... So it's wonderfully refreshing that Starship Troopers is really no different whatsoever, remaining your typical Verhoeven action filled gore-fest. Yay!
Humans don't like bugs. And guess what? Bugs don't like humans either. But these bugs aren't your ordinary cockroaches - these bugs are ... Read review
A gloriously over-the-top treat, Paul Verhoeven'sStarship Trooperstakes the militaristic ... more
moralising of Robert Heinlein's pulp classic and sets about undermining it mercilessly. Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) desperately wants to join the Mobile Infantry...
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A gloriously over-the-top treat, Paul Verhoeven'sStarship Trooperstakes the militaristic ... more
moralising of Robert Heinlein's pulp classic and sets about undermining it mercilessly. Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) desperately wants to join the Mobile Infantry...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Would you like to know more? The Federation needs you for an urgent do-or-die mission in ... more
'Starship Troopers', the ultimate sci-fi action thriller from the director of Total Recall... hailed for its mind-blowing special effects and amazing futuristic se...
Mankind becomes an endangered species in Starship Troopers on Blue-Ray's high definition ... more
disc. The director of Total Recall is recruiting You for an urgent, do-or-die mission to save humanity, made all the more thrilling in this mind-blowing new format!The new millennium pits man against an intelligent, deadly race of alien bugs: some thirty feet tall, some that fly and all capable of destroying every living thing on Earth! Marvel at the astounding special effects and futuristic settings in bigger-than-life 1080p, and experience every jarring, action-packed battle in enhanced audio.
A reprint of a science fiction tale by the author of "The Cat Who Walks Through Walls". ... more
Set 5000 years in the future John Rico a starship trooper and his men scour the metal-strewn emptiness of space to hunt down the enemy - an insect life form that threatens the future of mankind.
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It is told through the eyes of Starship Trooper Johnny Rico from his idealistic ... more
enlistment in the infantry of the future through his rigorous training to the command of his own platoon of infantrymen. His destiny is a galactic war of unlimited violence and destruction in which he and his fellow troopers scour the metal-strewn emptiness of space to hunt down a terrifying enemy - an insect life form which threatens the very future of mankind.
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In this rapid-fire sequel to the cult favorite, Starship Troopers, the federation's best ... more
Mobil Infantry unit goes back into action against the Bug horde. But this time, the Bugs are waiting for them.Trapped on a remote outpost light years from the nearest reinforcements, a small group of soldiers fights an enemy smarter and more cunning than any they've ever faced. Now they must join forces with an infamous traitor to the Federation if they are to have any hope. And it's not just their lives at stake, it's the survival of the human race. If they want to live, they'll have to use their heads before the Bugs do!
The irony in Verhoeven's oft-misconstrued political satire could have been tilted into ... more
farce without something keeping it in check. That would be this straight-faced militaristic tattoo. Every single cue (daughter Zo&eauml;'s wacky song "Into It" excepted) snaps with snare drumming martial vigour. The poor players must have suffered for a week! The constant pounding of heroic fanfares fuels the foot-soldiers along into certain death. There's no suggestion we should sympathise with their plight, though, nor any overt depiction of the arachnid enemy as anything evil. Nor is there anything sickly sweet for the crossing lines of the characters' love lives. From start to finish it's just adrenaline-pumping action material. Poledouris's complex metres take the orchestra into unpredictable melodic lines all the way through. "Klendathu Drop" and "Tango Urilla" give the biggest bangs, but that's only by their lengthiness. Wouldn't you like to know more? --Paul Tonks
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Production Year: 1991 - Science Fiction - Director: Wim Wenders - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Sam Neill, Max Von Sydow, Solveig Dommartin, William Hurt
Production Year: 2007 - Science Fiction - Director: Francis Lawrence - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan, Dash Mihok, Will Smith, Salli Richardson, Willow Smith
Advantages: Excellent CGI, gore and action by the bucketload, directed by Paul Verhoeven. Disadvantages: Some dodgy ham-fisted acting and painful dialogue might be a bit much for some!
STARSHIP TROOPERS
Everyone loves Paul Verhoeven. I mean, imagine for a moment a world without the uber-violence of Robocop and Total Recall, the nudity and sex scenes of Basic Instinct and Showgirls or little seen Dutch gems like Flesh and Blood and Spetters, both of which caused a hell of amount of controversy for some explicit rape scenes and sexual content. The world would be a much duller place, wouldn't it? This is the man who's ... ...So it's wonderfully refreshing that Starship Troopers is really no different whatsoever, remaining your typical Verhoeven action filled gore-fest. Yay!
