Starship Troopers (1997): Totalitarianism Dismantled

This was my very first viewing of Paul Verhoeven's film adaptation of Starship Troopers, which was originally a science fiction novel written by Robert A. Heinlein. The story follows Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), a Mobile Infantry Recruit fresh out of high school sometime during the 23rd Century. In the midst of trying to figure out army life and maintaining contact with his Airforce pilot girlfriend Carmen (Denise Richards), the Earth is attacked. A civilization of hostile insectoid creatures (referred to as 'Bugs' throughout the film) fire a meteor at Earth, obliterating Rico's home of Buenose Aires. Earth immediately declares a full-scale invasion of the Bug homeworld, Klendathu, and Rico and his Mobile Infantry unit are deployed.

They're doing their part. Are you? Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world. Service guarantees citizenship.

Every day, Federal Scientists look for new ways to kill bugs.

Although the story and action of Starship Troopers is enthralling and keeps the film moving at a brisk pace, I found the universe within which the film takes place to be much more engaging. The appearance of pop-up menus throughout the film asking the audience, "Would you like to know more?" is particularly genius- it serves to give exposition, yes, but it also makes the film incredibly meta- as if we, the viewers, are perhaps army recruits who exist within the characters’ world. Or perhaps instead, this movie is a text that is literally meant for army recruits or high-schoolers within that world, and we’re watching this movie as though it were suddenly transported into our laps from a different galaxy. I love that.

Starship Troopers show off their guns to the next generation.

A key facet of the film, the unabated nationalism is as hilariously entertaining as it is intriguing. It’s as though this film is that universe’s Black Hawk Down (2001) or American Sniper (2014). Join up now! Prepare to fight! Kill the bugs! Something that struck me was how similar thematically this film is with one of my favorite books, Ender’s Game. They’re both chock-full of the sentiment that the enemy, creatures clearly less-than-human and light-years away, are not meant to be understood, but destroyed. It’s evident that they’re similar enough to humans to be organized in their attacks, but they’re different enough to be classified as the 'other.’ In fact, it wouldn’t have surprised me for the film to have taken a twist in which our hero Rico finds out that the government (and his buddy Carl, played by Neil Patrick Harris) have lied to him about the real reason humans are at war with the bugs, and for this movie to become a kind of existential anti-nationalist cautionary tale.

Neil Patrick Harris even looks like a Nazi!

Everyone is doing their part. Are you?

As much fun as that would have been, the film’s commitment to being critical by means of being a meta-text is admirable. In their analysis of the movie, film scholars Martin Barker and Thomas Austin write, “It’s as if Verhoeven wants it both ways. He clearly wants us to see how ridiculous all this is even as he revels in the ridiculousness itself…” (Barker & Austin, 133). This duality defines the film: by inhabiting the universe (and headspace) within which fascism reigns supreme, Verhoeven can disassemble it from the inside-out. It appears critics of the film wished Verhoeven was more direct in his criticism of totalitarianism by either providing us with a hero that realizes they’re trapped in the system, or by having the government itself become the villain.

All good Troopers know, the only good Bug is a dead Bug.

Again, as interesting as that would have been, I’m nonetheless satisfied that the film was confidently self-contained in being a fully functional piece of propaganda from another galaxy. From reading his review, it appears Ebert may have misunderstood that. He writes “It’s one-dimensional. We smile at the satirical asides, but where’s the warmth of human nature? … ‘Starship Troopers’ is totalitarian” (Ebert). He mentions ‘satirical asides’ as though they're sprinkled throughout the film to provide a small giggle. But I think the film is better understood if one views the entire text as satire. Perhaps that’s not what Robert A. Heinlein intended when he originally wrote the Starship Troopers novel, but it's clear that in the film adaptation, Verhoeven is criticizing totalitarianism and fascism by encompassing the movie in it. From the acting, to the obejctively 'beauitful' heroes, to the campy dialogue (“The only good Bug is a dead Bug!”), to the emphasis on symbols, this is a movie that ‘revels’ in its’ own ridiculousness and propaganda-esque nature.

The conclusion of the film isn't some major military victory, the true victory lies in humans' realization that the enemy is afraid of us.

If the film has any faults, it would be that it assumes there is excessive visual pleasure found in watching soldiers with machine guns shoot CGI bugs. Some battle scenes go on for longer than is bearable, mostly because the film's strongest aspects lie not in its action, but in its mythos. Granted, the graphics do hold up to a 2018 viewing, but they are taken to their extremes. Overall, I was incredibly engaged with this film through its entirety, and I appreciate Verhoeven’s deep commitment to not holding back on any aspect of this totalitarian outer-space fever-dream. Definitely an instant favorite.

-Nick, March 4, 2018, 1:34 am, from his cozy bed.