Rating: 
Summary: satire saves a dismal wreck
Review: This was a bad movie. Had it not been for the title, I wouldn't have had a clue this was even based off the book. The plot and tone bear little resemblance. The plot-related sins are forgivable; however, the atmosphere is the fault of the actors. They can't act. Period. I could forgive the excessive violence and fascination with computer graphics (the bugs grew very boring after reptitive appearances) as a "guy" thing, but I cannot forgive the actors for turning a so-so movie into a dismal, superficial farce of the ideas the director was trying to convey. The periodic emergence of those themes in brief, biting satirical propaganda paradies were the movie's one saving grace, and the only way I was able to sit through the thing. I'd say watch it just for those; they were an absolute hoot.
Rating: 
Summary: What a waste of natural resources!
Review: I cannot believe how botched up this movie was. It's based on one of the classic novels of science fiction. The only resemblence between Heinlein's work and this movie is the title! Okay, okay, the bugs were there. But, what about the mechanized armor?!? Okay, okay, we have to show their smiling faces. But, we will show a society that has the capability of inter-galatic space travel, but only arm our troopers with mere slug-throwers. Please, please for the love of God, pass this one by.
Rating: 
Summary: A bad case of ants in your pants!
Review: As the reviewer below me says, some will like it for the wrong reasons. I wonder if by this he meant Casper Van Dien half naked and getting whipped??? Anyway to the more serious stuff, this film is not aimed at those seeking to spend a quiet evening in with an intellectual film. It does however offer 1 1/2 hours of non stop zip gun and fistfighting to sate the hunger of the biggest actionophile. The soldiers are battling bugs who have come from the next galaxy to destroy humankind. These bugs are huge and powerful, and the soldiers are inept and bungling! This leads to many laughs, some of them sick as people die in stupid ways. The violence is comic book, never is it taken seriously. I would recommend this film to anyone who wants an accompanyment to his/her beer and pizza.
Rating:
Summary: I actually liked this movie
Review: The plot is a little thin, and the acting is a little mediocre; but for some reason, I actually liked this movie. As most people know, the movie is based loosely on the book of the same title by Robert Heinlein. "Starship Troopers" contains special effects are that are pretty good, and the "bugs" are pretty nifty to watch. I really could care less if the movie supposedly has a deeper, subtler meaning; after all, the reason I watch movies is to be entertained, and this movies certainly does that.
Rating:
Summary: Starship Troopers and its reviews
Review: It seems this movie draws (in general) four types of reviews based on what the authors expected from the film: The first group gives the movie the highest marks (5 stars). This group expects a simple gore fest and totally accepts the fascist ideology of the movie as being a simple 'genre' decision. These folks don't see Starship Troopers as a propaganda film, they generally haven't read Heinlein's book, and they compare the movie to 'Saving Private Ryan' and other straight-up war movies. This group is in it for sci-fi action, pure and simple. The second group sees what Paul Verhoeven was trying to accomplish, and fully realises that the movie was intended to be a subtle (perhaps too subtle for the nineties audience) critique of 20th century propaganda. This group generally recognises that for the general audience the movie misses the mark, in that the director refuses to stage a Hollywood style denouement. Because they feel the movie's message does not reach as much of the audience as it perhaps should, these reviewers generally give it 4 stars. The third group ignores the socio-political aspects of the movie and concentrates on the production. These folks do not seem to realise that the actors were chosen specifically for their superficial beauty, nor do they recognise that the movie was intended to mimic propaganda films. They point out the apparent 'plot flaw' posed by the asteroid without looking for its deeper meaning (which Verhoeven, in true propaganda mode, refuses to point out). This group is confused by Verhoeven's reluctance to make a Hollywood style 'statement', and the movie leaves these reviewers perplexed and unsatisfied. Their ratings tend to be mediocre. The final group gives the movie one star (the least possible). These are the Heinlein worshippers. This group abhors the fact that Verhoeven pokes fun at the wacky ideology and questionable military strategy of Heinlein's book. These people wanted a true retelling of what they consider a 'classic' Sci-Fi masterpiece and they regard the movie as an attack on Heinlein's philosophy (which, in part, it undoubtedly is). From this, it seems to me that Paul Verhoeven succeeded too well in creating a reproduction propaganda film: Those who were looking for a gung-ho 1950s style action movie got everything they wanted, but they miss all the underlying depth. Those who wanted a slick, well-made and well-acted movie are disappointed because the director used so-so acting and a poor plot as tools in the creation of his goal. Those who wanted a faithful retelling of the Heinlein book were enraged by Verhoeven's disrespect of his source material. Finally, even those who recognise what the movie represents are frustrated by the general audience's inability to see what they regard as essential to understanding the film. The saddest things about this film are: 1 - that those who like Starship Troopers the most like it for the wrong reasons; and 2 - those who want to like it most are prevented from doing so by its very success at being a propaganda film. It's perhaps an irony that a subtle director like Verhoeven might appreciate.
