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[Mister Apoc]

Obviously that is what Verhoeven was going for....but

I have trouble of this "parody" of fascism when the alien bugs dropped an asteroid in Argentina killing billions and are hyper evolved killing machines. It feels like undermines any message of the film for me.

 

[SupaComputa]

There's no message, it's just terran vs zerg with good looking people.

 

[Blitzkrieg!]

It’s not, that’s just something that cringe Redditors love to say because they feel so helplessly cucked by Johnny Rico.

 

[Westcliff]

Actually, it was the humans’ aggression and expansion that made the Bugs hostile in the first place. The film makes it pretty clear that the Bugs are mainly defending themselves. More importantly, at the very beginning of the movie, a new planetary defense system is introduced — one that can intercept and destroy incoming asteroids. However, this weapon wasn’t used during the attack on Buenos Aires, almost as if the destruction of the city was deliberately allowed to happen in order to justify going to full-scale war.

 

[adamsapple]

What if I told you that the bugs were framed, the asteroid was dropped by the military themselves to secure practically unlimited funding.

 

[Bry0]

It’s pretty on the nose satire. It’s kind of hard to miss.

 

[Rentahamster]

I have trouble of this "parody" of fascism when the alien bugs dropped an asteroid in Argentina killing billions and are hyper evolved killing machines. It feels like undermines any message of the film for me.

Think of how unlikely it is for the bugs to actually be able to do that, and think of how this psyop allows the government to justify any actions in its wake.

 

[Mister Apoc]

Actually, it was the humans’ aggression and expansion that made the Bugs hostile in the first place. The film makes it pretty clear that the Bugs are mainly defending themselves. More importantly, at the very beginning of the movie, a new planetary defense system is introduced — one that can intercept and destroy incoming asteroids. However, this weapon wasn’t used during the attack on Buenos Aires, almost as if the destruction of the city was deliberately allowed to happen in order to justify going to full-scale war.

I mean, Verhoeven literally believes the bugs did it though

 

[Kacho]

The satire couldn’t be more obvious. Who gives a shit though? It’s a fun ass action movie just like Robocop.

 

[T4keD0wN]

"Demigod of troll threads" who conveniently types out a key plotpoint of the movie wrong.

 

[Mister Apoc]

Think of how unlikely it is for the bugs to actually be able to do that, and think of how this psyop allows the government to justify any actions in its wake.

Verhoeven literally admitted that the bugs did it and that it wasn't a false flag or a psyop

 

[Rentahamster]

Verhoeven literally admitted that the bugs did it and that it wasn't a false flag or a psyop

Where? I don't recall seeing that before.

 

[Mister Apoc]

Where? I don't recall seeing that before.

it was on a DVD commentary i think



i think the idea that maybe the Federation could of prevented it as being possible over a false flag, but it was still a genocidal attack by the bugs

 

[Rentahamster]

it was on a DVD commentary i think



i think the idea that maybe the Federation could of prevented it as being possible over a false flag, but it was still a genocidal attack by the bugs

I see, thanks for the link! Then the implication is that the Federation let it happen. Otherwise, what's the deal with all the hubub about their new planetary defenses earlier in the movie? That would also align with the theme of a military industrial complex not letting a good tragedy go to waste.

 

[Mister Apoc]

I see, thanks for the link! Then the implication is that the Federation let it happen. Otherwise, what's the deal with all the hubub about their new planetary defenses earlier in the movie? That would also align with the theme of a military industrial complex not letting a good tragedy go to waste.

yeah i think this is the better interpretation

 

[Sonik]

Obviously that is what Verhoeven was going for....but

I have trouble of this "parody" of fascism when the alien bugs dropped an asteroid in Argentina killing billions and are hyper evolved killing machines. It feels like undermines any message of the film for me.

The bugs did that because the nutjobs had already invaded their planet. One of the reasons I despise certain ideologies especially authoritarian ones is because they start something, usually through aggression, imperialism or purge of their enemies and then act like the victims when their enemies fight back. Propaganda, mass delusion and stupidity had made that society oblivious to their vast hypocrisy

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Billions living in Argentina is the most insane thing to me.

 

[poppabk]

Obviously that is what Verhoeven was going for....but

I have trouble of this "parody" of fascism when the alien bugs dropped an asteroid in Argentina killing billions and are hyper evolved killing machines. It feels like undermines any message of the film for me.

That's what makes it good satire, it's not simple, and you get caught up in the whole thing. They do mention early on that it was probably the encroachment of humans into bug space that started the whole thing.

 

[AJUMP23]

“if you don’t cheer for the bugs you are a nazi” is a pretty bad take. But the movie is satire of war propaganda.

 

[bitbydeath]

It’s not, that’s just something that cringe Redditors love to say because they feel so helplessly cucked by Johnny Rico.

