Topic: Starship Troopers

Hey folks, Teague here, with the Starship Troopers commentary. Resident panelist Trey was the creature fx supervisor for this flick, so as much as it is a discussion of the film and why it works (or doesn’t), it’s a really interesting look into the visual effects and animation requirements for a big alien invasion movie. (And it has NPH. NPH.)

This is also the last commentary we’ll be releasing that was recorded with excessive mic bumpery. After this, it’s all expensive and stuff. So there’s that. All of the boys were on hand for this episode, and the opinions were as varied as ever. Enjoy.

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Love this commentary -- but then I'm a VFX artist that loves Starship Troopers & Phil Tippett smile

Listeing to the ST2 commentray now (late night in the office) -- it's really good, worth checking out. Very DiF, right dow to the discussions about the wine they are drinking smile

Last edited by Malak (2010-11-10 19:16:38)

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Down in Front wrote:

Hey folks, Teague here, with the Starship Troopers commentary. Resident panelist Trey was the creature fx supervisor for this flick, so as much as it is a discussion of the film and why it works (or doesn’t), it’s a really interesting look into the visual effects and animation requirements for a big alien invasion movie. (And it has NPH. NPH.)

This is also the last commentary we’ll be releasing that was recorded with excessive mic bumpery. After this, it’s all expensive and stuff. So there’s that. All of the boys were on hand for this episode, and the opinions were as varied as ever. Enjoy.

The first one (Starship Troopers) was so good, in a good/corny kind of way. What happened. It needs to be revived again. In the way that Dark Knight and Predators bring the franchise back to life again.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Every time I listen to this one, I'm shocked that you can talk for over two hours and repeatedly mention Denise Richards without even once mentioning Wild Things.

Might just be me, but that movie comes to mind much quicker than Charlie Sheen does when I think of Denise Richards.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Just wanted to say, that this film is on TV over here at the moment. I'm giving it another go as I was never a big fan, originally. It's uncut, too. Good old BBC big_smile

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Re: Starship Troopers

Thanks for the link to the 3-part analysis. Just saw it - it's okay, but most of us genre nerds knew it was playing on two levels. Mainstream American critics didn't get it that it was also a pisstake of America Fuck Yeah.
Great movie - probably my favourite PV flick.

not long to go now...

Thumbs up +1 Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Ah, good old Rob "Kubrick is a Genius Because I Don't Understand How Movie Sets Work" Ager.

Thumbs up +1 Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

I'm enjoying the commentary. Someone should shake Trey's hand for his top-notch FX work in this.
This movie would make a good double-bill with Act of Valor (2012).

not long to go now...

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Damn you, Holden, and your stupid 2 minute mandatory delay between liking different comments!

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: Starship Troopers

YOU SHOULDN'T LIKE TOO MANY THINGS, ZARBAN, YOUR BRAIN WILL FALL OUT

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

Thumbs up +3 Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Not my plugin, bro.

EDIT: There, I fixed it. At the drop of a hat. Because I'm awesome.

(Or it's a setting in the admin panel.)

Last edited by Holden (2012-08-09 19:10:20)

"Most people don't even know what sysadmins do, but trust me, if they all took a lunch break at the same time they wouldn't make it to the deli before you ran out of bullets protecting your canned goods from roving bands of mutants."

-- http://stilldrinking.org/programming-sucks

Re: Starship Troopers

pimp

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: Starship Troopers

Teague is right - Caspar so looks like a Team America puppet in this movie

not long to go now...

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

In honor of tomorrow night's live riffing of this film, I present the late Cronan Thompson's "Things I learned from Starship Troopers". http://www.cronan-memorial.com/troopers.html

1. It is a very good idea to give your troops beer in hostile territory.

2. In the future all but a very few brown people (particularly those in Buenos Aires) will leave the Terran Federation.

3. A society that will show the dismemberment of humans on camera *live* will censor the death of a cow.

4. An asteroid can cross the galaxy in about an hour.

5. You can go from private to lieutenant without ever having proven you are qualified in about an hour.

6. When a commander finds two of his soldiers in bed and needs them to perform a task he will give them time to finish.

7. Even the white population in the tropics will be uniformly light.

8. People with hispanic or asian names will be white and hispanic respectively.

9. One can join the Federal Service immediately premoted to colonel.

10. The Sky Marshall looks like my mom.

11. Plasma farts are enough to destroy starships in high orbit above a planet.

12. Or worse yet push asteroids to beyond light speed.

13. When attempting genocide against a technologically inferior foe you will not think to drop nuclear weapons more powerful than the hand weapons of your soldiers.

