“Starship Troopers: Hero of the Federation” is the sequel to the
classic Paul Verhoeven film. Although
Verhoeven had nothing to do with this movie, it was written by the same screenwriter,
Edward Neumeier. He went on to write and
direct “Starship Troopers 3”. The
director of this film was Phil Tippett.
Tippett is a visual effects wizard who was responsible for the
remarkable effects in the first film. He
was nominated for an Oscar for that movie.
He basically directed the battle scenes.
ST2 was his first attempt at directing and he might want to stick to
effects. He spent about $7 million on it
and that was about one twentieth what Verhoeven spent on the original. ST2 was shot in just 26 days. It premiered on the Encore Action network and
then went to DVD.
The movie opens with a
recruiting commercial to hearken back to the original. I’m not sure that was a wise reminder. However, this will be the last taste of the
satirical bent of the earlier film. ST3 is
set after the war portrayed in the first.
The Federation is taking the war to the Arachnids, but this particular
mission is SNAFU. The invasion of a bug
planet is not going well and a unit is surrounded on a hill. General Shepherd (Ed Lauter) stays behind to
hold off the hordes while the remnants of his command withdraws to an
outpost. The outpost looks like a
haunted lighthouse straight out of Scooby Doo.
The members of this “lost command” are heterogeneous and include some
female soldiers. They are led by a
psychic Lt. Pavlov Dill (Lawrence Monoson) whose personality matches his
name. He is shaky as a commander and
something of a dick. Fortunately for the
survivability, the outpost houses a jailed war hero named Dax (Richard Burgi). (The original idea for the movie was to have Sgt.
Zim in this role, but Clancy Brown was not available. Shame.)
Dax is the kind of malcontent that you want around if you are surrounded
by marauding Indians at a stage coach station.
He assumes command and saves the day, at least for now. Soon after the first onslaught, the General
arrives having survived his suicidal rearguard action. What?
This seems a bit fishy, or buggy in this case. The outpost has a force field around it which
allows for exposition and character development. This is exactly what we do not want with our
cheesy combat porn. Speaking of which,
if you are expecting the same level of mayhem as in the first film, you are
naïve and disappointable. ST2 plays more
like a horror movie set in a haunted house.
It has shades of much better sci-fi movie from the
aliens-take-over-our-bodies subgenre.
This means the exterior scenes concentrate on squashing the bugs with
firepower and the interior scenes are aimed at claustrophobic dysfunctionality
of “The Thing” ilk. Both themes add up
to your basic “who will survive?” scenario.
ST2 had only one option to be
memorable which was to embrace the campy nature of the first and just balls it
up. Ladle the molten cheese so thick
that the audience would forget the inherent suckitude of the effort. There is terrible and there is terrible with
a flair. This movie has no flair. The acting is horrible, but just like
everything else in the movie, not entertainingly horrible. The dialogue is as cheesy as the acting. “Come on, you apes. Ya wanna live forever?” Surprisingly, the
movie does not even try to top the combat of the original. In the seven years between the Federation’s
victory and this expansionist move the Arachnids have not evolved like
virtually every other sequel monster.
These bugs are decidedly less bad-ass.
We must have crushed their morale.
To make up for the reduction of kickassery, Tippett has upped the ick
factor. If you like having your tummy
turned, this is the movie for you. Like
most cheap horror movies.
GRADE = F
The BEST way to watch this one is with the commentary, where you can almost hear glasses clinking while the team discusses how low budget and low initiative the production was. Try it that way - it's MUCH better.
ReplyDeleteThanks, but that would mean I would have to watch it again.
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