Humans don't like bugs. And guess what? Bugs don't like humans either. But these bugs aren't your ordinary cockroaches - these bugs are big, fast, vicious and incredibly smart, when compared to your regular Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien). So when the bug homeworld of Klendathu decides ... more
STARSHIP TROOPERS
Everyone loves Paul Verhoeven. I mean, imagine for a moment a world without the uber-violence of Robocop and Total Recall, the nudity and sex scenes of Basic Instinct and Showgirls or little seen Dutch gems like Flesh and Blood and Spetters, both of which caused a hell of amount of controversy for some explicit rape scenes and sexual content. The world would be a much duller place, wouldn't it? This is the man who's given us a malfunctioning ED-209 shooting an exec into curry paste with a couple of mini-guns, a rather stylish and unsubtle execution of a police officer ("give the man a hand"), a man melting in toxic waste, Arnie's eyeballs popping out of their sockets, gunshot wounds where the bullet entrance looks like an incredibly messy exit hole, a blink and you'll miss it shot of Sharon Stone's beaver (that kept 15 year-old lads busy with the pause button on the old VHS remote) and, well, the most ridiculous sex scene in a swimming pool you're ever likely to come across. The man's a half-deranged genius - Sam Peckinpah on speed even - and we should all be eternally grateful for the Dutch maestro pervading the Hollywood system with his own brand of visceral all out hyper-violence, incessant nudity and starkly refreshing satire and humour that all of his American films seem to ascertain. Like them or loathe them, Verhoeven films get people talking. So it's wonderfully refreshing that Starship Troopers is really no different whatsoever, remaining your typical Verhoeven action filled gore-fest. Yay!
Humans don't like bugs. And guess what? Bugs don't like humans either. But these bugs aren't your ordinary cockroaches - these bugs are big, fast, vicious and incredibly smart, when compared to your regular Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien). So when the bug homeworld of Klendathu decides to fling an asteroid towards Earth, which happens to vaporise Rico's home-city of Buenos Aires from the map, it's no surprise that Rico, his old school chums and many another civilian (both male and female) are happy to go to war against the bug threat - looking to wipe-out them out, once and for all. What follows is one big monster-mash as the beautiful troopers of planet Earth are torn apart, decapitated, sliced, diced, stabbed and ripped in half by the rampaging hordes of bugs during a failed attack on Klendathu. Somehow surviving the bloodbath, Rico, along with long-time admirer Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer) and wise-cracking compadre Ace Levy (Jake Busey) begin to climb the ranks within a specialist unit of hardcore grunts, that are soon turning the tide of battle against the bug hordes! Hoogah!
Based on Robert A. Heinlein's novella of the same name, Starship Troopers is essentially a moistening militaristic wet dream glorifying right-wing fascistic political leanings, yet based within a wonderful B-movie melodrama of blood and guts. It's a wonderful juxtaposition and certainly a direction that makes more of Heinlein's source novel than one could have expected. Whilst on one hand we have the sweaty muscled fetishism behind the technological components of the war machine and Johnny Rico's buttock-clenched rise through the ranks, which Heinlein would have appreciated, Verhoeven has then added his own personal touch to proceedings.
Along with a cast of beautiful nobodies from dismal soap operas like Melrose Place, with awful dialogue not out of place in such dismal soap operas and costumes with more than a hint of Nazi regalia about them, Verhoeven and screenwriter Edward Neumeier (who previously scripted Robocop Verhoeven) also add a subtle satirical note to the machinations of the adrenaline pumping savagery. It's great seeing Hollywood starlets being wiped out in a fistful of gore, but it's equally amusing when you consider the bonkers mad Dutchman has managed to get away with an ostensibly large piss-take of American imperialistic foreign policy within the content - both with reference to tactical naivety and overt gung-ho-ism. Furthermore, the Federal Network sequences that serve as bookmarks to each new chapter of the film have more than a knowing nod to the current programming on modern American news channels, such as Fox news. Filled with propaganda vignettes such as foot-stomping bug squishing, military hardware being passed to children to play with and a reminder of an execution of a murderer to set your video-recorders for, the Federal Network picks up on issues of modern day American right-wing politics with veritable ease - and then proceeds to poke fun at the extremity of such a political ideal by taking the scenes to their most logical extreme. Just note the Mother laughing like a bloodthirsty hyena in the foot-stomping vignette - marvellous!
