5 ms·

I’m still not sure what Starship Troopers even was. Was it a comedy, satire or just a flat, wide-eyed warning about war and nationalism in the vein of WW1? It’s

I’m still not sure what Starship Troopers even was. Was it a comedy, satire or just a flat, wide-eyed warning about war and nationalism in the vein of WW1? It’s a movie that starts in a regular high school, dating, and (spoilers ahead, NFSW ahead) continue with most of the crew being eaten alive, slowly, in full view of the camera, while begging to be killed. The seriousness of the nationalism in the movie and the following / preceding carnage, the apparent lack of irony and the characters basically having the acting skills of cardboard cutouts sort of make it into … something I’m not even sure what. It’s like an army recruitment movie for a losing war except this one continues to film after the cadet signs the papers, and then and follows him on camera to his horrible, painful, slow death. Then unironically waves the flag at the end and with a number to call for more info. It’s either so good that the entire movie is a hilarious deadpan parody about horrors of war, or it’s so bad it’s inadvertently become that. In either case, it’s definitely something. It reminds me of the Wilfred Owen poem: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decorum-est https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decoru...

evilotto 5y ago
I think all of your criticisms of the movie were aimed at the book too. The movie followed the book pretty closely except for the mecha-suits.
- ghaff 5y ago
  >The movie followed the book pretty closely except for the mecha-suits. There's a surface similarity but the tone is completely different. To me, the film is pretty obviously a largely satirical retelling of the book's story.
- pnutjam 5y ago
  I heard the movie was basically ready to go when someone noticed how similar the story was to Starship Troopers. They had to get the rights just to avoid a lawsuit. I'm not really sure I agree on how similar they are.
ollifi 5y ago
There was an interview with the scriptwriter (can’t find it though) who said they wanted to make a film about nazi germany and the young people who bought into the cause. If you look at the costumes I think it is not so far fetched that was one aspect of it.
royjacobs 5y ago
The director, Paul Verhoeven, has been very interested in World War 2 and has in fact made multiple movies set in WW2. The satiric elements in Starship Troopers and its parallels to Nazi Germany (and especially the propaganda elements) were definitely intentional.
bryanrasmussen 5y ago
>and the characters basically having the acting skills of cardboard cutouts Neil Patrick Harris!
licebmi__at__ 5y ago
>It’s like an army recruitment movie for a losing war except this one continues to film after the cadet signs the papers, and then and follows him on camera to his horrible, painful, slow death. Then unironically waves the flag at the end and with a number to call for more info. This is quite likely the intent. The same style that makes Robocop to be understood as a classic action movie even if the intention was to subvert.
base698 5y ago
The director said they used cardboard actors so you wouldn't feel bad when they died. The same director made Robocop which had similar satire and themes.

evilotto 5y ago

I think all of your criticisms of the movie were aimed at the book too. The movie followed the book pretty closely except for the mecha-suits.

ghaff 5y ago
>The movie followed the book pretty closely except for the mecha-suits. There's a surface similarity but the tone is completely different. To me, the film is pretty obviously a largely satirical retelling of the book's story.
pnutjam 5y ago
I heard the movie was basically ready to go when someone noticed how similar the story was to Starship Troopers. They had to get the rights just to avoid a lawsuit. I'm not really sure I agree on how similar they are.

ollifi 5y ago

There was an interview with the scriptwriter (can’t find it though) who said they wanted to make a film about nazi germany and the young people who bought into the cause. If you look at the costumes I think it is not so far fetched that was one aspect of it.

royjacobs 5y ago

The director, Paul Verhoeven, has been very interested in World War 2 and has in fact made multiple movies set in WW2. The satiric elements in Starship Troopers and its parallels to Nazi Germany (and especially the propaganda elements) were definitely intentional.

bryanrasmussen 5y ago

>and the characters basically having the acting skills of cardboard cutouts Neil Patrick Harris!

licebmi__at__ 5y ago

>It’s like an army recruitment movie for a losing war except this one continues to film after the cadet signs the papers, and then and follows him on camera to his horrible, painful, slow death. Then unironically waves the flag at the end and with a number to call for more info. This is quite likely the intent. The same style that makes Robocop to be understood as a classic action movie even if the intention was to subvert.

base698 5y ago

The director said they used cardboard actors so you wouldn't feel bad when they died. The same director made Robocop which had similar satire and themes.