It's A Good Day To Die! New Starship Troopers Trailer!

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

So those of you in the know know that there are only a handful of good Starship Troopers movies. The original from the 90s, and the animated movies.
So here comes a new animated movie with voice actors from the original cast!

Bugs invade Mars, Martians use Marauder suits to fight them, and Johnny and Dizzy catch up in the wastes. What more do you need?

In theaters one night only, August 21st. Sign up now to do your part!

 

[Erttheking]

Still waiting for the adaptation that shows the bugs with the lasers they're supposed to have. And remembers that Dizzy was a dude in the original that died in the first chapter. Also the Skinnies, can we see them?

It looks...decent. Fun B movie shlock, but nothing spectacular. I'm glad they have power armor like they're supposed to, although I always thought it was supposed to be bigger than that.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

That... doesn't look bad actually, we even have Solid Snake. Just hope we don't get the tongue in cheek of the first movie.

Aww come on, the tongue-in-cheek was the best part! The movie is so absurd and such a parody of Fascism and war movies.

 

[tippy2k2]

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?

You're Goddamn right I do! I have a unhealthy obsession with Starship Troopers (please...help) and I liked the animated one a lot. Count me in to do my part for citizenship is my reward!

 

[Benpasko]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

Now, I'm not the most familiar, so someone can correct me if they want, but it goes like this:
The original novel was pro-facism. However, the director has actual history with facism, and didn't like that. So he took this piece of pro-facist literature, and turned it around.

I was researching (fancy word for wikipedia) this while writing the post, so here's the relevant bit from there:

Spoiler

Because the movie originated from an unrelated script, with names and superficial details from the novel being added retroactively, there are many significant differences between the original book and the film. While the original novel has been accused of promoting militarism, fascism and military rule, the film satirizes these concepts by featuring grandiose displays of nationalism as well as news reports that are intensely fascist, xenophobic, and propagandistic. Verhoeven stated in 1997 that the first scene of the film?an advertisement for the Mobile Infantry?was adapted shot-for-shot from a scene in Leni Riefenstahl?s Triumph of the Will (1935), specifically an outdoor rally for the Reichsarbeitsdienst. Other references to Nazism in the movie include the Nazi German-esque uniforms and insignia of field grade officers, M.I. undress working uniforms reminiscent of Mussolini's Blackshirts, Albert Speer-style architecture and propagandistic dialogue ("Violence is the supreme authority!").

In a 2014 interview on The Adam Carolla Show, actor Michael Ironside, who read the book as a youth, said he asked Verhoeven, who grew up in 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, no one will listen to me. So I'm going to make a perfect fascist world: everyone is beautiful, everything is shiny, everything has big guns and fancy ships, but it's only good for killing fucking bugs!"

Likewise, the powered armor technology that is central to the book is completely absent in the movie. According to Verhoeven, this?and the fascist tone of the book?reflected his own experience in Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II.

The film includes visual allusions to propaganda films such as Why We Fight, Triumph of the Will and wartime newsreels, and the symbols and certain clothing styles of the Federation are modeled on those of the Nazis (e.g., windbreaker, suits, cap, etc.; moreover, the military intelligence officers' uniforms bear a striking similarity to those of the Allgemeine-SS).

The use of Nazi imagery for the film's American heroes occasioned comment. At the time of the film's theatrical release, the filmmakers did not explain their reasons for this choice. Some viewers interpreted it as satire, and others read it as a celebration of fascism.

In the DVD commentary, Verhoeven states his intentions clearly: the film's message is that "War makes fascists of us all". He evoked Nazi Germany's fashion, iconography and propaganda because he saw it as a natural evolution of the post-World War II United States. "I've heard this film nicknamed All Quiet On the Final Frontier", he says, "which is actually not far from the truth." Edward Neumeier (who had previously worked with Verhoeven on RoboCop) broadly concurs, although he sees a satire on human history rather than solely the United States.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Oh did not know of this.

For those not aware of the first film's satirical presentation, further information;


I remember that film being my first introduction to what satire was before even knowing what satire was. And it was beautiful.

 

[Nielas]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

Now, I'm not the most familiar, so someone can correct me if they want, but it goes like this:
The original novel was pro-facism. However, the director has actual history with facism, and didn't like that. So he took this piece of pro-facist literature, and turned it around.

There is a long standing controversy over just how fascist "Starship Troopers" is. When I read the book I did not think it fascism but rather pro-military and had a tinge of libertarianism. The political system proposed in the book was only talked about in generics and was mostly ignored after a while when the war part of it took over. I can see how someone with Verhoeven's background might see it as pro-fascism but most of the fascist stuff in the movie just was not in the book.

 

[Hawki]

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12583551/1/Starship-Troopers-Ghosts-of-Mars

Now that I've got that shameless plug out of the way, I'll start by saying that I've only seen films 1-3, and never saw Invasion. What made the first film great (in addition to other things) was its use of sattire on militarism, satire that film 2 abandoned and film 3 brought back to some degree, albeit not as effectively. Invasion and now this film seem to be straight-up action films. And sure, the first film is a good action film, but it at least had some more to it than that.

Also a bit anime-ish, and no, I'm not talking about the OVA. I know the suits there are more in keeping with the novel, and Marauder mechs were introduced in the third film, but, well, yeah. And how the heck is Dizzy still around?

