io9
The writer of Robocop and the original Starship Troopers is bringing his bizarro brand of political satire to Starship Troopers III, his directorial debut. We'd been lukewarm about yet another direct-to-DVD sequel of Paul Verhoeven's classic actioner, but the clips and Q&A with Ed Neumeier, plus stars Jolene Blalock and Casper Van Dien, went a long way toward changing our minds. Details and pics after the jump.
Van Dien is back, after skipping Troopers II, as Johnny Rico. And Blalock plays Capt. Lola Beck, a pilot. Here's how Blalock describes her character: "She's a no-nonsense staraight shooter, who shoots from the hip but also has a heart of gold." Neumeier, who also wrote the script for Troopers II, says Sony realized it skimped on the budget for the (fairly successful) second movie, so there's more money this time around. 
Starship Troopers III is much truer to the original Heinlein book than the first two movies, Van Dien and Neumeier both stressed. We might actually get to see the power suits that Heinlein talks about in the book. "I feel a great debt to the fans of the novel," said Neumeier. "I adore the novel. I read it when i was 13."
Neumeier sees the Troopers trilogy as a sort of history of war movies. The first Starship Troopers is sort of a riff on World War II movies, partly motivated by Verhoeven's desire to deal with the experience of Germans in the mid-1930s, when the Nazis were rising to power. The second Troopers is more of a Korean war movie. And the third one is much more of a Vietnam war film, dealing with issues of religion and politics. It's also about "how the state can use religion both badly, and for good."
This time around, it's eleven years later and the war is not going so well. There's much less public support for the war effort than there was in the first movie, said Van Dien.
Also, there are three new types of bugs, two of which appeared in the clips we saw at Wondercon. One new bug is called a Bombadier, and it's a sort of ball that lands among a group of human soldiers and then explodes (one human throws himself onto it and sacrifices himself for the others), then grows into a big eyestalk that shoots white fire.
Another clip showcased Neumeier's trademark zany fake TV coverage, with a fake news segment about the new Q-bomb, which can destroy an entire planet. Some religious fanatics say humans shouldn't have the right to choose which planets live and which ones die, but others say the Q-bomb may finally help destroy the bugs once and for all. And then there's a recruiting segment for the Fleet, which parodies all those "Army of One" spots for the U.S. Army and emphasizes that 16-year-olds can join. It ends with someone saying, "See you in the Cockpit!"
Both Van Dien and Neumeier said they would like to make a Troopers TV series.
Neumeier said he got lots of advice from Verhoeven, who read the script and told him, "You look frightened, and you should be." He talks often to "Uncle Paul."
Someone asked Blalock why she gravitates toward so many science fiction roles. She said:
The reason I've done a lot of science fiction is because my first big job was Star Trek, [so] a lot of the offers i get are science fiction. The universe shines down on me, in a psychobabble way. That's what's inside me, and so that's what the universe offers me.So there you go.
Comments
I must admit I actually watched the second one, so by default I cannot complain about this one. That being said, I'm more excited to see this. And Starship Troopers would probably make an excellent TV show especially if they add the kind of war parody with Iraqistan going on right now.
But, if they are using the book, they should either use the universe and call it a day, or use the book and call it a movie that IS the book that way the fans don't go in with expectations of the book, we can just hope for a good sci fi film.
direct to dvd usually means bad. not always, but usually
HOWEVER!!
directors of robocop AND the original starship troopers?
the original starship troops was pretty well done (though bore virtually no resemblance to the book) and robocop...is f**king robocop.
isnt nessecarily going to be good...but certainly has potential
for those who dont know...there was a direct to dvd "starship troopers 2." its pretty great if you feel like one of those "so bad its good" movies. One of the best parts about it is it has one the people who died in the original movie.
@Log1c:
there was a tv show, it wasnt too bad, but took the story in a whole different direction. it was also done entirely in CGI, which i felt took away from the show.
Of course Van Dien would love to work on a TV show... What else is he doing?
For the record - any actress that uses, "...heart of gold." to describe the character is saying, "I sleep with the male lead 2/3 of the way through the movie, regret it, then at the end, realize that is WAS love."
@robotstephe: That's what Dizzy did in the original, except for the regretting it part.
I for one love reading about the power armor, and would see it for that.
