8 ms·

> As a sci-fi enthusiast I love the book. As a lover of bad movies, I love the movie. I recommend both, but for completely different reasons. Thought the book

> As a sci-fi enthusiast I love the book. As a lover of bad movies, I love the movie. I recommend both, but for completely different reasons. Thought the book was interesting science fiction with (in retrospect) bad politics mixed in. I don't remotely understand the movie, the bits which were supposed to be satirical were lost in whatever slim excuse for a plot the movie had. It basically stripped away all the interesting science fiction bits and devolved into a bunch of people running around with guns shouting randomly at giant bugs.

dragontamer 6y ago
> devolved into a bunch of people running around with guns shouting randomly at giant bugs. That was part of the satire actually. When a pro-militaristic society knows nothing but violence, they continuously look at the problem through a violence-only lens. > It basically stripped away all the interesting science fiction bits The propaganda bits and sarcastic take-down of fascism is the big part of the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijvTiDnWJLE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijvTiDnWJLE Its probably easier to see the sarcasm with all of the Federal News Network clips in a row? Or maybe the "Failure of Democracy" speech? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBxgrr0wL8M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBxgrr0wL8M
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  > Its probably easier to see the sarcasm with all of the Federal News Network clips in a row? Maybe it was a good satire I have no idea. I get enough politics in my life passively without going to a movie to get even more of it. If I'd thought of it as "Political Satire" I'd have never gone to the movie. I was looking for a good/ interesting science fiction movie which it wasn't. I don't agree with Heinlein's weird quasi-militaristic ideals. But I also didn't want to sit though 2 hours of someone skewering it. If they'd made a good movie and skewered Heinlein, I'd have been fine with that.
  - dragontamer 6y ago
    Back in the 90s, making fun of Nazis / fascism / hyper-violence was a safe subject. Its hardly "political" in the context of the time when it was made. Case in point: Star Wars, the beloved Sci-fi space opera, also leans on heavy Nazi / Fascist themes when building up the empire. Its supposed to be the "safe" subject of discussion and biting satire.
    - ogre_codes 6y ago
      Star Wars leans on Nazi symbolism and fascist themes, it doesn't wade neck deep in them. People don't try to defend the weaknesses of Star Wars by saying "But it's such a great satire", they don't have to because the franchise stands alone. Whenever I point out the fact that Starship Troopers makes zero sense and is just a plain bad movie, the singular response I get is that "It's great political satire". Again, maybe it is. That's not the genre of movie I was interested in watching, it still isn't. Also, for what it's worth, the only Star Wars movie released in the 90s was The Phantom Menace which was nearly as bad as Starship Troopers.
      - dragontamer 6y ago
        Ehhh. I don't think I'd rate Starship troopers in my top20, or even top 50 films I've seen. Its kind of straightforward to me. So I'm not really going to defend it. Its neither high-brow nor low-brow... requires a bit of thinking but not really enough to keep my brain active the whole time. A movie that was more-low brow (ie: Mission Impossible) would be better, as would a high-brow movie. Starship troopers kinda sits in an awkward spot as a film for me. ---------- I think the point that David Roth is making here however, is that we're seeing more, and more politicians make "Starship Trooper" arguments today, in 2020, to defend themselves and their actions. Starship troopers was never a "good" or "great" film. Its more horrifying to see that the modern political discourse has leaned into Starship Troopers. Starship Troopers was a over-the-top, almost cartoon-interpretation, of political satire. The fact that modern arguments of 2020 are looking anything like Starship Troopers is the problem.

dragontamer 6y ago

> devolved into a bunch of people running around with guns shouting randomly at giant bugs. That was part of the satire actually. When a pro-militaristic society knows nothing but violence, they continuously look at the problem through a violence-only lens. > It basically stripped away all the interesting science fiction bits The propaganda bits and sarcastic take-down of fascism is the big part of the movie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijvTiDnWJLE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijvTiDnWJLE Its probably easier to see the sarcasm with all of the Federal News Network clips in a row? Or maybe the "Failure of Democracy" speech? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBxgrr0wL8M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBxgrr0wL8M

ogre_codes 6y ago
> Its probably easier to see the sarcasm with all of the Federal News Network clips in a row? Maybe it was a good satire I have no idea. I get enough politics in my life passively without going to a movie to get even more of it. If I'd thought of it as "Political Satire" I'd have never gone to the movie. I was looking for a good/ interesting science fiction movie which it wasn't. I don't agree with Heinlein's weird quasi-militaristic ideals. But I also didn't want to sit though 2 hours of someone skewering it. If they'd made a good movie and skewered Heinlein, I'd have been fine with that.
- dragontamer 6y ago
  Back in the 90s, making fun of Nazis / fascism / hyper-violence was a safe subject. Its hardly "political" in the context of the time when it was made. Case in point: Star Wars, the beloved Sci-fi space opera, also leans on heavy Nazi / Fascist themes when building up the empire. Its supposed to be the "safe" subject of discussion and biting satire.
  - ogre_codes 6y ago
    Star Wars leans on Nazi symbolism and fascist themes, it doesn't wade neck deep in them. People don't try to defend the weaknesses of Star Wars by saying "But it's such a great satire", they don't have to because the franchise stands alone. Whenever I point out the fact that Starship Troopers makes zero sense and is just a plain bad movie, the singular response I get is that "It's great political satire". Again, maybe it is. That's not the genre of movie I was interested in watching, it still isn't. Also, for what it's worth, the only Star Wars movie released in the 90s was The Phantom Menace which was nearly as bad as Starship Troopers.
    - dragontamer 6y ago
      Ehhh. I don't think I'd rate Starship troopers in my top20, or even top 50 films I've seen. Its kind of straightforward to me. So I'm not really going to defend it. Its neither high-brow nor low-brow... requires a bit of thinking but not really enough to keep my brain active the whole time. A movie that was more-low brow (ie: Mission Impossible) would be better, as would a high-brow movie. Starship troopers kinda sits in an awkward spot as a film for me. ---------- I think the point that David Roth is making here however, is that we're seeing more, and more politicians make "Starship Trooper" arguments today, in 2020, to defend themselves and their actions. Starship troopers was never a "good" or "great" film. Its more horrifying to see that the modern political discourse has leaned into Starship Troopers. Starship Troopers was a over-the-top, almost cartoon-interpretation, of political satire. The fact that modern arguments of 2020 are looking anything like Starship Troopers is the problem.