Starship Troopers - 4K + Blu-ray

Picture this: you invite someone into your home for dinner, and instead of being gracious, they spend the entire evening openly insulting you. They mock your cooking, laugh at your choice of furnishings, deride your values, all while helping themselves to your booze. I’m sure we can all agree that that’s no ones idea of a good time, and yet that is almost exactly what Dutch director Paul Verhoeven did back in 1997 when he directed Starship Troopers. Perhaps that goes someway to explaining why the film was almost universally panned by US critics of the day, whom to a man refused to acknowledge the film’s explicitly satirical execution and, in the critical equivalent of who smelt it dealt it, instead decided to accuse Verhoeven of making a piece of fascist propaganda. But while the movie’s reputation in the US remains in the gutter, everywhere else in the world this film is seen as a classic, with many considering it to be Verhoeven’s most accomplished American film: it’s more polished than Robocop, not as silly as Hollow Man or Total Recall, nor as vapid as Basic Instinct or Showgirls. Plus the satire is razor sharp. The story is fairly simple: in the distant future, some space Mormons from a now fascist America set up a mission on an Alien planet. The Aliens, construing the outpost as an advance on their home world, retaliate by massacring the Mormons and firing asteroids on earth. Meanwhile in a colonized Argentina, Barbie and Ken are graduating high school where they’ve been educated on a diet of nazi propaganda by the maimed and limbless survivors of some previous, unmentioned conflict. Barbie makes plans to enlist as it’s the only pathway to citizenship and by extension access to higher education or the right to start a family, while idealist Ken follows her for more goofy teen reasons. When an Alien asteroid strikes their city and obliterates their Dreamhouses, Barbie and Ken slowly lose whatever modicum of humanity they had and turn into space nazis. It’s the age old story. From the opening scenes -a shot for shot recreation of Leni Riefenstahl’s work in Triumph of the Will disguised as a mock PSA for army recruitment- through to the astonishingly fascist civics lesson where we’re introduced to our protagonists and their world, Verhoeven’s intentions are clear. By placing the action in a post liberal, right wing dystopia, he avoids the lecturing preachiness of It Happened Here, and focuses his attention squarely on showing us just how merciless and horrifying such a dystopia would be. Concepts like social justice, personal liberty, even love are dismissed in favour of the becoming a citizen: a person who is willing to sacrifice anything -including their life- for the preservation of the body politic. To those unsure which side of the argument Verhoeven himself lands on, he draws a direct parallel between that ideology and the mindless obedience of the icky arachnids, a trait which as far as Rue McClanahan’s scarred biology teacher is concerned, trumps our individualism and superior intellect, and which makes them superior to us. But Verhoeven knows that fascism cannot take hold without the approval -however tacit- of the broader population, so he cannily utilizes the template of the hyper militarized action films of the day, using the audience’s hunger for that type of violent wish fulfillment to point the finger at us. What the critics of the day called propaganda, is actually an indictment on our complicity in the seemingly inexorable march towards totalitarianism. Sure, he thumbs the scale by making the alien arachnids some of the most frightening, least sympathetic antagonists ever committed to film, but by hiding the origins of the conflict in a flawless takedown of the type jingoistic news reporting de rigueur on American networks, he’s encouraging us to look at how easy it is to manipulate us. And funny as it is watching a wild-eyed and hysterical Donna Reed type encouraging her kids to squish bugs, Verhoeven is asking us to recognize that by priming people from birth to accept the use of force as some sort of virtue, it’s all too easy to convince people that war and its attendant atrocities are justified and justifiable. The human wreckage this ideology has wrought is seen everywhere, from Micheal Ironside’s missing arm and Rue McClanahan’s disfigured face, to a quadriplegic recruitment officer unironically exclaiming that “the mobile infantry made me the man I am today” Verhoeven is asking us to question how we’re being manipulated, because pursuing this type of ideology is like wielding a knife without a hilt- just as likely to hurt you as it is your enemy. But this is a Paul Verhoeven movie, so all this satire is dressed up in some of the most exciting and explicitly violent action ever put in a mainstream Hollywood movie. The grotesque and terrifying effects by legendary effects artist Phil Tippit (who’s work includes the Raptors in JP and the AT-AT walkers in ESB) are astonishing even by today’s standards, and would give any modern MCU cartoon a run for their money. This truly is a fantastic film, get it in the best format you can and strap in, it’s one hell of a ride!

