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Starship Troopers is a science-fiction film based off the novel of the same name by Robert Heinlein. In the novel, space marines wearing large mech-style combat suits battle gigantic bugs with futuristic weaponry. In the movie, space marines battle gigantic bugs with futuristic weaponry. The mech-style combat suits are nowhere to be seen. Starship Troopers involves a bunch of fresh high school graduates. Among them are Casper VanDien and Denise Richards. Both of them end up in the military: Casper in the grunt (basic army soldier) division, Denise in the aviation (flying spaceships) division. Through very poor acting, the pair have a love/hate relationship while blowing up evil bugs from space. The entire movie Starship Troopers is about as ridiculous as my plot synopsis, but this is one of the only examples of a movie where a campy tone works. Nothing in this movie is to be taken seriously. On a pure entertainment level, Starship Troopers doesn’t disappoint. The special effects still hold up well today. That last comment might seem strange since Starship Troopers was released a few years ago, but special effects have really advanced a lot since then. Just compare Dinosaur to the original Toy Story, for example. Casper VanDien puts in a bad performance as always while Denise Richards does a bad job as well, although she comes off better than Casper VanDien. The supporting characters do a better job in their acting, especially Michael Ironside, Jake Busey, and Clancy Brown. Starship Troopers is also notable because it contains the actor that played “Doogie Howser” in a minor role. If you like a stupid sci-fi action flick every once in a while, go and see Starship Troopers. It’s probably on my top 5 list of sci-fi films for the 1990s. I give Starship Troopers *** out of ****.
In case you were wondering, here is my top 5 list of sci-fi films for the 1990s: 1. Dark City 2. Starship Troopers 3. The Matrix 4. Star Wars Episode 1—The Phantom Menace 5. Alien Resurrection |