This totally great film was directed by Paul Verhoeven and is definately the best film in its class.
The Plot:
The film is mainly about Johnny Rico (played by Casper Van Dien) who is a good student that is dating a very sexy girl called Carmen (played by Denise Richards) while going to high school. Also there are his other friends Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris) and Dizzy (played by Dina Meyer) who has a big love thing for Johnny but he doesn’t realise it. They have just finished their exams and it is here where we find out that Carmen is a maths genius. She’s going to sign up with the army hoping to become a shuttle pilot. Johnny’s results aren’t too good and he decides to sign up as well so that he can still be with Carmen. Johnny’s parents are strongly against this and he leaves them after a bitter argument. Johnny goes to boot camp and is surprised to see Dizzy turn up and join his squadron. She wants to be with Johnny but he still dismisses it.
After some very funny training sequences, Johnny is promoted to squad commander. He shows a lot of promise. He still sends video letters to Carmen and then she replies with a letter saying that their relationship can’t last. He’s on Earth and she’s flying cruisers around a moon base. Johnny doesn’t take it to well. On the next training exercise which is target practice against targets which can shoot back. An accident occurs when one cadet is shot through the head. Johnny is punished and decides that he has made the wrong decision and will go home to his parents. Then news comes in that an asteroid has wiped out Buenos Aires (South America - Johnny’s home).
Johnny abandons his resignation and keeps training so he can go and fight whoever caused this. Now the fun starts... The first trooper squads lands on the bugs homeworld and gets slaughtered. And that’s exactly what I mean. Troopers being ripped into pieces. Johnny nearly gets his leg torn off and is declared killed in action. Nearly all of the troopers carriers in orbit are shot down or blown to pieces. The entire thing was a disaster.
The Earth government decide to take out the bugs slowly by clearing each of the moons around the bug homeworld. Johnny is nursed back to full health and placed in a squad run by his old school teacher, Jean Rasczak (played by Micheal Ironside) This squad is called the roughnecks and it is this squad who we follow for the remainder of the film.
I don’t want to say any more as it will spoil the enjoyment of the film. Just expect a lot of people and bugs being killed and torn to pieces in the last hour and a half. So, the big question is: What are the effects like? They’re the best CGI creatures so far. They’re evil and menacing. They’re overgrown ants who have an attitude. And theirs s**t loads of them. Several times when the troopers think they’re safe, the nearby hills are filled with swarms and swarms of approaching bugs. They look cool close up as well. You can’t tell the CGI bugs from the full size versions which were built for certain scenes. The rest of the effects are also up with today’s standard, i.e. amazing.
The acting is a little cheesy at times but that only adds to the enjoyment of the film. Its a action packed, fun filled, bug killing two hours of a movie. It comes highly recommended and a definate must see.