Many would disagree with the satire involved suggesting it limp at best, with Verhoeven revelling in the hyper-violence of Starship Troopers and embracing the facets dictated by Heinlein instead. Indeed the film seems to move from satire to outright jingoism with unnerving consistency, but when you have troopers spouting quintessential cheesy dialogue along the lines of "come on you apes, do you want to live forever" "they sucked his brains out" "you're some kind of smart bug" and you decide to name the hero of the opus the barnstormingly brilliant Johnny Rico, it's difficult to see Starship Troopers being anything other than a piss-take. And this is where Verhoeven excels further - the film works either of two ways! If you're not interested in the satirical elements invested in the film, then just hold on to your seat for some utterly superb balls-out B-movie action and carnage of the highest order.
With James Cameron's Aliens the obvious movie template - hell the troopers carry weapons that are virtually pulse rifles and the drop-ships aren't a far throw from Aliens' imagining either - this is where the real fun begins. Whilst lacking the taught, tense structure of Cameron's masterpiece, the main difference between the two movies, Starship Troopers revels in the context of all out war against the bug scourge, yet replaces six acrobats in Alien suits with some of the most impressive CGI crafted for the medium. Indeed, the CGI is still as impressive today as it was back in 1997. Large spaceships hurtle past each other in magnificent glory before being spliced open from fire being spurted out of the backside of a rather large beetle with Bangalore belly. Likewise, a full-scale assault on a fortified outpost by thousands of arachnids is lovingly and beautifully composed - easily one of the best sequences of the film as our Troopers attempt to hold the encampment. Verhoeven's eye is also brilliantly deployed - a wonderful sequence before the troopers engage in their first sortie is choreographed in such metaphorical fashion that it has the troops mobilising into drop ships in a thoroughly insectoid fashion.
The plot is artificial at best, merely serving to highlight Rico and school chums signing up, going through a Full Metal Jacket light boot camp before climbing the ranks, but you're not really here for the plot are you? No, you're here for the wall-to-wall carnage. There's nothing more fun than seeing humanity getting splattered across the screen by massively impressive beasties and Starship Troopers doesn't disappoint. Grunts are unceremoniously butchered throughout in a mass of gore, much to the delight of the audience. Indeed, your enjoyment of Starship Troopers will probably depend on how much fun you can garner from a host of beautiful people from Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place being slaughtered by rather large bugs. Along with a rip-roaring theme as the action hots-up, more ridiculously benign dialogue delivered by, frankly, poor actors, Denise Richard's hair-lip and a bombastic finale, there's very little to fault Starship Troopers as an entertaining blast of B-Movie hokum.
And if your still not convinced about Starship Troopers qualities, here's a list of ten reasons why it's an essential purchase, if not a must see: -
1. It features Michael Ironside, he who brilliantly has his arms loped off at the elbow via an unfortunate lift incursion while battling against Arnie in Total Recall.
2. It features Clancy Brown, he who brilliantly holds his neck together with safety pins after a near miss with a sword in Highlander.
3. The greatest line in the history of film is delivered by Ironside - "They sucked his brains out." Utter genius! (Seriously, at a recent double screening of Starship Troopers and Aliens at Somerset House, this line received a bigger cheer than Hudson's famous "game over man, game over.")
4. Casper Van Dien constantly gives the impression that he thinks he's actually doing a great job as the leading man throughout the flick… despite being out acted by a ferret in one sequence!
5. Starship Troopers is the only film that has ever featured a same-sex shower scene!
6. It's the only film ever to have successfully ripped off James Cameron's Aliens where you don't feel embarrassed to mention it in the same breath as James Cameron's Aliens.
7. Where else are you going to see Doogie Howser MD (Neil Patrick Harris) dressed in full nazi regalia?
8. The film actually benefits as the whole cast are dressed up in Nazi regalia!
9. Let me repeat - it features the magnificent line "They sucked his brains out!"
10. It's the only film you're likely to see where a trooper is stabbed to death up the arse by a very large space hornet and, for that alone, Starship Troopers is deserving of admittance to the annuals of sci-fi movie history!
Overall - Starship Troopers has just about enough for everyone. Blood and guts by the bucketload with a little cerebral thought placed behind the mayhem that's a slap in the face for the whole of humanity. It's utter bonkers genius, but my word does it work. God bless Paul Verhoeven!
