Movie Description
Dutch director Paul Verhoeven (TOTAL RECALL, ROBOCOP) mixes big budget bug bashing with twisted satire of old Hollywood movies in this adaptation of Robert Heinlein's classic sci-fi novel. It's the future, Earth is at war, and the kids are all going off to fight giant killer bugs on the remote planet of Klendathu. Casper Van Diem, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, and Patrick Muldoon play some of the blandly attractive young recruits who engage in soap-opera style love triangles as they toughen up and learn to fight (and die) like soldiers. Michael Ironside is their gung-ho, one-armed leader. The real stars though, are the superbly animated bugs. Packed to the rafters with jaw-dropping special effects and insane violence, the film managed to be a box office hit though it undoubtedly left some audiences confused at Verhoeven's slyly deadpan humor. By the time Neil Patrick Harris (TV's Doogie Howser) starts marching around in a Gestapo-style uniform, for example, it will be apparent this isn't STAR WARS. What it is however, is a rousing experience for mature viewers in the properly ironic frame of mind.
| Credits | | Producer: | Alan Marshall, Jon Davison | | Cast: | Alexi Lakatos, Anthony Michael Ruivivar, Armand Darrius, Austin Sanderford, Blake Lindsley, Brad Kane, Bruce Gray, Eric DaRe, John Cunningham, Julianna McCarthy, Kai Lennox, Mara Duronslet, Matt Entriken, Matt Levin, Nathaniel Marshall, Patrick Wolff, Rhiannon Vigil, Robert David Hall, Ronald L. Botchan, Tami-Adrian George, Travis Lowen, Tyrone Tann |
Editorial Reviews
"...Fascinating....Featuring astonishing effects and some of the most harrowing battle scenes in movie history..."
Sight and Sound - p.53-4 - Andrew O'Hehir (01/01/1998)
"...Director Paul Verhoeven is back in his subversively nimble ROBOCOP groove with the uproariously cheeky STARSHIP TROOPERS" -- 4 out of 4 stars
USA Today - p.2D - Mike Clark
"...A letter grade would do a disservice to a movie that sees relentless entertainment and brilliant pop-culture fraud as two sides of the same media coin....The Most Ironic Hollywood Blockbuster Ever Made. See it for yourself and decide..."
Entertainment Weekly - Ty Burr (05/15/1998)
"...The film's main events are its wild bugfights, with hordes of extraordinarily dynamic special-effects creatures....These bizarre marauders are really something to see..."
New York Times - p.E14 - Janet Maslin (11/07/1997)
"...Entertaining, engaging, exciting....With game, energetic, winsome performances...and effects that live up to the hype..."
Box Office - Christine James (01/01/1998)
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