Rating: 
Summary: Not Heinlein but a good watch nonetheless
Review: The book is much better and the books emphasis on the value of military/volunteer service is complete left out of the film. However, even if you read the book first, this is still worth your time.
Rating: 
Summary: A horrible disappointment
Review: OK. Movies are a director's medium, and occasionally you find a forgettable book turned into a worthwhile film. But there are even more wonderful stories butchered into horrible movies.Paul Verhoeven's treatment of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers is such a case. If he wanted to make a campy, overblown, anti-military statement of a film, he should have had the courtesy not to pretend it bore any resemblance to an award-winning story from a respected author like Robert Heinlein. I will grant that there are portions of the film that are worthwhile. Some of the special effects are very good (not the bugs, however), and some of the actors are quite attractive, especially when less than fully clothed, and, OK, the good guys appear to win in the end. But Verhoeven apparently doesn't understand science fiction in the slightest. Armageddon or Godzilla are not remotely genuine science fiction, but Plato's Republic -- an example of early fiction set in alternative times or places to avoid directly criticizing the status quo in his own society -- perhaps was. In Starship Troopers, Heinlein presented an alternative form of government where voting and political leadership were limited to those who have first risked their own lives _protecting_ the nation. In today's world, where most eligible voters are too apathetic to participate at all, and those who do vote aren't capable of rationally exercising their franchise, such a story is a reasonable manner of causing readers to confront the problem for themselves. Verhoeven, however, belittles Heinlein's respect for military service by turning Heinlein's vision into a campy Nazi lookalike. The film's other failings are too numerous to mention here, but include aliens killed by only a few rounds in one instance yet surviving hundreds of rounds from dozens of soldiers when in battle. There are also numerous troop movements that would get a totally inexperienced 2nd lieutenant cashiered for not listening to his senior non-coms. I'm sure that producers wouldn't have been able to raise the money to produce a flick based directly on Heinlein's story -- lots of special effects, shooting, blood, and [more] would be necessary -- but what emerged under Verhoeven's direction was simply a travesty.
Rating: 
Summary: Greadt movie/Great DVD
Review: This movie is Great and the DVD has tons of extra features this one of my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: sci-fi classic
Review: wow this is brilliant so funny and terrific action .. the monster bugs are just out of this world .. space scenes just fantastic and what about those bugs that shoot blue flamed missiles into outer-space :) .. and it is a love story too !! can it get any better :))
Rating:
Summary: Misunderstood -- Worth Viewing Again
Review: Although widely panned when it was released, Starship Troopers is much more than meets the bloody eye. Popular today largely for its ultra-violence and often campy teen soap opera qualities, it was actually designed by its director Paul Verhoeven to recall the sorts of recruiting propaganda movies used throughout the 20th century to convince young people that joining the military was a glamorous, heroic adventure rather than a ticket to senseless slaughter. His characters are almost stereotypically shallow and beautiful -- more like 90210 cast members than soldiers -- specifically to paint a picture of the bloody war they fight as a patriotic struggle of good and evil instead of the disastrously murderous campaign it really is. Verhoeven's future world is a reasonable representation of Heinlein's benign fascist society and his clever use of every trick in the propagandist's repetoire easily masks the underlying lack of freedoms and civil rights their society has if the audience isn't careful. In fact, in our post-911 world Verhoeven's security state is almost intoxicating in its glossiness and simple-minded fixation with duty, obedience and patriotism. The brilliance of the director's subtle message struck me most when I first saw this movie in the theater. In the row in front of me sat two kids essentially the same age as the film's protagonists and as the credits rolled one of them nearly shouted to the other: "Damn! I wish I could join up right now!" If this film doesn't make you wonder why you want to join those kids and kill bugs you aren't paying attention.
Rating:
Summary: LOVED IT!
Review: Campy, hilarious and bugs, bugs, bugs! This movie was a complete joy ride for me. It was also an emotional roller coaster. One minute I was ticked off that my favorite character was killed, the next minute I was laughing at some of the crazyness that was going on. You gotta see this movie!
