Sci-Fi Starship Troopers Remake Is in the Works

[Trainwreck2100]

Is ZIM the bald headed guy...from Total Recall? Also, CVD will go to the studio and BEG to be in reboot. Man needs it. Like we both need CVD on the big screen. He may not be the best actor, but he is suited for this franchise.

IIRC Zim was the Drill sargeant who demoted himself to fight only to surface again as the guy who caught the brain bug.

 

[Dave McFly]

 

[humbdrumb]

The sheer fact that people haven't got the satiricial message of ST leaves me like that: :|

I weep for people who miss the point of Starship Troopers. Like, I honestly feel sorry for them.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Some of you make it sound like Verhoeven's movie had some deep message. No, it was simple, war and patriotism are bad. Which is fine. But let's not pretend it conveyed that message with any subtlety or intelligence.

That, so-so CGI, and bad acting do not make for a good movie, period. He didn't like the book, the movie reflects that.

Also, the tactics in that movie. Who wrote those scenes? You can only hope that was some kind of "satire" on military tactics.

The suggestion that dehumanizing your enemy and getting caught up in nationalist fervor IS a deep message and a very important one too.

How can you marginalize such a message with the ongoing War on Terror, Gitmo and the Patriot Act as a realities? Are you serious?

Maybe the movie isn't subtle but it's not stupid either. It works as a satire of the book and the nature of war. It works as humorous parody of war propoganda. It works as a sci-fi warning of the repetitious nature of fascism throughout the 20th century and beyond.

It is intellectually dishonest to pretend it's just another Bayformers 2.

 

[Thundercrack85]

The suggestion that dehumanizing your enemy and getting caught up in nationalist fervor IS a deep message and a very important one too.

How can you marginalize such a message with the ongoing War on Terror, Gitmo and the Patriot Act as a realities? Are you serious?

Maybe the movie isn't subtle but it's not stupid either. It works as a satire of the book and the nature of war. It works as humorous parody of war propoganda. It works as a sci-fi warning of the repetitious nature of fascism throughout the 20th century and beyond.

It is intellectually dishonest to pretend it's just another Bayformers 2.

I don't see the the message as all that deep. And the execution was, well, you call it satirical, I would call it forced and excessive. The message has been around forever and you can find it all over the place. Would you consider some of the recent Star Wars movies to have deep messages? Attack of the Clones is a pretty good comparison.

Are you serious in thinking that the message is somehow more relevant today? Every generation thinks like that. They thought that in the 50's, in the 70's, etc.

I don't like the movie, some do, and that's fine, but let's stop pretending that it was some particularly insightful movie.

 

[Mrs. Sawyer]

I don't really care too much for the original, so I say go for it.

 

[THANOSRULES]

It would be forgettable and disposable, no question. For those who haven't read it, it actually features very little real combat in it and is instead set mainly in classrooms and barracks, where soldiers debate civics and military service.

Yippee.

Legit point here. I dont really ever need a total (scene for scene) recreation in most adaptations, however I would like to feel the spirit of the original work meet the film.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Probably because it came true, everyone thinks the film is playing it straight.

Starship Troopers was a flawed film, but as a satire of military propaganda it is more poignant today than it ever was when it was new.

Look at all the movies made today that have the cooperation of the U.S. military stamp on it: Transformers, Battle: LA, GI Joe, the upcoming Battleship movie, etc. Those are basically youth-oriented army recruitment films that are so blatant they might as well have "Yvan Eht Nioj" as the theme song. It's great to watch Starship Troopers with one of the above movies back to back, so see which one is parody and which one is playing it straight.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

The sheer fact that people haven't got the satiricial message of ST leaves me like that: :|

I got the satirical message just fine but I still don't like the film.

 

[THANOSRULES]

Yeah but most of america probably really even got the parody in Starship Troopers..not that its even laid thin....

I mean the series was made into a CGI Saturday morning cartoon.

I don't get the impression many folk consider it a poignant political expression.

 

[Bug-Eyed Earl]

Or the satire was so obvious and un-subtle that it might make a viewer doubt there is satire present to begin with.

