I never got around to watching this, in part because I was afraid it ended on a cliffhanger, but maybe I should?
5 Likes
Blomkamp plans to go back to the source material for his version of Starship Troopersā¦
Soā¦ the controversy over this book/filmā¦ where do folks come down on itā¦
Heinlein v. Verhoeven
- The book is fascist
- The movie is fascist
- The book is anti-fascist
- The movie is anti-fascist
- Both are fascist
- Both are anti-fascist
- Iāve never read the book
- Iāve never seen the movie
- Iāve never engaged with either
- Who cares!
0 voters
Is this one of those things that always causes fights? I canāt remember?
Waitā¦ should I redo this poll and make it so people can do multiple choices? I think Iām gonna do thatā¦ person who voted, please vote again in a second!
Heinlein v. Verhoeven
-
- The book is fascist
-
- The movie is fascist
-
- The book is anti-fascist
-
- The movie is anti-fascist
-
- Both are fascist
-
- Both are anti-fascist
-
- Iāve never read the book
-
- Iāve never seen the movie
-
- Iāve never engaged with either
-
- Who cares!
0 voters
Now you can do multiple choices! Up to 3!
9 Likes
Itās been a REALLY long time since I read the book.
The movie is clearly a parody of fascism.
The book is also a parody of fascism, though whether itās an accidental parody is up for debate. At this remove from when it was written, Iām not sure if it even matters if Heinlein intended it to be one or not. It is one.
And I donāt think it matters if not everyone gets that itās a parody. I mean, there are people who think Born in the USA is a patriotic anthem instead of scathing criticism.
13 Likes
I love the movie. I think itās one you can engage with on different levels. You can watch it as just a dumb, campy space shoot 'em up, but the campy presentation of a clearly fascist future government makes it clear, to me anyway, that itās anti-fascist. And it is very campy, so if you enjoy camp, you should enjoy at least parts of it. NPH is especially fun. The main characters and their story are actually the least interesting parts of the movie to me. The supporting characters, most notably NPH and Michael Ironside, are a lot more fun.
12 Likes
The movie (and sequel Starship Troopers #3); definitely parody/anti-fascist.
The book seems more ambiguous to me. Itās definitely portraying a fascist government, the ambiguity is in Heinleinās attitude towards it. Iāve never been convinced that Heinlein genuinely believed in many of the surface attitudes his books display because he can be all over the place from book to book. Of course, that sort of superficial playing with ideologies can be problematic when one deals with certain themes.
I loved the original film, liked the book, but feel this is a poor historical moment to choose to make the original vision fresh for modern viewers,
Frankly, the idea seems much, much more suspect than writing the original novel.
I love that during shooting Ironside, the perennial villain, confronted Verhoeven saying, You lived through WWII, why are you making this fascist film? Of course, during filming he wouldnāt have seen the bigger picture.
12 Likes
#2 is reportedly a paint by numbers film which doesnāt have the satirical depth of the original.
#3, directed by the original screenwriter, brings back the satire, a bit more overtly this time, and is hilarious. Fundamentalist christianity enters the mix and guess what, the bugs got religion too! Noticeably lower budget though.
11 Likes
i never cared for the original movie much, but the series was really good. iād say yes. it made me a fan.
3 Likes
Takeaways from āWith Love, Meghanā: Finding wonder in every moment
My wife was flipping channels and we saw about 10 minutes of this. Exactly as advertised. 
9 Likes
Itās a really good show. I also watch Reacher. Itās fun, but itās certainly not high art. I couldnāt make it through the first episode of Severance. Iāve lived the cubicle life before. I really donāt need to watch a show about how it could be even worse.
7 Likes
I like Blomkamp but even if i were to be generous and not think about the current political landscape i feel kind of let down by the choice. I would rather see him adapt something else that hasnāt been used already or direct something new, but if i had to guess heās playing the IP game and this is what he was able to sell a studio on funding-wise. I hope it does well but i wonāt be paying too much attention to it.
7 Likes
Jack Vance, Roger Zelazny, Larry Niven, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, Ursula Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut?
8 Likes
Leiber.
6 Likes
Thanks.
Poul Anderson, August Derleth, Jan Strnadās Dalgoda, Jeff Smithās Bone, Matt Wagnerās Mage, Mat Johnsonās Pym and Invisible Things.
4 Likes
Jim Butcher. John Connolly.
5 Likes
Octavia Butler, CJ Cherryh
7 Likes
We watched The Sum of All Fears last nightā¦ Very young Affleckā¦ I forgot the the Jack Ryan character is a historianā¦ Ciaran Hinds (aka, the King in the north forever) as a Putin like character was great and James Cromwell as the president was very good.
Enjoyed it for what it wasā¦
8 Likes
I know what Iām not going to be watching. Kraven. Holy shit, this movie seems like a mess. A friend of mine saw it. He said it was really bad.
8 Likes