Starship Troopers

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Here’s a guilty confession for you: I kinda liked the second Starship Troopers movie. Granted, I caught it on DVD when I was still a teenager, so I’m not entirely sure it withstands the test of time, but Starship Troopers 2: Heroes of the Federation is such a blatant ripoff of John Carpenter’s The Thing  —  a deserted outpost where a species develops the ability to mimic human physiology  —  that I couldn’t help but enjoy it a little. When you’re directed by a guy known for Star Wars and Robocop special effects, you’re at least going to have a few fun visuals to keep you company along the way.

Paul Verhoeven’s Starship Troopers remains one of the truest stealth triumphs of ’90s cinema, an open-palmed slap to the face of the military-industrial complex in the guise of a rough and tumble sci-fi shoot-’em-up. Ever the cultural subversive, Verhoeven mocked the spirit of jingoistic patriotism that motivates American warfare overseas and tricked 121 million dollars’ worth of us into watching him do it. And after twenty years, in a time that has made satire a high-wire balancing act between exaggerated fiction and our insane reality, the film will return to the cultural conversation with a sequel. Which will be a cartoon.

Sci-fi author Robert Heinlein is probably most commonly known these days as writer of the original Starship Troopers novel, though another infamous sci-fi from his library is finally getting its due. Syfy is ready to become a Stranger in a Strange Land with an impressive new adaptation.

Paul Verhoeven is known for his remarkably divisive and provocative films, including Elle, the new French thriller that hits select theaters this week. But another one of his films recently made headlines again when it was reported that Sony was finally moving ahead with their long-planned remake of Starship Troopers, hiring a pair of writers to take a crack at the script based on Robert A. Heinlein’s novel — and ditching the satirical approach that made Verhoeven’s adaptation so great. While speaking with Verhoeven about his latest film, we had a chance to ask for his opinion on the Starship Troopers remake. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s not a fan.

A reboot of Starship Troopers has been kicking around for several years, despite the fact that Paul Verhoeven’s cult classic (which could describe most of his films) is pretty great as is. It’s hard to imagine another filmmaking team successfully delivering a great sci-fi B-movie that perfectly functions as a satire of sci-fi B-movies layered into a satire of the military (it’s like a seven-layer satire dip, really) — especially in 2016, or 2017, or whenever this thing happens. But if Donald Trump wins the presidency, it could be quite timely.

What's this? A toned down reboot of one of the craziest, funniest, most awesomest sci-fi movies to ever hit theaters? A not bug stomping, but bug high-fiving version of 'Starship Troopers?' Has Hollywood gone mad? Is nothing sacred? The answers to those questions are "Yes" and "No."