What is fascism? It’s not just Nazis, for the real base of fascism is corporate control of all aspects of social, public, and political life. How do we think the Reich managed their nefarious program (progrom) so well? Some corporation had to build the trains, weld the gates, provide the chemical development of Zyklon B. Hell, the mechanism the Nazis used to keep track of the fodder for their heinous death-machine was built and managed by IBM. Fascism is characterized as: Powerful and Continuing Nationalism Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of “need.” The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, and long incarcerations of prisoners. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists… Supremacy of the Military Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized. …… Controlled Mass Media Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation or by sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Government censorship and secrecy, especially in war time, are very common. Obsession with National Security Fear of hostile foreign powers is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses. ……. Protection of Corporate Power The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite. Suppression of Labor Power Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed . Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts is openly attacked, and governments often refuse to fund the arts. Obsession with Crime and Punishment Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations. Perhaps this puts Starship Troopers in another perspective. Sure, it’s corny, it’s parodic, it has awesome special effects and models and matte shot that are truly well-done for its era, advanced for 1997. But Verhoeven was making an incisive commentary on how society can easily throw away its little freedoms for the specter of “safety and security.” Verhoeven commented on his approach to the movie in January, 2018 : “Robert Heinlein's original 1959 science-fiction novel was militaristic, if not fascistic. So I decided to make a movie about fascists who aren't aware of their fascism... I was looking for the prototype of blond, white and arrogant, and Casper Van Dien was so close to the images I remembered from Leni Riefenstahl's films. I borrowed from Triumph of the Will in the parody propaganda reel that opens the film, too. I was using Riefenstahl to point out, or so I thought, that these heroes and heroines were straight out of Nazi propaganda... Don’t expect this movie to be at all like Heinlein’s book — there are no jump suits nor many of the tropes RH resorts to in many of his books. There is an incisive commentary on how Nazi-like states arrive and insinuate themselves into citizens, or those who want to be citizens. Or, you can just watch this movie for fun, because, “The only good bug is a dead bug.”

This is a great cult classic that has it all. It wasn't so well received at the box office and the critics hated it. But then what do the critics know anyways. Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Clancy Brown, Patrick Muldoon, Micheal Iron Side, Dean Norris, & Marshall Bell. All round out a well-balanced cast in this Syfy coming of age war film. With uber Patriotism and WWII styled neo-fascist propaganda in an over the internet linked in "Would you like to know more?" kind of way. In a Federalist near Fascist overbearing government where military service guarantees Citizenship. In a world where Citizens have rights and not everyone is a citizen. A world at war with giant evil bugs that are trying to eradicate humanity while we're trying to do the same to them. It follows a group of highschoolers in Buenos Aires starting just before graduation. Then following them to military bootcamp training, through their personal trials; the end of a romance for the main character Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) as Carman Ibanez (Dennis Richards) now a fleet pilot sends Johnny a futuristic dear John letter. Then more tragedy as their hometown is destroyed by a meteorite sent by the bugs. Then off to war were Johnny Rico and his school friend and want to be love interest Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer) fight in a failed invasion of the Bugs home planet. Johnny is badly wounded, and incorrectly listed as Killed In Action. Which is seen on a casualty board by Carmen, who feels saddened by Rico's death. But Jonny and Dizzy along with bootcamp chum Ace Levy (Jake Busey) are reassigned to a group of troopers called the "Rough Necks" headed by Dizzy & Ricos old schoolteacher Jean Rasczak (Micheal Ironside) Things seem to be looking up for the friends even with the war on. Johnny gets promoted to Corporal, Dizzy to Squad Leader. Dizzy & Johnny finally get to be a romantic pair and fall for the first time mutually in love with each other. A notion their Lieutenant rather comically supports in one scene. Just before they are all sent on an ill-fated rescue mission to "Whiskey Outpost" on planet "P" where they find all but a lone surviving General Owen (Marshall Bell) a little out of his head, after all others in the Outpost had been killed. The outpost is surrounded, and the Rough Necks are forced to defend an untenable position against vastly superior enemy forces. While awaiting an Evac shuttle to come get them out. During the battle many of the Rough Necks are killed. Including Lt. Rasczak who is crippled with both of his legs ripped off, he gives Rico a final order to shot him and end it. Rico in the presence of Dizzy unhappily follows orders. A large assault bug called a "Tanker" breaches the outpost and is stopped by Dizzy who literally throws a live grenade into the creatures open jaws. A second later Its head explodes, and Dizzy and others let out howls of triumph. The moment is short lived as an instant later Dizzy is directly attacked by one of the arachnids. It stabs its pointed appendages through her body several times before Rico and the others can come to her rescue. They kill the bug and carry a mortally wounded Dizzy into the shuttle and lift off, as the Bugs are swarming over the outpost. A couple moments later with final declarations of love. Dizzy dies on the escape shuttle in Johnnys arms. Later just after Dizzy's funeral, attended by the Rough Necks, Dizzy and Johnnys old school friends Colonel Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris) & Lt. Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards) Johnny Rico is promoted to the new Lieutenant in charge of the Rough Necks. They Go back to planet "P" with a much larger invasion force. Where they defeat the Bugs capturing a "Brain Bug" a form of thinking bug that is the leadership cast of the bugs. It's the start of the end of the bugs and it's all due to Johnny and Dizzy's former Sr. Drill Instructor named Sergeant Charlie Zim. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?"

