I was an extra in Starship Troopers, during the futuristic high school football game scene. They filmed it in the Pyramid at Long Beach State College. My girlfriend and I were part of the cheering fans on the sideline. I still have my silver and blue pom poms. (We were supposed to give them back, but I wanted the souvenirs). Side note, An older lady standing next to me got hit in the face with a stray football and it broke her glasses, cutting her face, halting production and freaking out the crew.
That's really interesting. Do you have any more anecdotes to share? My friend was an extra in real steel also part of the cheering crowd and he said that they did three 12-hour days of being on set. They would film the crowd cheering for 10 or 15 seconds, then they would cut and it take the crew another couple hours before they were ready to film another angle or another take. For 36 hours of being on set, they only filmed the cheering crowd for maybe 3 minutes total. Wondering if that was the same experience for you
@@FIDEL_CASHFLOW_ yes, your friend is correct. It takes forever to break down a set, move the cameras and film the same scene with the camera in different locations. I don’t have many anecdotes for Starship troopers, however I was also an extra in Sister Act 2 and a stand in for Maverick. I have tons for those movies, but for Starship Troopers, I only worked in the football scene, and not much happened, other than the lady getting her face split open from a stray ball.
That's why he was still serving. The government only gives him replacement appendages 1 at a time. It all depends on his reenlistment and time he serves. In our military we get money bonuses for reenlistment. They get replacement body parts lost in combat just to end up losing them all over again.
@@sgtjohnnywallsmith8720 The Movie failed to cover this as the Book did. He was an amputee while teaching to Discourage people from enlisting showing the "You can come back as this" part of war not the " You'll be the Hero part" He got his legs "back" when he was recalled to active duty.
@@GhostRider-sc9vu Also, adding to this, he wasn't there to denigrate those that served, but as a reminder of the sacrifice you may have to do. IIRC it's even mentioned that he had bionic legs all along, he just didn't "wear" them for his job as a clerk, and he didn't get his legs back just because he re-enlisted. A recurring idea is that veterans should be taken care or and utilized, not discarded, likely stemming from Heinlein's experiences living in the time he did after the Korean War and the early years of the Vietnam conflict - I suspect his condemnation of the treatment of vets in the modern world would've been even harsher had the book been released in 79 instead of 59.
Almost 30 years later and the initial drop scene where the Troopers invade Klendathu with Basil's incredible fanfare playing STILL makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
We understood the sarcasm and true meaning behind the movie back in the day. I remember seeing it in the theater with my dad who was a huge sci fi fan and loved Heinlein. I was 16 at the time and had read the book a year or two before. My dad and I absolutely loved the movie even though it had almost little in common with the book. I remember driving home afterwards and discussing how the movie was satirical in a way. We picked up on it right away.
On the subject of recycled props..... I read somewhere that the M-16 rifle Al Paciono used in the final shootout in "Scarface" was then carried by Arnold Schwartzenegger in the first "Predator" movie. Also, I got to meet the great Michael Ironside about four months ago. He's a kind and very talkative guy. It was cool to meet a legend like him.
That would be so cool to get to talk to Michael Ironside for a while! He had a LOT of great roles. My favorite line of his from The Crow, "I wonder if we can record this and play it back in slow-motion?" I've used this line a few times! haha
First thing I thought when seeing this as today’s movie was “he’s gotta do a ‘Do you wanna know more?’ quote,” and not even a minute and a half in he delivered! Minty never disappoints! He knows what the people want!!
I was fortunate enough to see a screening of Starship Troopers followed by a Q&A with Paul Verhoeven and Ed Neumeier back in the 2000s, and it was great hearing them reminisce about the film. One thing that stood out to me was Verhoeven saying that he thinks the only reason he was able to make the movie the way he wanted to was because the studio went under multiple different leadership changes while they were filming. He said that if any of the suits had been paying attention, they would have stopped the production dead in its tracks! Great video as always!
I had a guy, a buyer from our Chicago office, come in and was talking all big about it. I loaned him my book to read and he came back a changed man, seeing the movie for the trash it was.
Bonus: "Starship Troopers" the book was on the United States Marine Corps Commandant's required reading list for its portrayal of small unit leadership.
I loved this movie when it was released! My father had read the book and was happy to take teenage me and all my friends to an opening weekend showing. I totally got the satire, and the ridiculous action was a cherry on top. My dad was a Vietnam vet. While he was proud of his service as an individual, he did not like being part of the US military machine and the propaganda that went with it. So this was right up his alley!
I am from Wyoming and lived in Casper for some years in the 80s. Hell's Half Acre is no place to mess around in when it's hot outside! Wyoming is extremely arid and when it's HOT there, the shade is your friend but in HHA there is little to no shade.
This was the first movie I saw where I got carded at the cinema. I love those bug effects, slick satire, and I had a crush on Dizzy. I can't believe this movie had a toy line.
Number 3 Actually, before Planet of the Apes, the helmets and trooper uniforms were re-used in Power Ranger Lost galaxy as the tactical Gear for Terra Venture's security force. Which was kind of fitting since the Vilains in that serie were insect themed
I'm a big Heinlein fan. I loved how he could put two ideas in your head at the same time, so you end up THINKING, not FEELING...and isn't that the problem today? "muh feels and muh truth"?