Director - Paul Verhoeven
Screenplay - Edward Neumeier
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
Rating - 18 (curiously, on its original cinema release in 1997, Starship Troopers was given a 15 certificate by the BBFC).
Advantages: Very funny, fantastically violence, some nice tits, interesting ideas. Disadvantages: Sometimes forgets not to take the plot too seriously, perhaps too over the top, gratuitous.
...things to gain public support and to play on people's fears and insecurities. If 'reporting' like this has a place in the UK today, even if on ITV, then it can't be long before we are getting news reports similar to those that tie Starship Troopers together. Think about it. ...
Xamis 21.02.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Starship Troopers (DVD)
Advantages: Graphics are good, the storyline is involving, Good performances from cast Disadvantages: Gory, Strong language
...an urgent do-or-die mission in STARSHIP TROOPERS, the ultimate sci-fi action thriller from the director ot Total Recall... hailed for its mind-blowing special effects and amazing futuristic settings! The new millenium brings man face to face with the deadliest enemy of them all...an intelligent race of alien bugs, some thirty feet tall, some that fly and ALL capable of destroying every living thing on Earth! That's where brave young freedom fighter ... ...middle of it all make STARSHIP TROOPERS the definitive space age adventure thriller in this or ANY universe!"
Well, they don't lie about the special effects, they really are spectacular. Each computer rendered alien insect is perfect in its appearance, and looks as if it was there on the shoot with the actors. They are scary in their appearance, and on the big screen they genuinely provoke a reaction. This is somewhat lessened on the small screen ...
AndyConnolly 15.09.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Starship Troopers (DVD)
Advantages: Very gorey and violent (heeheehee). Very good special effects and not too bad a story either. Disadvantages: Very gorey and violent (It depends upon how you look at these things)
...my opinion of the film Starship Troopers.
Starship Troopers was released in the November of 1997 and unsurprisely (if you've seen it) received an 18 rating. This means that as a 17 year old I have never seen the film (ah-hem) and do, in no way, own the video (cough, cough). That therefor means that my op. is written purely using my psychic abilities and in no way through actual experiences of Starship Troopers (cough, splutter). Sorry I seem to ... ...as Rico throughout most of Starship Troopers he is the films main character. After not doing so well in his finals he is left with only one military option, which is to join the mobile infantry. This however means that he's got a large chance of being killed by the bugs as they are sent into the central action. At the start of the film he is the boy friend to the lovely Carmen but millions of light years weakens their relationships while those with ...
piffles 07.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Starship Troopers (DVD)
Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers is the perfect Friday night action movie. Its not too intelligent despite claims of its wicked social commentary(where?? maybe in the book), features plenty of pretty faces and most of all big, nasty beasties and gun toting marines intent on wiping them out...what more could you want? It is completely dumb. Dumb plot, dumb script, dumb actors(REALLY dumb actors), weak characterisation and development and cliche, ... ...Friday night entertainment. Starship Troopers is set in the future where to be a civilian is ok, but to truly earn respect and to gain citizen status you must serve in the armed forces. Well, many do(well all the pretty faces do it seems) and good thing really because we are up against some kind of intelligent alien bug species who show more than a sentient interest in us as a species. The first part of the movie is somewhat dull and scene setting, ...
wampyrii 29.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Starship Troopers (DVD)
Advantages: Action, Gore, do we really need more?? Disadvantages: Wooden acting
This film has everything sex, gore, explosions. It is in short a real lad's film. I am not saying that it won't be enjoyed by the fairer sex but...I don't know any that have!!
The film is in many regards almost spoof-like in its full-metal jacket type style and because of the graphic violence is limited by an 18 certificate thus preventing it from reaching an age range that the film is in many regards aimed at (15-18).
The relationships between ... ...lose companions but people do change. In addition to this it really emphasises the differences in class and how much experiences truly can change attitudes to life. In a twisted sort of a way it helps to explain why soldiers think and feel the way they do.
The acting from the cast is at times wooden. Rico is particularly unbelievable as a squad leader but despite this the overall points are well made so it does not detract too much from the overall ...
Boris 03.08.2001 (04.08.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Starship Troopers (DVD)
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Advantages: Kills lots of bugs Disadvantages: Too many bugs
the other actor do the job quite good. This is one of these films that people will either love or hate personal I thought it was not bad and worth watching although it?s not a film I would of bought for myself but my husband loved it. If you like creature feature films you?ll probably love this one.
