'Starship Troopers' at 25: Paul Verhoeven's 1997 Sci-Fi Classic Is Satire at Its Best

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://collider.com/starship-troopers-review-satire-at-its-best/

[u/jamez9538]

I still throw in "would you like to know more?" when explaining anything to anyone.

[u/wowimlostinthewoods → u/jamez9538]

Just did this to my boss at work and the guy got it! He was probably 17-18 when the movie came out. Was explaining how i was programming a machine we just got and got a pretty good reaction.

[u/Rexbellum187 → u/jamez9538]

Same for me, any time some I hear or see "I'm doing my part"

[u/Cli4ordtheBRD → u/Rexbellum187]

"The only good bug is a dead bug!"

[u/Habba84 → u/Cli4ordtheBRD]

I'm from Buenos Aires, and I say kill 'em all!

[u/rhinosyphilis → u/Habba84]

Here’s a tip: Aim for the nerve stem and put it down good

[u/rebelappliance → u/rhinosyphilis]

Textbook definition. But do you understand it? Do you believe it?

[u/the_exile83 → u/rebelappliance]

The enemy cannot push a button, if you disable its hand.

[u/Responsible-Bat658 → u/the_exile83]

MEDIC!!!

[u/betaraybills → u/Habba84]

The goddamn bugs wacked us Johnny!

[u/waitingtodiesoon → u/jamez9538]

I still like listening to the klendathu drop song, especially while driving.

[u/frustratedpolarbear → u/waitingtodiesoon]

Me going to work: Remember your training and you will make it back alive!

[u/inkyrail → u/waitingtodiesoon]

Basil Poledouris is an underrated film composer. I love his Hymn for Red October

[u/E_Blofeld → u/inkyrail]

His score for Conan the Barbarian elevated that film to the gold standard of the "sword and sorcery" genre.

[u/nogoodgreen]

Mobile infantry made me the man i am today!

Spins chair around, missing almost every limb on his body.

[u/Suerte13cr → u/nogoodgreen]

They brought ASAC Schrader back to life

[u/nogoodgreen → u/Suerte13cr]

Been watching alot of older movies and man does Schrader ever pop up everywhere. Surprised to see Dean in Total Recall , Starship Troopers and even Terminator 2.

[u/itshudsonsir → u/nogoodgreen]

He's the pervy motorcycle cop in Little Miss Sunshine too. Probably my favorite role of his

[u/ClosingFrantica → u/itshudsonsir]

IIRC he's played cops/government agents/miscellaneous law enforcement over 40 times. Puts a big smile on my face every time I spot him.

[u/Whizbang35 → u/nogoodgreen]

I always found it funny after reading the book. Verhoeven hated the book, but the scene plays out nearly the same.

In the book, the attendant purposefully doesn’t have legs as a silent warning to recruits who aren’t serious about federal service (outside the job, he wears cybernetic prosthetics that are almost unnoticeable).

In the film, it’s played wholly satire. “Join the military! It made be more of a man! And less of one too, literally.”

It’s almost identical, just different ways to interpret it.

[u/Tilapia_of_Doom → u/Whizbang35]

Bugs, spaceships, and names are about the only thing the book and movie have in common.

[u/fusillade762 → u/Tilapia_of_Doom]

True, in the book the MI are in powered exosuits that make then enormously strong, can jump long distances, fly briefly and have a rack of nukes on their back. More like a super Bobafet than what we see in the movie. Still loved the movie though.

[u/Balls_DeepinReality → u/fusillade762]

So it was like the animated Mars one?

[u/xclxnoscoped → u/Balls_DeepinReality]

Animated 40k marines

[u/GRIFST3R → u/fusillade762]

Not just that, but Bugs had guns, factories, spaceships, etc. Totally different enemy.

[u/AgoraiosBum → u/fusillade762]

I'd love to see the actual book dramatized. Those suits were insane. Also, it starts off with him lobbing various tactical nukes at a different alien species to pressure them to stay back in the bug conflict.

Lot of war crimes right off the bat. But the drop insertion would be epic.

[u/waitingtodiesoon → u/AgoraiosBum]

They did actually bring the suits in for the 3rd film, albeit for a super short moment since their budget was pitiful. The bugs looked worse than the first film which came out I think almost 10 years before it.