This.

The movie was made in 1997, it’s not as deep on politics as some wish to believe. It’s made to be fun.

 

[Gp1]

It's a satire from start to finish, a really cool Verhoevenian satire.
Anyways who cares about Buenos Aires?

 

[Yoboman]

The most unrealistic thing is anyone caring if Buenos Aires got hit by an asteroid

 

[Ulysses 31]

Actually, it was the humans’ aggression and expansion that made the Bugs hostile in the first place. The film makes it pretty clear that the Bugs are mainly defending themselves. More importantly, at the very beginning of the movie, a new planetary defense system is introduced — one that can intercept and destroy incoming asteroids. However, this weapon wasn’t used during the attack on Buenos Aires, almost as if the destruction of the city was deliberately allowed to happen in order to justify going to full-scale war.

The movie points towards the Federation being the aggressors and maybe allowing the meteor to hit but it's a stretch to think the bugs are launching meteors from the other side the galaxy. That would require incredible precision and take many millions of years to reach earth unless those meteors have warp engines.

 

[BlackTron]

Being able to watch this without seeing why it's anti-fascist is why it's anti-fascist.

It presents what real fascist countries do and how their populations feel morally justified (the same way you did watching the movie).

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

I find the fact that redditors would rather associate themselves with roaches rather than troopers is hilarious though.

 

[lmimmfn]

I find the fact that redditors would rather associate themselves with roaches rather than troopers is hilarious though.

It's very fitting tbh.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Actually, it was the humans’ aggression and expansion that made the Bugs hostile in the first place. The film makes it pretty clear that the Bugs are mainly defending themselves. More importantly, at the very beginning of the movie, a new planetary defense system is introduced — one that can intercept and destroy incoming asteroids. However, this weapon wasn’t used during the attack on Buenos Aires, almost as if the destruction of the city was deliberately allowed to happen in order to justify going to full-scale war.

What's more hilarious is the fact that these astroids can't move faster than light.
Let's just assume they were moving at 99% the speed of light. Have you seen where the bug star system is? It's like 5000 lightyears away from earth.

Hurling astroids as a weapon between star systems has to be the dumbest thing ever

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

Guys, seriously...

The asteroid impact is a FALSE FLAG attack, it's clear as day, for fucks sake. That's the way the goverment justifies the invasion, something that we have seen a few times in actual history.

The whole movie is a satire from start to end. The super pretty boys are all perfect Aryan race, the nazi uniforms, there's nothing subtle about it. Humans behave like fucking insects, even more than the insects themselves. That's explicitly said by Carmen after the failed invasion.

 

[Fake]

I find the fact that redditors would rather associate themselves with roaches rather than troopers is hilarious though.

Would be a perfect sequel.

 

[Shaki12345]

Just listen to a Verhoeven interview. Dude is very clear in his intentions and it shows perfectly in almost all of his movies. ST is obviously satire and Verhoeven is definitely anti-fascist.

 

[jason10mm]

The only thing ST is really missing is a "sexy bug" that clumsily tries to seduce one of the characters.

 

[poppabk]

Just listen to a Verhoeven interview. Dude is very clear in his intentions and it shows perfectly in almost all of his movies. ST is obviously satire and Verhoeven is definitely anti-fascist.

“I borrowed from the films of Leni Riefenstahl to show that these soldiers were like something out of Nazi propaganda. I even put one in an SS uniform. But no one noticed”

 

[Clear]

Just listen to a Verhoeven interview. Dude is very clear in his intentions and it shows perfectly in almost all of his movies. ST is obviously satire and Verhoeven is definitely anti-fascist.

Or normal, politically speaking, as we used to say!

Anti-Fascist sounds like a slogan. Because that's what its been turned into.

 

[violence]

The movie is how Verhoeven saw the book.

Edward Neumeier, who wrote starship troopers 1 and 2 but also wrote and directed 3, has a song that gives us a clue.

 

[poppabk]

Are any of the other movies good. I tried watching 2, but it was just a bunch of bad actors running around in fog, so I quit.

 

[ADiTAR]

Its a movie you jo as a boy to that shower scene.

 

[violence]

Are any of the other movies good. I tried watching 2, but it was just a bunch of bad actors running around in fog, so I quit.

I’ve never actually seen any of them. I’m told they’re not that great. They’re low budget, straight-to-video movies.

 

[lifa-cobex]

For many years I thought that the metor being dropped was propaganda and a perfect excuse for full invasion.
How would bugs send a metor through space?

However as Verhoeven said that the bugs sent it. Earth could have delt with it with it's defence ring.
I still belive Earth let it happen as an excuse for full invasion.

Even all that aside. The teacher in this clip explains pretty well what is being taught to the younger gen.
Don't pay attention to the pretty people. Listen to what the teacher is saying even when he's in the background......




