Starship Troopers is a 1997 film directed by Paul Verhoeven, written by Edward Neumeier, and starring Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer and Denise Richards. The movie is very loosely based on the novel Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.
| Starship Troopers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Paul Verhoeven |
| Written by | Original Novel: Robert A. Heinlein Screenwriter: Edward Neumeier |
| Produced by | Jon Davison Alan Marshall |
| Starring | Casper Van Dien Denise Richards Dina Meyer Jake Busey Neil Patrick Harris Clancy Brown |
| Music by | Basil Poledouris |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures Touchstone Pictures |
Release dates |  November 7, 1997 2 January, 1998 |
Running time | 129 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100,000,000 (est.) |
Plot
Starship Troopers tells the story of an interplanetary war between Earth and colonies of large insect-like aliens in the twenty-third century. It focusses on the experiences of Juan "Johnny" Rico (Van Dien), one of three friends who sign up to the military one year before Earth declares war on the aliens.
The film opens to a futuristic television viewing sequence. The news is dominated by an ongoing war with the aliens, aptly called Arachnids or Bugs. A one year flashback takes the scene to the posh Buenos Aires high school of a young man named Juan "Johnny" Rico (Van Dien). History teacher Mr Rasczak (Michael Ironside) forcefully quizzes his students about the efficacy of "naked force" in dispute resolution, and the need for civic responsibility. A blind, strutting biology teacher loudly corrects her students by pointing out the numerous daunting ways the Arachnids are superior to humans regarding competitive survival. Rico is shown to have high athletic ability, a very competitive nature, low math aptitude, great, but mostly unreturned, love for his girlfriend Carmen (Richards), and much indecision about his future. He decides to become a Citizen, a privilege earned by joining the Federal Service (military) for two years of sacrifice and uncertain survival. His parents show immediate revulsion at his choice, his father demanding he attend Harvard University and dangling an expensive "Outer Rings" beach vacation to tempt him. Rico persists and is disowned, following Carmen into Federal Service.
Largely based on their academic test scores, Rico is assigned to Mobile Infantry, while Carmen is assigned to Flight School, and his best friend Carl (Harris) to the elite Games and Theory (military intelligence). A girl from Rico's high school football team, "Dizzy" Flores (Meyer) (long enamoured of him), secretly joins the Mobile Infantry and successfully requests a transfer to Rico's training unit. Rico soon finds the gruelling boot camp more difficult than anticipated, with terrible injuries being inflicted by the officers and NCOs—particularly his drill sergeant, Zim (Brown)—in an effort to teach the new soldiers quickly and efficiently. Rico excels at the training and eventually is promoted to squad leader. Carmen decides to "go career" because of her love of piloting massive starships, which precludes getting back together with Rico after two years of service, so she breaks up with him. A high school football rival of Rico, Zander (Patrick Muldoon) has intentionally placed himself as Carmen's instructor, and makes his romantic intentions known. She neither accepts nor rejects, seeming amused and remaining intent on her piloting. After Rico makes a fatal error as squad leader during a live fire training exercise, he is punished by flogging and quits. However, just as he is leaving the camp, an asteroid, used as a weapon by the Bugs, destroys Buenos Aires, killing millions, including his parents. Now homeless, his doubt dissolves. He rejoins his unit and the newly-declared war against the perpetrators of the attack: the horse-sized Arachnids of the distant planet Klendathu.
The initial invasion of Klendathu is a complete disaster, with 100,000 dead in one hour including several of Rico's fellow boot-mates. Rico is one of the few wounded to survive. The Federation supreme commander, Sky Marshal Dienes, resigns and is replaced by Sky Marshal Tehat Meru. She declares that "to fight the Bug, we must understand the Bug", leading to altered and more intelligent battle plans. Rico, Dizzy and his friend from training, Ace Levy, are reassigned to the super-tough MI unit, the "Roughnecks". Its soldiers are extremely loyal, most of whose lives have been saved by their commander, as has Rico's. He turns out to be Rico's old high school history teacher, now Lieutenant Rasczak, executing the lessons he formerly taught. After a spectacular and heroic battle on one of the Bug worlds, Tango Urilla, Rico is field-promoted to corporal and assigns Dizzy as squad leader. After a celebration later that night, Rico and Dizzy consummate her wish of several years.