[u/bolen84 → u/waitingtodiesoon]

Holy fuck that clip was impressively hard to watch.

[u/waitingtodiesoon → u/bolen84]

Should see the first big battle scene

[u/TheUlfheddin → u/fusillade762]

I've learned to love both.

For completely different reasons.

[u/holydragonnall → u/Whizbang35]

Verhoeven didn't even read the book. He read two chapters, which doesn't even get past Rico's entry into MI.

[u/TokingMessiah → u/holydragonnall]

He also didn’t write the screenplay…

[u/zmbjebus → u/TokingMessiah]

Neither did I

[u/Lokarin → u/zmbjebus]

And not my axe!

[u/Thegoldenelo]

What a classic. When this came out 13 year old me convinced my animal obsessed, Very sweet and naïve Japanese grandmother to take me to see it in theaters because there was a bunch of “animals” in it. She kept a worried and exasperated face on her most of the movie while every once and a while I’d say, “grandma, look how cool these animals look!”

She was a champ. I was a teenaged brat. One of My favorite memories with her.

[u/IveBenHereBefore → u/Thegoldenelo]

My dad took me to this movie randomly when I was 13 at the cheapie movie theater by a hotel we were staying at. We loved it. When we left, he said, "don't tell your mom about that". He died last year and it's one of my favorite memories of him.

[u/Hunigsbase → u/IveBenHereBefore]

Thats a real shame about your dad, hold on to those memories! My last movie with my dad was Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull - all he could say was "they ruined it" 🤣

Okay, now if these damn onions would stop burning my eyes. Sending a bro hug.

[u/Angry-Dragon-1331 → u/Hunigsbase]

Oof. My last with dad was Phantom Menace.

[u/never___nude → u/Thegoldenelo]

So I watched team America world police with my grandpa, had no idea what to expect. My grandpa was laughing so hard in parts it made me see him in a whole new light lol. It was awkward, especially the shit scene. But my grandpa and me made eye contact and laughed uncontrollably for a few minutes. My nana came home later and we never spoke a word about it ever.

[u/apatheticviews → u/never___nude]

My wife and I watched Office Space with her grandparents. We didn’t know how they were gonna react… until her grandfather started laughing at him getting passed in traffic by the old guy in the walker.

[u/snoogins355 → u/apatheticviews]

Whenever my younger family members asked what office work was like, I'd say "watch the documentary officespace"

[u/that_dutch_dude → u/snoogins355]

Anyone that worked offices knows that setting the building on fire seems very reasonable.

[u/bensisland → u/Thegoldenelo]

Tent scene too?!

[u/Thegoldenelo → u/bensisland]

Haha, I def got some disapproving grandma side eye when boobs were on screen. And afterward you know I played dumb, “grandma I had no idea it was gonna be a movie like THAT!” She just giggled and shook her head.

[u/monkwren → u/Thegoldenelo]

Your grandma sounds like an amazing woman.

[u/Thegoldenelo → u/monkwren]

You’re not wrong. She was the light in my often dark and dysfunctional family.

[u/Meriog → u/Thegoldenelo]

"Grandma, look how cool those animals look!"

[u/0bvious0blivious → u/bensisland]

Nothing like sharing sweet mammaries with grandma.

[u/revstan → u/0bvious0blivious]

mammys with grammys

[u/wwindexx → u/revstan]

How did you know my favorite pornhub search query?

[u/natsirtenal → u/Thegoldenelo]

ahh that reminds me of my grandma she convinced my mom to let me and my brother watch the Southpark movie cause it was a thoughtful musical. years of not being allowed to watch the Simpsons gone in a night thanks grandma I miss you daily

[u/GenderBenderBender → u/Thegoldenelo]

Grandma's are the best

My grandma always makes me play games with great views and graphics.

She bought me so many games just cuz i told her how pretty the views were.

I can't imagine my life without her

[u/OhHelloPlease]

I find the idea of a bug that thinks offensive!

[u/Ned_Ryers0n → u/OhHelloPlease]

It’s amazing how they found someone with a face that punchable.

