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List Price: $26.95 | | Label: Columbia TriStar
Salesrank: 87522
Released: August 5, 2003 |
| Our Price: $9.50 |
| Used Price: $2.98 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
PURE PERFORMANCE The Superbit™ Collection will set a new benchmark in high resolution DVD picture and sound creating the ultimate in home entertainment. Superbit™ DVDs utilize a high bit rate digital transfer process that optimizes video quality and offers both DTS and 5.1 Dolby Digital audio. Use your existing home theater equipment to its optimal performance.From the bridge of the Fleet Battlestation Ticonderoga with its sweeping galactic views to the desolate terrain of planet Klendathu teeming with shrieking fire-spitting brain-sucking special effects creatures acclaimed director PAUL VERHOEVEN crafts a dazzling epic based on Robert A. Heinlein s classic sci-fi adventure. CASPER VAN DIEN DINA MEYER DENISE RICHARDS JAKE BUSEY NEIL PATRICK HARRIS PATRICK MULDOON and MICHAEL IRONSIDE star as the courageous soldiers who travel to the distant and desolate Klendathu system for the ultimate showdown between the species.System Requirements:Running Time 129 MinsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY Rating: R UPC: 043396012271 Manufacturer No: 01227
Description of Starship Troopers (Superbit Collection):
In the first and finest RoboCop movie, director Paul Verhoeven combined near-future science fiction with a keen sense of social satire--not to mention enough high-velocity violence to satisfy even the most voracious bloodlust. In Starship Troopers, Verhoeven and RoboCop cowriter Ed Neumeier take inspired cues from Robert Heinlein's classic sci-fi novel to create a special-effects extravaganza that functions on multiple levels of entertainment. The film might be called "Melrose Place in Space," with its youthful cast of handsome guys and gorgeous women who look like they've been recruited (and in some cases they were) from the cast of Beverly Hills 90210. Viewers might focus on the incredible, graphically intense action sequences (definitely not for children) in which heavily armed forces from Earth go to off-world battle against vast hordes of alien "bugs" bent on planetary conquest. The attacking bugs are marvels of state-of-the-art special-effects technology, and the space battles are nothing short of spectacular. But Starship Troopers is more than a showcase for high-tech hardware and gigantic, flesh-ripping insects. Recalling his childhood in Holland during the Nazi occupation, Verhoeven turns this epic adventure into a scathingly funny satire of fascist propaganda, emphasizing Heinlein's underlying warning against the hazards of military conformity and the sickening realities of war. It's an action-packed joy ride if that's all you're looking for, but Verhoeven has a provocative agenda that makes Starship Troopers as smart as it is exciting. --Jeff Shannon
Starship Troopers (Superbit Collection) Reviews:
A parody on American, militarist propaganda 
2009-10-17 - When I saw "Starship Troopers" the first time, I was appalled. It looked like a (really bad) fascist propaganda movie. The fascism was so overt, that I started wondering why nobody else was reacting the way I did!
It's because it's parody, stupid.
"Starship Troopers" is nominally based on Robert Heinlein's famous novel, but in reality it's a parody, criticizing Heinlein and his bizarre vision of a society in which only war veterans have full citizenship rights. In the process, the movie also makes fun of American militarist propaganda, and indeed militarist propaganda in general. In many ways, "Starship Troopers" is a deliberate turkey. It looks like the worst Nazi movie ever made, but it's supposed to look that way.
"Starship Troopers" is actually quite intellectual!
The funny thing is that many people just don't get it. Some love the movie precisely *because* it looks like a militarist propaganda movie. Others hate it for the same reason. Still others, i.e. the most devout Heinlein fans, see "Starship Troopers" as a walking insult to Heinlein's great novel, which some people treat almost as a second Bible. (Prediction: soon, somebody will point out that Federal Service is broader than the military.)
The plot of the film doesn't deserve closer scrutiny. "The Federation" (spouting an eagle as symbol - the American eagle? Or a Nazi eagle?) is under attack by a race of monstrous, intelligent spiders from the mysterious planet Klendathu. A group of beautiful, perfect and young adults, fresh out of high school, decide to volunteer in the military. Their leader is a completely crazy old vet. Curiously, the fascist military dictatorship is multi-racial and gender-blind. When the attack on Klendathu fails, the White male dictator resigns, being replaced by a Black female. Ironically, this "political correctness" is freely based on Heinlein, who was indeed anti-racist, but real American propaganda movies can also be multi-racial ("Iron Eagle" comes to mind). Later in the movie, the beautiful Nazi kids finally put their act together and manage to defeat the bugs on another planet, where they are promptly joined by a team of SS-looking scientists. There, the movie ends, inconclusively. Along the way, we are treated to some really hefty special effects (naturally, the bugs are much larger and even more "alien" than in the novel).