Their next mission plunges them into a trap, as they are assigned to investigate the silence of an outpost on one of the Bug worlds, Planet P. From the only survivor (and now a post-traumatic wreck) General Owen (Marshall Bell), they discover that the bugs possess somewhere a high intelligence, and are "sucking" the brains out of humans to learn directly from the brains. As the troopers realise their situation a huge force of bugs attacks. Rasczak, Dizzy, and almost all of the Roughnecks die. The survivors barely evacuate, having requested a "crazy" pilot to do the unlikely rescue, who coincidentally turns out to be Carmen. After a funeral service for Dizzy, Rico's old friend Carl, now a Colonel in intelligence, gives Rico and Carmen his unapologetic ("we're in it for the species, boys and girls - they simply have more") reason for the deaths of many of Rico's squad mates: Military intelligence had ascertained that there might be a "brain bug" on Planet P, and the Roughnecks were used as bait. He tells Rico that the Mobile Infantry will return to Planet P and attempt to capture the brain bug for research. Rico accepts the mission and Carl gives him command of the Roughnecks. Carmen's ship, the TFCT Rodger Young, is the one from which the Roughnecks operate.
In the offensive, the Rodger Young explodes when hit by Bug plasma, shot from giant Bug abdomens. Carmen and Zander barely survive, and their escape pod lands deep underground in a Bug tunnel. They are captured, and Zander's brain is sucked out and ingested by the brain bug. Rico organises a rescue attempt and manages to save Carmen in the nick of time by threatening the brain bug with a miniature "nuke". They escape to the surface safely, where the brain bug has been captured by Rico's former training sergeant Zim, now demoted to buck private for requesting transfer from training to fighting. Rico, Carmen, and Carl renew their friendship, and the now fearful brain bug is sent to Earth for study in an attempt to find a way to defeat the Bug menace.
Cast
| Actor/Actress | Role |
|---|---|
| Casper Van Dien | Johnny Rico |
| Dina Meyer | Dizzy Flores |
| Denise Richards | Carmen Ibanez |
| Jake Busey | Private Ace Levy |
| Neil Patrick Harris | Colonel Carl Jenkins |
| Clancy Brown | Career Sergeant Zim |
| Seth Gilliam | Private Sugar Watkins |
| Patrick Muldoon | Zander Barcalow |
| Michael Ironside | Lieutenant Jean Rasczak |
| Marshall Bell | General Owen |
| Lenore Kasdorf | Mrs. Rico |
Reception
This movie polarized both popular audiences and critics, as did the original book. On one level, the movie tells a straightforward action-adventure science fiction story, with attractive stars, innovative computer-generated imagery, and an entertaining but clichéd and often ludicrous plot. A prominent theme of the film is the human practice of senseless violence without reflection or empathy, which parallels the senseless aggression of the "Bugs." As such, the movie attracted widely divergent responses. This is reflected by a mixed critical response; for example the film receives a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes [1].
The film included visual allusions to propaganda films, such as Triumph of the Will and wartime news broadcasts. However, this satire was embedded in slickly produced action sequences with clever special effects.[2][3] Some wonder whether the satire went unnoticed by an audience who may have treated the movie as a simple gung-ho action movie.[4] Accordingly, fans of the novel[5] often regard it as a shallow insult to a great work.
Comparison with the original Novel
There is a vast divergence between the original book and film. A report in an American Cinematographer article contemporaneous with the film's release states the Heinlein novel was optioned well into the pre-production period of the film, which had a working title of Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine; most of the writing team reportedly were unaware of the novel at the time. According to the DVD commentary, Paul Verhoeven never finished reading the novel, claiming he read through the first few chapters and became both bored and depressed.
