I agree that much of Starship Troopers was gory, silly and infantile (it is a Hollywood movie after all), but I am not prepared to dismiss this film so quickly. In my opinion there are some elements of the film that deserve re-examination, a couple of examples:
1. The Buenos Aires Death Odometer - When the "bugs" retaliate and wipe out the home of the film's heroes, we see the death toll estimate projected as an odometer reading. It is obvious that the death figures being projected must be inaccurate but the scenes of carnage and destruction are key to justifying an immediate reprisal. Is this scene so alien to the ways in which images of atrocities and inflated death toll estimates are used to justify militarism in contemporary politics?
2. The Un-interactive Internet - Every time the movie asks us "Would you like to know more," we are transported to a preformatted segment of propaganda. I think the director is trying to make a commentary on the absence of choice and interactivity on the Internet. Maybe that is not profound, but it is an interesting statement compared to the popular rhetoric about the world wide web.
The film is filled with images that interrogate and contradict the rhetoric of militarism/fascism. For example, even though the commanders reassure their troops that they will make it out alive if they remember their training, it is obvious that once the battle begins their training has ill prepared them for what is coming next. Later the grunts realize they were being used as bait to test the defenses of the enemy. The ways in which the main characters come to accept and internalize a complete devaluation of human life is fascinating.
I know that one of Verhoeven's aims in the film was to indict the audience, by encouraging us to cheer for the heroes even though we are seeing them transformed into fascists. I think this is a bold effort and far more interesting than the usual military propaganda we are presented through films like Saving Private Ryan.
I think the film deserves a second look.
Vikash Yadav Philadelphia, PA