MOVIE STARSHIP TROOPERS MOVIE

The story begins sometime in the future on Earth, where society has evolved into what producer Jon Davison calls a 'fascist utopia.' It's there, in the city of Buenos Aires, that we meet Starship Troopers' protagonist, Johnny Rico, played by relative newcomer Casper Van Dien. Much of Starship Troopers is presented tongue-in-cheek, and the level of violence and gore (bodies being ripped limb-from-limb and so forth) is so extreme that viewers will quickly become desensitized to it. And, as was true for both of those films, Verhoeven applies his own unique style to the material. Starship Troopers is his third science fiction endeavor, following in the footsteps of Robocop and Total Recall. This time around, Verhoeven returns to the genre that has been most kind to him. Starship Troopers represents director Paul Verhoeven's comeback attempt after the disastrously-received NC-17 cult favorite, Showgirls. At its worst, it replicates the feel of a futuristic episode of TV's Beverly Hills 90210. At its best, the film recaptures the kind of taut, visceral thrills offered by James Cameron's Aliens.

MOVIE STARSHIP TROOPERS MOVIE

Nevertheless, taken on its own terms, the movie entity Starship Troopers offers an enjoyable two hours. (It's still a lot smarter than Independence Day, however.) Viewers offended by the 'watering down' of themes in this summer's superlative motion picture version of Contact will be horrified by what has happened here. Many of the most intellectually stimulating aspects of the book have been stripped away, and those that remain are only shadows of their former selves. Probably the best way to approach Starship Troopers is to divorce it from its intelligent and gripping pedigree. On the other hand, anyone in the mood for a 'popcorn movie' experience will find that Starship Troopers fills the role handsomely. So what about the film? Those anticipating a rigorous adaptation will be dismayed. And, while it's unfair to lump science fiction writer Robert Heinlein into the same category as Tolstoy, the author is a recognized great in his chosen genre, and 1959's Starship Troopers represents one of his best-known novels. Unfortunately, most of the time, we're saddled with atrocities like Bram Stoker's Dracula or Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. On rare occasions, something like The Godfather emerges - a movie that not only fulfills the promise of the book, but improves upon it. Whenever a motion picture tackles a literary classic of any genre, fans of the written work hold their collective breaths, hoping for the best, but dreading the worst.

Movie starship troopers