Yeah he has managed to film his dreams and nightmares.

The idiot also didnt read the book beforee making the movie cuz he found it "boring" and mistook the Terran federation for a fascistic, warmongering nation-state when its actually the exact opposite. I still like the movie , most of it is not really affected by Verhoevens pathetic work-ethic or personal political biases. But as a director, he seriously fakked up on this one.

He also said that this was about fascism ... and completely fails to understand what fascism really is (which the society in Starship Troopers ISNT). He never even read the book and just went with "this is what other people have said it's about". The guy writing the script didnt read the book either, all they got was a plot synopsis to roughly follow the story.

@@Muck006 It's not a direct adaptation of the book; he's presenting his own opinions on society, warfare and fascism. The movie is pretty much the opposite of the book in terms of ideology, and that's not by mistake. If you thought the book was great, the movie is not for you lol

@@vanyadolly the point stands: he thought he's making a "satire" of fascism and ended up making a capitalist meritocracy

also - in the book they mention that the only way you could be stopped from attempting to complete a term of service was if a doctor certified you were physically incapable of understanding the oath. Even if you showed up in a wheelchair and wanted to enlist, they'd find you something to do. The catch was that everyone gets only one chance, and if you quit (which you can do at any time), you can't try again.

Heinlein was an amazing writer.

While the movie uses some of the same events as the book, the movie uses the to make a very different point. The movie doesn't dive into the theory of the society because it is a satire of modern capitalistic war. The viewer already has a reference to wounded veterans. Verhoeven simply contrasts this with the beautiful recruits going in, which is a different goal than the book reinforcing that something given has no value and the need to make potential citizens earn the power to vote.

In the film, he was there to inform the audience that military service creates broken people (hence the missing limbs on the Teacher as well as other older veterans). Military Service has done nothing positive in these people's lives: only made them loyal to a fascist world government.

I would also comment on how the Mobile Infantry in the book used Mechanized Suits, (which you finally see in the third movie), as human legs do not tend toward a 'Mobile' Infantry. The book is a very quick read, although there are some sexist tendencies, as the MI are all male, while the Navy are all female, as the females are better at the complex math needed to fly the ships, while the men are better at just fighting and dying. Also, a single squad tended to cap out around a dozen soldiers, and their drop pod technology was also well thought out. I think that my favorite idea from the book, besides the Mechanized Suits, were the Talking Bombs. Imagine a bomb, dropped into a populated center, speaking in the population's language, saying, "I am a bomb, I will explode in 1 minute. I am a bomb, I will explode in 55 seconds...." It did the job of causing panic, which is far more important than killing civilians. (It was used against another 'enemy', not the bugs, in the book.

Who under-rates it?

@@orangewarm1 It wasnt an economic success, because the advertisement and movie reviews were bad / wrong and thus disappointed the people who went to watch it. That's why it is "underrated" ... because of the jackasses back then. Veerhoeven also said it is a fascist society - hence the style of the uniforms - which it really isnt.

@Domingo Curbelo Morales "This is a piece of art so underrated." - Is "art" supposed to be JUST IRREDEEMABLY STUPID?!

This is the 1st movie I remember ever seeing in a movie theaters when I was 4. I'll never forget my Dad trying to cover my eyes when the shower scene happened 😂

Robert Heinlein wrote it. One of the Giants of early Sci fi.

Neat.

I think Verhoeven covered the politics part very good

I honestly found a lot of the book excruciatingly boring. Nothing even happens until the last 10 pages, and even then it’s only about a page and a half before he blacks out 😭

To be fair, the movie is kind of a satirization of the kind of society depicted in the book more than it is a faithful adaptation. The intent was to make the kind of propaganda film that'd be put out in such a society, down to mimicking elements of WWII German films. It really went over a lot of people's heads. I remember at the time most of my friends were complaining about how it was nothing like the book. And missed that the main premise is a critique of this slightly democratic totalitarian society that fetishizes the military while playing the victim in a war they started themselves. Service guarantees citizenship and voting rights because service guarantees indoctrination. And it's such a downer for the main characters, too. And because Verhoeven's not a hack, you can miss all that and still enjoy the movie because it's still a great action flick. Just like Robocop and Total Recall, it's a good movie on the surface level and then there are depths to explore if you want.

