Film
Bristol Film Festival: Starship Troopers
- Director
- Paul Verhoeven
- Certificate
- 18
- Running Time
- 124 mins
The first half of Paul Verhoeven’s SF flick, adapted from Robert Heinlein’s controversial pulp SF classic, lulls you into a false sense of security by resembling an episode of a glossy American TV series peopled by bland, good looking young people with perfect teeth and no discernible personality. But once the ravening giant alien insects begin their limb-slicing, head-ripping, chest-piercing, brain-sucking mayhem in earnest, you’ll see why this deceptively banal build-up is so vital, because the second half of the film functions as a deeply ironic, savagely satirical commentary on the first, mutating into a sly cautionary tale about the dangers of fascistic militarism. Superficially a pastiche of the cliché-ridden ‘B’ picture in which selfless young people heroically lay down their lives for the greater good, Robocop writer Ed Neumeier’s subversive script exposes the pointlessness of relentless carnage, while Verhoeven delivers on the bellicose bug front.
This Bristol Film Festival screening is part of the fest’s Underground Cinema series. Go here for tickets and further information.
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