The cartoon series was quite good (it included power armor and Skinnies), but the production company couldn't produce the episodes fast enough, and stations carrying it kept having to reshow the same eps, with an occasional new one thrown in. In the end the producers had to throw together a bunch of clip shows to fulfill their contractual obligations, and the storyline was left on a cliffhanger, with the bugs about to invade the Earth.
I'd much rather see a conclusion to that than more movies or a new TV series.
That sounds Ok, but i want "Bill The Galactic Hero" Because, as we know, it's always bowb your buddy week.
verhoven is great. if he's behind this then i WILL See this. as a kid starship troopers was my favourite movie. i fantasized about sequels. its still a great movie and i adore the book . so as opposed to the 2nd movie ( of wich i saw a few terrible minutes) i actually look foreward to this one. and those "zany" fake commercials were one of the best parts of the first movie.
I long for the day I can pi$$ on Verhoven's grave for the way he pi$$ed on the book.
Nope, still don't care.
My head nearly exploded trying to figure out the stage version of S.T..
That's what's so fascinating about the movie/anime franchise: seeing the ways the movie outdoes the books vs. the ways the book outdo the movies.
Nice, it'd be great to see a closer version to the novel, any hope of seein some skinnies? Hopefully we dont see the armor suits in the last few seconds of the movie in a montage clip of the Earth forces starting to turn the tide...
@SeanOHara: It was called RoughnecksI thought the bugs had invaded the earth...Razak dies as a result of a battle in San Francisco Bay, Rico is put in charge and they brought Clancy Brown back as Zim to be his first Sgt.
You can buy the whole series for around $25.
Is that geeky enough?
@doctor_cos:
You know, I tried...really, really tried to get into Roughnecks, but I thought is was rubbish. The animation and voice acting were pretty weak. Please just give me dudes in Marauder Powered Suits and lets call it a day.
(one human throws himself onto it and sacrifices himself for the others)
when they put me on a stamp, tell them to use...The young Bender.
I feel like I'm missing out...can somebody tell me why Starship Troopers resembled anything like a good movie? If I remember, I was taken out of the movie with the intro of the protagonists as two vapid-looking people having some sort of bizarre flirting match involving a crappy looking animated email.
Now power armor? I loved the first one for what it was, and I loved the book FWIW. It would be interesting to see the two combine.
But if you're going with power armor... I want to see a WH40K movie. Kings of power armor.
The CGI TV series was amazing. One of the best animated series in recent memory. Really amazing. I've never been a big fan of the movies. Jolene Blalock scores enough points with me, though. :)
okay, so I'm marginally excited by the prospect of a new Starship Troopers movie that may not suck. But really, they need to let go of the Heinlan and move on - I mean, when is someone going to turn The Forever War into a movie? /whine
My favorite moments associated with the original ST movie was when TWO different Washington Post writers condemned the movie as a Fascist romp, as opposed to satire or commentary on fascism and warmongering!
Let's hope this third movie is interesting and challenging enough to raise similar hackles.
@jrghoull: Yup I watched the CGI TV show as a kid. I used to get up at 6 am so I could watch it before school. It was cool then, but they didn't really bother with any continuity.
I bought the set on DVD, amazon has it. Too bad they clifhanger the HELL out of the series.
I've never seen Starship Troopers 2, but it was directed by Phil Tippett who did the special effects for Empire Strikes Back.
sometimes when 2 ppl post on this at once, one of the comments don't show up...
I'm still trying to figure out how anybody could read Starship Troopers and think the first movie was anything but pure, unadulterated crap. The cartoon series blew the doors off it.
I'll be delighted to line up behind AmishJohn at the grave/urinal.
meh... the best version of starship troopers has been done and it was called ALIENS.
jin
It's funny that the premise of this movie is that public support for the war is failing. I see how they are trying to connect it to the Iraq War, but I'm sure Heinlein would find the comparison tremendously inappropriate.
The war described in the book isn't a local skirmish with limited commitments of resources - Heinlein makes it clear that both species are fighting for the outright annihilation of the other. It's not exactly a voluntary war when the Bugs are regularly destroying Earth cities with asteroids and blowing up the Moon.
There's even a conversation in the book between Rico and a typically naive civilian who assumes that her friends on a colony invaded by bugs are still alive because they are civilians - not realizing the bugs kill everyone.
