I Did Not Like "Starship Troopers" When I First Saw It. I Was Wrong

Every once in a while I will go back and rewatch movies that I have only seen once, a long-ish time ago, and see if my ideas on them have changed over the years. I just did this with "Starship Troopers". Let’s discuss.

I remember seeing it when it came out in 1997 and not really liking it all that much. I thought it was gross, a little too long and I just didn't get the story they were trying to tell. Recently I heard some people on a podcast talking about the movie, they are roughly my age, and they were singing the movies' praises. They seemed to really enjoy the movie now that they were older. This was the kind of push I needed to check the movie out again, to give it one more shot.

I'm here to say, "Starship Troopers" rules. It is one of the rare movies from the late 90's that knew exactly what it was and what it wanted to be. Paul Verhoven directed the movie, and it absolutely showed during this rewatch. I have always been a fan of the original "Robocop", and a lot of that is due to Verhoven's direction. The dude knew how to make a late 90's action movie. He had the eye for it. This is shown tenfold in "Starship Troopers". The war sequences in this movie are brutal and they rule. He wasted no time showing how violent and destructive the bugs could be. Soldiers are getting ripped in half in this movie, and it feels like Verhoven didn't even blink an eye directing these scenes. He wanted the viewer to see how brutal war could be, even in a sci-fi movie like this. The soldiers have no shortage of bullets and weapons either, but it never feels like enough when they're fighting the bugs.

Verhoven and the writers also knew how to write females. The women in this are never really put upon like they were in other movies in the same genre. Sure, Rico gets elevated very quickly, but so does his buddy, and she is also on the futuristic football team, with him at the beginning of the movie. Denise Richards easily climbs to the top of the pilot program she is a part of in her role. When the main characters get shipped to a new unit, the lady they run into takes no crap and instantly punches Busey in the face. She rules. The women in this movie are just as strong and important as anyone in the military, and I think that showed some nice insight from the people involved in making this movie.

There's comedy in this movie in the beginning. They're telling straight up jokes and the jokes land. I don't remember that being the case the first time I watched it, but it was evident during this viewing. Verhoven knows how to lighten the mood when needed, and it was important in this movie.

Also I never questioned why Rico would continue to fight. He joins to be closer to Richards, who is his girlfriend at the beginning. He sticks around even after she breaks up with him, and he gets promoted too. He is involved in a death during a drill, and he thinks about leaving then. But he speaks to his parents, realizes they have been vaporized, and he decides to stay and fight for them. He then hooks up with his friend from the football team, but she gets spiked by one of the bugs and doesn't make it. Everyone he loves or loved keeps getting bumped off, so all he can do is fight to deal with the pain and anger. There is never really a moment when I question his motives.

I couldn't have been more wrong on this movie when I was 15. "Starship Troopers" rules. This is one of the better army movies that have come out in the last 30 years. The movie tells a cool and fun and interesting story. The actors do some solid work. Every character seems to be written as equals. I adore this movie now. I'm glad I gave it a second chance. "Starship Troopers" is indeed a banger of a movie. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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