Movies - TV
Paul Verhoeven Took A Very Serious Approach To Starship Troopers' B-Movie Premise
By LEE ADAMS
Balancing limp teen romance, gnarly gore, and outrageous military excess and jingoism, Paul Verhoeven’s “Starship Troopers” is a satire of traditional war movies. However, despite stylizing the film like a horror B-movie, Verhoeven took the premise of “Starship Troopers” very seriously to tell the story of “fascists who aren't aware of their fascism.”
Despite being corny, B-movie-adjacent, and over-the-top, “Starship Troopers” is far more sophisticated than it seems. Verhoeven was originally attracted to the premise because it reminded him of the sci-fi shows of his youth, but the director recalls that he wanted to upgrade it by making "a big, silly, jingoistic, xenophobic, let's-go-out-and-kill-the-enemy movie.”
Despite its silly premise, Verhoeven noted that the film "still approaches [its] reality in a very serious way, and I think it succeeds and seems to be able to portray the world of another species that is extremely dangerous and realistic.” However, Verhoeven’s serious approach to the story has led to some audiences overlooking the film's satire.