I re-watched the movie Starship Troopers the other day, and now firmly believe that it's the craziest thing to come out of Hollywood in years. A $130 million dollar screw-you joke on the audience. Director Paul Verhoeven has managed to pull off the funniest, meanest comedy since Dr. Strangelove, as well as somehow convincing the suits to finance a movie that is intentionally not fit for human consumption.
Starship Troopers is roughly based on Robert Heinlein's post-Korean War novel. While the novel does contain some ideas that were original at the time [the idea of a volunteer army] it is also very pro-military to a fault. The Bugs in the novel are obviously standing in for the Communists; wave after wave of an unthinking collective. The most troubling aspect of the novel, however, was never addressed. In the story military service was optional, but it was the only way to become a citizen. A citizen could vote, while a non-citizen couldn't. Essentially, it was a police state in everything but name only.
Verhoeven has taken this idea and flipped the story upside-down. The political system in the movie is hysterically fascist, but no one ever acts like there's anything wrong. Even when Michael Ironside notes that "Democracy just didn't work" the movie just cruises right past it, without flagging this obviously troubling line. The world presented here isn't just a police state, it revels in it's totalitarianism. Prostetic limb technology seems to be even worse in the future, so citizens proudly display their crippiling injuries as badges of honor. Even the military garb is a variation on 1940's Nazi uniforms. The sight of the guy who played Doogie Howser stalking around in Gestapo longcoat, hat, and jackboots is worth the price of admission alone.
Even a sticking point in the war with the Bugs is glossed over when it's noted that human expansion into Bug territory was one of the major causes of the conflict. In other words, the humans in the story are operating on some sort of modified version of the Monroe Doctrine and are going to nuke anything that stands in their way.
Pretty somber stuff so far. But the movie never dwells on these issues. They're always just below the surface, but are covered by what appears to be a typical rat-a-tat Hollywood action movie. The "plot" is so cliche it's laughable; boy joins the service to impress girl, boy loses girl, boy finds the "right" reasons for being in the service, boy gets girl back and fights off enemy. As in any good blast-a-thon, this is obviously the least important part of the movie. The audience is never meant to connect with any of the no-name Aryan-looking cast; they're running through the motions of the plot just to move the movie to the next action scene.
The battles in the film are intense and eye-catching, to say the least. The Bugs are big, freaky, and move in lightning fast packs while the humans vainly try to stop them before being overwhelmed. When they do get ahold of a person, they gleefully tear them to hamburger, all of which is lovingly recorded and presented on the screen for your entertainment. Energetic stuff, in a gore-soaked sort of way. [Plus, don't make the mistake of slow-mo-ing through some of the worst scenes, it makes them a thousand times worse.]
With it's pointless plot, wooden acting [the Bugs are more animated], and the most extreme violence I've ever seen in a mainstream movie, I honestly don't know who this film is aimed at. The cynic in me enjoys it, while the visuals give my Id all the stimulation it needs. While it's nice that I can enjoy the movie on several contradictory levels, that doesn't mean much. I can't reccomend the movie to others because they either won't get the joke or be repulsed by the gore. Plus, it ranks right up there with Eraserhead as the worst date movie ever.
Anyway, I quite enjoyed the movie, no matter what. One part of me can enjoy for being full of silly things like people machine-gunning oversized insects that are as cool as they are scientifically impossible. [My personal fave bit in the movie is the idea that the Bugs are able wing meteors from halfway across the universe. Millions and millions of miles away and those Bugs still manage to hit a small blue planet. They may not be intellegent, but they're DAMN good shots.] Plus, I can enjoy the insane idea that this film is cross-marketed. You can actually buy a baseball cap that has the logo for the Earth forces on it. Just think, you too can walk around town and be the height of fashion with a cap that features the world united under what's essentially the Fourth Reich. Seig Heil in style!
On the other hand, I can enjoy the film because it takes a movie tradition and trashes it. Think about all those Westerns where the attacking Indians are shot en masse to protect the innocent homesteaders or any other "villian" that falls from going against the hero. Why are these parties forced to resolve their conflict through violence? Does the villian have a more legitimate reason for attacking than the hero has for standing against them? Think about what ideals you might be buying into by rooting for the good guys in some films. Just think, it couldn't hurt.
Agree? Disagree? Let me know at gleep9@hotmail.com. Goosestep on back to either the movie page or the main page.
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