The STARSHIP TROOPERS sequels, while not without their own flaws, have avoided the standard pitfalls of unnecessary straight-to-DVD follow-ups to big budget theatrical releases. This is largely thanks to the returning presence of original screenwriter (and now director) Ed Neumeier. He’s an engagingly witty and inventive writer with a gift for combining satire with exploitation movie goodies. Here making the most of an obviously limited budget, he packs as much large scale action into the flick as he can while aiming unsubtle but pointed satirical arrows at deserving targets.
This time out, a Federal spaceship overseen by mad General Stephen Hogan crash-lands on to a major bug planet, and it’s up to returning original protagonist Casper Van Dien – now widely regarded as the “hero of Planet P” – to lead the rescue mission. The overtly Fascist General, already not in full control of his mental faculties, goes nuts in Neumeier’s skewering of religious fanaticism, deciding to worship the “new order” represented by the all-powerful bugs.
Hogan’s nutty performance is one of the neatest aspects of the third TROOPERS flick : particularly funny is his side-line in pro-war hit records, including the classic “Quit Bugging Me” and a mock-anthem co-written by Ed Neumeier entitled “A Good Day To Die” (“It’s a good day to die / When we know the reasons why”), which plays again to further sarcastic effect during the end credits. Adding to the barbed fun are the various obvious pot-shots at the Iraq war and the return of those propaganda-laden recruitment videos (“God’s back and he’s a citizen too!”).
The scaled-back budget – though it’s considerably less pokey than HERO OF THE FEDERATION – does mean that the CG representation of the formidable bug armies edges dangerously close to Sci-fi Channel territory at times and pales in the shadow of the awe-inspiring FX in Paul Verhoeven’s 11 year old original. Nonetheless, the bug scenes still deliver the goods, with the camera showered in blood, an array of impaled human appendages and some creature modifications : the bugs now have fresh weapons and among their number is an over-sized scorpion with a tail that shoots out fireballs.
There’s an excellent variation on the first film’s memorable brain bug scene, this time with various exploding heads, and a reworking of Verhoeven’s communal shower nudity set piece, with a decent amount of perky boobs, six packs and pert buns on display. Though it’s needlessly long, TROOPERS Mark 3 is lively throughout and even, on occasion, effectively sinister – notably an eerie beach sequence.
– Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
