Double Bill : Starship Troopers and Wing Commander

(Contains some spoilers)

Starship Troopers

I hate that we don’t have movies like these anymore. Who doesn’t want a bunch of vapid thirty-year-old teens and a Nazi NPH fighting bugs for the sake of our children and all mankind. “The only good bug is a dead bug!” Absolutely love it.

I have such fond memories of this movie from the start. When it came out somehow it was only a 15 certification in the UK cinema’s (The DVD, and I assume the Blu-Ray, are 18) and so I went to watch it with a friend. I was only 14––but close enough.

I’d never seen anything like it. I’d seen violent movies way above my age range before, but not with an excited energetic audience in a packed cinema. Everyone was so into the film, and why wouldn’t they be?

It had sex, violence, bravado, bugs, Ironside, and all the sci-fi elements you could want to make a highly entertaining sci-fi action movie. And for my own personal taste, it took its time to set-up the world, and the characters we’ll be following, which I appreciate. (I’ve always been all about story and world building)

Sure, they were all massively unlikable (with the exception of the always amazing Michael Ironside) but at least I knew who they were, and could laugh along and enjoy the insane machoism the fascists had to offer.

It boggles my mind that so many people––and by all accounts the studio––didn’t realise it was satirical. But, that’s a good thing, as i’m not sure the movie would have got made otherwise. The newsfeed was amazing. The uniform and logo’s perfect. The blonde hair blue-eyed hero, and all his beautiful friends. I love how Verhoeven’s mind works.

But even without the genius satirical slant, this movie is so incredibly enjoyable. The bugs looks awesome with some fantastic early CGI. The ships were great, and the space stuff exciting despite the bugs themselves not having spaceships (could you imagine.) The ground battles were wild and gory. The Zulu Dawn scene will always be stand-out, but I loved every action sequence from the initial landing to the brain bug.

Them getting tattoo’s together always makes me laugh (how many people wanted that tattoo? lol). Ironside’s delivery of “They sucked out his brains” should have earned him an Oscar. “Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today,” is about as dark of a joke you can get in a sci-fi action flick. I use “someone made a big God damn mistake,” on an almost weekly basis. Every single line is so quotable. Just perfect.

I must have watched this movie about twenty times now and it still gives me goosebumps when Johnny Rico is heading to Washout Lane and all the trainee’s rush pass him announcing the war has began. It’s absolutely badass, and encompasses the whole movies attitude.

The film plays so well to every primal instinct, and just wants to have a good time. It’s a great reminder that movies can be fun, no matter the subject. Starship Troopers isn’t a guilty pleasure, it’s a fantastic movie.

Wing Commander

Half the Scooby-Doo cast fighting aliens in space… alongside Saffron Burrows… sign me up. Ok, so this one is a guilty pleasure.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you Wing Commander is amazing. Hell, even the lead has disowned it, but… it’s fun. I don’t believe you can ever truly go too wrong when you have a squadron of fighter pilots engaging with aliens in order to protect Earth. Plus, I like the framework for this one. One ship has to hold up a fleet long enough to make a difference. That in itself, is something a little different, especially how they work it.

Does it lead to a riveting end space battle? not really, although I do love the submarine style approach between the Tiger Claw and the alien destroyer. But, it does lay out the stakes nice and early, and give the audience a ticking clock. We know exactly what needs to be done, and why, and are left watching the movie to learn the how.

It’s funny as when this movie came out it felt like we were getting cool Sci-Fi’s every month so it was just another mid budget sci-fi action flick, but now that the only way we’re getting a sci-fi is if the Avengers go to space, films like these play a little differently for me.

It’s still cheesy. The characters don’t overly develop. We know most of the big beats before they happen. It’s none of the casts best work. But damn it, it’s fun. It doesn’t take itself to seriously. We still want them to succeed. I love the relationship between Maniac and Rosie, and the chat Rosie and Angel have about it. I like all the stuff between the captains onboard Tiger Claw. Yes it doesn’t really go anyway, but the interactions are still so sci-fi.

It’s also interesting once again seeing the budget restraints that used to exist for these mid-budget movies. Some of the space CGI looked great, while other rear projection cockpit shots looked hilarious. The aliens were awful, but the ships looked cool. I miss these kinds of production battles and compromises. Everything looks either too clean or too fake now.

For me Wing Commander is an easy watch. Something to just switch my brain off and enjoy, and honestly, I think that was its intention. Maybe everyone involved wanted more out of it, but it does enough for me. I would have gladly watched a sequel back then.