
Starship Troopers (1997)When I watched it as a child, I remember that the first 20 minutes of the film somehow went over my head; all those conversations with the teacher, bio-problems, school, and so on – what's the point? Where's the pew-pew, where's the epic music and explosions? And then it all started, and I watched and enjoyed it; the music, the special effects, and the heroism of the main characters – it all seemed great to me. Later, when I got a little older, I learned that it was a satire on fascism. By that time, I had only a vague memory of the film, so I decided that such an assessment was far-fetched; who knows what Verhoeven said, I only remembered the gray uniforms as being related to fascism. So, I rewatched it.
It turns out that the beginning of the film is actually the most important, because the teacher directly says that strength is the basis of everything, that veterans have taken control of the government by taking it away from weak democrats and fixed everything. "I am contributing" is almost a direct quote from the film "Triumph of the Will." And here we can understand that we are watching a film that is by no means about utopia, or rather, about utopia, but in the view of fascists. There are also hints of American imperialism when they show the other side of the galaxy and say, "There are bugs there, they are interfering with our lives, we must kill them." There are also hints of all these false-flag attacks when they say at the beginning that the asteroid defense system is working perfectly, but an asteroid that has traveled halfway across the galaxy hits Earth. In general, having grown older and wiser, I understand that this is indeed a clear satire on fascism; the main character is also chosen impeccably – a wooden face (especially in the presence of his girlfriend), but with the right features and the right skull. In general, I don't remember seeing any unattractive people in the film, even among the black people, which, as it seems to me, is also a hint. I was also amused by how they made fun of feminism with the communal shower; it's all right, men and women can train equally, fight equally, kill equally, die equally, but they can't take a shower together? Very progressive.
As a child, I remember that the special effects seemed amazing, and even now they look at least good and decent, except for some moments that were drawn on a computer. After all, practical stunts and special effects are cool; they almost don't age over time, which cannot be said about modern green screens, which often look bad even in the year of their release. I think it is important to note this.
However, the battle scenes seemed a bit boring, but not because their implementation is bad, but because the most important thing in the film is the satirical subtext, and the battles are even somewhat parodic in nature.
An excellent film, in a word.