Great movie from my childhood. Can be a little cheesy but still a decent sci-fi movie.

There are countless complaints that this film does not work on many Sony BD players. After alot of searching on the net, here is what I've found: this movie has an authoring problem with the BD-Live function on the disc. It tries to access BD-Live, but there is a glitch in that the player mistakes the amount of memory of the player, and gets stuck in a loop. The disc status bar appears, fills up, and the screen goes black, and nothing happens. The workaround: Connect a blank 1+GB flash memory stick in the unit's REAR USB port. Press play. The movie will work. I had this problem, I tried this solution. It works. I do find it kindof aggravating that Sony hasn't done a better job (or ANY job) addressing this issue. This is probably due to the lack of popularity of the title. Starship Troopers remains something of a niche cult title, so maybe they didn't think it was important that many people have returned it. It's sad how big companies can have departments in the same field, working on the same things, but not communicating with one another.. As for the disc: This is a terrific looking hi-def transfer, though there is some detail hotness that appears during the first Planet P ambush sequence when Rico is in the radio shack, and stays through the rest of the film. It's not a deal-breaker, but it's something I think should be addressed in the future. Otherwise, this is a special effects bonanza that only gets better in hi-def. With the exception of the darker interior scenes, this is some of the best CGI creature work ever committed to film. The 'bugs' have a heaviness and depth to them that came from alot of experimenting with the tech that was available in the late 90s. This film created alot of the techniques that are used now. It is something of a watershed in that. Otherwise, what to say about this film? Starship Troopers is a glossy, tongue-in-cheek love triangle teen soap opera set in a future ultra-fascist military state during a war with an aggressive and repellent alien insect species. The action is over the top, extremely violent, yet it's so full of itself and it's own bombast, it's hard not to like. There is no deep message, no award winning acting. It is a propaganda movie of the highest cynicism, portraying war as all, and silently saying 'yeah, you love it, don't you?' It's not hard to see why this movie failed so miserably at the box office, yet lives on as a cult film. It is, if nothing else, pure entertainment, and has a few moments that are easily some of the most visually iconic of sci-fi movies of the past 20 years.

