“Starship Troopers” (1997), which celebrates its 25th anniversary this week, has become famous/infamous for two things: 1, its biting social commentary, and 2, its wooden acting. These are the most interesting talking points, but another point has been lost: Director Paul Verhoeven, writer Edward Neumeier and the team at Industrial Light & Magic crafted a great action movie, too.
Admittedly, I didn’t think so on my 1997 viewing. In that year, “Star Wars” was the point of comparison because of the Special Editions. “Troopers” borrows from it, like when Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) drops a bomb into a tank bug’s back. The sequence’s staging and framing is so similar to Luke blowing up the AT-AT that it can’t be coincidence.
However, as I also noted about Verhoeven’s “Total Recall,” his sci-fi futures look more like early cardboard “Star Trek” than like lived-in “Star Wars.” That’s a big reason why I scoffed at “Troopers” in ’97.
“Starship Troopers” (1997)
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Writer: Edward Neumeier, based on Robert Heinlein’s novel
Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer
But even back then, it did get under my skin. Not every effect holds up, but ILM’s shots of bugs swarming the terrain around a human outpost on Planet P are awesome. The characters and world-building are just substantial enough to be intriguing. I soon read Robert Heinlein’s 1959 novel and even the film’s continuation comics.
A post-individual future, but not a cold one
While “Troopers” includes the blunt violence of Verhoeven’s “RoboCop” and “Total Recall,” it’s not as cold as I remembered. At boot camp, Jake Busey’s Ace is a bitter rival of Rico’s for one moment, but they are best friends the next. Perhaps Ace knows he’s playing out a cliché, and once he’s checked that box, he can be buddies with Rico, because it’s easier and more enjoyable.
Like Ace, Neumeier is aware that every cliché of “Troopers” is a cliché. That’s not to say this is a comedic romp drenched in satire. Rather, Neumeier frontloads the satire via newsreels in the style of World War II propaganda. Then a fairly normal sci-fi war actioner follows.
In the newsreels, we learn that citizenry (in what is hinted to be a worldwide government) is contingent upon war service; everyone else is merely a civilian. Heinlein believed in this philosophy without irony. Neumeier cues the satire in sharp ways, though: We pan across male and female soldiers of all races saying “I’m doing my part!” and it ends on a little kid soldier saying the line.
Watch for the seeming throwaway lines: A term of service is not less than two years. But the maximum is whatever the military says it is.
“Troopers” is set in a post-individual-liberty world, and likewise a post-privacy world. The co-ed shower scene is rightly famous, but also note that Rico watches his love-letter video from pilot Carmen (Denise Richards) amid the swarming army bunk hall. His fellow soldiers watch over his shoulder, and while Rico is annoyed, it’s clear their behavior isn’t considered offensive in this future.
They’re not all wooden
Because the screenplay doesn’t slather on satire with a trowel, Verhoeven looked for subtle ways to indicate he is making fun of Heinlein’s book. One method was to purposely cast wooden actors.
On this viewing, though, I only found Richards stands out in this category. Although Van Dien does fit the Dirk Squarejaw mold, he’s not a total cartoon. Probably following Verhoeven’s explicit direction, Richards often has a huge smile on her face. If she was one of those actors marketing the 2022 horror film “Smile” from baseball seats, her bosses would say “Tone it down a tad.”
As with her “James Bond” role as a nuclear scientist, Richards is totally unbelievable as an expert pilot of cutting-edge spacecraft – when moving the stick, she looks like a driver’s ed student. In a climactic scene, a smart bug intends to suck out Carmen’s brains (to study humans, just as humans are studying the bugs). Carmen escapes, but if she hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been surprised to find the probe comes up empty.
Outside of Richards, the cast is pretty great. I’m a little obsessed with Dina Meyer as curly redhead Dizzy Flores, a tomboy with a pure-hearted crush on Rico. He is almost rude toward her sweet advances, but when he gives in, she loves him for it. It’s a shallow arc, but Meyer gives it bittersweetness.
Also doing great work are Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown as drill instructors. Plus, “Breaking Bad” fans might enjoy recognizing Dean Norris. If there’s satire to these commanding officer roles, it’s only because the overall film satirizes the military. They could smoothly blend into, say, “Top Gun” – except that they have arcs beyond their stereotypical first impressions.
Film has it both ways
Today, “Starship Troopers” is best known for critiquing militarism. But this rewatch reminds me that it has its cake and eats it too. When Ironside’s Rasczak says to a classroom that violent force has settled more conflicts than any other method, the film is making fun of humanity’s reverence for the military. But Rasczak is also saying something undeniably true.
Thematically speaking, the titular troopers are patsies, signing up for the military/corporate complex under the guise of Earthling pride. You might say they’re too dumb to know they’ve been gamed; but really, in this post-individualistic future, the idea doesn’t occur to them.
They are sorry figures. Yet in the moment, I root for Rico. I don’t want Dizzy to die. I think the aging drill instructors show admirable verve when joining the front lines. I’m not impressed with the direction of human society, but if it’s humans versus bugs, I choose the humans.
Would Heinlein (1907-88) be rolling in his grave over this adaptation? Over some aspects, sure. But ultimately, film and novel come to the same conclusion.