Damn Jake of 8Bit Joystick.com! To me, Starship Troopers has always been the perfect no-brains-involved movie - perfect for when hung over. I enjoy the way Verhoeven manages to stear clear of every bit of sentimental, emotional substory in the movie.
It is hinted that Dizzy is feeling lonely, but it doesn’t turn into more than a single shot of her not getting any mail.
The shattered relationship between Carmen and Johnny could’ve turned the movie into a sobbing love story, but it doesn’t because Carmen is a bitch and Johnny has Ace to kick around
.
The implications of Carl sending Johnny to his expected death is shrugged off with a That’s what the Mobile Infantry is good for
.
The movie never becomes deeper than “we’re the good guys, we shoot with big guns at everything that has more legs than us”.
Now Jake claims that Starship Troopers is really an anti-fascist statement
. Damn, now I have to set my brain in gear next time I watch the movie.
Actually, I have always thought Starship Troopers was a bit of a forgotten pearl. The fact that it can be seen as a dark black humour, “kill ‘em all” action movie as well as an anti-fascist, “war is bad, mmmkay” statement doesn’t make it one bit less good - quite the opposite.
Starship Troopers is one of the most the most subversive Anti-military movie since Dr Strangelove. The director had Doogie Houser dressed as a Nazi
http://www.8bitjoystick.com/archives/photos/StarshipTroopers_BlackTrenc.php
If you have to DVD listen to the director commentary it will open your eyes.
I have to catch an early plane so I am still up at 3 AM.
Your review actually made me realize that I am missing the DVD in my collection. It has been ordered now, so I will check the commentary when I get it.
Oh, and don't agree with your evaluation/analysis of it at all, I am just a bit surprised it hadn't dawned on me until now. Perhaps watching it without being hung over will help :)