Sign up and go to war if you want any form political rights even as basic as voting.
Otherwise you have no real value.

Pretty sure the scene of them all in the shower being asked why they signed up. One woman says becuase she wants to have babys.
Might be remembering it wrong but that would also stipulate that you can only breed if you serve.

 

[jason10mm]

Sign up and go to war if you want any form political rights even as basic as voting.
Otherwise you have no real valvalue

Service, military or civil, as a prereq for higher involvement in the country's funcrion, like voting, isn't a bad idea. Unrestrained democracy has issues as well, as we have seen in the US for the past couple decades.

Buy in, so long as it isn't overly restrictive as to who has access, is not an inherently bad idea. Plenty of.countries have compulsory military serv8ce as well.

 

[Rentahamster]

The only thing ST is really missing is a "sexy bug" that clumsily tries to seduce one of the characters.

 

[Kacho]

That's it, I'm rewatching this tonight. The only good bug is a dead bug.

 

[Stitch]

The only thing ST is really missing is a "sexy bug" that clumsily tries to seduce one of the characters.

That’s what's happening in Starship Troopers 2.. Kinda..

 

[Griffon]

Pretty sure the scene of them all in the shower being asked why they signed up. One woman says becuase she wants to have babys.
Might be remembering it wrong but that would also stipulate that you can only breed if you serve.

Yes... that's inconsistent with the fact that the parents of Johnny Rico seemed to afford a kid just fine, and be very well off themselves at that. So which is it?

 

[IntentionalPun]

It’s not, that’s just something that cringe Redditors love to say because they feel so helplessly cucked by Johnny Rico.

Cringe redditors like the writer and the director?

 

[I collect VHS tapes]

Cringe redditors like the writer and the director?

I think it's a film people generally remember fondly as it was hugely popular in the 90s, so as adults some people try to frame it within their identity politics to allow themselves to continue enjoying it

 

[lifa-cobex]

Service, military or civil, as a prereq for higher involvement in the country's funcrion, like voting, isn't a bad idea. Unrestrained democracy has issues as well, as we have seen in the US for the past couple decades.

Buy in, so long as it isn't overly restrictive as to who has access, is not an inherently bad idea. Plenty of.countries have compulsory military serv8ce as well.

I'm not inherantly againts mandatory service. Pros and cons.
Debatable for another thread i guess.

But in the way it's depicted in this film. I'd say it's a fast track to brain washing. For this world it kinda hammers home that people are bred to kill and serve. You get no rights unless you serve your goverment in a dictatorship way.

Yes... that's inconsistent with the fact that the parents of Johnny Rico seemed to afford a kid just fine, and be very well off themselves at that. So which is it?

Yea I wondered about that.
possibly that law only recently came into effect.

Or maybe money can get you around it. It kinda shows that Rico's family are wealthy from the outet of the house.

 

[bitbydeath]

For many years I thought that the metor being dropped was propaganda and a perfect excuse for full invasion.
How would bugs send a metor through space?

However as Verhoeven said that the bugs sent it. Earth could have delt with it with it's defence ring.
I still belive Earth let it happen as an excuse for full invasion.

Even all that aside. The teacher in this clip explains pretty well what is being taught to the younger gen.
Don't pay attention to the pretty people. Listen to what the teacher is saying even when he's in the background......




Sign up and go to war if you want any form political rights even as basic as voting.
Otherwise you have no real value.

Is that really facist or just something that will happen when war is looming?

We’ve seen it in the past, and to me it just comes down to survival.

That’s the problem with these labels.
It’s like if we applied facism to staying home due to Covid, it’s something we had to do.

 

[poppabk]

Yes... that's inconsistent with the fact that the parents of Johnny Rico seemed to afford a kid just fine, and be very well off themselves at that. So which is it?

Think she says service makes it easier to get a license to have a baby. The rich would just buy one or be fast tracked some other way.

 

[Space Runaway]

Think she says service makes it easier to get a license to have a baby. The rich would just buy one or be fast tracked some other way.

Yeah, she says "it's a lot easier to get a license if you've served." So clearly still possible without serving, though with some nebulous level of difficulty.

 

[Rentahamster]

Yes... that's inconsistent with the fact that the parents of Johnny Rico seemed to afford a kid just fine, and be very well off themselves at that. So which is it?

Cuz they're rich. That affords people of privilege opportunities that the other plebs in the shower scene didn't have themselves. In an authoritarian state like the one depicted in the movie, rich people have opportunities and can operate relatively free of the oppressive state because they can afford to do so. Poor people can't, so they can "freely" "choose" to enlist and join said authoritarian state to get rights they probably should have had by default anyway.

It contrasts well with the advice the teacher gives Rico after the prom about having the freedom to choose for yourself. Rico can. The others can't.