Strange fact: shortly after the premier of "Starhip Troopers" in Sweden, a new Swedish translation of Heinlein's original novel was published...with a picture from the movie on its front cover!
That's almost postmodern. The parody is used to sell the thing parodied. Gee, what a mindjob.
Naturally, I have to give this ridiculous Nazi slapstick five stars.
Starship AWESOME!!!
2009-10-14 - I love this movie. If it hadn't been for titanic and Jurassic Park being on everyone's mind, this would have won an assortment of awards for sound FX and SFX.
Three citizens 
2009-09-29 - I saw this movie in the theatre 12 years ago. What I rememeber the most were the three friends . The jock the tecky and the intellectual.The jock becomes a grunt, the tecky becomes a pilot and the intellectual joins some CIA type organization.Three friends three separate lives. The jock and the tecky I don't mind but its the intellectual who BUGS me. These are the types who manipulate society and indiviuals from behind the sccenes.They are the real BUGS.
The best, bad movie I've ever seen
2009-08-17 - Starship Troopers, a movie based off of a book, oh joy. Now I've never read the books myself, but from what I know about them the movie is very different, so if you're a crazy person how can't stand a movie deviating from the books, DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. But for the rest of you who are looking for a decent action flick, you should enjoy it.
Basic Plot: A race of space aracnids the size of cars want to kill us so we try to kill them first. It's around (My guess since they never say) 200-300 years in the future, and follows a group of space marines as they blow the living crap out of said giant bugs.
The Good bits: The action in this movie is fantastic, although it is pretty gorey so be warned if you have a weak stomache. The CGI looks great some of the best I've seen out of a 90s movie, the bugs look like thay're actually there most of the time (Something I can't quite say for other giant bug movies) they actually look like and behave like bugs (Swarming tacktics and such). The plot is decent enough, but alot more could have been done with it.
The Bad Bits: The acting at some points is a little flat, there are some plot holes that don't really make sense, (Example, who did the scientists get live Aracnid Warriors into those facilities? Also around 70% of the main cast is from Buenos Aies, and have Hispanic names {Flores, Rico, Ibanez, ect} but none of the actors even affect an accent, but that might just be me nitpicking). Most of the humor is absolutly horrendious (In my opinion at least), and alot of what seemed to be some sort of political commentary seemed forced (Sorry I turned my brain off for this movie so I'm not sure).
Overall: a good action movie, not big in the story department, could've been a lot better then it was. I think it's a good movie with a lot of faults and wasted potential, it's a good time if you want a things nice and shooty, but not if you're looking for something to analize and challange your brain.
They sucked his brains out 
2009-08-09 - Director Paul Verhoeven freely admits that he didn't read Starship Troopers, and I doubt that screenwriter Edward Neumeier read it, either. Verhoeven read the first few chapters, but couldn't bear it. The message of the book is that military service is a duty that you owe to society. If we aren't willing to fight for our freedom, then we don't deserve it. Military discipline is praised in Heinlein's book as an almost sacred rite of passage. Verhoeven's childhood experiences during and immediately following the Second World War, first the German occupation and then the American occupation, gave him a vastly different take on the military and the Nazi propaganda Hitler used to get soldiers to enlist.
He wanted to make a different movie, and he did. I know that Robert A. Heinlein fans were disappointed, but perhaps someone will make his 1961 novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, into a movie someday. Looking at the films that have been made of Heinlein's books we have The Puppet Masters, made into a movie with that title in 1997, and it was also made into a movie called The Brain Eaters in 1958. Then there is 1953's Project Moonbase and Destination: Moon, made in 1950. Phillip K. Dick has had Total Recall (also directed by Verhoeven), Blade Runner, Minority Report, and A Scanner Darkly, made into films, but have they ever captured the author, in all his various levels of humor, philosophy, and so forth, on the screen? Only A Scanner Darkly comes close to what Phillip K. Dick is capable of, and that film was no raging success. Blade Runner is an excellent film, but it is not Do Aliens Dream of Electric Sheep? (the book Phillip Kindred Dick actually wrote).
I think that fans of Heinlein, especially young children, would be disturbed by the sex and violence seen onscreen in Starship Troopers. Bodies hacked to pieces by giant alien bugs, wholesale carnage, brains sucked out -- not to mention the nudity. Did you know that in the future, the infantry will be co-ed, even in the showers (on a dare from Dina Meyer Director Paul Verhoeven and cinematographer Jost Vacano shot one take of the co-ed shower scene in the nude themselves)? Perhaps a co-ed infantry is not such a bad idea after all:
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Jean Rasczak: You got 10 minutes to get ready and go.
Johnny Rico: Yes sir.
Jean Rasczak: Who's in there with you?
Dizzy: Flores, sir.
Jean Rasczak: Make it 20.
Johnny Rico: We can do it.