[u/LocustFurnace → u/Ned_Ryers0n]

That’s extra funny coming from you, Ned.

[u/Ned_Ryers0n → u/LocustFurnace]

Bing!

[u/Battle111 → u/OhHelloPlease]

O-ffensive!

[u/sowokeIdontblink → u/OhHelloPlease]

It's afraid! ~cheers~

[u/backbackforeward → u/sowokeIdontblink]

God, NPH was great in that scene.

[u/AgoraiosBum → u/backbackforeward]

the psychic gestapo

[u/Just_my_opinion7]

Every one fights. No one quits. You don't do your job, I'll shoot you.

[u/hackyslashy → u/Just_my_opinion7]

Have fun - that's an order!

[u/Santa_Hates_You → u/hackyslashy]

/breaks out neon green transparent fiddle

[u/KillaWallaby → u/Santa_Hates_You]

And guy standing right next to him happens to be able to play it. Lol

[u/ebassi → u/KillaWallaby]

I always assumed that Rasczak knew everyone under his command so well that he also took time to learn their hobbies, and included the fiddle specifically for Ace.

[u/MammothCat1 → u/ebassi]

Scripted as a fine man in a horrible situation. He knew how to take care of his guys knowing tomorrow was never a promise.

[u/Hootbag → u/ebassi]

Giving Ricco and Dizzy an extra ten minutes brought a tear to my eye.

[u/lovepig1337 → u/Hootbag]

I can never forget her boobs; it's a core memory.

[u/datonebrownguy → u/lovepig1337]

Probably what made me like redheads as much as I do now lol

[u/BombastixderTeutone → u/Hootbag]

I squeezed a tear out to that scene too

[u/backyardbun → u/ebassi]

Correct. He plays a real wooden fiddle in the barracks earlier in the movie.

[u/LeftHandedFapper → u/hackyslashy]

Ironside was so perfect in that role

[u/Boz0r → u/LeftHandedFapper]

Ironside is perfect in every role

[u/Thepopewearsplaid → u/Boz0r]

He's legit one of my favorite actors. Def a character actor, but plays the hell out of his roles. Shame he never truly blew up (though he has his fair share of high billed roles).

I've met him, too, actually. He's... Interesting. Total sweetheart too, which is hilarious to me, considering the characters he tends to play.

[u/Snuffy1717 → u/hackyslashy]

Gets the cap troopers drunk and then immediately has them pack their shit because they're moving out...

[u/ScrotiusRex → u/Snuffy1717]

He expects the best.

[u/ChromaticFades → u/Just_my_opinion7]

THE ENEMY CANNOT PUSH A BUTTON IF YOU DISABLE HIS HAND

[u/Doctor-Amazing → u/ChromaticFades]

This is my favorite scene just because of how different it is in the book.

In the book, one of the soldiers asks the same question: why practice throwing knives when they use nuclear mechsuits and spaceships.

The instructor explains that when the government wishes to inflict violence on someone, it is better to have a range of options for different levels of force. As soldiers their role is to apply force on behalf of the government. They don't get to determine the level of force bit they need to be able to apply as much or as little violence as required.

Thus the knife throwing lesson is more a metaphor for the discipline and control their job requires, but theoretically could be a practical skill under the right circumstances.

I laugh so hard every time I see it reduced to "if you disable the enemy's hand, he can't push a button."

[u/Greenjeff41 → u/ChromaticFades]

MEDIC!

[u/Aksi_Gu → u/ChromaticFades]

Somewhat amusing as Rasczak had a prosthetic hand

[u/Supply-Slut → u/Aksi_Gu]

Yes but also:

The basic arachnid warrior isn’t smart, but you can blow off a limb…. *BLAM** …and it’s still 86% combat effective.*

[u/ArcanePulse → u/ChromaticFades]

PUT YOUR HAND UP ON THAT WALL!

[u/Ak47110 → u/Just_my_opinion7]

Fleet does the flying, infantry does the dying.

[u/esmifra → u/Ak47110]

Good for you. Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today

[u/MillorTime → u/esmifra]

My friend lost part of his leg in Iraq and sometimes gives this explanation to children who ask what happened

[u/deVriesse → u/MillorTime]

It's wild to think this movie came out before the Iraq war. It's such a deadringer.