The film was also characterized by a conspicuous absence of anything resembling Heinlein's mechanized Mobile Infantry; troopers wore an unpowered ensemble which seemed to differ only slightly from modern-day army gear. Their weaponry was not far advanced considering that humans were depicted as having fleets of starships, but the MI fought as unsupported light infantry for most of the movie being unable to call on armor, artillery, air, or space support, all while moving mainly under their own motive power. A substantial portion of the soldiers' anatomy was left unprotected, and what little armor was present seemed to be of little use.
Some dialogue is straight out of the book, or some variation of it, while much of the dialogue and many of the themes are not from Heinlein's story. Additionally, most of the characters have been significantly altered. In the novel, Juan Rico speaks Tagalog at home and does not originate from Buenos Aires. Flores is female in the movie in order to add a love interest sub-plot. In the book, Dizzy Flores is male, has no relation to Rico save the fact they were soldiers in the same platoon, and is only mentioned in the first chapter, due to the fact that he dies at its conclusion. Additionally, Carl Jenkins serves an even lesser role in the book, with a one sentence mention about his death far away from the narrator halfway through the novel, while he survives the movie. Further, the movie was criticized in that the many of the characters are described as just graduating high school, despite the fact that the actors who played them were in their late 20s/early 30s at the time the movie was filmed.
Politics of Starship Troopers
In his commentary on the DVD edition of the film, director Paul Verhoeven states unambiguously that the movie's message is "War makes fascists of us all", and that he sees the movie as a satire of American militarism. On the same commentary, screenwriter Ed Neumeier (who had previously worked with Verhoeven on RoboCop) broadly concurs, although he sees the satire as applying to the whole of human history, rather than solely to the U.S.
Since the filmmakers did not make these statements at the time of the film's release, viewers have interpreted it variously: as a satire, as a celebration of fascism, or as a simple action film.
Satire on militarism
The film depicts a future state that is extremely militaristic and uncompromisingly warlike in its attitude toward a race of arachnids that inhabits a distant planetary system. The military training is cruel: officers purposely wound recruits, and flogging is a mode of punishment, which (however) is mitigated by the fact that existing technology can heal such wounds immediately. The movie highlights this further by using weaponry (and tactics) that, considering it is the 23rd century, can only be seen as totally inadequate - the assault rifles of the Mobile Infantry force them into man-to-man fights with the bugs, the latter using their animalistic weapons like tooth and claw, as well as simple head en masse infantry charges, which are reminiscent of World War I, stressing the point. And both of them are getting slaughtered in high numbers, while being photographed by embedded television crews for the benefit of viewers at home. Also, as Verhoeven mentions in the DVD commentary, the humans are the aggressors and the bugs the victims: when the bugs bomb Buenos Aires, they are not attacking the human race but reacting to human colonists encroaching on bug planets. It is even questionable whether the Arachnids were even responsible for the attack, given that the 'bug asteroid' is asserted to have been launched from Klendathu, on the other side of the galaxy, and therefore tens of thousands of light years away. This, combined with the 'infotainment' nature of the film narrative as a recruitment advert, can be interpreted as a commentary on the propagandistic nature of contemporary media, and its role often as a willing accomplice to militarism.
Verhoeven's use of fascist emblems to imply criticism of the Federation may be related to his background.[citation needed] He and some of his crew come from the Netherlands, which endured occupation in World War II. Verhoeven himself witnessed dead bodies of fellow countrymen killed by bombs, as his home was close to the German rocket base and was frequently bombed by Allied air forces, hence the pervasive feel of moral equivalence between a victim and a culprit in all his movies, not only in this one.
