Starship Troopers (1997)

[Inside an Arachnid study laboratory]
Newsreel announcer: Every day, Federal scientists are looking for new ways to kill bugs.
Carl: Your basic Arachnid warrior isn't too smart, but you can blow off a limb,
[shoots an Arachnid warrior's limb off]
Carl: and it's still 86 percent combat effective. Here's a tip: Aim for the nerve stem, and put it down for good.
[demonstrates]

The only good bug, is a dead bug.  That’s something you will remember after seeing Starship Troopers.  If you want to see an alien movie with all the bug hunting, squashing and blowing up, this is it.  Supported with terrific visuals, Starship Troopers is a movie that has stood the test of time and just like Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop from 1987 and Total Recall from 1990 (yes, the Arnold Schwarzenegger one), they are bound to hang around for quite some time.  

I remember seeing this in the cinema when it came out and was amazed. These films don’t usually have a very deep and meaningful story and this one generally follows that thinking but it also gives an interesting picture of what society could be like in the future.  Typical of Verhoeven’s films mentioned above, there is a lot of violence in the movie mostly against bugs/aliens but also some graphic injury (by bugs/aliens) to humans so if your very squirmish…beware.

It's the 23rd century and the movie begins with a news reporter covering a war on the planet Klandathu. “It's an ugly planet. A BUG planet!” he says and soon after is killed by one of the bugs.  Then the film jumps back one year to give us a lead up of how it came to this disaster.  

Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer), Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards) and Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris) are all High School friends and decide to enlist in the Federal Service (military) in order to earn their citizenship which grants them additional privileges over the average citizen. Johnny and Dizzy are in the mobile infantry, Carmen a spaceship pilot and Carl in the Military Intelligence.  When the bugs attack they are eventually brought together to fight this vicious enemy in its home territory, Klandathu, but it comes at great cost.  

Whilst it is a little lacking in the quality story department it is still engaging and a fantastic movie that you can just sit back and enjoy the action and visuals.  Acting is pretty good though I must say that Denise Richards (as Carmen) gives a real fake performance unlike Casper Van Dien and Dina Meyer and Michael Ironside.  The film also gives an interesting look at a future society which makes you cringe a little thinking of the possible direction our world could take as we become “smarter”.

The Bluray reviewed is the Australian release and presents the film in a pristine 1.85:1 aspect ratio image.  The powerful audio comes via an uncompressed PCM 5.1 surround sound (will basically sound like it should but doesn’t have the Dolby/DTS trademark) but there is also a compressed Dolby 5.1 surround option but it will not be as good as the uncompressed PCM track.  The Bluray also has the following extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary
• Making of Featurette
• Screen tests for Johnny and Carmen
• Teaser Trailer

What the Bluray/DVD cover does not list under its MA15+ rating is nudity.  There are two scenes in the film and to be honest it makes you wonder why they put it in the movie cause it’s not needed.  

Overall it’s a very enjoyable film that I have seen quite a few times comes highly recommended (apart from the nudity) as one of the great 90’s sci-fi films made.  Check it out!

Movie

Image

Disc