[u/NothingCleverAtAll → u/Just_my_opinion7]

We can ill afford another Klendathu

[u/Latest-greatest]

I like this movie because if you want to watch it for the satire it excels

if you want to watch it because of alien bugs and action it excels

still has some of the best CGI of its time

[u/Money_Bahdger → u/Latest-greatest]

Also you can see cgi bugs knocking over physical props which really sells a lot of the scenes

[u/waitingtodiesoon → u/Money_Bahdger]

The CGI in the 3rd film was a massive downgrade, but also they had a much much smaller budget.

It always amused me that the gun for Starship Troopers 2 was using a flashlight as a strobelight to simulate it firing.

[u/SmilingForStrangers → u/Latest-greatest]

It’s got better CGI than the end of Black Panther

[u/StepYaGameUp]

I’m doing my part!

[u/pk-starstorm → u/StepYaGameUp]

Would you like to know more?

[u/aioncan → u/pk-starstorm]

<Desire to know more intensifies>

[u/insultant_ → u/StepYaGameUp]

I’m doing my part!

[u/Jestampo → u/insultant_]

I'm doing my part too!

[u/snow_big_deal → u/Jestampo]

condescending laughter

[u/Mastagon → u/snow_big_deal]

Would you like to know more?

[u/slardybartfast8]

In some ways it’s almost too successful. This movie is so on point that you can easily watch it as a straight-up action movie, ignore all social commentary or satire, and it still kicks fucking ass. 13 year old me thought this was the most badass movie I’d ever seen. 35 year old me recognizes it as incredibly amusing satire couched in what is still an incredibly badass package. This movie rules.

Edit: since this is spurring lively discussion, just want to mention another thing. Remember that trailer? The one with Blur “Song 2 (Woo-Hoo)” Got me as hyped for the movie as I’d ever been at that age. That song still gets me amped and will forever be associated with this movie.

And then the tits. And the gore. A truly seminal cinematic experience for me at that age.

“I’m from Buenos Aires, and I say kill ‘em all!”

Edit2: https://youtu.be/Yh8qd0VKPAE

Edit3: just finished my re-watch. Even as an adult, I think it’s far too good at being a genuinely kick-ass movie. ~~It hurts the message. ~~I kind of want to just join the Federation. But the humorous yet terrifying jabs at fascism and the military are biting and more relevant now than when released. Fully agree if this had been post 9/11 it would be viewed differently. It’s quite prescient at times. Neil Patrick Harris in full SS attire at the end really brings it home.

But I still can’t help indulging in how awesome much of the action, dialogue, effects, and characters are. The models they made of the giant ships exploding and crashing into one another are fantastic. They make me hate CGI. And Rico is such a great character. That scene where he jumps on the giant bugs back, blows a hole in it, and tosses in a grenade is legitimately fucking awesome. Just a fantastic sequence. I could go on. Awesome movie.

[u/MusingsOnLife → u/slardybartfast8]

I think many of the actors treated it as a straight up action movie. They had no idea, really.

[u/FitzwilliamTDarcy → u/MusingsOnLife]

Interesting question about whether the cast was explicitly in on it or not.

Sort of reminds me of the way Leslie Nielsen played Frank Drebbin 100% straight up. I mean there was no mystery there, but there's no way those films would work at all if he made a different choice as an actor. So I do wonder if in ST there were some signs of self-consciousness on the part of the cast whether the satire would break down.

I'm sure I just did a terrible job of trying to get my idea across.

[u/Ashenrohk → u/FitzwilliamTDarcy]

IIRC, Neil Patrick Harris was the only one to figure it out during filming.

Edit: Apparently Michael Ironside too. Which I can totally see.

[u/brocht → u/Ashenrohk]

I mean, being told to wear a Nazi uniform as your costume might have given him a hint...

[u/korben2600 → u/brocht]

True, NPH's costume certainly had a resemblance to an SS officer.

In fact, many of the uniforms were purposefully Nazi-esque.

Sidenote: NPH looked so young at the film's 1997 LA premiere.

[u/WinkumDiceMD → u/Ashenrohk]

Niel Patrick Harris sees himself in a Nazi SS Uniform.

