Starship Troopers (1997)
They’re doing their part - are you?
THE SUMMARY: Three high schoolers join the military after graduation to defend Earth from an alien species, ascending the ranks and learning the secrets of these extraterrestrial ‘bugs.’ I was told there would be more to this movie than exploding monster guts and infinite hip-fire, but I don’t see it. Apparently I need to read the book - I found almost nothing of philosophical value in this one.
FROM MOVIE-PICKER WHISKEY NOODLE: I think this movie’s in the spirit of what the movie of the week segment is all about. It’s a popular film that spawned a bunch of memes relevant to the current political climate. It may be a bit more shallow than the book as far as the philosophy goes, but there’s still something to chew on and the action scenes hold up decently for something made over 2 decades ago.
THE BEST:
The military recruitment videos are decently funny: Handing out guns and ammo to kids and kids smashing cockroaches earned a few smirks from me. I also learned the origin of the ‘I’m doing my part’ meme, and any time a meme’s origin is revealed, I will give some credit.
The action and effects are decently good for their time: The movie mixes practical and digital effects convincingly and seamlessly, which is impressive in any era, but especially when CGI was still an emerging technology. The movie looks pretty good - for all the groans and eyerolls I had watching it, its visual presentation was not the cause. The bugs look, act, and most importantly, interact with their human enemies believably.
How did the brain bug fit in here?
THE WORST:
What the hell have I just watched? Is it a comedy? Is it a war drama? Is it a love story? Is it a philosophical message? Starship Troopers is one of those movies that tries to do it all, but doesn’t do any one thing very well. The cartoonish presentation cuts against the drama. The love story takes time away from any philosophical exploration. In the end, it’s entirely unclear what this movie’s point is, because it fails to focus on any one particular area.
Plot points left unexplained: To the prior point, because the movie’s focus outside of bug guts is entirely unclear, several plot points are left unexplained and unresolved. If this is a love story, did Johnny and Carmen get back together? If the ‘brain bug’ is the big mystery of the movie, what exactly is it, and what does it do with the ‘brain sucking?’ If only the ‘brain bug’ does the ‘brain sucking,’ how did it fit in the tiny room where the first brain-sucked guy was discovered?
Most glaringly, if the soldiers are occasionally killing bugs with shoulder-fired mini-nukes, why not just use big nukes to take out all the bugs? There would be no human or Earthly concerns in doing so.
Philosophical themes unexplored: Similarly, if there are philosophical themes to be extracted from this movie, they too are left unexplored. I gather the propaganda ads are intended to be satire and mockery of sending bright young people to unnecessary deaths in war. Director Paul Verhoeven (who also directed Total Recall, which I loved) said in a 1996 interview before the movie’s release that ‘the statement Starship Troopers makes’ is that ‘we like enemies,’ i.e. uniting against something or someone we hate gives us purpose. You could plausibly interpret more, but it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel for meaning that isn’t there. The movie will offer a glimmer of a deeper theme, and then move on to something shallow and meaningless.
Most disappointingly, and case in point, the movie presents what initially appears to be a turn in the plot: Sky Marshal Dienes resigns after the first defeat and Sky Marshal Meru replaces him, pledging a new effort to ‘understand’ the bugs: ‘to fight the bug, we must understand the bug,’ she says. I thought this statement would represent a change in philosophy in the war - maybe humans would try appeasement, and maybe there would be lessons to learn from that approach. Nope. It means nothing, and all that follows is the usual infinite ammo and bug guts.
Infinite ammo and no aim: Speaking of infinite ammo, I get that the movie is trying to satirize the military and war, so the guns are meant to be ridiculous exaggerations, but this is total video game stuff - oversized guns blasting forever, and guns that not only are never aimed, but guns that can’t be aimed because they almost always have no sights regardless. Even if I grant the silliness is the point, the movie undermines that point when once and only once a female soldier says she’s out of ammo, and another soldier tosses her a tiny magazine. How are they blasting ammo forever running 20 or 30 round mags? And if they are blasting that much ammo through 20 or 30 round mags, who the hell is carrying all of it?
THE RATING: 2/5 Wickies - the best I can say is that I sense this is a bastardization of a book that’s likely way better. It definitely can’t be worse.
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NEXT WEEK: Léon: The Professional (1994)
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