Complications
This article possibly contains original research. |
Despite its militarism and xenophobia, the society depicted in the film also contains notable differences from traditional fascist ideology. The society depicted in the film is very open about sex, sexuality, and gender roles. In the army, men and women shower together, and appear to feel natural about it. Boys and girls compete more or less equally in high-school sports and are apparently recruited by professional teams with similar equality. One could interpret this as a statement about the eugenics based racial system, superficially supported by the fact that everyone is young, beautiful, and athletic. Second, humanity's army consists of soldiers of all races and sexes. The most significant example of this is probably the nomination of Tahat Meru, a black woman, as the new Sky Marshal (i.e. supreme commander of the military), towards the middle of the movie, replacing a white male. This could, however, be interpreted as a statement about the univeralistic appeal of fascism and/or militarism historically, given various manifestation in Europe, Latin America, and Japan. Third, military service is not obligatory, and some civilians that have not served in the military are well respected (or, at least, financially successful) as evident by the high-society status of Rico's parents. This however, reflects a traditional fascist elevation of all things masculine, and the use of essentially military hierarchies to delineate social standing.
It is often believed that only citizens with military service are allowed to vote; however, the book explains that Federal Service is required to vote, and that there are other options besides the military. The film also explicitly uses the term Federal Service rather than Military Service. Also, if you are in military service, the Federation will pay your university fees, as exemplified by one character who wants to attend Harvard. One character in the film even states that "she wants to have babies...so joining the Federation would help her get a license", implying strict population control, and reinforcing the sense of eugenic policies. Another way the fascism of the movie differs is implied in the initial classroom scenes where it is asked what fascism would look like if it were stripped of sexism and racism, implying that such an "improved fascism" is ideal and the form of the Federation. Despite its dreary overtones, the future of Earth seems to be very bright after a series of catastrophic events. A devastating war between the Anglo-Russian Alliance and China has left humanity weary of internal wars. Also devastating Space Wars have left millions of humans dead. After all of the carnage arose the Federation, which tore down racist and sexist barriers in the hopes of uniting humanity under a common cause. Technology is advanced and can be seen in the form of zero-gravity sports, jet-propulsion vehicles, and faster-than-light travel. The state does have supreme control and this can be seen in public executions (in the film a murderer is executed on public TV) and the Federation itself. Travel on Earth isn't an issue because Rico, despite being of Filipino origins, lives in Buenos Aires and has an American mannerism about him. Also in the film, Diz states that she wants to play Jumpball (future zero-gravity arena football) in Tokyo. [6]
The integration of women with men in the combat arms units of the military is not described in Heinlein's novel. Rather the novel tends to segregate genders so that the Mobile Infantry is exclusively male (reflective of the armed forces at the time of the writing) while numerous references are made to pilots and naval officers being almost exclusively female. Within the context of the novel, this job segregation is based on presumed gender-specific aptitudes. In part, this integration provides an opportunity for titillating nudity; in part, it mirrors social changes in the mid 20th century: By 1970, many universities had coed dorms, and coed showers were not unknown. If Rico had gone to Harvard instead of the MI, life would have been similar in many ways, although Harvard generally lacks the element of lethal danger.
Spinoffs
Games
In 1997, Avalon Hill released Starship Troopers: Prepare For Battle!, a boardgame based on the film version rather than Heinlein's book. Its beer and pretzel gameplay focused on limited skirmishes rather than larger battles. The "Skinnies" do not appear, nor is there a political element.[7]
In 2000, a real-time tactics video game titled Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy was released. This game also incorporated the powered suits in Heinlein's novel into the Verhoeven version of the Mobile Infantry. It was developed by Australian software company Blue Tongue Entertainment. The game is currently considered abandonware and as such can be found at numerous abandonware sites.
A first-person shooter game also titled Starship Troopers was released 15 November 2005. This version was developed by Strangelite Studios and published by Empire Interactive. Set five years after the events of the movie, the game also featured Casper van Dien voicing the in-game version of Johnny Rico.
In addition, Sega Pinball released a pinball machine based on this movie. [1]
Comic books
The movie was released simultaneously with a graphic novelization, which retold events from the movie. There were also additional series that were released based in the Verhoeven universe, though not directly related to the movie. Further series were published by Dark Horse Comics and Markosia.