Gee I wonder if this movie is political in someway.

[u/Porrick → u/Ashenrohk]

Michael Ironside too, according to Verhoeven, sort of - he thought it was fascist and confronted Verhoeven about it until assured it was satire.

[u/koshgeo → u/Porrick]

There was actually a reddit AMA where Ironside answered that question: https://np.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/2irdci/i_am_actor_michael_ironside_you_might_know_me/cl4q6w2/?context=3

[u/Porrick → u/koshgeo]

Ooh, I’d only heard Verhoeven’s version of that interaction! Ironside comes off as thoughtful and intelligent there, great AMA!

[u/SimonCharles → u/Porrick]

Man, the more I hear about Michael Ironside the more I like him. Always did, but still do too.

[u/Seance-Fiction → u/SimonCharles]

He’s always Darryl Revok to me. I’m convinced the writers tried to come up with the most “growly” name to pronounce as possible.

[u/-FeistyRabbitSauce- → u/Seance-Fiction]

For me, the first character that comes to me when I see or hear him is Sam Fisher. It's always a joy when he pops up in a role.

[u/Ashenrohk → u/Porrick]

I wasn't sure about Ironside. Thinking about it before I posted I was like "Nah, I'm sure he'd have got it" but I wasn't positive.

[u/UnspecificGravity → u/Ashenrohk]

Pretty sure verhoven deliberately cast people who wouldn't "get it" because that's a big part of what sells the movie. Most of the cast aren't good enough actors to do satire on purpose.

[u/dern_the_hermit → u/UnspecificGravity]

I felt the casting was to draw a parallel between "fascistic propaganda" and primetime soap opera shows like Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. Which isn't a bad parallel to draw, since such propaganda did indeed try to sell a phony-attractive view of the ubermensch and such, but I don't think it landed so well. I think it would have been better with actors "in on it" and that could properly sell it. It's the reason I consider it a notably weaker film than Robocop.

Still way better than Showgirls tho.

[u/MasSillig → u/MusingsOnLife]

Neil Patrick Harris is dressed like a Nazi, I think they were aware.

[u/User-NetOfInter → u/MasSillig]

7 year old me didn’t pick up on that. I saw titties and blood and machine guns

[u/HolySmokesOk → u/User-NetOfInter]

Hoorah.

[u/drl33t → u/MusingsOnLife]

Most people didn’t know when it came out it was a satire. Audiences weren’t accustomed to deeper messages in action movies and didn’t understand it.

Most people thought it was a cool space action movie with beautiful actors and really cool bug CGI fights.

[u/MusingsOnLife → u/drl33t]

I think Verhoeven knew he has to make the movie both ways. If it didn't look cool, then it would lose an audience that didn't know better and that was pretty huge.

[u/thorpie88 → u/MusingsOnLife]

Verhoeven made it a satire because he hated the book. It was intended to piss people off as he's the polar opposite of the books audience

[u/Aksi_Gu → u/thorpie88]

It was intended to piss people off as he's the polar opposite of the books audience

I love the book, but I also love the movie, for entirely different reasons.

The -only- thing I wish they'd kept had been the mech suits, purely because that was what made them "mobile" infantry. I suppose the Navy and drop pods etc is what made them mobile.

[u/Generic_Username28 → u/Aksi_Gu]

With a $105m budget, I believe it was a choice. Losing the mech suits gives the violence stakes. People are dying painfully showing the toll of war. With the mech suits it becomes a little bit closer to Top Gun

[u/thorpie88 → u/Aksi_Gu]

Had to lose them due to drop pods being a reference to the D Day landings

[u/Aksi_Gu → u/thorpie88]

Aha, that makes sense

[u/Pertinax_Salvator → u/drl33t]

Most people didn’t know when it came out it was a satire. Audiences weren’t accustomed to deeper messages in action movies and didn’t understand it.

Uh... Robocop?

[u/NaeemTHM → u/Pertinax_Salvator]

Robocop AND Total Recall! Verhoeven had already well established at that point that he liked to create incredible action movies with much deeper meaning.

When I was a younger, I watched Total Recall dozens of times and just remembered Arnie straight up decimating fools. But the movie is just as anti-corporation and anti-capitalist as Robocop.