14. One can outrun the backwash of a nuclear grenade.

15. You will have your bombers fly approx 30 feet off the ground and drop weapons that are no stronger than a 20th century bazooka.

16. Tanks, helicopters and other support craft were eliminated by the military genius of the Terran Federation in favor of using volunteers as cannon fodder.

17. It is a *very* good idea to ignore the animosity between the pilots who drop the troops and the troops who have the guns.

18. The guns that protect Earth will be placed on the Moon in a gigantic two dimensional ring.

19. An experienced field commander will walk through a canyon with an enemy of superior numbers in the area.

20. Brains are nummeee.

21. Black leather jackets are perfect for the field.

22. Stabbing your recruits and breaking their arms is a fine way to inspire loyalty.

23. Reloading is not nessecary until there is a closeup.

24. Clips hold about 20 million rounds of ammunition.

25. In the middle of a war to save mankind you will repeatedly run into your old high scool chums.

26. After you have been stabbed through your shoulder with a giant bugs foreclaw roughly the size of a grape fruit you will be able to fire automatic weapons, use knives, swing your arms while runing and hug your buddies in a final show of comradery.

27. In a class room with interactive electronic displays on the desks students will have paper textbooks.

28. People who are missing limbs will be careful not to move the area where the limb should be through space occupied by another person.

29. Did I mention the only black guy who got more than one line died and the black lady got serious acid burn?

30. Although if the world population were to be represented 90+% of them would be non-white in the future this statistic will flip and the MI will be 90+% white.

31. Doogie's descendants are just as annoying.

32. It is possible to control an entire hostile planet without reasonable air support, some type of cavalry and a military force who carry one rifle a peice.

33. The rumbling I heard wasn't the sound. It was my stomach from the bullshit I was force fed.

34. No one bothered to teach the Rico that when your fellow soldier has been run through you do not pull out what is currently holding them together.

35. Everyone is beautiful, in the super model way.

36. It is possible to remain pretty damn clean after a hard day of battling the bugs.

37. Sweat? Who needs to sweat?

38. In the middle of a war with hundreds of thousands of casualties, the good friend/sextoy of the main character will receive a formal military funeral with scads of attendees.

39. For some odd reason, soldiers wear extensive body armor to protect everything but what they need to fight with - their hands and their eyes.

40. While you can capture the bugs and put them in cages, we cannot find ways of dropping large yield devices on them to kill them.

41. High school teachers with one arm make excellent leaders of commando units.

42. It is common military strategy to plan an invasion without even gathering intelligence first.

43. The fate of all wars rests in the actions of a few swell friends.

44. Despite an extensive defense net, no one will notice an asteroid approaching until the last possible moment.

45. Whenever you call home something bad happens.

46. Apparently being good in math equates into being able to fly a ship recklessly.

47. Futuristic space ships will have no means whatsoever of avoiding, deflecting or absorbing massive plasma balls that came from a bug's ass.

48. Gigantic bugs are apparently capable of living underground on desert worlds with no known means of nourishment.

49. Bugs are so good that they can actually break a planet's gravity pull and land on other worlds with no technology.

50. Girls actually want to make love for about ten minutes.

51. The military believes that there's nothing better to cheer up the soldiers than an electric neon violin.

52. Dixie the song will be known by Argentinean kids.

53. News logos only get cheesier.

54. Apparently half the military passed over Harvard to enlist.

55. It is a good idea to build a fort in the middle of nowhere for no apparent reason.

56. Said forts supports will be built on the outside so the enemy can attack them with ease.

57. The futuristic air force has no idea what a fuel/air bomb is.

58. Bugs give their planets cool names like Klendathu.

59. Colonels in the intelligence service command missions, experiment on bugs, and do ads.

60. Troops will use nuclear RPGs and grenades without fear of fallout or radiation.

61. If I am in the MI, I won't request cybernetic legs...I'm only allowed cybernetic arms.

62. If I am flying a drop-ship on a rescue mission, I won't use my numerous gun mounts on the invading hordes and clear out some space. I'll send my co-pilot out with an assault rifle--it makes much more sense.

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

Thumbs up +1 Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Invid wrote:

4. An asteroid can cross the galaxy in about an hour.

I'm pretty sure it's intentional and not a plot hole. Paul Verhoeven meant to suggest that the asteroid hit was just an accident that was used by the Federation to start a war with the bugs (the equivalent of the Reichstag fire in Germany).

So honor the valiant who die 'neath your sword
But pity the warrior who slays all his foes...

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

43. The fate of all wars rests in the actions of a few swell friends.

Isn't the entire end about how the "swell friends" have absolutely nothing to do with the end of the war??

