While I say that much of Heinlein's work is highly overrated, I have no desire to be reviled by his fans: I too am an admirer of the Master. I love Double Star, The Door into Summer, Stranger in a Strange Land, and especially, The Past through Tomorrow. In my opinion, however, Heinlein was at his best when illustrating a plausible future, not at presenting any novel themes. Starship Troopers, while honored by Heinlein's peers, is not a great novel. It is an interesting book about the training of a futuristic infantryman. It is notable for the exposition of Heinlein's right-wing beliefs, and is certainly well-written and exciting, but it should at all costs not be mistaken for great literature. Very little of Heinlein would count as literature: for that, look to the novels of Clarke or the short stories of Asimov.
Paul Verhoeven is roughly the cinematic equivalent of Heinlein, in that his films (his American ones, at least) impress more with their depiction of action, of such things as futuristic cityscapes (RoboCop, Total Recall) than with their depiction of novel philosophical musings. While in Basic Instinct and Showgirls we see him playing to the lowest common denominator, he is usually a bit playful about it, as in his science fiction films. In Starship Troopers, Verhoeven set the book as a propaganda film, winking at the audience while doing so. "Look at humanity," he seems to say, "killing an alien species in the service of a nasty fascist state. How Ironic!" While I do admit that the satirical aspects of the film are quite clever, I do think that films with a nine-digit budget have no business being clever. Cleverness, subtlety, and satire are the domain of low-budget features. A big budget flick takes a big risk by attempting any of these.
In futuristic Buenos Aires, Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) is graduating from high school along with his girlfriend Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards) and friends Diz Flores (Dina Meyer) and Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris). Don't be fooled by the use of Hispanic names: all are, in a word, Aryan. Rico joins the army (known as the Federal Service) and is disowned by his father for doing so. In time, Johnny comes to regret his joining, and prepares to leave. One day, however, an asteroid strikes Buenos Aires, killing millions. So, with a change of heart, it's off to fight the Arachnid beings (the "bugs") of the planet Klendathu, who committed the foul deed.
The remainder of the movie consists of fight scenes and much gory death. Several of the main characters get killed in explicit fashion. I must say, however, that the fight scenes were extremly exciting, if more than a little stomach-turning. Verhoeven is a master of action scenes, able to direct them so that the viewers can tell what is going on. Compare this to the confusing, poorly edited scenes in Con Air, Batman and Robin, and The Rock. The bugs, as realized by CGI artists, are tremendous, outdistancing the creatures of my mind's eye as I read the book. The main villains look like pissed-off praying mantises on steroids. In fact, the special effects in general are outstanding: they may have to nominate five films in that category this year instead of the usual three. Scenes of the bugs quickly overrunning a valley are simply awe-inspiring.
The film is cannily constructed to be palatable to both political extremes. Those on the left can take it as a droll satire of right-wing gung-ho military attitudes, while the right can enjoy it as a futuristic Red Dawn, full of...well, gung-ho military attitudes.
The cast is nothing more than competent: Casper Van Dien looks like this decade's Keir Dullea. Still, Michael Ironside as a teacher and later a lieutenant, creates a finely detailed portrait of a hawk, while Clancy Brown does a good job with the R. Lee Ermey role: the two foolproof roles in any movie are the devil and the drill instructor.
In Utah, where I originally saw the film, the brief snippet about "Mormon extremists" got a big laugh, and I must congratulate whoever designed a futuristic LDS temple: it's perfect. In summary, a fun and interesting film, though I do wish that Verhoeven could cut back a bit on the ultra-violence. It isn't necessary to always gross everyone out, is it?
Three stars
Copyright 1997 by Dale G. Abersold
