Invasión

This movie has levels. You can appreciate the action sequences and special effects just as much as the subtle, and not so subtle, undertones. Like Orwell's Animal Farm, with Starship Troopers you need to sometimes dig a little deeper into your IQ to more completely appreciate its genius.

When "Starship Troopers" came out, one of my friends told me that it bore little relation to the novel on which it was based: the novel had a plot, the movie was an excuse to show naked women. But one of my mom's friends said that although the movie did lapse into a video game, it had sort of an interesting story. When we finally saw the movie a few months later, we found it fairly interesting. You see, more than simply a silly action/sci-fi flick (but make no mistake about it, those two are certainly a factor), the movie pokes fun at 1950s sci-fi flicks, what with all the "Know your enemy! Do your part!" stuff. I'm actually not surprised that Paul Verhoeven made a good movie with this one, given how well he did with "Soldier of Orange" and "Robocop".

So yes, the movie rips at militarism and jingoism (the essential elements of fascism), while also finding time to show the sorts of things that easily appeal to teenage boys: pumped up action and naked babes. Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey and Michael Ironside have plenty to be proud of in this movie. Worth seeing.

The acting isnt always the best in this movie, but the crazy ahead of its times effects Is just mind blowing in the light of the time it was released.

Remember this was 2 years before Phantom of menace.

When you look back, this has to be one of the most enjoyable science fiction movies of all time.

This movie never fails to generate strong reactions, both positive and negative.

Much of the negative criticizes the wooden acting, soap-opera beautiful stars, and unreasonably military tactics that lead to an enormous human body count.

But that misses the whole point. The actors and plotlines are supposed to be caricatures of themselves. We are presented with a seemingly utopian society, where everyone is beautiful, the world is united under a single government, and patriotism is rampant.

The further the movie goes, the more the viewer realizes just how horrific this supposed utopia really is. Patriotism is exploited to trick young men and women into going off to a pointless war. The beautiful people are mercilessly chopped to pieces by their insectoid opponents. And the united world government uses its control of the media to brainwash the public into supporting this bloody war.

Yes, the Nazi symbolism is a little heavy-handed. But that's the whole point -- the intertwining of this "perfect" society with such a deeply evil subtext is supposed to be disturbing. What's even more disturbing is how close to our recent (American) history this movie truly is. Yes, it's a caricature, but it's a caricature of a very real and frightening phenomenon.

How different are the government propaganda ads in Starship Troopers from the "Loose Lips Sink Ships" campaign or the "10% for War Bonds" posters in 1940s U.S.? How dangerous is it to have a society where everyone looks the same, thinks the same, and acts the same, even to their own death? This is the message behind Starship Troopers, and it's a chilling one at that.

And for me, it works.

In the future, humanity is under the rule of a worldwide neo-fascist military dictatorship fighting an alien civilization of giant space bugs. Citizenship is gained thru military service. Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) has low grades which leaves him joining the Mobile Infantry. Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer) is infatuated with him and follows him into MI. Rico is in love with Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards) but she chases her dreams of being a spaceship captain. Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris) gets into the highly coveted Military Intelligence.

Filmmaker Paul Verhoeven has a trashy stylish sensibility. His love of sex and violence really works in this sci-fi schlock. Casper Van Dien is perfect as the empty-headed matinée idol lead. For the hot action babes quotient, they have the sexy Dina Meyer and Denise Richards. For a hard nose leader role, they have the perpetually angry Michael Ironside. The cast, the style, the violence, the bugs, all of it makes a great hoot. The CG is pretty good for its times. The spacecrafts could be better but the bugs look scary. There is a neo-fascist satire to it all. Of course, some may love this for all the wrong reasons. I kinda love this for every reason. It's got the grotesque, the sci-fi, the battle action, the cheesy story, and I don't take any of it seriously.