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Starship Troopers

Marty J wrote:
Invid wrote:

4. An asteroid can cross the galaxy in about an hour.

I'm pretty sure it's intentional and not a plot hole. Paul Verhoeven meant to suggest that the asteroid hit was just an accident that was used by the Federation to start a war with the bugs (the equivalent of the Reichstag fire in Germany).

I'll have to rewatch the film, but the asteroids were one of the chief offensive weapons of the Bugs (in the book and I believe in the film).

Also, the war with the Bugs had already started before the destruction of Buneos Aries it just wasn't full fledged troops on the ground war. BA's destruction just keep Rico in the Mobile Infantry.

BigDamnArtist wrote:

43. The fate of all wars rests in the actions of a few swell friends.

Isn't the entire end about how the "swell friends" have absolutely nothing to do with the end of the war??

Actually, Trey comments on this in the commentary that the actual finding of the Brain Bug takes place off screen. So, the protagonist's actions don't lead to the capture of the objective. However, in the book Rico saves the guy who captures the Brain Bug, his platoon sergeant, Zim. That's right, in the book version Clancy Brown gets MORE screen time smile

God loves you!

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

fireproof78 wrote:
BigDamnArtist wrote:

43. The fate of all wars rests in the actions of a few swell friends.

Isn't the entire end about how the "swell friends" have absolutely nothing to do with the end of the war??

Actually, Trey comments on this in the commentary that the actual finding of the Brain Bug takes place off screen. So, the protagonist's actions don't lead to the capture of the objective. However, in the book Rico saves the guy who captures the Brain Bug, his platoon sergeant, Zim. That's right, in the book version Clancy Brown gets MORE screen time smile

So tldr...the actions of the swell friends have no direct impact on the end of the war?

Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2013-08-15 08:05:29)

ZangrethorDigital.ca

Re: Starship Troopers

BigDamnArtist wrote:
fireproof78 wrote:
BigDamnArtist wrote:

Isn't the entire end about how the "swell friends" have absolutely nothing to do with the end of the war??

Actually, Trey comments on this in the commentary that the actual finding of the Brain Bug takes place off screen. So, the protagonist's actions don't lead to the capture of the objective. However, in the book Rico saves the guy who captures the Brain Bug, his platoon sergeant, Zim. That's right, in the book version Clancy Brown gets MORE screen time smile

So tldr...the actions of the swell friends have no direct impact on the end of the war?

You asking about the book or the movie? Because I don't think in either the capture of the Brain Bug leads to the end of the war right away.

However, in the book, Rico does save Zim after Zim captures the Brain Bug.

You know what? Just go read the book. You'll like it smile

God loves you!

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

I'm talking about the movie, because that's what that list is talking about. And yes, I'm presuming that the capture of the brainbug is basically the end of the war (in the context of this list) because that's when the movie ends.

ANd I plan to, I just have a bunch of other stuff I'm still trying to read first.

ZangrethorDigital.ca

22

Re: Starship Troopers

I also assumed the movie was tongue-in-cheek, while knowing that the book was absolutely not. You mean you aren't supposed to read between the lines and conclude that the asteroids were a convenient excuse to attack the Bugs?

...You know what, I'm just going to go on assuming the movie wasn't serious.

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

In the book, there's a conspiracy guy in boot camp who tells our hero that this is all BS, the guys who died in training didn't die, it's all an act, etc. We never find out that's NOT true, although the implication is that the guy was just an idiot. So, by bringing up the idea in the book, the reader is able to discount it. By NOT mentioning the idea in the movie, we have to consider the idea.

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

Invid wrote:

In the book, there's a conspiracy guy in boot camp who tells our hero that this is all BS, the guys who died in training didn't die, it's all an act, etc. We never find out that's NOT true, although the implication is that the guy was just an idiot. So, by bringing up the idea in the book, the reader is able to discount it. By NOT mentioning the idea in the movie, we have to consider the idea.

Um, which part of the book? Because that doesn't sound like my version. Sounds like "Space Cadet."

God loves you!

Thumbs up Thumbs down

Re: Starship Troopers

BigDamnArtist wrote:

I'm talking about the movie, because that's what that list is talking about. And yes, I'm presuming that the capture of the brainbug is basically the end of the war (in the context of this list) because that's when the movie ends.

ANd I plan to, I just have a bunch of other stuff I'm still trying to read first.

Actually, not really. The war was still being fought, perpetuated by the military-industrial complex and media propaganda:

(I can do tongue in cheek too tongue)

God loves you!

Thumbs up Thumbs down