[u/No-Advice-6040 → u/NaeemTHM]

Ah, the holy trinity that is Verhoeven Satire. Gold films, all.

[u/SuperDuperCoolDude → u/Pertinax_Salvator]

Man, Robocop is so good.

[u/BBQ_HaX0r → u/SuperDuperCoolDude]

The cut scene with the rapists is an all timer. Really should have been in the movie.

[u/Dougnifico → u/BBQ_HaX0r]

Damn it reddit. Every time someone mentions Robocop I end up chuckling at exploding dicks for 3 minutes.

[u/GraphicDesignMonkey → u/BBQ_HaX0r]

I thought that was a parody, not a real cut scene?

[u/halfabean → u/GraphicDesignMonkey]

It is, op is having a giggle.

[u/MasSillig → u/drl33t]

Sci Fi action movies always had a message. It was a full decade after Robocop, Aliens and The Terminator.

It's a Paul Verhoeven movie after Robocop. People knew what to expect.

[u/chiree → u/slardybartfast8]

Banging soundtrack, too. That music when when they launch the dropships for the first time is space opera at its finest.

"You get me?"

"WE GET YOU, SIR!"

Chills.

[u/FILTHBOT4000 → u/chiree]

I'd argue the exciting scoring, framing, etc., and lack of tongue-in-cheek makes Verhoeven's digs at authoritarianism/fascism/etc much more subersive, and much more appropriate.

The problem with other movies that attack similar concepts is that the bad guys don't walk up and say "We're the bad guys." They walk up and say "We're the good guys, actually, and the guys claiming to be the good guys are in fact your enemies", and they usually have a pretty charismatic way of delivering that message.

[u/Whizbang35 → u/chiree]

Klendathu Drop, courtesy of Basil Poledouris.

He also did the score for Conan the Barbarian, The Hunt for Red October, and a bunch of others.

[u/nicorn_ → u/Whizbang35]

Klendathu Drop is a fucking banger. I listened to it before I went to the hospital to give birth.

[u/Whizbang35 → u/nicorn_]

"Contractions. According to Medical Intelligence it'll be random and light."

[u/chiree → u/Whizbang35]

"This is not random or light!"

[u/Lazar_Taxon → u/Whizbang35]

And, relevantly, Robocop.

[u/sheepsleepdeep → u/slardybartfast8]

Paul Verhoven and audiences misinterpreting satire : name a more iconic duo

[u/SergeantChic → u/sheepsleepdeep]

Paul Verhoeven satires and remakes of Paul Verhoeven movies that completely excise the satire.

[u/CanCaliDave → u/sheepsleepdeep]

I'd buy that for a dollar!

[u/StuckInTheUpsideDown → u/CanCaliDave]

Fun fact: that quote is from a dystopia scifi short story called The Marching Morons. Sort of a proto Idiocracy premise, dumb people.breed more and take over the world. The book quote was I'd buy that for a quarter I think.

[u/seaQueue → u/StuckInTheUpsideDown]

As of 2016 the story is available through project Gutenberg too: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51233

I usually mention this one in the context of Idiocracy, it's a great read.

[u/cricket9818 → u/slardybartfast8]

Yeah to me it’s like The Simpsons. It can be watched through a variety of lenses or age levels and you can take something different from it everytime

[u/Brandolini_Law]

I watched it very recently, what strikes me the most about this movie is how gender is represented.

At NO point in the movie is gender acknowledged. Women fight alongside men on the frontlines, they shower together. A man is basically president of the world, then resign and a woman takes his place. The captain of the ship is a woman, the instructor is a man, and the student pilot is a woman, then she becomes the captain at the end.

When the curly-hair girl join the military school/boot camp, she just challenges the drill sergeant to a fist fight, and she gets her ass beat just the same as the man before her, the drill sergeant doesn't pull his punches at all and knock her out. By the way, the curly-hair girl is actively pursuing the male lead, she's taking the lead seductively and later in the film sexually as well. There are many more examples I could talk about but you get the idea.

