Path: ...!feeds.phibee-telecom.net!news.mixmin.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Adam H. Kerman" Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv Subject: Re: A fresh take on the Star Wars films Date: Sun, 12 May 2024 15:53:34 -0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 43 Message-ID: References: <20240507112300.00000489@example.com> <1525202440.737210761.510552.anim8rfsk-cox.net@news.easynews.com> Injection-Date: Sun, 12 May 2024 17:53:34 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="88b578cc166cbaa67d93d90d9817f61f"; logging-data="2954562"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18uxitLgOOHoLyjKNBxTWJ8REEKCzPZfSQ=" Cancel-Lock: sha1:9t+brNG9H5bKEAhduwbiekR/LPY= X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test77 (Sep 1, 2010) Bytes: 3127 Dimensional Traveler wrote: >On 5/12/2024 6:44 AM, anim8rfsk wrote: >>shawn wrote: >>>Sat, 11 May 2024 22:35:20 -0700, The Horny Goat wrote: >>>>Fri, 10 May 2024 19:06:45 -0400, moviePig wrote: >>>>>Well, *somebody* with wit had to have been behind it. That much >>>>>tongue-in-cheek can't have been accidental. Fwiw, the Internet seems >>>>>rather definite that Verhoeven (a dedicated Liberal) was satirizing. >>>>Got a cite on that? Sounds like an interesting article or two. >>>https://collider.com/starship-troopers-review-satire-at-its-best/ >>>The cold hard truth of Starship Troopers, Paul Verhoeven's 1997 >>>follow-up to his infamous 1995 Showgirls, is painfully obvious from >>>the start: this is not Oscar bait. The acting is wooden, especially >>>from lead actor Casper Van Dien. Denise Richards' performance is also >>>suspect, playing aspiring pilot Carmen Ibanez. The only actors that >>>stand out are the steady veterans Clancy Brown and Michael Ironside. >>>What Starship Troopers is, though, is satire at its best, with >>>Verhoeven masterfully weaving social commentary and potshots >>>throughout the film. >>And here's the thing. He's not. He thought he made a straightforward, >>action, adventure, film, and any social commentary or potshots escaped his >>notice. >IIRC he has said it was supposed to show how evil Nazis are. Verhoeven ain't Mister Subtlety. That's why I said he took so many cheap shots. Did he have something new to say? Not at all. But he wasn't up to the challenge of making a decent adaptation that entertained without satire. I love RoboCop. The social satire works. That is an entertainment movie and it just had no right to be. It was plagued with so many pre-production problems it almost didn't get made. Peter Weller creates a fully-drawn character later in the movie as he starts to remember his former life, despite the helmut. That's a difficult acting challenge. Verhoeven's other good movies are... I forget.