Re: A fresh take on the Star Wars films

Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> wrote:

On 5/12/2024 6:44 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:

shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

Sat, 11 May 2024 22:35:20 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:

Fri, 10 May 2024 19:06:45 -0400, moviePig <nobody@nowhere.com> wrote:

Well, *somebody* with wit had to have been behind it.  That much
tongue-in-cheek can't have been accidental.  Fwiw, the Internet seems
rather definite that Verhoeven (a dedicated Liberal) was satirizing.

Got a cite on that? Sounds like an interesting article or two.

https://collider.com/starship-troopers-review-satire-at-its-best/

The cold hard truth of Starship Troopers, Paul Verhoeven's 1997
follow-up to his infamous 1995 Showgirls, is painfully obvious from
the start: this is not Oscar bait. The acting is wooden, especially
from lead actor Casper Van Dien. Denise Richards' performance is also
suspect, playing aspiring pilot Carmen Ibanez. The only actors that
stand out are the steady veterans Clancy Brown and Michael Ironside.
What Starship Troopers is, though, is satire at its best, with
Verhoeven masterfully weaving social commentary and potshots
throughout the film.

 

And here's the thing. He's not. He thought he made a straightforward,
action, adventure, film, and any social commentary or potshots escaped his
notice.

IIRC he has said it was supposed to show how evil Nazis are.

Verhoeven ain't Mister Subtlety. That's why I said he took so many cheap
shots. Did he have something new to say? Not at all.

But he wasn't up to the challenge of making a decent adaptation that
entertained without satire.

I love RoboCop. The social satire works. That is an entertainment movie
and it just had no right to be. It was plagued with so many pre-production
problems it almost didn't get made. Peter Weller creates a fully-drawn
character later in the movie as he starts to remember his former life,
despite the helmut. That's a difficult acting challenge.

Verhoeven's other good movies are... I forget.