both truly at risk and driving themselves towards their own doom.
And,
besides; there are fewer things in life more satisfying than seeing a Tanker
bug explode.
It's like a chitinous,
squirming burrito.
Starship Troopers is
an... acquired taste, per se. It's not for the faint of heart. It's not for
those looking for a deep movie experience, so to speak. For folks like me, it's
hard to not like Starship Troopers.
It's charming in its own visceral and barbaric way. It's a gory, action-packed
bloodbath that is, truthfully, fun to watch. So, for anyone interested in sci-fi
cult classics, this is a must-see.