I grew up the exact same way but it was not HALO that mirrored this movie. It was a game called, *"Earth Defense Force."* It was just as campy, had literally over 200 bugs on screen at a time and if you were not a good enough tactician the bugs would kill all the NPCs in your squad mere seconds after each level starts. It mirrored "Starship Troopers" exactly.

Casper van dien looks like he’s the perfect perfect actor to play young Leon Kennedy in resident evil! Put him on re2 movie! Or Re4! But since this is 1997 he must be pretty old by now, but I don’t know who else could be a perfect Leon Kennedy!

@@blacklegjones2567 thats woulda been sick, a re2 movie with him back in the day... oh man : D

Same here, I miss those days. 😭

Casper Van Dien was 29 when the movie was released

There are two made for video live action sequels, a series of animated stories (Roughnecks) and then a couple more animated films. The movies are not as good, as to be expected for made-for-video sequels. The Roughneck series I have not watched, but I remember, at the time, it was well received. And of the two animated films, the second was considered the best, but all of them are still not going to be as good as the original.

My dad took me to see this movie when I was in fourth grade and it scarred me, rofl. He decided since I had already seen Alien and Conspiracy Theory, I was ready for rated R movies. I was not.

@@hornorsilk2901 I've seen some of the other animated movies. _Traitor of Mars_ is probably the best since the first Starship Troopers.

@@Timeisaflat_O Hey, no way, Conspiracy Theory was the first R-rated movie my parents ever let me see in the theater!

I don't find that comparison too valid. There was no Russian attack; there was a bug attack. Ripper forced US soldiers to kill US soldiers; the bugs are never humanized. Ripper acted on a belief of a conspiracy theory he had no proof of; Troopers shows us the enemy is real. Ripper killed himself to escape responsibility; the Sky Marshall publicly resigned and accepted responsibility. World ended in nuclear annihilation; world still a utopia. Etc. Citizens can vote. Citizens can get a birth license easier. Those are the drawbacks. No poverty, no sexism, no racism, no resource scarcity, no protests, no dictator, etc. Unedited frontline war reporting, military leaders being publicly held accountable, volunteer military, wealthy civilians owning property and businesses, etc. The bugs are never humanized. Strangelove and Robocop are top notch satires. Starship Troopers is an extremely weak satire.

@@yodieyuh i think there's subtlety to the satire in Starship Troopers, while it was pretty blunt in Robocop and even more so in Strangelove. I do agree with you about it and Strangelove not being the same kind of film. The presentation of ST intentionally gives a very sanitized view of Federation society, with just mild matter-of-fact mentions of the differences that, when stacked together, paint a picture of a two-classed society where your opinions and human rights just don't matter as much if you haven't given a chunk of your prime years to the state. The veterans couped the democracy and made everything better for everyone - that's what's taught in the schools run by, well, veterans. "Something given has no value" is one of those statements that you might find yourself nodding along with till you realize the context is a denial of self-determination to non-citizens. You were given life, therefore you're worthless till you earn your worth.

@@nerodia I agree it demonstrates a two class society, but I fail to see how the lower class suffers. Making voting an earned privilege is more authoritarian than everyone can vote, sure. But the film doesn't make that bad. Can't vote, but we aren't shown legislation they didn't vote for that makes their lives worse than a Citizen besides a single mention that both classes have to obtain birthing licenses and it's some degree easier if you served. On all other levels they seem equal. The civilians we hear the most from, Rico's parents, are wealthy property and business owners who can leave the planet. They tell us their opinion of Citizenship is that it's not worth much. They're almost appalled that he even considers citizenship. I love the film, but it really seems to be about killing space bugs that kill us. We might be the instigators, by giving so much religious freedom we let Mormons settle planets.

