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Starship Troopers movie, maybe book too

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Jimor:

--- Quote from: Akima on 04 Feb 2012, 14:47 ---
--- Quote from: Mr_Rose on 04 Feb 2012, 10:57 ---Yeah, see "I didn't like the bits of the book Idid read so I'm going to parody the bits I made up to fill in for the stuff I didn't read" is a pathetic explanation for anything, never mind such an appalling treatment of a much-loved source.
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The novel Starship Troopers is probably as much hated as admired. Personally I think it's well worth reading despite the rather young-adults style lingering from Heinlein's earlier work. It is ironic though, considering how often the Bugs have been interpreted as representing Communist China (though Heinlein never said so), that his idea of civil rights and privileges arising from service to the state is very Confucian.

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Yeah, a lot of mixed views of the book, and part of that with Heinlein is always trying to separate what viewpoints he may be pushing as an author, versus viewpoints he wants to explore and put out there for the reader to examine.

A great literary response to Starship Troopers is Joe Haldeman's "Forever War." Haldeman was a Vietnam vet who felt like none of the military science fiction really captured what it was like for the grunts. Ridley Scott has optioned the book, which could be really really interesting if done right which doesn't necessarily mean adhering strictly to the book (and Haldeman has said he doesn't expect pretty much anything to reach the screen, so if elements do survive, he'll be pleasantly surprised).

Delator:
When i was 14, I read an article in a magazine with a sneak peak at the film. I thought the model work on the ships looked good, and saw it was based on a book by some guy named Heinlein, so I went and got it from my library.

I've since read damn near everything else Heinlein ever wrote...so if Ridley Scott was trying to somehow steer me away from the authors ideas, it didn't really work.  :-P

I did enjoy the movie though, in the same sense as Mad Cat in that I simply ignored the differences that would normally irk me and just enjoyed the ride.

It also happened to be the first R rated film I saw in theaters...long story, but it involves nefarious schemes that came to glorious success. Between the nude scenes and the gratuitous violence, I got what I came to see.  :-D

MamiyaOtaru:

--- Quote from: SomeCanadianWeirdo on 02 Feb 2012, 06:11 ---Yeah, Paul Verhoeven, I really believe you when you claim it was supposed to have some sort of anti-facist message, as opposed to you pulling that explaination out of your rear so it made your crap film sound better.

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horrible start to an interesting thread

I'll just leave this here: http://www.avclub.com/articles/starship-troopers,41966/

Alex C:
Yeah, sorry OP, but that came across as hella dopey given that it's Verhoeven and that kind of shit is exactly what he does. Verhoeven doesn't do earnest messages, okay? He does pisstakes. His point wasn't just against fascism, per se, but also making fun of how stupidly fawning the media is in general. There's interviews with his producers that indicate that Verhoeven wanted to cast even younger people in most of the lead roles but they had to nix it given all the other shenanigans the movie was already getting up to.

FFS, the guy was responsible for Robocop and put Neil Patrick Harris in a costume that openly apes Nazi officer uniforms back when Neil Patrick Harris was still mostly known for playing Doogie Howser MD. I don't know how more unsubtle he could have been about what he was doing. Half the joke is that you seriously have to make war look that bad before people start thinking the things that your film shows is senseless and ugly.

Alex C:
For the record though, I've never really liked Starship Troopers.

I just don't think Paul Verhoeven is an idiot given how the movie absolutely makes sense.

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