Sequels
The film was followed by the CGI animated television series Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles in 1999, along with a direct-to-video sequel Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation in 2004. The sequel was not as popular as the first, mostly due to its low budget and the fact it was more in the horror genre than the Sci-fi-action original.
In May 2006, MovieHole.net reported that Ed Neumeier returned to write the script for a second sequel, Starship Troopers 3, and also stated that original cast members would be returning, including Casper Van Dien.[8] Van Dien had this to say on the script: "The script is along the same line as the first. It is awesome."[9]
It had been announced that Starship Troopers 3 was going to start filming in South Africa in March, 2007 but it's now pushed back to May, 2007.[citation needed]
Trivia
This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- The Trooper's combat uniforms (shown in the movie poster above) were later reused on the Power Rangers: Lost Galaxy series for military personnel aboard the colony ship Terra Venture. The uniforms were also repainted and reused in episodes of the TV series Firefly as Alliance soldiers' uniforms. The helmets were repainted again and used by the SWAT team at the end of the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes. The uniforms, along with footage from numerous sci-fi films including Starship Troopers itself, were used in the sci-fi movie Impostor, starring Gary Sinise, and the live action Gundam film G-Saviour.
- Much of the non-combat military dress seen in the film appears to be adapted from the designs of World War II German Army uniforms and East German uniforms (until East Germany was dissolved), most prominently amongst the fleet personnel (like the character, Ibanez) and the intelligence officers (like the character, Carl). The use of the same grey colour scheme, seen in almost all the uniforms, is also prominent.
- The quote "Come on, you apes, you want to live forever?", repeated by multiple characters in the film, is seen at the beginning of the first chapter in the novel, and is quite similar to decorated Marine Daniel Daly's "Come on, you sons of bitches, you want to live forever?"
- Several cameos in the film include producer Jon Davison as the angry Buenos Aires resident who says to the FedNet camera, "The only good Bug is a dead Bug!", and screenwriter Ed Neumeier as the quickly captured, convicted, and condemned murderer in another FedNet clip. Former U.S. Marine Dale Dye, whose company Warriors, Inc. provided technical military advice on the film, appeared as a high-ranking officer following the capture of the Brain Bug ("What's it thinking, Colonel?").
- Director Paul Verhoeven, producer Jon Davison, writer Edward Neumeier and composer Basil Poledouris were all involved with the original RoboCop movie. Actor Michael Ironside was also considered for the role of Murphy/RoboCop. Ironside did appear in Verhoeven's Total Recall.
- On the TV series Stargate SG-1, in the 9th season episode "The Scourge", the team decides to watch Starship Troopers for movie night after barely escaping a massive carnivorous alien bug infestation on another planet.
Footnotes
- ^ ""Starship Troopers - Rotten Tomatoes"". Retrieved June 23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Tobias, Scott. "Who Will Love The Brown Bunny? A Decade Of Underrated Movies". TheOnion.Com. Retrieved 2006-03-04.
- ^ Murray, Noel. "Commentary Tracks Of The Blessed". TheOnion.com. Retrieved 2006-03-04.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Morgan, Kim. "The DVD Journal". Retrieved 2006-03-04.
{{cite web}}: Text "Quick Reviews: Starship Troopers: Special Edition" ignored (help) - ^ "book reviews critiquing movie adaptation". http://www.barnesandnoble.com.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - ^ Peterson, Robert. "Militarism and Utopia in Starship Troopers". Space.com. Retrieved February 19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Starship Troopers: Prepare For Battle!". http://www.boardgamegeek.com/. Retrieved December 3.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); External link in|work=|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ Morris, Clint. "Sony Debugs Starship Troopers". http://www.moviehole.net/. Retrieved February 19.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); External link in|work=|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ http://caspervandien.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=248&highlight=starship+troopers
External links