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Verhoeven chose to do a parody that isn't going to make any Heinlein fans happy, but let's just judge the film on its own merits or lack thereof. The film has a distinctive look, kind of retro, but futuristic. It is like the pulp science fiction look of what people back in the 50's imagined the future would be, way back in the 20th Century. Throw in some Nazi style uniforms, some Cholo suspenders, and voila! A campy fascist fashion fest.
The actors and actresses might be graduates of the Beverly Hills 90210 School of Acting, but they look fantastic. Casper Van Dien, especially looks like he would be right at home in a Goebbels produced, Leni Riefenstahl directed propaganda epic. He was born too late, as somehow, he can't break out of the television ghetto into film. You'd think that Starship Troopers would be his big break, but the critics just want to use him as their whipping boy.
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Newsreel announcer: Join the Mobile Infantry and save the Galaxy. Service guarantees citizenship. Would you like to know more?
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Denise Richards won the Worst Supporting Actress Razzie Award for the 1999 film The World is Not Enough. She may not be the greatest actress since Bernhardt, but she plays one on television. She has appeared in "Spin City," "Friends," "Seinfeld," "The Ben Stiller Show," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Doogie Howser, M.D.," "Married with Children," "Melrose Place," and "Saved by the Bell." Her acting style is a perfect fit for ST, the only part I had trouble with was believing she had a math score of 97% and got into flight school.
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Zander: Don't exceed port speed.
Carmen: Or what?
Zander: Or they revoke your flight status... and mine.
Carmen: [Smiles] Your career is in my hands.
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Neil Patrick Harris, on the other hand, makes a great smarty pants. After all, as Doogie Howser, M.D., he was already a doctor as a little kid. He currently rules television as Barney on "How I Met Your Mother," but his film resume is rather light, with only the Harold & Kumar franchise willing to give him a tumble. In ST he is not only a brain, but he has psychic ability as well. He goes right into Officer Training, as the military can always use a psychic friend.
The military can also use a High School Teacher, as Mr. Rasczak (Michael Ironside), the one armed history teacher, turns up as Lieutenant Rasczak, a gung ho officer with a bionic hand. He is tough on his men, but only because war is hell. He works hard, but he plays hard:
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Jean Rasczak: I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!
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Though the soldiers of the Mobile Infantry fight and play hard, they have terrible strategy, fighting the alien bugs on their own turf as if there was no such thing as air support. The story doesn't make a lot of sense, but is driven more by visceral needs than by logic. For instance, though hundreds, thousands, have died in battle, they have a military funeral for just one soldier. Not even Lieutenant Rasczak is afforded that dignity. Earlier, back in boot camp the drill sergeant demonstrates the usefulness of knives in combat by pinning the recruit's hand to the wall with his knife. Later, Ace, the recruit, plays fiddle at the post battle hoe down. His hand is miraculously healed. Hey, it's Jake Busey, son of Gary Busey. He actually learned how to play the violin for this part.
The start of ST is like some kind of bizarre John Hughes (BTW, R.I.P., Mr. Hughes) High School epic, complete with the Big Game and the Prom. Then, when Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) enlists to impress Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards) it morphs into the boot camp from Full Metal Jacket. Finally, there are the big battle scenes with the alien insects. I think that the special effects, by Industrial Light and Magic, were excellent.
Paul Verhoeven makes bold and visceral films, and he is either very brave, or else he doesn't have any shame or care what people think. He was the only director who ever showed up personally to receive his Razzie Awards, and he got two of those, for Showgirl, Worst Director AND Worst Picture. I think he was at his best/worst (so bad it's good) with the Joe Eszterhas penned Basic Instinct, but Show Girls (also from the house of Eszterhas) is so relentlessly bad that you can't help but stare dumbfounded, with your jaw dropped right to the floor in disbelief. Does anyone besides me remember Spetters? Robocop, I hear, is pretty good, but I can't take Total Recall, as it was just a desecration of the book by Phillip K. Dick. Robert A. Heinlein fans, I know how you feel.
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Johnny Rico: These are the rules. Everybody fights, nobody quits. If you don't do your job I'll kill you myself. Welcome to the Roughnecks.
Private Sugar Watkins: Rico's Roughnecks.
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Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (Extreme Unrated Edition) (2004) .... Neil Patrick Harris was Neil Patrick Harris
The World Is Not Enough (1999) .... Denise Richards was Christmas Jones
Sleepy Hollow (1999) .... Casper Van Dien was Brom Van Brunt
Wild Things (1998) .... Denise Richards was Kelly Van Ryan
Showgirls (1995) .... Director: Paul Verhoeven
Basic Instinct (1992) .... Director: Paul Verhoeven
Total Recall (1990) .... Director: Paul Verhoeven
Robocop (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition) (1987) .... Director: Paul Verhoeven
Flesh and Blood (1985) .... Director: Paul Verhoeven
Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) .... by Robert A. Heinlein
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Jean Rasczak: They sucked his brains out.
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