Verhoeven is about as subtle as a brick to the teeth, and I recall all the back patting he did with one of the writers of Robocop in the DVD audio commentary for that movie regarding the satire, while you could tell the other writer was practically rolling his eyes at this. It's not that clever to re-create a WWII propaganda film and replace "Third Reich" with "Terran Federation."

 

[Punisher Rising]

I'm surprised so many here dislike the original movie :/ But to each their own. I always found it to be a fun movie and I think it's satire is clever.

 

[Matt]

Is ZIM the bald headed guy...from Total Recall? Also, CVD will go to the studio and BEG to be in reboot. Man needs it. Like we both need CVD on the big screen. He may not be the best actor, but he is suited for this franchise.

Zim was the drill instructor who catches the brain bug and for once we agree!

The sheer fact that people haven't got the satiricial message of ST leaves me like that: :|

The thing is, at the time, the satire was ridiculous and irrelevant. It was basically a Cold War metaphor ten years after the Cold War had ended. It would be like a filmmaker doing a satire of child coal miners in the U.S. today. It would be pointless because social satire only really works if the issue is relevant to the time in which it is made.

That is what makes Starship Troopers so interesting. Verhoeven accidently stumbled into making the best War on Terror satire to date, 4 years before 9/11 even happened! So what was originally a silly little sci-fi film with a dated metaphor, became completely and totally relevant...entirely by mistake!

 

[cherokeesam]

Zim was the drill instructor who catches the brain bug and for once we agree!



The thing is, at the time, the satire was ridiculous and irrelevant. It was basically a Cold War metaphor ten years after the Cold War had ended. It would be like a filmmaker doing a satire of child coal miners in the U.S. today. It would be pointless because social satire only really works if the issue is relevant to the time in which it is made.

That is what makes Starship Troopers so interesting. Verhoeven accidently stumbled into making the best War on Terror satire to date, 4 years before 9/11 even happened! So what was originally a silly little sci-fi film with a dated metaphor, became completely and totally relevant...entirely by mistake!

That's sorta what also happened with The Siege....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Siege

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Zim was the drill instructor who catches the brain bug and for once we agree!



The thing is, at the time, the satire was ridiculous and irrelevant. It was basically a Cold War metaphor ten years after the Cold War had ended. It would be like a filmmaker doing a satire of child coal miners in the U.S. today. It would be pointless because social satire only really works if the issue is relevant to the time in which it is made.

That is what makes Starship Troopers so interesting. Verhoeven accidently stumbled into making the best War on Terror satire to date, 4 years before 9/11 even happened! So what was originally a silly little sci-fi film with a dated metaphor, became completely and totally relevant...entirely by mistake!

I think the reason the movie became prophetic is because the satire is truthfull.

 

[cherokeesam]

I think the reason the movie became prophetic is because the satire is truthfull.

Yeah, militarism and fascism are not new concepts, nor is the idea of satirizing those concepts.

It's just an accident of history that Verhoeven's film fell *in between* the two decades when it would have been relevant --- i.e., the Reagan/GW regime of the 80s and the Dubya regime of the 00s. It was out of place in Clinton's 90s, when Clinton was busy *dismantling* the military-industrial complex. (Damn, those were the Good Ol' Days. No Cold War, no 21st Century Crusades, no national debt, strongest economy America's ever seen....the Clinton-bashers look silly these days, because history now proves that the 90s were America's finest decade. ah, nostalgia)

 

[THANOSRULES]

I think the reason the movie became prophetic is because the satire is truthfull.

It seemed Verhoven was also largely taking from the historical rise of Nazi Germany , including the Reichstag etc..indeed the term "propaganda" is largely a nazi founded term.

There was also a dash of Pearl Harbor/ war on Japan similarities.

It's unclear but history has many examples, and many people have written metaphorical books already and prior to Verhoven that he could have adapted. Can't think of one off the top of my head..but there out there.

As cherokeesam stated Overreacting to a threat, demonizing your enemies, and so called ultra violence are nothing new.

I just can't imagine that Verhoven is guilty of prophetic thought...not that I think he's a hack.

 

[Slushy]

Ugh, it should've just been a big budgeted sequel to make for those last two lame DTV sequels.