Great product

Bedtime story, from Papa Bush to his young 'uns: Once upon a time, a long time from now, there was a United Earth. A New World Order of peace, prosperity and freedom. Everyone was clean and pretty and healthy. Good genes, all around. Black people too. And the streets were clean, and the environment, and the trains ran on time. Then one day, bad monsters attacked Earth, because the monsters were evil and ugly, and looked like giant bugs (because they were giant bugs), and they hated anybody lucky enough to have so much peace, prosperity and freedom, and who were so good-looking. But luckily for the happy people of Earth, their world government had the bestest military in the universe, with lots of gnarly weapons and way cool uniforms. So everyone enlisted like crazy to fight the ultimate war between good and evil. The politicos and top brass called it the Bug War -- but for the young recruits, it was the kick-ass adventure of a lifetime! The bugs never had a chance. The end. No, not a bedtime story, but Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers, a dead-on satire of post-9/11 war hysteria -- astonishing because it was released in 1997! The film's satire was originally aimed at its source material: Robert Heinlein's 1959 novel, Starship Troopers (condemned by some critics upon publication as "fascistic"). But like humor-impaired Trekies, many Heinlein fans remained clueless and unamused. They complained that the film had replaced Heinlein's socio-political military philosophy with mindless bug battles. Few realized the joke was on them. Verhoeven didn't so much ignore Heinlein's philosophizing as lampoon it. Heinlein's novel paints a future Earth in which everyone enjoys equal rights and liberties -- except to vote and hold office, which are reserved only to those who complete military service. Enlistment is voluntary and non-discriminatory; any sex, any age. Blue-haired grannies can sign up. But no special treatment. Many softies die in the sadistically brutal boot camps. (However, you can quit anytime, without reprisal). Another rule: everyone fights. Cooks, supply clerks, nurses, medics, privates, generals. No paper pushers or desk warmers in Heinlein's military. Verhoeven's Starship Troopers parodies Heinlein's romanticized military culture by trivializing and sanitizing war. Soldiers are sexy and clean even after battle, ready to party hardy. Ready to die. Dina Meyer's deathbed speech satirizes an old war film clich?: while reaffirming her love for her main squeeze, she nobly adds that she has "no regrets" about her sacrifice. For "red shirt" soldiers, death is less sentimental. Quick -- and quickly forgotten. After shooting a captured soldier (to prevent a painful bug death) Michael Ironside curtly informs his platoon: "I expect you to do the same for me." Which they do. Starship Troopers was no big hit in 1997, but it has its fans, many of whom -- judging by review postings on Amazon.com -- confuse the film for a serious sci-fi epic with a "war is hell" message. (Not surprisingly, post-9/11 postings are more likely to "get it".) Those who doubt the film's satirical intent should consider one hero's uniform, which can best be described as neo-Third Reich. Clearly, Verhoeven's film was not informed by Heinlein's libertarian fans, but by those critics who interpreted the novel as fascistic. Also noteworthy, the film's stars are all strikingly attractive with well-chiseled Aryan features. However, their SS physiques are not part of the plot, but merely a hint at the film's underlying satire. Plotwise, Federal Service (as it's called) is open to all, and the Aryan protagonists warmly welcome their sidekicks of color. In one brief scene, a dumpy black female is appointed as the new Sky Marshall, promising to "take the war to the bugs." However, because many moviegoers confuse fascism with racism, and because most of them were unfamiliar with the novel, the film's satire was lost on many. For most moviegoers, the film was just vapid soldiers shooting giant bugs. Further obscuring the satire, the soldiers were just too damn sexy, the bugs too mean and ugly. We humans are inclined to sympathize with attractive people, which is why satirists often paint their targets in hideous garb (communists as pigs in George Orwell's Animal Farm, and as grotesque vampires in my own Vampire Nation). Starship Troopers takes the opposite tact, painting globalist fascism as imagined by globalist fascists. Everyone is healthy and happy and sexy. The satire is in the exaggeration of fascist ideals (as in Norman Spinrad's The Iron Dream). With unwavering fortitude and unshakable confidence in Earth's inevitable total victory, Denise Richards flashes her Pepsident smile throughout the film. In hairy battles, her mouth may turn sexily pouty, but her brilliant teeth soon return, vast and blinding, equally at home on a TV commercial and an SS recruiting poster. Want to laugh out loud? The funniest scenes are the recruiting ads and "news" propaganda bulletins. One "news" item features warmly grinning soldiers distributing bullets to the delighted squeal of eager schoolkids. (How clueless do you have to be to post reviews at Amazon praising the film's "war is hell" message?) But the clueless are out there. Unfamiliar with the book, smitten with the sexy stars and repelled by the bugs, many didn't "get" the jokes. In practical terms, until 9/11 Starship Troopers was a satire without a target. The war hysteria following 9/11 provided that, the players and events stepping tailor-made into the film's sites with amazing prescience, granting the film a powerful resonance that was lacking when it was first released. All the parallels are present. The enemy -- the Bugs -- are pure evil. The military, the news reports, the war, the government, are all beyond question. If they make a mistake, they can be trusted to correct it. United Earth we stand. The Bug War begins with a Bug attack on a city. In the film's eeriest scene, a burning building's framework resembles the Twin Towers. Also remarkable are the many random jokes that find a target post-9/11. In adapting a 1950s book to a 1990s sensibility, Verhoeven tossed in some contemporary satirical barbs unconnected to the book, or even to much of anything in 1997 -- but which eerily resonate with our post-9/11 war culture. There is the film's black female Sky Marshall, a kooky but satirically pointless joke in 1997. Yet it's a role tailor made for Condoleezza Rice. There are the TV war correspondents, absent in the book, but today stationed in Iraq. They pester the soldiers in battle, don't appreciate the threat, and are killed by the bugs. There are the TV pundits who would understand the bugs, woolly and ineffectual as seen through the film's fascist prism (the New World Order likes to see itself as tolerant). Starship Troopers is a penetrating satire of post-9/11 war hysteria as might be imagined by an idealistic New World Order fascist. It's hard to believe it was made pre-9/11; impossible to think it could be made post-9/11. Starring Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey, and Michael Ironside.

Classic movie