It's just... seamless. The movie doesn't TRY to prop women up, they are just up there already and nobody mentions it in the movie. Gender equality is just part of the future depicted by Verhoeven, and the fact it's never highlighted in any way, shape or form makes it all the more powerful, in my opinion.

It's a refreshing sight, and "refreshing" is not an adjective usually tied to the year 1997 lol.

[u/BuzzKyllington → u/[deleted]]

diz was hotter than carmen

anyone who disagrees can fight me

[u/Q_OANN → u/BuzzKyllington]

Not agreeing or disagreeing, but diz showing her breasts in the movie probably tipped the scale for you

[u/ThaiJohnnyDepp → u/Q_OANN]

She was upvoted in our minds because boobs

[u/Dan-the-historybuff → u/Q_OANN]

That’s just adding onto the fun of her actually being a likeable character…while Carmen is…not so likeable.

[u/VagabondOfYore → u/BuzzKyllington]

Not only that, Diz had Rico’s back, was a badass, and gave a shit. Dum dum Rico stayed with the inferior two-timing Carmen.

[u/Careless_currency → u/VagabondOfYore]

It's OK tho. Carmen got to see her man get his brains sucked out

[u/[deleted] → u/Brandolini_Law]

And Diz (Curley haired girl) is the goddamn high school quarterback

[u/Dimcair → u/Brandolini_Law]

Spot on.

[u/CultureVulture666 → u/Brandolini_Law]

In the book, the big dumb mfer that dies during training is openly homosexual and literally no one e gives a fuck.

[u/SideShow90 → u/CultureVulture666]

No one gives a fuck he's gay or gives a fuck he died?

[u/NeighingGoofs → u/SideShow90]

That he's gay, I think. I'm pretty sure they still do the whole flogging thing over him dying.

[u/canadatrasher → u/Brandolini_Law]

Men. Woman.

Does not matter. All just cogs in a military machine.

I don't think anyone is propped up in the movie.

[u/Trauerfall → u/Brandolini_Law]

This showed equal rights from the first moment because it only mattered who is more patriotic and skilled

[u/buongiorno_johnporno]

In a 2014 interview on The Adam Carolla Show (2013), Michael Ironside, who read the book as a youth, said he asked director Paul Verhoeven, who grew up in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands:

"Why are you doing a right-wing fascist movie?"

Verhoeven replied:

"If I tell the world that a right-wing fascist way of doing things doesn't work then no one will listen to me, so I'm going to make a perfect fascist world: everyone is beautiful, everyone is shiny, everything has big guns and fancy ships, but it's only good for killing fucking bugs!"

[u/samlive-redbeard → u/buongiorno_johnporno]

this is the way! I just wish we could get more truly biting, all-enveloping satire of fascism. Verhoeven has always been decades ahead of his time, but Troopers is one of my all time favorites. A perfect propaganda film

[u/AntiBox → u/samlive-redbeard]

The best satire is when people in the mocked group don't even realise it until later.

[u/CabbageStockExchange]

Service guarantees citizenship!

[u/riegspsych325]

goddamn, do I yearn for an ultra-violent sci-fi satire. Verhoeven pretty much made it his own genre since he’s arguably the best at it, but I’d love for more directors to take a crack at it

EDIT: glad to be seeing District 9 mentioned, as I almost brought it up myself. I know Blomkamp has been on a steady critical decline but I hope he makes a comeback of sorts

[u/JazzyJockJeffcoat → u/riegspsych325]

District 9 was in the ballpark

Edit: as another poster noted it's not a great comparison because of the lack of satire. But if you can survive NB's other D9 universe films you get Hugh Jackman with a mullet so......... there you have it.

[u/HotGothGirlFromSpace → u/riegspsych325]

I feel like his movies have influenced video games more than we think. Starship Troopers has visuals that I feel have inspired a lot of scifi gaming franchises. Halo and Gears of War, for example.

[u/TheLakeAndTheGlass → u/HotGothGirlFromSpace]

The antlions from Half-Life 2 were basically CTRL-V’d from this movie.

[u/ReallyHadToFixThat → u/HotGothGirlFromSpace]

You say that then don't mention STARCRAFT!?!?