Heinlein did not attempt to be ambiguous or to place two ideas into our head. The satirical aspects of the film were created by Paul Verhoeven, precisely because Heinlein told his story unironically.
@@MinesAGuinness i guess the interview in Analog magazine where Heinlein said "sometimes, i like to create a juxtaposition in the reader's minds in order to create thought" Well, that didnt happen, i guess. Thank you for your input.
@@MinesAGuinness He didn't say conflicting thoughts, and he wasn't talking about the film and its attempted doublethink. I suggest you read Heinlein.
Robert Heinlein is my all-time favorite author. I read Starship Troopers when I was a kid in the 1970s or early 1980s. One major difference between the book and the movie was that Rico's parents weren't killed. Or at least his father didn't. (I haven't read the book in over 40 years). Rico had a falling out with his father over joining the military, but at the end of the novel, his father had joined and had actually become a sergeant serving under Rico. That wouldn't have been weird.
I couldn't believe how awesome this movie is!! I watched it for the first time in my mid 30's, just a couple of years ago and man, it blew my freaking mind! Truly a scifi classic, thanks Minty!
An absolute classic! I love this movie! I went to see it with my Dad in the theaters when I were a kid. Minty hit the nail on the head when discussing our perception of the film has evolved as we have grown older. 💚
I saw Starship Troopers at the theatre when I was 15. I’d already loved the Robocops and Total Recall I’d seen on VHS many times. It was a 15 certificate here in the UK at the time and remember coming out thinking.. nah that’s gotta be 18 cert.. and it was bumped up to 18 on video and dvd later down the line. Still one of my all time favourites today, and being older understanding the deeper meanings. Great vid
I think the most important thing about the film that one must know is that the only things really taken from the book are the names of the characters. The bugs are nothing like they are displayed, the politics are nothing like they are displayed and the soldiers displayed are nothing like they are in the book as well. This film is about as much like its "sourcebook" as Amazon's Rings of Power is like Tolkien's Silmarillion.
Every frame of this film is perfect. And the DVD commentary track is awesome. When I was a kid, I read the book, and played the ancient board game/rpg, circa 1975 or so. When the film came out, took a few viewings over a few years of intellectual growth to truly grok it all. Good stuff.
@@anthonyoer4778 Oh really? Then why did the knuckle draggers in the US not get the sarcasm that's been laid up thick by DUTCH filmmaker Paul Verhoeven? I haven't seen any great philosiphers coming out of the us...
@@1972LittleC verhoeven was Dutch and a socialist...he hated the film, ill find you a quote, he didn't understand heinlin because most "progressives" don't understand right, or as I like to say correct, political spectrum.
I agree that the movie is pretty bad-ass -- but it's definitely NOT Heinlein's novel. The two are light years apart, but both are great, and great examples of what they are individually, and I love both.
The toys were awesome & had a magnetic feature where the Roughnecks could lock on to the ships, bugs etc. Great video sir- thanks for doing this! Have a great day!
As a fan of Heinlein's novel I had problems with the movie. It used the title, some of the proper names and the general plot of a war between Earth and the bugs. But that's pretty much where the similarities end. But Minty, your noting that it was already in production as the "Bug Hunt" movie before the novel rights were acquired makes a ton of sense. In the book, each trooper in the M.I. wears a giant armored suit with devastating weapons, including nukes, and is as powerful as an infantry battalion today. The book also focused less on the actual fighting and more on life in the military.
OMG! My son insisted on waking up super early to watch the animated series. Then we could feed him and dress him for the day. 😂 And he waited years for the next season that never was.
I used to watch Roughnecks the animated show every morning before school in 7th grade. My queue to go to the bus stop was the episode ending. Good times
THANK YOU! I was looking for this comment. I haven't seen ST in a long time, and haven't gotten a good look at the officer's uniforms. Do you think they might have been recycled on Firefly, or just similar?
@kenbrown2808 thanks. I know some alterations were probably made because there were some officers in Mandarin collar tunics, but the younger soldiers.....yeah. 😉👍 Shiny! Btw I love when Kaylee called the soldiers Purple Bellies on Bushwhacked. 😂😂 Brown Coats Forever!
@@kenbrown2808 it's all good. I knew about the body armor. Money was saved by getting those costumes and painting them. As for the uniforms, I'm thinking about it, and probably not, unless the wardrobe department was allowed to totally alter them. At least the soldiers. My reason was because the colors are similar. And the borrowing/repurposing of props and costumes have ALWAYS been a common practice, as Minty briefly showed. 😉👍
At first watch I was super bummed that the super-suits used in the novel were not at all in the film. However, I've come to really enjoy the first film and can really get behind the characters and over the top combat action. Very cool video, thanks for doing this one Minty!
The helmet has been used in so many movies and sometimes with the chest armor. Have to admit can't recall any currently but it pops up in a lot of movies made after Starship Troopers.
