A Brilliant Sci Fi Action Film Hiding a Very Nasty Joke
Nerdy Up North
The setup
Johnny Rico joins the Mobile Infantry in a future society where citizenship is earned through military service. After Earth is attacked, Rico and his friends are thrown into a brutal war against the Arachnids, while the propaganda machine keeps telling everyone that victory is just one more sacrifice away.
Starship Troopers may have all the signs of a ridiculous B-movie sci-fi flick, but it has a certain charm that just pulls you in and makes you love it.
On the surface, everything about it is completely insane. Humanity basically lives in this bizarre militaristic society that looks uncomfortably close to fascism, while the enemy are giant bugs with very little personality beyond wanting to tear everyone apart.
And somehow, that is exactly why it works.
The film completely commits to the ridiculousness of its own world. The propaganda videos, the over-the-top military speeches, the cheesy romance and the sheer amount of people being ripped apart by giant insects all feel like they belong in the same universe. Nothing is subtle, and I don’t think it is supposed to be.
Casper Van Dien is perfect as Rico. He starts off as a fairly ordinary teenager following the girl he loves into the military, and then spends the rest of the film having challenge after challenge thrown at him. Every time it looks like things might settle down, something else comes along and completely wrecks his life.
The cast around him are just as important though. Rico’s ragtag group of soldiers make the film entertaining even when they are being slaughtered, blown apart or eaten by giant bugs. There is a strange sense of fun running through the whole thing despite how brutal it actually gets.
The action is exactly what you want from a film like this too. Huge swarms of bugs, soldiers firing thousands of rounds into them, people being launched through the air and limbs going everywhere. It is excessive, violent and completely unapologetic about it.
The bugs themselves are great as well. They are basically mindless drones, but they still feel genuinely dangerous because of the sheer numbers and variety of them. When the soldiers land on a planet and suddenly realise just how badly outmatched they are, the film turns into absolute chaos.
There is satire running underneath all of it too, especially in the way the military and government present war as something glorious and exciting while the reality is people being torn to pieces almost immediately. The fact that the film delivers that message while also giving you huge action scenes and ridiculous one-liners is part of what makes it so entertaining.
Starship Troopers is loud, stupid, violent, funny and completely over the top.
And there will always be a place in my heart for this ridiculous movie.
Positives
Fantastic creature designs and effects, brilliant propaganda satire, strong performances from Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown, loads of memorable violence and a film that gets more interesting the older you get.
Negatives
Some of the acting is very wooden, a few ideas are hammered home pretty hard and the ending is weaker than the rest of the film.
Verdict
Starship Troopers is a ridiculously entertaining sci fi war movie that also happens to be much smarter and nastier than it first appears. The bugs are great, the action still works and the satire gives you more to notice every time you come back to it.
