Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS is exactly what it sets out to be - fun, sometimes exciting, imaginative and wildly entertaining to boot! But it’s also got something many films in this genre try for and miss - spirit.
I can’t say that the world is a better place due to STARSHIP TROOPERS, but for all-out, undiluted, grand escapist entertainment - it’s a small masterpiece in its own right.
Every level of this film works flawlessly. The acting is strictly TV-style in quality, but it’s darned good surface quality, at that, and the actors deliver their nifty lines (’’Let’s get that big bug!’’) with plenty of good-natured conviction.
They all seem to be having a really good time being in the film too. This jovial mood is easily contagious. Casper Von Dien, in particular, may get slammed for his pretty boy theatrics, but he carries his role off with the same energetic appeal that Harrison Ford displayed in the first STAR WARS. (And remember, Ford wasn’t exactly a quality actor back then, either.)
Verhoeven’s direction here is simply dazzling. For the first time, Verhoeven seems to be working as a team player, where every department, whether it be editing, photography, set design, or music, flawlessly compliments the other.
There’s a unity of forces at work here, so the whole production feels like an organic whole, where every component is well-defined and elicits the exact effect intended. And there’s a great pleasure in seeing a big-budget production where the money and a grandoise scope haven’t clouded the director’s judgment or his ability to logistically put together a movie with the seamless confidence so wonderfully displayed here.
Oh yes and you have babes like Denise Richards and Daisy Fuentes in it too!