Christina Critiques - STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997)

“All is fair in love and war” - Mr. Rasczak

STARSHIP TROOPERS begins with military propaganda commercials that target children and then move into a reporter being killed … on camera. This is the least weird part of the movie.

The basic premise is there’s a war. The war needs fighters. Fighters fight bad guys. Rinse and repeat. The exception here is the bad guy are Kaiju sized bugs.

The quote at the beginning speaks so loudly with this movie.

SPOILERS ABOUT TO COME INTO YOUR EYEBALLS!

Johnny Rico, the main character, joins in order to impress Carmen, his high school sweetheart. She’s a smart cookie and becomes a pilot while Rico goes infantry. Diz, who is madly (and at times, embarrassing) in love with Rico, was originally in Military Intelligence but switches to infantry to impress Rico. This is a weird and at times uncomfortable love triangle. Then you add in Zander, who has an interstellar boner for Carmen and Carl, who is a sack of farts at the best of times and you have something interesting.

Friends, we haven’t even arrived at the war shenanigans yet.

ST feels like a post 9/11 patriotic boner movie extravaganza but it was released almost four years before 9/11 happened. And I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up situations and costumes that felt a little too… is this what he is going for? Carl is high up in military intelligence when we see him at the end of the film - does his outfit as well as some of the hats and flags throughout the movie feel a bit… Herr WW2? What about when the group is heading to the planet for the first fight and are the head wave … much like Normandy.

As I watched ST for maybe the third time, I couldn’t help but ask myself certain questions: The start of the main war was because an asteroid decimated Buenos  Aires (just so happens to also be where the main characters are from) but it’s odd - there are no mention of bugs that caused any chaos, just the asteroid. It’s suspect because the bug planets are attacked in retaliation… sounds familiar, eh? Carl (remember I called him a sack of farts), he decides later in the movie that sacrificing many to take the main bug hostage is OK. Sounds familiar, eh?

Verhoeven doesn’t seem to be playing coy with this film, he takes the worst of the military and pretty much makes them stare at their mistakes head on. The indoctrination at young ages whether in commercials or within schools, is and will always be upsetting.

Believing that putting your life on the line to impress your high school sweetheart only for her to break up with you - speaks to the immaturity of many who sign up. One of the main points of contention with military service is - they are old enough to die, but not always old enough to drink. Make it make sense.

What about situational awareness in war? Recently, the military has had to make members take TikTok off their phones because streaming has aided Iran in strikes. Why service members believe that’s a good idea again can play into the maturity and/or situational awareness that is lacking. Playing into that, news reporting is definitely skewered in ST. The news reporter at the end is impaled by a bug and the camera continues to broadcast… which is the same nonsense we see now. Why? Why would someone, let alone their employer, put themselves in harms way for a five minute segment?

Let’s look at this for a second longer - desensitization because of the media. Verhoven really plays with this one. Think about how we see complete carnage with the bodies strewn across the screen, decapitations, impalements, etc. But there is a cow that is offered as a sacrifice to a bug and it’s censored! Because the viewer is being shown propaganda - the cow’s life in the bugs hands (claws? Pinchers?) is considered more sacred that the humans that die fighting it. Again, a little too familiar.

There is commentary on the treatment of prisoners of war, PTSD vs. physical scars, “friendly fire”, weaponry and when to utilize it vs. when it’s overkill, military screw ups (when Rico is listed KIA and the terrible Military Intelligence), guerilla warfare tactics, and the insanity that is promotions in the service.

I honestly could go on for thousands of more words but I want YOUR comments. Is this a pro or anti-military movie? What do you agree with or disagree with in the film? Did it go too far? Is Verhoeven right in the way he sees the military complex? Let me know in the comments.

(Based on the book STARSHIP TROOPERS by Robert A. Heinlein)