Starship Troopers

REVIEW
Director Verhoeven returns to Robocop-form with this scathingly satirical futuristic sci-fi thriller that plays like "Archie and Veronica Go to War!" A bunch of giant space bugs have taken to lobbing killer asteroids from their side of the galaxy at Earth, and a group of young heroes must gamely venture out to the alien home world for a preemptive strike. The film's first hour is positively goofy (in the best way) as it introduces these youthful cadets. Van Dien, Meyer, Richards, Busey, Harris and Muldoon are all perfect with their gleaming white teeth and stay-in-place hairdos for Verhoeven's comic-book portrayal of juvenilia on the verge of blood and guts destruction. Which is exactly what Starship Troopers delivers in spades in its second half, a cinematic orgy of human and insect insides splashed on the screen with abandon as only Verhoeven could deliver. The special effects are top-notch and the action is riveting. A most entertaining space adventure.