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Starship Troopers: one of the most misunderstood movies ever

theatlantic.com

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Re: Starship Troopers: one of the most misunderstood movies ever

#41

Post by radley »

bradleyjg wrote: post #16
error54 wrote: post #3

I'm surprised the author never even mentions the book by Robert Heinlein. Granted the movie tells a different story than the book but they share the similarity in that on the surface they both preach of the virtues and nobility of war but upon closer inspection, we see that they're telling a different story entirely.

I don't know about that. Heinlein seems pretty keen on his notion of citizenship through military service, albeit perhaps as a means of preventing "unnecessary" wars rather than enabling them. Either way, it's a pretty terrible political philosophy. That aspect of serious advocacy is completely absent from the movie.

Serious advocacy of citizenship through military service? One soldier was there just so she should could have children. (Gotta listen during the shower scene.)

Re: Starship Troopers: one of the most misunderstood movies ever

#42

Post by ubernostrum »

bradleyjg wrote: post #16
error54 wrote: post #3

I'm surprised the author never even mentions the book by Robert Heinlein. Granted the movie tells a different story than the book but they share the similarity in that on the surface they both preach of the virtues and nobility of war but upon closer inspection, we see that they're telling a different story entirely.

I don't know about that. Heinlein seems pretty keen on his notion of citizenship through military service, albeit perhaps as a means of preventing "unnecessary" wars rather than enabling them. Either way, it's a pretty terrible political philosophy. That aspect of serious advocacy is completely absent from the movie.

The problem with Heinlein's corpus is there are so many characters who can be read as author avatars representing his views that it's hard to tell if any of them should be read that way.

Re: Starship Troopers: one of the most misunderstood movies ever

#44

Post by danso »

I love, love this film. I remember being a bit disappointed by it when it first came out because of how different it was from the book. But after Sept. 11, one of the cheap cable channels, either TBS or TNN, put it on constant rotation...I don't know if they were in on the joke! but after the fifth or so viewing of it, and while the whole War on Terror was emotionally raw...I finally saw the brilliance in SS

Verhoven's other work is brilliant too, but SS is one of my most treasured DVDs

Re: Starship Troopers: one of the most misunderstood movies ever

#45

Post by potatolicious »

pothibo wrote: post #8

I watched Starship Troopers a few months back. One of the thing I loved the most about the movie is those TV segment where it just broadcast propaganda and always ends with: "Do you want to know more?" It remotely felt like when I read 1984 for some reason. Couldn't entirely tell why.

If you liked Starship Troopers, watch their straight-to-video sequels. Low production value, kitschy special effects, but written by the same guy.

They're terrible movies really, but a nice dose of the ultra-blatant satire.

Re: Starship Troopers: one of the most misunderstood movies ever

#46

Post by defen »

jholman wrote: post #27
psbp wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Robocop is even more over the top. One of the first scenes in Robocop is a guy being eviscerated with bullets in a board room meeting and one of the businessmen says "That's life in the big city!". It's just dripping with satire.

Starship Troopers has the heroes wearing Nazi uniforms, and it has a scene from in-fiction television, "teaching" children that killing terrestrial insects is what they should do to assist with the war on the bugs. I don't remember much of Robocop, but how much more satirical can you get than that?

Here is an in-movie ad for a product that exists in the Robocop universe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmSSVt7Mfkk

Re: Starship Troopers: one of the most misunderstood movies ever

#49

Post by ekianjo »

potatolicious wrote: post #22
jontas wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Watch it again.. the bad guys are not some random street thugs, it is OCP, a mega corporation that produces the robots and is essentially a government organization (since that world is a "corporatocracy").

More specifically, "the bad guys" and OCP were actually in cahoots. The CEO of OCP has the main villain kill a junior OCP executive after the executive humiliates the CEO. There is also a subplot where OCP is deliberately working with street gangs to drive up the crime rate and gather public support for demolishing the entirety of old Detroit and building the corporate-owned "Delta City" in its place. The movie does…

I agree with your analysis of Robocop, but I'm not looking forward to the remake at all. There's no need for a remake. There is nothing that feels old about Robocop. Watch it again and it still stands as a great movie altogether. The remake will just put more nonsensical special effects and you can bet there will tons of crappy acting in it.

Re: Starship Troopers: one of the most misunderstood movies ever

#50

Post by rurounijones »

mynameishere wrote: post #40

So, you take a famous sci-fi novel, completely change it, then use it's good name to make money and push your own politics. What exactly is misunderstood? You love money, you have a particular agenda, and you fuck over something else to achieve your personal goals. Other people are upset about this. Again: What is misunderstood?

Quite, if you wanted to make a satire then start with a blank slate.

Do not take a known work (of which the audience will have their pre-conceptions if they read it) then eviscerate it for your own satirical needs then act surprised when said audience gets pissed off for the butchery.

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