Rating:
Summary: Gets Better with Multiple Viewings
Review: A future society where everyone is healthy and good looking. A society where "non-citizens" can live in mountside mansions and send their kids to Harvard and go on tours to outerspace. A society where there is no apparent racial tensions and everyone lives happily. A world of sparkling clean cities (no graffiti here!) and teenagers that play sports and have healthy libidoes. AND THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT THE EVILES OF AN ALL ENCOMPASSING PROPAGANDA DRIVEN NAZI LIKE STATE??? WHAT ARE HALF THE REVIEWERS OUT THEIR- MORONS? DIDN'T ANYONE READ THE BOOK? WHO ARE SOME OF THOSE WHO REVIEWED THIS MOVIE- ANARCHISTS AND CONSPIRACY THEORISTS BACK FROM A WTO CONFERENCE? I READ SOME OF THE REVIEWS AND SAID YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING-CANT ANYONE THINK ANYMORE! I am so annoyed I can hardly type! Make no mistake, this movie does have some problems- 1.Taking away the books powered suits and replacing them with masses of infantry (where are the technological improvements?) that get mowed down was absurd and distracting. 2.Changing the books story line and taking away some key elements of the book was a negative. I read the book fifteen years ago and I believe the main characters father survived the asteroid attack on earth and joined the military- which is kind of an important point! I also seem to remember that their were other alien civilizations that would be sometime allies, sometime enemies. This was totally removed from the movie. 3.The violence was sometimes over the top- and done with an almost pornographic gusto (however, very typical for Paul V). It could be argued that Paul V. did this to show the horrors of war, but from his other movies, I think he just enjoys graphic carnage (just like he enjoys doing all his movies with heavy measures of tongue in cheek) 4.The references to Nazism and the juvenile propaganda tapes were distracting and caused a lot of confusion in the reviews. However, I believe Heinlein meant the messages about citizenship needing to be earned to be taken seriously. I am not sure of Paul V.'s intent. However, even in this movie, the military characters, while rough and cruel (reference the bootcamp), where almost uniformly honorable. They not only are the only citizens (and theirfore can vote), but they are the only ones willing to sacrifice THEIR lives to protect the "human way of life". The reviewer who commented that the destruction of Buenos Aires might not have been real but just propaganda is absurd. A lot of reviewers seemed to project their own (ie anarchist and conspiracy theorists) thoughts on the movie. One of the only intelligent reviews in this movie was those of A Viewer from Earth. He seemed to understand it. For the above shortfalls (and some others) I originally would have only given this two to three stars. However, watching it a second and third time made me raise my review to 4. Most of the points of the book were brought out, but in my first viewing, had been diluted by the over-the-top violence, the tongue in cheek propaganda, and the SS type uniforms. However, the special effects are awesome. Also, contrary to some of the human biased reviewers, I thought the idea of another intelligence able to travel through space and fight wars with no hardware very creative and well executed (this movie is far more creative than any of the Star Wars movies for example). The idea that they could evolve specialized creatures with different abilities was very well done. If someone would have told me that bugs could shoot down starships, I would have laughed. But the movie made it look realistic and emphasised that an alien species would be truely alien, and not a human with pointy ears (no insult to Star Trek- a truely great series- but on balance, far less believable in both technology and aliens than this movie). Also, despite Paul V. comic book like approach to the propaganda tapes, some confusing signals and messages the movie juxtaposed(perhaps also reflecting the biases of others who had inputs into the script), some corny plot devices, the movie actually raises several deep philosophical questions (probably more than almost any other science fiction movie of the decade- the very idea that citizenship should be earned puts this movie into deeper philosophical waters than 90% of the other movies out there). I wish Paul V. had taken a somewhat more serious approach to the ideas the book had- it would have led to less confusion and more serious debate. His clash of styles, ultra violence, corny propaganda sequences, the seeming contradiction of the Nazi like uniforms worn by soldiers by people of all races, as well as the honorableness of virtually all the citizen soldiers (who frequently sacrifice their lives, or if they fail as in the case of Air Marshal, resigned) undoubtedly confused some of the less literate and open minded viewers (ah well, maybe a "literate viewer" is an oxymoron).