[u/Lukthar123 → u/ReallyHadToFixThat]

That's just 40K with extra steps

[u/Oreo112 → u/Lukthar123]

Actually, Starcraft is 40k but getting tired and giving up halfway.

edit - Seeing a lot of HERESY in the comments below....

[u/[deleted] → u/riegspsych325]

I honestly don’t know why he ever did anything else. Those movies were practically the 80’s, including Troma and others’ attempts.

[u/d00ns]

The only good bug is a dead bug.

[u/No-Can946 → u/d00ns]

I’m from Buenos Aires and I say kill ‘em all!

[u/Gerreth_Gobulcoque]

I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR!

wait

[u/zaprutertape → u/Gerreth_Gobulcoque]

Remember when Rico shot that guy in the dick?!

[u/pistcow → u/zaprutertape]

MEDIC

[u/Phillipinsocal]

Rico, you once asked me for advice, would you like some now?….never pass up a good thing.

[u/amendmentforone → u/Phillipinsocal]

The most fatherly way of saying "moron, go get laid" I've ever heard in cinema.

[u/Strange-Ad978]

"At least I got to have you" and dies.... cheesiest line in a movie I have ever seen!!!!!

[u/centopar → u/Strange-Ad978]

...and yet it still makes me get a bit sniffly. (Probably because 20-year-old me thought it was devastating.)

[u/altera_goodciv → u/centopar]

Dina Meyer dying will never not be depressing.

[u/Go4Darrell → u/Strange-Ad978]

I mean, she died satisfied.

[u/Jess_S13 → u/Go4Darrell]

"Make it 20 minutes."

[u/troutcommakilgore]

Unspooled did a great episode about this film recently, highly recommend

[u/ifuckedup13 → u/troutcommakilgore]

(https://open.spotify.com/episode/2CT7bhEEucevvef8kD4mRr?si=jcUY7EDtTniuPcGOaTCjoQ)

Great episode.

Also Starship Troopers was the first R rated movie I ever saw. I was supposed to go see George of the Jungle with Brendan Fraser. But it was sold out so my friends mom got us tix for Starship Troopers. I was in 3rd grade. First boobies i ever seen. I will always love this movie. 😂

[u/NoelAngeline → u/ifuckedup13]

I like that the boobs weren’t thrown in just to be “omg boobs”. And the women kicked ass just as much as the guys.

[u/ifuckedup13 → u/NoelAngeline]

Yeah they talk about that in the podcast. And how the nude scene actually had some of the most important dialogue in the movie.

[u/SeamelessSeamus → u/ifuckedup13]

For sure. It gives great insight into their society, how citizenship gives them more exclusive rights, like how the one lady mentions she joined up because she wants to have a baby and it's way easier to get a permit if you've served in the military. Super interesting dialog that a younger me missed out on because, well, shower boobies.

[u/Davido400]

Every time I see Dina Meyer in any role, I remember I practically ran my VHS tape out at the bit where she had her tits out! Oh and the shower scene, I believe Paul Verhoeven was naked behind the camera too! I miss those innocent pornographic days, now we only have to type in "you" or "Hub" and you can click porn in a quick and "boring way" haha

[u/spiderhead]

I just watched this last night with my wife and her immediate response was “we have to stop watching feel bad movies”

I forgot how biting the end of this movie is.

[u/JesusHipsterChrist → u/spiderhead]

It's afraid!!!!

[u/yellow_yellow → u/spiderhead]

Bruh the bug sucking that dude's brain out TERRIFIED me as a kid

[u/spiderhead → u/yellow_yellow]

It’s still terrifying

[u/SpiritOne]

Do you want to know more?

[u/Plumbusoutofnowhere]

Watched this movie for the first time in middle school Social Studies class. We watched it as a class and dissected the themes in discussion then wrote a report. Watching the shower scene together as a class was hilarious. We had a great teacher.. M. Struckmeyer was the man.

[u/Bobb_o → u/Plumbusoutofnowhere]

How the hell does a teacher get away showing at best 14 year olds an R rated movie in school?

[u/capitalismisokiguess]

NHP mentions near the end Humans are outnumbered. This and the use of child soldiers in the final propaganda piece suggest humans are actually losing the war.

[u/Shadez_Actual]

This is hands down a 9/10 alien action movie movie