 

[Lencho01]

http://www.slashfilm.com/starship-troopers-reboot-violent-faithful-book/

‘Starship Troopers’ Reboot Will Likely Be Less Violent, More Faithful To The Book

Posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 by Germain Lussier

Disemboweled bodies, gaping wounds and dripping blood are just a few trademarks in a Paul Verhoeven action movie, especially Starship Troopers, RoboCop and Total Recall. Violence is part of their charm and with all three films currently at different stages of being remade, the question of the universal appeal of excessive violence has been raised.

Total Recall comes out in a few weeks; RoboCop goes into production soon; and Starship Troopers is still being developed. In an interview with Empire Magazine, producer Toby Jaffe said that the remake of Starship Troopers will be less satirical, less violent, more patriotic and generally more in line with Robert Heinlein’s novel than was Verhoeven’s take. Read more after the jump.

Here’s what Jaffe, who also produced the Total Recall remake, told Empire Magazine about both films:

The more expensive a film is, the harder it is now to make it that violent. With Recall in particular, we made a conscious choice to keep it tonally closer to something like Minority Report. It gives the studio, and us as producers, the opportunity to reintroduce it in a new way.
​

He continues:

Verhoeven took [Robert Heinlein's 1959 novel] from one extreme and made it almost comical, whereas our job is to be a little more faithful to the book, and ground it a little more…. Verhoeven made his movie a critique of fascism whereas Heinlein was writing from the perspective of someone who had served in World War II. Y’know, one man’s fascism is another man’s patriotism…
​

One of the things Verhoeven wanted to do, but couldn’t, was include the jump suits from the novel. Even with the massive budget and huge special effects of his movie, in the late ’90s it was too expensive to put that tech on screen. That’s not the case anymore. More from Jaffe:

Working in a visual effects renaissance as we are, we have the ability to do so much more now. We can do the Jump Suits [armoured exoskeletons from Heinlein's novel], for example, which I don’t think they could have done before.
​

From an immediate financial standpoint, making a film less violent for a PG-13 rating makes sense. Less restrictions means a bigger potential in-theater audience. But producers have to look at the big picture. If Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers didn’t have its violence and non-traditional subtext, it probably wouldn’t stand the test of time in the way it does. The film surely sustained its popularity precisely because it was an unflinching, R-rated film.

Do you think a PG-13 Starship Troopers will be as effective as the original?

 

[Wyrminarrd]

I really don't see why the violence in the original would warrant an R-rating. Cut out the nudity and that movie could easily be pg-13 without any other changes.

 

[Octoberist]

I don't believe this producer when he says the remake will be more faithful. So far, his produced work Total Recall doesn't ring more 'faithful' to Philip K Dick, but more of a different version of the original movie minus Mars.

 

[THANOSRULES]

More faithful will probably just equal more of the technical stuff from the book..such as troops shot from orbit in capsules and powered armor..maybe we'll see the skinnys etc..

I wouldnt hold out for much.

 

[KenK]

Yeah but most of america probably really even got the parody in Starship Troopers..not that its even laid thin....

I mean the series was made into a CGI Saturday morning cartoon.

I don't get the impression many folk consider it a poignant political expression.

I wouldn't sell the cartoon so short. It was actually a very good combination of elements from both the film and the book, and dealt quite a bit with the ideas and politics of war. Characters died, or were injured in ways that could have easily led to their deaths. And there was a strong theme of not underestimating the enemy. The bugs had very specific strategic tactics that forced the federation's hand on numerous occasions.

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

The well is so dry that we're remaking movies that came out 10 years ago. What a shame, but totally unsurprising.

Just what I want too... a less violent, less satirical, more patriotic Starship Troopers. So basically take out everything that made the original film good and make it more of a formulaic hoorah war film. Great. Awesome. Enjoy this crap, America. But not too much. Because in 10 years it'll just be remade again. Maybe even further dumbed down.

(and before anyone says, "it's not a remake, it's a reinterpretation of the book!"... stop fooling yourself. It's a remake)

 

[Octoberist]

I want to remake Austin Powers, but more grounded.