According to wikipedia, the first movie was already well into preproduction before it was linked to Heinlein's novel, and even then Verhoeven didn't even really read it because he thought it was boring. The result was the philosophical opposite of everything Heinlein was writing about.
Now the writer from the first one is the director? PASS.
The book remains a favorite of mine, and the first movie was great for what it was. I never saw any of the shows or the other movies though.
I'm suprised in all of this no one has mentioned Yet Another Fox Canceled Show, "Space Above and Beyond" which was simliar to ST and a little bit of the reimagined BSG, but was not the greatest TV show in the world as I recall..
@goldenthorn: You are right on, goldenthorn. The Forever War would make for a great movie. Come on, why do we still suffer though 50-year-old plots? Movie people: get your Heinlein/Asimov fix over with and start making movies based on semimodern SF. Niven and Pournelle's Motie books would be a great start. Who's me? who's bloody with me?
I loved the book as a kid but had no problems with the 1st movie - it was funny, fast, lots of action, great satire. The second "film" was utter rubbish - horrible script, no sense of humour, no satire, just horrible. The animated series was pitched at 12 year olds who I assume didn't like it much. Now if the script writer of Robocop and SST 1 is writing/directing, I'm def. interested!
C'mon - how about the Iain Banks Culture novels as a TV series - a bit of Lexx mixed with a bit of BSG and a bit of Star Wars - with sarcasm! That'd be a winner.
@MarsFlyer: I'd go with Known Space... perhaps Beouwulf Schaeffer era. Or perhaps the Kizinti Wars.
I loved Forever War, but wonder if it might be a bit bleak to succeed as a movie. There's been some incredibly good pictures made in the wake of the Iraq invasion, and none of them has been a huge hit at the box office.
The Culture novels on TV...now THERE'S an idea. I argued with my friends for years about how stupid it was to cram a novel as complex as Dune into a movie. Predictably, it didn't work. The mini-series, on the other hand, was very nicely done.
I think we're past the point where science fiction concepts have to be "dumbed down" so mainstream viewers can follow along. Alternate universes, time travel paradoxes, terra-forming and the rest have made their way into the popular culture. It's time to let some kick-ass screenwriters loose on some challenging material and see what comes out.
There was a ST II? We'll see if The Master's politics will be portrayed as they are in the book. The "right to vote comes with military service" is a bit too elitist for most video game/movies whose only goal seems to provide explosions for an increasingly brain dead population of sf viewers. (Notice, I did not say Readers.)
"She's a no-nonsense staraight shooter, who shoots from the hip but also has a heart of gold."
Wow, and they say originality is dead.
@ElijahDProphet: I was thinking the same thing. Can you pack any more cliches in one sentence?
Here's the definitive Starship Troopers movie review, as far as I'm concerned:
[www.spoonyexperiment.com]
Poor Jolene. I hope someone gives her some GOOD SciFi to work with.
@jrghoull: Wasn't it a fairly serious prequel? I saw some of that and I thought the premise was that they were the first batch of guys to meet the bugs on like pluto or somewhere. I didn't really know/care, but ut wasn't bad.
@ggodo: *it wasn't bad
I want an edit button
The first movie wasn't true to the book (no powered suits) but at least they didn't ignore Heinlein altogether -- earned citizenship, military esprit de corp, dialogue and location details, etc. I thought it was goofy fun. I don't think I want to see the second one...maybe the third but you guys go first.
Why doesn't someone make "Citizen of the Galaxy" into a film? That always struck me as eminently filmable.
is it just me? i HATED the starship troopers movie... only saw the first one. and i don't know what book you guys read but the one in my head looked absolutely nothing like casper van dien, the vapid looking blonde chick who i forget the name of or doogie houser. from casting to script to production design (boxy, ugly, unimaginative ships, generic as all heck body armor... bugs were pretty good but got old fast) to direction. that movie cannot POSSIBLY be taken as anywhere close to the spirit of the book. it's 90210 meets aliens.... ugh. robocop is astonishingly good. total recall could have been HORRIBLE was awesome. starship falls sooooooooo short of the mark imo. verhoeven is just uneven as hell.
Comment on this post
Reply by EmailLogin with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?