Ontop of Verhoven never reading the book himself and getting a blurb, he also never actually planned on doing a Starship Troopers movie, he was already working on a movie called "Bughunt at Outpost 9" which was basically the same thing as the movie, but with some different names. He just changed the names of things and characters. As a side note, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles is not a sequel of the movie, it's more of something based on ideas from the books. It only took some of the early concept art for the movie. The even older Anime is also pretty close to the novels. I like the movie, it's an interesting one that leans into the cheese, but it's also one that fails horribly at being a Starship Troopers movie.
Speaking of Basil, and music, the band that plays concert at the school dance, is lead by Basil's daughter. She's the lead singer. And the song she's singing is a cover (with an altered lyric) of a David Bowie song. Bonus trivia - Basil's daughter also helped write music for Conan the Barbarian. She wrote a piece of music Basil wound up using during the orgy scene.
Pretty much my favorite author. Anyone who says Heinlein is stoking fascism didn't read the book. In fact Heinlein turned me into the libertarian that I am now.
Numbers 9 & 8 are the least surprising revelations ever. The thing that ticks me off the most about this movie is it probably makes it impossible to ever get a real adaptation of the book.
“This” is obviously what RU-vid is doing, guys *shhhhhh* just go along with whatever he says. He gets like this every once in a while but he’ll eventually tire himself out and take a nap.
Possibly because actual (book) Starship Troopers fans (or at least people familiar with the source) expected a faithful adaptation, but got something that is the exact opposite?
I think most people just can't think for themselves and just go along with the "cool" opinion. Most critics said it was bad, and the toxic fanboy crowd who liked the book said it was bad, then most of the audience said it and so on. Until suddenly some "cool" people started saying "no it's good", then everyone's opinion suddenly changed and critics suddenly were reappraising it as good.
I could just imagine military members letting young children handle their weapons in a park today! LET ALONE handing out ammunition like its Halloween Candy!😂🎉
Agreed. The 3rd movie was awesome. And Jolene Blaylock, from STAR TREK ENTERPRISE was still smokin hot ! Casper Van Dien is currently working on a Sci Fi movie called, "'MANHATTAN TRANSFER'", with Actor Walter Koenig, who has been portraying, "CHEK0V'" , on STAR TREK for over 5O years !
Starship Troopers is a phenomenal film. It was when it came out and it is today. I don't blame Verhoeven for people not 'getting it'. I always thought the satire was so thick, that everyone could see it. It made me understand Robocop and Total Recall better too.
The book is not about nazis, and it is an anti nuclear war book. There are two key thpughts, one is “War is about real estate”, which is directed against totalitarian weapons like nuclear bomb, the second is that you don’t get to vote if you aren’t prepared to defend it. Something that should ring a bell today when millionaires buy politicians and become arm chair war mongers while young Americans die in wars for corporate revenue. The part about corporal punishment is also a choice, and it was Heinlein’s view on responsibility. Nothing is nazi about it.
I read the book way before it ever became the movie. The book is about Rico growing up and maturing as he goes through boot camp and becoming a Trooper. The world of the time is typical Heinlein, with hints, but no great details of how the world became what it is, and uses the bugs as a metaphor, I think, of fighting against a total communism, as Heinlein describes it. The powered suits and drop ships are all Heinlein's creation. Basically, I think it was hard to make into a movie with the same story line, and the special effects still stand the test of time. Also, at the very end of the book, you learn Rico is Filipino. . .
1) "It's actually anti-these things it's accused of being" you'd think after being accused of that, Paul would stop accusing the book of the same thing. It is weird that 2 of his perfect trilogy films came as a result of him refusing to read the source material 2) I'd kill for the Rodger Young's steering device 3) Dizzy's actress goes on to save the Enterprise E and thus Earth and the Federation itself in Star Trek: Nemesis
The book was perfectly reasonable and was explained as a Weimar times required Weimar solutions. Heinlein experienced things and every Democracy does that sort of mind control stuff on its people to keep them complacent and accepting of the order.
An all time favourite!! Started watching the 'clone wars' again with the kids, the show has a narrator explaining what had happened in previous episodes, due to his voice every time he finishes i cannot help but say' Would you like to know more?' !!
The book was amazing. At one point it was on the US Marine Corps reading list. The main character enlisted then went through OCS to become an officer. It is a good example of military leadership. Also the mobile infantry have power armor in the book
As a fan of the book, I was so disappointed they didn't have the power armor. I did read an article once where someone said the tried to include the power armor, but only had the budget to make either the bugs or the power armor look real, and since folks who never read the book would think of this as a bug movie, they had to pick the bugs over the armor.
I’ll always remember a friend who went to Starship Troopers on Valentine’s Day after being dumped. She spent two hours watching men get shot, stabbed, dismembered, mauled and decapitated.
The most important thing to know is that it has nothing to do with the book. They didn't even get Rico's name correct. A movie alluding to Fascism, based on a book about Civic virtue, made by a Dutch Socialist who refused to read the material. As much as I love it for the movie that it is, I hate that people watch it and think that this is what Starship Troopers was about.
Ironsides even said humanity collapsed and it was those Fash veterans, the military tasked with protecting them, took over using force and fixed it. Fash is when dad says no.