Rating:
Summary: Quite a smart movie for a blockbuster
Review: This movie just spells World War II. This clearly is a movie based on the idea that the American patriotism is a pretty scary thing, which resembles the Nationalism in Germany during the 1930s en 40s. I think it is an attack at the Hollywood moviemachine especially which makes youngsters believe that the greatest thing you can do is die for your country waving your flag.
Rating:
Summary: Unsubtle? Au contraire: too subtle for its own good
Review: Many punters watching Starship Troopers will miss Verhoeven's point. Rather than being a slightly post sell-by date space action flick, it's a spoof in the tradition of Zucker & Abrahams, although the slapstick is very deeply submerged in good old fashioned sci-fi hokum: Planet earth faces a barrage of asteroids being flung at it through hyperspace from a species of arachnids inhabiting a planet the far side of the galaxy, but the humans refuse to conceive that the bugs might be sentient, and (repeatedly) get a good pasting when they arrive to teach the bugs a lesson. The funniest scene is when a starship commander suddenly cottons on that the beams of destructive plasma which keep obliterating her squadron are being deliberately aimed and aren't just random! Along the way we meet a set of bluntly-drawn, wafer-thin characters who have been sucked into enlisting into the infantry by the propaganda of Verhoeven's trademark all-intrusive Government, who get put through the mill in a terrific send up of the traditional Hollywood boot-camp. The characters are too thin, though, and the film doesn't really work on any level except as a spoof, because you can't identify with - or like - them. Verhoeven toys with the idea of a love triangle, but even he can't be bothered drawing it out, and rather suddenly gives up on it half-way through. Not a bad way to spend a rainy evening, but not likely to go down in the Motion Picture Hall of Fame either. Nice special effects, though.
Rating:
Summary: Comic Book Plot, But Still Spectacular
Review: STAR WARS fans will surely love this film. The visual effects are truly awesum, from majestic space panoramas to creature animations it is just about perfect for this genre. The plot does, however, require some suspension-of-disbelief by the viewer. I wondered WHY, for instance, in an era of super high-technology are ground based infantry troops even needed when the enemy bugs could simply be nuked from orbit or by some other advanced technique instead of an old-fashioned WWII search-and-destroy mission. Of course, face to face with the enemy insects is the theme so you need to overlook questions like that. Also, the seemingly totalitarian Earth society does little to elicit much sympathy, and the question of exactly why the bugs became Earth enemies is never made clear. Most S-F stories have a MORAL--maybe the book did--but it's missing in the film. The film is also a bit too long and could have been edited better. On balance, it is visually stunning and deserving of 4 stars for that alone. Highly recommended for S-F fans.
Rating:
Summary: Great Effects, but the rest is GARBAGE!!
Review: The film is a total misfire. The attempts at satire are delivered with the subtlety of a atomic bomb. The acting is insipid. The screenplay a total wreck. The direction is a crock. The only reason to watch the film is for the effects work. The rest is trash.
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