Starship Troopers

December 12, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 129 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Based on a novel by Robert Heinlein, this is a pure SciFi/Action movie. If you’re looking for deep plot twists, romance, laughs or anything else, this isn’t the movie for you. On the other hand if you want a futuristic thrill ride with tons of action, this one doesn’t beat around the bush.

Earth of the future has a bug problem. And it goes far beyond the little critters that scurry under the cabinets when you turn the lights on in the kitchen at 4 in the morning. Nope, our little friends have some mighty big cousins on a planet far far away, and they’re looking to rumble! Soon the Earth is in an all out war with these planet full of gigantic insects ranging from the “smaller” 18 foot tall guys that attack ground forces by the hundreds as they swarm them and rip them apart to these gargantuan beetle like creatures that breath fire and shoot huge plasma balls out of their butts aimed at the starships orbiting the planet.

As you might suspect from the description above a few special effects were needed to pull this movie off. They did a remarkable jobs. The space scenes are brilliant and the giant bugs are totally believable.

The movie cast is mostly young up and coming stars such as Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards and Jake Busey. Any heterosexual guy probably knows Richards, but a lot of the other cast members are people whose face you recognize, but probably do not know their names yet. The exceptions are two well established actors in the form of Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown who are both wonderfully cast and do an excellent job in their roles. No Oscar material here, but the entire cast does a good job of interacting with their special effect bug co-stars.

The overall feel of the movie and the story comes across as campy. I would liken the impression it makes to the first Robocop movie. I was particularly reminded of Robocop in that this movie makes fun of future TV newscasts in much the same manner. And with a concept so over the top as a war with 18 foot tall cockroaches, it would be tough not to come across with a bit of a campy comic book type feel to it. But there’s not a thing wrong with it, the action and visuals just absolutely rock and the story is entertaining. If you missed this movie on the big screen, it’s an absolute must for DVD or video. And this is one of those movies where the DVD will really show off the special effects and sound especially in the space and battle scenes.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, Casper Van Dien, Clancy Brown, DVD, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey, R, SciFi