I'm gonna stick my neck out and just say that the search could absolutely make sense whether you like Starship Troopers or not. I.e. Verhoeven is arguably a genius and he did direct Starship Troopers, so even if you see it as a lesser work or one of his misses, you might still put all those words together.
Robocop remains a brilliant piece of work. Basic Instinct is, in my opinion, a pretty brilliant, nasty little black comedy. I thought Black Book was exceptionally good. He's had his disasters: I think Hollow Man is a complete misfire and I still don't think Showgirls even works as camp (though it may work as an "alternative classic" like Plan 9 or Alone In The Dark, though that's hardly a complement).
As for Troopers: I liked it and thought it did what it set out to do. I completely understand why Heinlein fans hate it, and maybe if I were a Heinlein fan I would, too. I don't think Troopers is Verhoeven's best work--I'd call it a pale shadow of Robocop with some Showgirls-ey elements thrown in, and ranking somewhere in between those two on his filmography.
But come on, casting Doogie Houser as a space Nazi has to rank as one of the awesomest bits of stunt casting in the history of everything. That alone would make Troopers a minor treasure, even if were only a 14-karat one.
Ack! Irony! How could I forget Total Recall, a brilliantly over-the-top movie? Love that movie. And let me point out (hence the irony in forgetting), that whereas I'm not a big Heinlein fan, I am a huuuuuuuuuuuge PKD fan.
Does Recall take liberties? Sure, but so the frick what? Is Arnold Schwarzenegger the absolute antithesis of a PKD hero (quintessentially a failed, average-or-below nebbish, typically henpecked)? Absolutely, but what the part of "so the frick what" didn't you hear? Recall isn't Verhoeven's best, but it is made of awesome.
Actually, I've said for years that if you could do a mashup of Recall and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (a beautiful but also rather faithless adaptation), you might actually end up with the perfect PKD movie for once. BR may look like PKD's world, but it doesn't have a scene as phildickian as the one in which Schwarzenegger removes his head and it's a bomb, a scene that recalls one in Ubik in which a man turns into a balloon, floats to the ceiling and blows up.
Further irony: I regret to confess I still haven't seen Flesh And Blood, the movie that established Verhoeven's reputation outside of the Netherlands. It's on my list. Has been for years. I swear it.
Comments on this blog are moderated. Each will be reviewed before being allowed to post. This may take a while. I don't allow personal attacks, trolling, or obnoxious stupidity. If you post anonymously and hide behind an IP blocker, I'm a lot more likely to consider you a troll. Be sure to read the commenting rulesbefore you start typing. Really.
Aw, you get all the fun. Nobody ever visits my sites unless they're actually looking for the things on them.
ReplyDeleteHey, wait...
BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteDr. Phil
I'm gonna stick my neck out and just say that the search could absolutely make sense whether you like Starship Troopers or not. I.e. Verhoeven is arguably a genius and he did direct Starship Troopers, so even if you see it as a lesser work or one of his misses, you might still put all those words together.
ReplyDeleteRobocop remains a brilliant piece of work. Basic Instinct is, in my opinion, a pretty brilliant, nasty little black comedy. I thought Black Book was exceptionally good. He's had his disasters: I think Hollow Man is a complete misfire and I still don't think Showgirls even works as camp (though it may work as an "alternative classic" like Plan 9 or Alone In The Dark, though that's hardly a complement).
As for Troopers: I liked it and thought it did what it set out to do. I completely understand why Heinlein fans hate it, and maybe if I were a Heinlein fan I would, too. I don't think Troopers is Verhoeven's best work--I'd call it a pale shadow of Robocop with some Showgirls-ey elements thrown in, and ranking somewhere in between those two on his filmography.
But come on, casting Doogie Houser as a space Nazi has to rank as one of the awesomest bits of stunt casting in the history of everything. That alone would make Troopers a minor treasure, even if were only a 14-karat one.
Ack! Irony! How could I forget Total Recall, a brilliantly over-the-top movie? Love that movie. And let me point out (hence the irony in forgetting), that whereas I'm not a big Heinlein fan, I am a huuuuuuuuuuuge PKD fan.
ReplyDeleteDoes Recall take liberties? Sure, but so the frick what? Is Arnold Schwarzenegger the absolute antithesis of a PKD hero (quintessentially a failed, average-or-below nebbish, typically henpecked)? Absolutely, but what the part of "so the frick what" didn't you hear? Recall isn't Verhoeven's best, but it is made of awesome.
Actually, I've said for years that if you could do a mashup of Recall and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner (a beautiful but also rather faithless adaptation), you might actually end up with the perfect PKD movie for once. BR may look like PKD's world, but it doesn't have a scene as phildickian as the one in which Schwarzenegger removes his head and it's a bomb, a scene that recalls one in Ubik in which a man turns into a balloon, floats to the ceiling and blows up.
Further irony: I regret to confess I still haven't seen Flesh And Blood, the movie that established Verhoeven's reputation outside of the Netherlands. It's on my list. Has been for years. I swear it.
Have to admit Total Recall is one of my guilty pleasures. And Blade Runner is one of my all-time faves!
ReplyDelete“starship troopers verhoeven brilliant genius”
ReplyDeleteWait, what?