​@@yodieyuh indeed. That's the flaw of using source material bot understood by the director to make a satire that doesn't quite add up.

​@@yodieyuh to fail to see... huh? There's nothing to see. Only the reproduction license demonstrates lack of freedom. And that's fabricated, as it's a deviation from the source material.

Yes, we were attacked by bugs, they destroyed Buenos Aires, while we all live in a united federation that spans multiple solar systems, and the right to vote is only awarded to those that serve the common good. Just like the movie

Rest in Peace to your Father.

Most planers have been explored or habitded already. There's only 3 sentient alien species in this universe and wè only see 2 here

The weird thing is the director completely botched everything from both an book adaption point of view and presenting his own narrative, and it still works. Which is just incredible.

It’s a terrible satire of fascism because there aren’t any fascists in the movie. The only fascist thing in the movie are the uniforms.

I've been trolled for mentioning Stranger in a Strange Land. People don't understand how progressive he was for the time.

​@Ubotit Unaymit Heinlein explored a lot of different ideas in his books. Stranger is definitely one of his more interesting experiments, and a fascinating read, if you can grok it.

@@stevensauer8539 👍🏼😉

It's not a commentary about militarism at all. Pay attention. At every turn, society is trying to dissuade Rico from joining the military. Even the guy at the front desk with no legs and only one arm is there to scare people away. The book this movie is based on is actually a commentary on communism vs a hyper libertarian and meritocratic society. The bugs are the perfect communists. Each big has no value, no individuality. Only the brain bugs have emotion or value. Every other bug works for the common goal of the hive, even at the expense of their own lives.

@@KurNorock pay attention yourself. I studied it in college and your opinion is not what was presented.

The cartoon series was also really good. which wild to think of , there was a kids show from this 😆

The movie is satire. You have clearly NOT read the book, if you're calling the book satire.

The book is great! And the book is pretty serious, not satire. It’s also required reading for Officer training in the Marines.

The most the movie takes from the book are names. It is as accurate to RAH's original as an AK-47 doing a mag dump.

@@BigGator5 I meant the movie was satire. Sorry I didn’t explain my self thoroughly. My intention was to encourage his interest in checking out RAH’s books.

Lyla Koehlmoos ...I figured, but I wanted to say that just in case someone else misinterpreted what you said. I was using the royal "you" there.

That is, of course, assuming the chosen SL actually has the capabilities required to BE an effective Squad Leader.

Klandathu Drop is F*CKIN INCREDIBLE

yeah, a lot of the normal rights people nowadays have like Voting is only given to citizens in the starship troopers world

Spoiler alert...sort of. I know the books ending, but every time I read the book, 7-10 times+-, and we realize his father made it, i still get tears

Well... that's a book I don't need to read now.

@Passenthru Alaska if you're worried about spoilers, then maybe shouldn't have watched the movie, lol. There was A LOT I left off

@@TheKyfe People watch and read both all the time, seldom at the exact same time. Either they really love the story, or they want to see how they compare. You may feel covered by one, but...well, hey free speech does include giving away the end of the other if you want.

@@passenthrualaska3293 the story is, what? 50 years old? 60? There's a statute of limitations on protecting spoilers, lol, especially for one's with multiple famous mediums.

They sucked his brains out! ❤ ironic considering what he did as Daryl Revok ;)

Air support? Where's their powered armor?

Yeah, but in the book the drill sergeants don't do that. They'd be in serious trouble if they did that. That's solely an exaggerated Verhoeven thing.

There was an anime done base on the book, back in the '80s. Think it is still up on KZfaq. Much closer to the book than this movie.

This comment section is full of people who are not aware what this movie is. You are like the characters: "Nobody Knows They’re in a Propaganda Movie"

Navy, not army.

The novel was not satire.

They didn't even include the suits