Unpopular opinions go here

[aramis erak]

Verhoven's "Starship Troopers" is a piece of garbage.

Despite being trash, it's filled with enjoyable performances from well confirmed scenery-chewers...
... provided one can forget/ignore it's a deconstruction of the novel.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Despite being trash, it's filled with enjoyable performances from well confirmed scenery-chewers...
... provided one can forget/ignore it's a deconstruction of the novel.

I like the book but I also enjoy that the movie is so different from the book (and in some ways a reaction to it). I think both are amazing works of science fiction

 

[Bedrockgames]

Er... that is a relatively unpopular opinion. There's a pretty sizeable amount of people who love that film, stating that its genius satire.

I don't know if the satire is genius but it is very entertaining. I think the reason people say that about it is apparently a number of folks didn't realize it was a satire and took the message the movie was mocking literally (I honestly don't know how one could misread it though because the satire is as subtle as a sledge hammer). I think another reason people might have missed the satire is the characters don't wink at the camera to let you know. It still gets you to feel for the characters even though they represent fascism (the movie wouldn't work if you couldn't connect to the characters I think). I think what actually makes it an interesting movie is the the visuals, the tone, the humor, and that it essentially assembles a cast meant to be reminiscent of a 90s teen show like Beverly Hills 90210 and turns them into fascists over the course of the movie against the backdrop of the bug attack. It isn't for everyone though, and it is a 180 of the book (also it changes a number of things in the book too, perhaps most notably the mobile infantry are just infantry, they don't do the whole bodysuit thing which kind of defined them in the book). Personally I loved the movie. It is one of those films, like Robocop, that I enjoy watching every few years and both hold up quite well for me (I would say Robocop is the better movie for sure but this is still a very good one too).

Also the film has a great performance by Michael Ironside. He is one of the things that really makes it work, and he represents, albeit from a completely different angle, one of the elements of the book that was most fascinating. The lecture he gives is much more extensive in the book---but his character kind of embodies it though the movie---and I always found that part of the novel fascinating). Clancy Brown also has a great role in it. The leads are hit or miss, but they are meant to be annoying teenagers at first, so it works (I don't particularly care for Denise Richards for example but you are kind of meant to resent her anyways). Jake Busey is quite entertaining, and Neil Patrick Harris was a good casting choice for the role he was selected for. Dina Meyer I think stands out among the three lead protagonists.

I haven't seen it and don't have any feelings towards it, but I'd call the opinion expressed at-least controversial?

Starship Troopers, the movie, has always had fans and critics. While I love the film, I do think its fans have become somewhat annoying about it on the internet. Some people prefer the book and don't like the changes, which is always a fair opinion in my mind. I think they made the right choice though as the movie is entertaining because of its contrast to the book (were it a straight retelling of the story I don't think it would have been as interesting because what drives Starship Troopers for me are the ideas). By internet logic, not liking Starship Troopers the film probably falls under the category of unpopular. I do think people who like the movie owe themselves a reading of the book because you get a more complete sense of what Voerhoven was reacting to (my understanding is he put the book down he was so disgusted, but I believe the screen writer was a fan of the book, and I think that contrast is why it works: it is satirizing the story's ideas but the actual story telling of the movie takes the setting and its characters very seriously (I think if the characters we simply there to be mocked, it wouldn't have worked as well). For example, if you disagree with the books message, and if you feel the film is set in a dystopia, you still can't help but respect Michael Ironside's character, even though he probably represents beliefs you find abhorrent.

 

[Emberashh]

Starship Troopers suffers a bit for being a reaction to how Robocop was recieved. Robocop was a lot more subtle satirically and even today people miss what its actually doing, but back then even less people really got it.

ST was Verhoeven dialing that back.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Personally, the Star Wars franchise was killed by The Phantom Menace. Haven’t watched a minute of what followed.

I haven’t watched any of the Trek reboot, and the little bit of the TV show that aired on broadcast TV guaranteed I wasn’t going to pay for a subscription service to continue watching it. I haven’t watched any of the subsequent Trek series either.

To be fair, part of that IS because I generally refuse to pay for subscription services in addition to or substituting for my cable service. But NO show has been good enough to plunk down additional money to watch it.

 

[payn]

Verhoven's "Starship Troopers" is a piece of garbage.

Given the source material...

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Starship Troopers suffers a bit for being a reaction to how Robocop was recieved. Robocop was a lot more subtle satirically and even today people miss what its actually doing, but back then even less people really got it.

ST was Verhoeven dialing that back.

Any bit of comedy that employs satire, irony, or sarcasm in a proper and correct fashion requires that some portion of the audience be confused (or even hurt) by the comedy.

Ambiguity is not a bug, but the central feature of any type comedy that plays with or invokes satire and irony. Simply put, the possibility that a reader can misunderstand the message is necessary to the proper conveyance of the message.

This ambiguity is not a bug - it is the distinguishing feature

 

[payn]

Personally, the Star Wars franchise was killed by The Phantom Menace. Haven’t watched a minute of what followed.

I haven’t watched any of the Trek reboot, and the little bit of the TV show that aired on broadcast TV guaranteed I wasn’t going to pay for a subscription service to continue watching it. I haven’t watched any of the subsequent Trek series either.

To be fair, part of that IS because I generally refuse to pay for subscription services in addition to or substituting for my cable service. But NO show has been good enough to plunk down additional money to watch it.

You should take advantage of Amazon's black Friday streaming fire sale (many many services offered for 2 months for 2 dollars). Not saying you should use the sale for Trek, but if you want a service for cheap its a great offer.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Personally, the Star Wars franchise was killed by The Phantom Menace. Haven’t watched a minute of what followed.

I agree. This was the first thing that killed it. But it is a franchise that has been killed by many hands since

I haven’t watched any of the Trek reboot, and the little bit of the TV show that aired on broadcast TV guaranteed I wasn’t going to pay for a subscription service to continue watching it. I haven’t watched any of the subsequent Trek series either.

I had no interest in the Abrams Star Trek movies and no real interest in the new series (even though most of the actors involved are people I am a fan of).

To be fair, part of that IS because I generally refuse to pay for subscription services in addition to or substituting for my cable service. But NO show has been good enough to plunk down additional money to watch it.

I am with you here. Amazon and Netflix have been grandfathered in in my household (and frankly been meaning to get rid of both eventually). I won't pay for Disney or any other networks doing more streaming. Netflix used to be good until everything got taken off it so that we could have more streaming platforms to pay for (I started Netflix back when they were just about sending movies in the mail).

 

[Bedrockgames]

Given the source material...

I think the source novel is a good book. Opinions will vary of course. It definitely takes a much more right wing and militaristic view than I myself hold, but as a reader I enjoyed engaging with the ideas Heinlein had and with the story in the book (he at least presented some interesting arguments even if I didn't share his conclusions). And I liked his writing style (all other aspects of the book aside, Starship Troopers was one of those novels I had to read in one or two sittings because I just kept wanting to go further into the story). One thing I like about a lot of the older science fiction from that era is you do have a range of political and philosophical points of view spread among them. He is not my favorite science fiction writer, but I see why people like him a lot (I tend to prefer people like Clarke, Herbert, Niven and Asimov).