|
Chomp, chomp, chomp go the bugs in 'Starship Troopers'
November 6, 1997
Web posted at: 5:55 p.m. EST (2255 GMT)HOLLYWOOD (CNN) -- The insect-laden adventure flick "Starship Troopers" had its world premiere Wednesday night. Now, it's slithering towards a theater near you, promising a revolutionized version of the patriotic 1950s war film genre that also borrows heavily from "Star Wars."
Watch the movie trailer
The story, based on the classic novel of the same name by sci-fi writer Robert Heinlein, has a straightforward plot: An alien race resembling giant bugs wants to take over the Earth, and only the Starship Troopers can save the world.
Heinlein may have written the book, but the film belongs to director Paul Verhoeven.
Watch a portion of the trailer 1M/24 sec./160x120
QuickTime movie"This is the first time in my life, basically, that I hope that there could be a sequel, you know, all depending of course on the success of the movie," Verhoeven said.
His past stints as director produced megahits like "Robocop," "Total Recall" and "Basic Instinct." But he says that he never felt any interest in making sequels to those movies, "although I had people ask me several times."
"Starship Troopers" takes liberally from early 1950s war films, from the call to patriotism to the tough drill sergeant to the war correspondent. It also carries suggestions of "Star Wars," the George Lucas film that revolutionized the sci-fi genre 20 years ago.
Ironically, when "Star Wars" came out in theaters, most of this movie's actors were just kids. Naturally, that doesn't stop them from referencing it in their own work, as in "It's the highest a movie has tested since 'Star Wars'."
"That's not too bad," continued Casper Van Dien, who plays Starship pilot-in-training Johnny Rico in this film.
Van Dien and Patrick Muldoon ("Zander Barcalow") joke about the characters they play-acted as children. "I used to play 'Star Wars' all the time, and I was Han Solo all the time, you know," Muldoon said.
Van Dien: "I was Luke in the beginning, but then I became like the more strict military, if you can imagine Han Solo as a strict military guy."
'Starship Troopers' factoids: Produced by: TriStar/Big Bug Pictures/Touchstone Pictures
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven ("Robocop," "Total Recall," "Basic Instinct")
Total budget: $95 million
Total number of production studios used for effects: Nine. Some effects listed on credits: Spaceship visual effects, asteroid grazing visual effects, and human visual effects.What "Star Wars" didn't have was the level of violence of "Starship Troopers." The movie clips supplied to media outlets don't show it, but there are more severed body parts in this R-rated film than in a Freddie Krueger movie.
However, the actors say, the violence is justified. "I think in this instance you need that sort of hardcore violence to wake up to the fact that these bugs are real," said Neil Patrick Harris, who plays Carl Jenkins in the movie.
"When you see a bug, like, chomp somebody in half and spit each half of their body out, as an audience you go, 'Oh my gosh, these things are gonna kill everyone.'"
For all its battle scenes, "Starship Troopers" does have a romantic subplot, a love triangle that should attract a more varied audience than your basic war story. "I think it'll be 17- or 18-year-old boys and their dates, college kids, couples," Harris said. "I think it's not really a chick film," he said.
"Starship Troopers" opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, November 7.
Correspondent Ron Tank contributed to this report.
Related site:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser windowExternal sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.
|
Sound off on our message boards You said it... |
|
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.