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Journal FortKnox's Journal: Starship Troopers 30

Journal by FortKnox
Last weekend, my wife noticed that Starship Troopers was on TV and put it on in our room while I was doing chores thinking that I'd enjoy it. I never saw the movie, as I heard it was a desecration to Heinlein. As I watched about 15 minutes, I thought "WTF is this crap?" After 30 minutes, I turned it off.

Last night I was bored, went to the bookshelf and saw it there. Its been a while since I read it, and I thought I'd read a couple pages to remind me of the story. I had a hard time putting it down. The one thign I did forget was how FANTASTIC that story is! I'll be rereading the whole thing, now ;)
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Starship Troopers

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  • I loved the book and the movie. This movie and Tremors are my all-time favorite campy movies. The satire behind the "futuristic marine recruiting video" theme is way over the top. Of course, the movie has pretty much nothing to do with the book, except some of the names are the same.


    p.s. Of course, the full movie (with gratuitous sex/nekkiditty and violence) is the only version worth watching.

  • You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The first is never get involved in a land war in Asia. The second, only slightly less well known, is this: never watch a movie based on a book if you've read the book.
  • It's far less campy than the original. But it is still a travesty when compared to the book.
    • My brief review of Starship Troopers 2:

      AHHHH! MY MIND!! WHY!?!??!?!?!/1!/eleventy-slash
      • Well it did have those bugs that take over human hosts. Maybe you got one of those?

        Mentioning that sequel is probably the closest I get to intentionally trolling Slashdot. Sorry.
        • I actually had to stop watching it, watch something else, and come back to finish it later when I was prepared.
          On a related note, have you seen Faust [imdb.com]?
          • have you seen Faust?

            No, I have not. Is it any good? I would reckon probably not given the "on a related note" comment.

            It looks like it's based upon a comic book (based upon the comments I read), so I wouldn't have read the source material and lack an initial bias. Would it be considered passable on its own without previous exposure to the source?
            • It's pretty terrible, but in a slightly funny way. I didn't read the comic book, and wouldn't really say the movie stands on its own. I know Jeffrey Coombs is in a lot of bad movies that I haven't seen, but I'd say this probably takes the cake. It is another movie so bad that I had to watch it in two sittings.
              • Are you some kind of movie watching masochist? Or do you just need closure for bad movies?
                • Maybe a little of both. Some of the bad movies I've seen have been suggested to me by others, some forced upon me by friends, and some were my poor judgement. I do try to finish what I start, at least when it comes to movies, if only because it gives me great stories.
  • It's one of the few books I've read more than twice.
    Just re-read it about a month ago.
  • That helped a lot. After reading the book though, I mentally went back in time to resent the movie;-) I think with the current technology a much better movie could be made sticking closer to the book. Especially with the armored powersuits!

    Friday would also make either a great movie or an even better mini-series. Probably on HBO though because of the themes...

  • I love Heinlein, but I thought Starship Troopers was absolute dreck. I'm aware that it was written from the perspective of a soldier, but it was horrible. The art of story-telling is showing the story, not telling the story, and the protagonist just told the story. Bleh, this happened, then this happened, then that happened, the end. I enjoyed the movie far more than the book. It was campy, but it was also social satire on both fascism, propoganda, and citizenship.
    • What Heinlein do you respect? Waht should I read, next?
      • I like "Stranger In A Strange Land" and "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress".
        • I loved "Stranger in a strange land" and am so-so on "the Moon..."
        • A lot of people hate it, but my favorite was Number of the Beast. Starship Troopers was darn good, though.
        • I like "Stranger In A Strange Land" and "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress".

          "Stranger in a strange land" is hugely overrated IMHO. I've never understood why it became so popular. Personally, I'd recommend "Sixth column", "The puppet masters" and the best thing he ever wrote, "Methuselah's children". Of his later works, only "I will fear no evil" and "Friday" are really worth the effort after he'd jumped the shark. YMMV.

          • He didn't "jump the shark" he "jumped his mother".

            I'd have to say Lazarus Long was interesting when he was first introduced but then with the cloned sisters and rescuing his Mom and all that...

            Farnham's Freehold is fun too.
            • Having just finished Farnham's Freehold last night I'd have to say that RAH has much better works available that should be ready before FF. Glory Road, Between Planets, To Sail Beyond the Sunset, and The Cat Who Walked Through Walls are all great books by RAH that I would rank higher than FF. But maybe thats just me.

              I can't believe I'm a day late after a Heinlein conversation. Next thing I know you guys will discuss Orson Scott Card's collected works and I'll miss that too.

      • Heinlein wrote for several different audiences. Starship Troopers, for example, was written for young adults. Stranger in a Strange Land was written for a much more mature audience.

        If you like ST, try Rocket Ship Galileo. Or possibly Green Hills of Earth, a collection of short stories. (Though if you're going to go the short story route, you're better off finding a copy of Heinlein's Expanded Universe.)
  • I never saw the movie, as I heard it was a desecration to Heinlein.

    Hell, Heinlein's own late works are a desecration of his earlier output!

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