Starship Troopers

Title: Starship Troopers
Rating: 4.5/5
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Starring: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer
Director: Paul Verhoeven

There's a joke amongst Neil Patrick-Harris fans that everything he touches turns to gold, and having only seen him with prominent roles in “Dr. Horrible” and “How I Met Your Mother” - the best part of a show often referred to as 'the next “Friends”' - I can't say that it's entirely unfounded. And years since the first time I was mesmerised by this classic tale of bugsploitation, I realise that here too, has had a touch of the man's ability, and even though his role is trivial at best, it again manages to find itself as being an achievement of incredible proportions. There aren't many sci-fi films that manage to find themselves with a half decent budget, and this isn't a director exactly known for this genre of film, yet he never seems to be one to rush into things. There are many faces you'll recognise from later films hidden here; Amy Smart, Denise Richards, as well as the likes of Michael Ironside and others who would go on to moderate success in lower budget affairs, showing careful consideration of the casting, and if you think the plot is going to be any different then you'd be wrong.

It feels as though it's been written, cut, extended, shortened, fixed, modified, and everything else in between to portray the tale of these young recruits throughout their time in the academy right until they find themselves as the veterans. From their completion of their high school lives to the recruiting station and the brutality of a militaristically governed boot camp, and then onwards to the war itself, making the violence preceding it child's play compared to what the enemy will do to you. Throughout all the conquest it never fails to provide plenty of gore, steadily upping the ante at every turn; what starts as a perhaps slightly slow introduction introduces you perfectly to the attitudes and life of modern society, slowly increasing your tolerance for the bloodshed, gradually building ever higher to new climactic conclusions. Boring is not a word in this films vocabulary, and holds a lightning fast pace that still manages to summon strong feelings for the many characters at hand, each with their own personality and sense of patriotism that has you rooting for each and every one of them, beginning to end, in their battle against this deadly enemy.

Fourteen years old is this film now, and yet still so mesmerising is the world that's created; the bugs carefully created through use of CGI and mechanical props and the hostile environment that never for a moment feels anything but alien territory; drawing from his own military experience he summons scenes of the dark aftermath of battle all too easily forgotten in war films, demonstrates both the bad and the heroic sides of his protagonists, the mistakes that can be made and the brief respite one might receive during times of war. It isn't all sunshine and glory in times like these; friends die and become mutilated, torture becomes an all too horrifying reality, limbs get blown off, personal relationships cloud otherwise rational judgement, people receive promotions when their superior dies before their very eyes, and the differences between those in charge and those who are left to do the dirty work take centre stage. And all these elements are what make this a good action film, immersing you in an experience that doesn't ever feel a million miles away from plausibility, but it's what he does on top of all this that makes it great.

Running throughout the entire film is a socio-political message that is made at times so painfully obvious that it borders on satire, and if it had been made today would be hailed as a plausible future for the US, but given that this film precedes the Afghanistan war, it seems downright visionary. During this slow build up he gives us all the information to piece together precisely what has happened to the country over the years; fear of the enemy has resulted in prejudice and animosity for their entire race – if perhaps not entirely unfounded and not understandable – but from this fear leads a hand over of all governmental decisions to the military, for it is the militaristic capabilities that will save our planet. Veterans – or “citizens” – are more than just respected but given special treatment, they're allowed to go into politics, they are allowed to have children, and they are allowed to vote; they become a member of society and not a mere tourist – or “civilian” – of it, and all this gives ample reasoning to sign up for the two year tour required to earn your worth. The best and the brightest in the country in positions of importance, and plenty of fresh meat for the slaughter in the infantry, and he doesn't just leave it at that either.

The result of this absolute martial law infiltrating into the school system; children shown assault rifles by smiling veterans and a derisive hatred for all insect creatures drilled into them from an early age begins the slow cycle of indoctrination into the military regime. The trickle of information from the top never quite reaches the bottom rung resulting in suicide missions that aren't voluntary, the training is always painfully short and entire platoons of men get wiped out in an instant simply because most of them aren't close to being prepared for the horrors of war to befall them, jumping into battle gung-ho believing themselves to be some sort of hero and dying shortly afterwards, spurred on by their hatred for the actions of the enemy in destroying Buenos Aires – did someone say 9/11? Military intelligence constantly underestimating or misunderstanding the enemy simply through arrogance or lack of trying – the hunt for WMDs in Iraq anyone? – resulting in the further massacre of thousands of lives. There is no sugar coating the truth for those looking for it, and when you realise how he equates the middle east as no more than grotesque bugs to be stomped on in the eyes of the modern American, everything takes on a whole new darkness; the moments of triumph turns to disgust as you realise precisely what is happening: we are the barbaric invaders and the instigators of war, and through our own arrogance we believe ourselves somehow superior.

But sadly it isn't quite flawless. The chiselled jaw of our hero and the drop dead gorgeous looks of our heroine whilst perfectly in line with the caricature of the stereotypical vision of “American” citizens, feel chosen for their appearance and not their acting capabilities. Through the script we develop a sense of empathy and attachment to at least the male in this scenario, but given the amount of screen time he receives is not much of a complement and certainly isn't due in any way to his acting capabilities, which are at times non-existent; fine if this was a by the numbers action film, but it isn't. Some of the lines which become repeated are understandable – words spoken by superior officers repeated by those who find themselves in their shoes by the films end to demonstrate the cyclical nature of the military – are rather cheesy and whilst memorable, aren't so for a good reason. There is also the fact that he has apparently used the name of the book on which this is based and twisted it's meaning entirely, if not completely convincingly, certainly soiling the original thoughts running through the novel. But all this is ultimately splitting hairs; if you want a popcorn flick to mindlessly watch and shut your brain off to, this fares as one of the best. If you want something with a little more intelligence to it, well this does that too. In fact, Starship Troopers is probably one of the best Sci-Fi flicks to have ever been made.