 

[Far Star]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

I think it's one of those death of the author things. If you read it as satire it's satire. If you don't it's fascist, or just a dumb action flick.

As for me? I'm not excited, but if it comes out on Netflix I'll watch it. Needless to say I'm not the biggest fan of the series.

 

[CaitSeith]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

Not "exactly like the thing it's parodying". It's just that not every satire must be "in your face" level of absurd (even if it risk to approach to Poe's Law territory). Several glimpses, reactions and absurdities in the propaganda give away its satirical nature.

Spoiler: They are doing their part...

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

Now, I'm not the most familiar, so someone can correct me if they want, but it goes like this:
The original novel was pro-facism. However, the director has actual history with facism, and didn't like that. So he took this piece of pro-facist literature, and turned it around.

It wasn't fascist. It was a science fiction story that was effectively Heinlein's exploration of a democratic stratocracy run with a focus on meritocratic principles and personal responsibility.

Yes. I actually read it and took the time to understand the ideas behind it and what he was arguing.

It's always been accused of fascist ideas, but the people who tend to accuse it of that tend to be the people who didn't bother to read it and/or comprehend it. Possibly they simply don't know what fascism actually is and have conflated a military state with the idea.

If I'm remembering correctly the story of why the movie was made as it was: The movie was originally another script. The studio decided to have it rewritten to take advantage of the name of the book which they'd bought the rights to. Verhoeven read I believe the first chapter, found it depressing, handed it to another guy to read and give him a summary, and the other guy said it was fascist. Verhoeven ran with that.

The best bet at a faithful adaptation is an animation at this point done by people who actually care about it. The closest we've gotten now is Invasion and the Roughneck chronicles both for entirely different reasons. A faithful adaptation will probably never be made because of this, and that any attempt at a live action film will forever be marred by Verhoeven, or any attempt for that matter.

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

The original book played it straight, the film of the book played it as biting satire, which was lost on the sequels that then continued to play it straight

Figured I'd ask to support my point in the post above yours. Have you read the book or are you going off of others opinions on it?

 

[Ironman126]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

The original book played it straight, the film of the book played it as biting satire, which was lost on the sequels that then continued to play it straight

Figured I'd ask to support my point in the post above yours. Have you read the book or are you going off of others opinions on it?

is the book a serious book or a comedy

The book by Robert Heinlein is quite serious. It's also (in my opinion) very good. It's basically a look at the role of the poor bloody infantry at a time when nuclear weapons can decide the fate of the world in a matter of minutes. It also has this whole military service gets you the right to vote business. So, it's very much wrapped up in the politics of the era it was written. However, it's moral aside, it's a pretty well written military sci-fi.

 

[Zetatrain]

Still waiting for the adaptation that shows the bugs with the lasers they're supposed to have. And remembers that Dizzy was a dude in the original that died in the first chapter. Also the Skinnies, can we see them?

It looks...decent. Fun B movie shlock, but nothing spectacular. I'm glad they have power armor like they're supposed to, although I always thought it was supposed to be bigger than that.

There was actually a 6 episode anime OVA adaptation made in the 80s and it had bigger power armor suits that were more faithful to the source material and the bugs had lasers too. Though the bugs look very different compared to the ones we are used to seeing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAV-VyXfc48
As for the Skinnies, I believe they appear in the 90s animated series, "Roughnecks"

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

I think it's one of those death of the author things. If you read it as satire it's satire. If you don't it's fascist, or just a dumb action flick.

As for me? I'm not excited, but if it comes out on Netflix I'll watch it. Needless to say I'm not the biggest fan of the series.

I'm pretty sure Verhoeven said it was satire in several interviews, so I don't think whether or not its satire is up for debate. Now whether or not its good satire is another matter. Granted there's nothing wrong with enjoying it as an action flick.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

Not "exactly like the thing it's parodying". It's just that not every satire must be "in your face" level of absurd (even if it risk to approach to Poe's Law territory). Several glimpses, reactions and absurdities in the propaganda give away its satirical nature.

Spoiler: They are doing their part...

Yeah, yeah, the overly cheery 50s-style commercials Verhoeven also did in Robocop. Just because the movie shoehorns a couple of these doesn't turn the whole thing into satire. For the most part it's played straight.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

I never got the rave for Starship Troopers. It's supposed to be satire I guess? But it plays out exactly like the thing it's parodying?

By Verhoeven's own admission, it is a stealth parody. It plays sort of straight with most of the plot beats and you can absolutely watch it as a silly action movie. But all that shit that goes on, like why they have live fire ranges in the middle of their drill yard, why soldiers hand out live ammunition to kids, the way people start stomping Earth bugs etc. are all intentional. As are the stupid tactics, the jingoism and the casting choices that makes the entire main cast seem like a propaganda effort (Van Dien sure has a strong cheek line). By the time the final battle of the movie rolls around it even goes into overdrive to show you how the new soldiers are teenagers, which is essentially the movie telling us how stupid and wasteful the entire thing is. Oh, and NPH's actual Wehrmacht uniform, in case you feel the nazi allegory wasn't subtle enough.

The entire movie plays its' action movie beats straight, but the subtext is all about how Heinlein's Federation is a stupid idea that enables jingoism and fascists and that fascism is a terrible political system to live in. The fact that the movie isn't in your face with its' satire and parody, to the point that even most movie critics missed it when it was released, is what makes it appealing to me.