Starship Troopers (1997)

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers (WGA):

Robert A. Heinlein (book)
Edward Neumeier (screenplay)

Release Date:

7 November 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Genocide doesn't compare to this.

Plot:

Humans of a fascistic, militaristic future do battle with giant alien bugs in a fight for survival.

Plot Keywords:

Flogging | Vomiting | Shirtless Male Bondage | Robot Hand | Floating

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

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
Rue McClanahan	...	Biology Teacher
Marshall Bell	...	General Owen
Eric Bruskotter	...	Sergeant Breckinridge
Matt Levin	...	Kitten Smith
Blake Lindsley	...	Katrina McIntire
Anthony Ruivivar	...	Shujumi (as Anthony Michael Ruivivar)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic sci-fi violence and gore, and for some language and nudity.

Runtime:

129 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) | DTS | Dolby SR

Certification:

South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | Australia:PG (TV rating) | Finland:K-15 (DVD version) (uncut) | Germany:18 CORRECT: (original rating) (cut) REPLACE WITH: (theatrical rating) (uncut) | South Korea:18 (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Belgium:KNT | Brazil:12 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:14 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) (video rating) (uncut) | Germany:18 (original rating) (cut) | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Italy:T | Japan:PG-12 | Mexico:C | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating) | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

The song, "I Have Not Been to Paradise", (a cover of the David Bowie song "I have not been to Oxford Town") is sung by Zoë Poledouris, the eldest daughter of Basil Poledouris, the film's composer.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the rate the asteroid had to be moving to hit Buenos Ares, during the phone call, they would've never seen a shadow moving. Nor would they be alive to see the shadow as the pressure wave would flatten it first.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Newsreel announcer: Young people from all over the globe are joining up to fight for the future.
Soldier #1: I'm doing my part.
Soldier #2: I'm doing my part.
Soldier #3: I'm doing my part.
Young kid dressed up as a soldier: I'm doing my part too.
[Soldiers laugh]
Newsreel announcer: They're doing their part. Are you? Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world. Service guarantees citizenship.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Coming Attractions: The History of the Movie Trailer (2006)

Soundtrack:

Into It

Its AFRAID !!

One of my favourite films, this one.

I love the way Verhoeven approached the idea of Man v Beast. Our "heros" are beautiful, white-teethed Americans, firm of body and morals; our villains are decapitating stick insects, cockroaches, and giant maggots.

Yet who are the real heroes ?

The white-teethed Americans are vacuous, shallow thugs. They are thrust into a war with the Bugs, whose planets, we are told, have been invaded by the Americans. The Bugs are justifiably annoyed.

I couldn't help but laugh at some of the "Nazi" parallels drawn by other reviewers. What Verhoeven is putting across in this film is not a polemic against Nazi ideology, but an attack upon American Imperialism in the latter part of the last century. He is satirising American crusades against other countries, whose inhabitants are portrayed in the American press as no better than Bugs.

Had Verhoeven wished to attack Nazism, he could have given the good guys German accents; he didn't, he gave them American accents. The "Nazi" symbolism as commented upon by other reviewers is not Nazi symbolism at all - it is totalitarian symbolism, full stop. It is right-wing, "bomb them back to the stone age" American totalitarianism.

Why do I believe this ?

Check out the scene where American kids are encouraged to stamp on cockroaches by an overly excited parent. Check out the high fives.

Verhoeven has done a mighty job here. He has made a film which has great action, great cinematography, very cute women (and boys) and yet the film still manages to take the mickey out of the New Order in a very funny and effective manner.

10/10