Rating:
Summary: 5-Star Sci-Fi Thriller
Review: Ok to begin with...This is probably the best movie I have ever seen and Im not exactly a Sci-Fi person either.This is a very serious movie and not one I like to call funny.The war-like violence is very intence,and I DO NOT recommend this for younger viewers.The Special Effects are the best Ive seen yet...even almost equal to the Newer series of Star Wars.100's of years have passed and humans are starting to evolve with phychic capabilities and the human population is nearly 4x what it is now.A hostile planet inhabited by hostile bugs are hurling meteors at Earth.A single Democratic Goverment commanding over earth are willing to send millions into command...I wish i could say more but there is a limit to what i can say...Please check this movie out for it may be one of the best youve seen yet!
Rating:
Summary: Not too bright! Where is the real point?
Review: OK.
I finally saw this movie, and I have to say I was mostly disappointed.
First of all, if you don't like mindless violence in movies, don't see this film. If you don't like seeing characters who don't really deserve to get killed in brutal and terrible ways (but do), don't watch this movie.
Second of all, the plot of this movie was totally illustrative of a right-wing-dominated society, which can be good in some ways. In other ways, if there really is no lesson to be learned from the depiction of a totalitarian, warmongering future, where is the satisfaction?
This movie is supposedly an 'allegory' (if I'm using the word correctly) of the Japanese Pearl Harbor attack on the US in the 1940s, and also allegorical of the US WWII retaliatory campaigns that followed, where the allies claimed total victory.
However, since this movie depicted a totalitarian and militarized future (which to me should not necessarily be glorified), I expected this film to be more allegorical of the Gulf of Tonkin attack in southeast Asia which initiated the participation of the US in the Vietnam War, and which was supposedly faked in order to give the US a legitamate claim for entering the war (see also: Germany faking an attack by the Polish Army on one of its radio stations near the Polish border, 1938-1939).
Anyway, with the exaggerated violence and lack of real moral lesson other than 'kill kill kill,' this movie doesn't have a lot to offer except for cool military uniforms and good computerized effects.
Rating:
Summary: What Does This Teach Our Children ?
Review: In this film we see bugs perpetrate a horrible terrorist attack on a major Earth city. People respond to this attack with their own violent attack against the bugs. These bugs, you see, are simply determined to kill people -- and it's apparent the people can only protect themselves by killing the bugs first. But what does this teach our children? The people in this movie did not seek United Nations approval, or allow more time for inspections. They never asked, "Why do the bugs hate us?" The people simply attacked, and killed bugs, and were victorious in the end, so they would be safe from future attack. The people were not compassionate, diverse, tolerant or inclusive with these terrorist bugs. These people definitely were not Democrats. And golly, those coed showers certainly were neat!
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Guilty Pleasure
Review: I despised Starship Troopers when it first came out. I thought it was adolescent, ultra-violent, proto-fascist garbage. Boy, was I wrong. Yes, it's packed with gore and at first glance it could be misconstrued as a celebration of Nazi-style militarism. But here's a news bulletin: IT'S SATIRE, PEOPLE! I swear, Paul Verhoven is a freakin' genius. This is not your run-of-the-mill School of Saturday Night Live broad satire. This is a bit more subtle than that. It also happens to be a kickass sci-fi action blockbuster. It's great storytelling, with a wry, well-crafted screenplay. It's a fully realized world within itself. And never let it be said that Mr. Verhoven doesn't know how to cast the hotties. Some people have complained that there is precious little science in this science fiction rollercoaster. They're right. Verhoven has thrown logic and science right out the window. But that's OK--he wasn't trying for the "2001: A Space Odyssey, There's No Sound in Outer Space Award". But if you can check your Inner Physicist at the door and just enjoy the ride, this movie is a blast. Technically, the CGI special effects were state-of-the-art in 1997 and they still look great, especially in Superbit. So donate your copies of Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones to the Goodwill. They're tedious [stuff]. Buy this movie--it's one fun flick.
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