DVD EXTRAS
The making of Starshiptroopers Featurette
Audio Commentary
Scene development
Deleted Scenes
Screen Tests
Theatrical trailer
STARSHIPTROOPERS 2 HERO OF THE FEDERATION
This was made this year (2004) and was directed by Phil Tippet who co-directed Robocop 3.
This film was never on general release at the cinema and I think it was made for DVD and then eventually onto TV. The film is also a certificate 18 and the running time is 88 minutes.
THE CAST
Bill Brown ? Pvt Ottis Brick
Richard Burgi - Captain Dax
Kelly ...
Advantages: Plenty of gore, ok CGI, Arachnids Disadvantages: Poor acting, bad dialogue, fake looking weapons,
Due to StarshipTroopers' poor takings at the box office back in 1997 any plans of an immediate big budget sequel were unfortunately scrapped. But lo and behold in 2004 we finally get see the 'Moblie Infantry' and the 'Arachnid' hordes go head-to-head once more in "StarshipTroopers 2: Hero of the Federation" - a direct to DVD sequel made on a budget of just a fraction of what the first cost and featuring a cast of relatively unknowns with a couple of recognizable b-movie faces. A word of caution - DON'T be expecting to see another action-packed CGI epic because you will not find it here. It's a completely different movie compared to the first with none of the original characters coming back to continue their story.
The plot revolves around a bunch of desperate surviving marines whose unit was all but wiped out by an Arachnid ambush ...
Advantages: Jolene Blalock looking smoking hot Disadvantages: Bad mixture of religion and awful plot
! Rico's court-martial & execution are forgotten & glossed over too easily, it also saddened me that they tried to ape JFK's funeral by having the Sky Marshall's son do a (very bad) salute. Too many loose ends are left open at the end of this, Dix's betrayal of Phid, Phid having faked messages from The Sky Marshall & concealed his disappearance, Rico's execution & court martial.
If you want to see someone ruin the entire StarshipTroopers franchise without even trying then watch this excuse for a film. It's awful!
(this review also appears on dooyoo) ...
The new millennium brings man face-to-face with the deadliest enemy of all... an intelligent race of alien bugs. Young freedom fighter Johnny Rico and his comrades join the elite cadet flying school where you need to be tough to survive. When Buenos Aires, Johnny's home town, is destroyed by the bugs, an all-out intergalactic war begins...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINM; TECHNICOLOR DISTRIBUTION SERVICES
Sony Pictures Imageworks, Industrial Light and Magic, Amalgamated Dynamics, Visual Concept Entertainment, Banned From the Ranch Entertainment, Tippett Studio, Boss Film Studios
Costume Designer
Ellen Mirojnick
Editor
Mark Goldblatt, Caroline Ross
Languages
Main Language
English
Dubbed Language
French, Italian
Subtitle Language
Dutch, English, French
Technical information
Special Features
Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Scene Development, Screen Tests, Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio
1.85 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 5.1 English French Italian
Professional reviews
Review
"...A letter grade would do a disservice to a movie that sees relentless entertainment and brilliant pop-culture fraud as two sides of the same media coin....The Most Ironic Hollywood Blockbuster Ever Made. See it for yourself and decide..." (Entertainment Weekly, pp.104-5, 15/05/1998)
"...The film's main events are its wild bugfights, with hordes of extraordinarily dynamic special-effects creatures....These bizarre marauders are really something to see..." (New York Times, p.E14, 07/11/1997)
"...Fascinating....Featuring astonishing effects and some of the most harrowing battle scenes in movie history..." (Sight and Sound, p.53-4, 01/01/1998)
"...Director Paul Verhoeven is back in his subversively nimble ROBOCOP groove with the uproariously cheeky STARSHIP TROOPERS" -- 4 out of 4 stars (USA Today, p.2D, 07/11/1997)
DVD Description
Some time in the future, a group of friends joins Earth's military forces after high school graduation to battle the insectoid Klendathu. One fights for the chance to be a renowned pilot (Denise Richards), one for revenge (Casper Van Dien), and one for the love of a good man (Dina Meyer), but interpersonal relationships take a backseat to the firepower leveled against (and returned from) the chitinous aliens. Paul Verhoeven's subversively humourous and thrilling sci-fi film is adapted from the classic science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein.
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