Customer Reviews

Starship Troopers 2:Hero of the Federation (Special Edition)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(63)

 

 

I must say first of all that a number of the one-star reviews here seem to have been written by the same malajusted teenage troll. This critic didn't 'get' the first film, but thought it was just a big ride with explosions and giant bugs. It was a lot more than that, and this sequel is a lot more than a cheap knock-off.

Criticisms first: the over-riding sense of irony of the first film is not present here, which was a script writing decision. This film also does not match the huge action/FX scenes of the first film, a necessary result of the limited budget. As a result, this film is not like the first one. Let's acknowledge this and move on from there...

The opening and closing sequences are the least impressive parts of the movie, and it's here that the budget limitations really show. I think we can forgive this, based on the infinitesimal budget (5% of the first movie's), and the high quality of the main, middle part of the film. Once we get past the cheesy skeleton shot, this movie really comes into its own area of excellence. I agree with others here that the nudity seemed gratuitous, although in the commentary the writer, director and producer seem to agree that it fitted with the character and situation. Also, the music, while generally good, sometimes plays Heroic when it should really play Dramatic Ambivalent. This is particularly jarring during the climax of the final action scene.

Beyond these criticisms, this movie is really very good. There are a lot of characters, both low-key and creepy, but they are all well delineated, and the acting ranges from okay to excellent. The set design and cinematography are terrific, especially given the budget. The detail, textures, colours and angular design, combined with clever lighting, create a believable, lived-in environment that seems more claustrophobic as the film progresses. The effects are also excellent - criticisms that they look "cheap" and "fake" are bewildering, in light of the fact that they were produced by the same people who worked on the first movie. In fact, my problem was that the FX were so well done that I had to make a conscious effort to notice when they were used.

The story obviously makes reference to classics such as Body Snatchers, Alien and The Thing (both versions), but puts its own twist on the idea of the parasitic alien infestation. (I don't want to give too much away here - let's just say "Nice puppet work!") The script, by Ed Neumeier, is skillfully constructed in terms of character revelation and building of suspense, and holds together despite the discarding of many scenes due to production restrictions. A surprise is the horror element that emerges in the second half, at some moments recalling the gore of various low budget classics from the eighties (Evil Dead, CHUD) but with more polished visuals, and (arguably) heavier psychological subtext.

As Ed Neumeier notes in the commentary, one of the more horrific moments of the final act involves no gore at all - it is a speech by the bugs about the human delusion of individual importance. Like being held under the magnifying eye of an utterly alien species, it gives one the existential creeps - director Tippett justly suggests the word "Lovecraftian" to describe the effect of this scene.

The climactic scene was shot in one day (!), with a final shot suggested by Paul Verhouven, director of the original. This scene works, but is slightly undermined by the needlessly Heroic music. The short epilogue has been assembled clumsily, and shoots itself in the foot several times, but fortunately is not bad enough to undermine the preceding hour and a half. I was agreeably surprised by this movie. Overall, the elements come together very well: considering its budget, it looks great, is acted well, and towards the end is more gripping than any film I have seen for quite some time. With a couple of million extra to fix the opening and ending segments, this movie could've held its own at the box office.

(3 1/2 stars - now ramped up to 5 to counter the moron factor, even though it means losing my 'helpful' votes.)

(An aside: I note here some references to poor DVD quality; I should confess that I am reviewing the region 4 release, which has identical contents and quite high quality imaging. Possibly viewers are reacting to the unfamiliar look of the Digital Video format?)
(Aside No. 2: Why is bringing back Brenda Strong for this movie a problem? I didn't even recognise her at first, and her new character _rocks_. That image of her with the syringes and the frying pan is still burned into my retinas.)

The first Starship Troopers had it's flaws for sure, but was still solid, well made, and quality enough to build a cult following. But this "Screen Test" of a movie does the storyline nor concept any sense of justice. From a cast no larger than 20 total (including all extra's), to the OVER use of fog and close ups to hide the lack of sets, this movie was a dissapointment for me all across the board. The only thing that saved this movie from complete dissaster was a few of the rock solid actors that were good enough to still carry the story. The fact that they re-used an actor who's character died in the first SST blew my mind at first, but then she turned out being one of the better of the film. Not to mention, the battle scenes in the first were epic, and SST1 still holds the record for most ammunition used in a feature film...as this one, uses flashes of blue light at the end of the plastic rifles. The lack of human bodies was also depressing, 20 people does not an army make...I need extra's, nameless army peons, but for this you gotta believe these 10-15 people are it, the whole bug quarantine invasion force. Honestly, I could nitpick forever on this films flaws, but all I need to convay is that you should not purchase this movie on the quality of the first film, because even the Sci-Fi channel has higher standards than were set in this deppressing sequal.

As disappointing as the first movie was to anyone who'd read Robert Heinlein's book, this piece of dreck is insulting to both his memory and the admittedly impressive effects of the first movie. Phil Tippit is a great puppeteer and special effects wizard. His talents as a director are questionable, but BOTH movies suffer from scripts (written by the same person) who JUST DOESN'T GET IT! 'Starship Troopers' (the novel) is a classic coming of age tale. Boy becomes man. Everything else is backdrop to Little Juan Rico becoming an adult and Leader of Men. This 'sequel' is an exploitive waste of film. Phil Tippit studios must have had a lot of Bug Puppets left over after the first film, and saw a way to destroy them at a profit instead of a tax write off.

If you thought it impossible to see a movie that would make B-movie actors cringe, here's the one to see. It's not an understatement to say that I could take twenty bucks and a camera and make something better than this piece of crap.

I'm a pretty hardcore fan of "Starship Troopers." I've read the book twice, seen the first film a dozen times, and watched the cartoon series. Now I've seen "Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation" and I must say that I was more than disappointed. The film stinks for many reasons, the biggest being its horrendously low budget. Had the filmmakers had more money, they definitely would've made a better film. But instead we're stuck with this lame, "trapped in an abandoned building" monster fest instead of the senseless killing and violence the original Paul Verhoeven film displayed. It's very obvious this film was very low-budgeted, which sounds like a mistake on the studio's part. They had their chance to make a great sequel to a very enjoyable movie and they blew it. Don't see "Starship Troopers 2." It'll be a huge let-down.

I really wish Amazon has a zero star rating... This has to be the WORST sequel ever made. Even a sequel to Ishtar would be better. Zero plot, bottom of the barrel B-list actors (and C-list acting to boot!) and a buck-twenty budget on a set that resembles a junkyard does not make for impressive viewing. What makes matters worse they use an actress who was in the first film - whose character (the Fleet Captain) died in ST1!
Please don't buy this - even when it is going for 99c...

The story itself is not bad... but the execution stinks. Poor imitations of the first movies "do you want to know more?"

The acting was decent and once the story got started it was somewhat interesting.

If you really look you'll see an actor from the first film.

Overall, this is a movie for the hard core fans only... and thats just because it says Starship Troopers" on the box.

After finding out that Starship Troopers 2 was a straight to DVD movie, I became already disappointed but, being a huge fan of Starship Troopers, I rented the sequel. My expectations were very low, and for good reason. Every, I mean EVERY core element that made the first movie so great is gone. The quirky military propaganda is ruined. And there is no large-scale war. Or for that matter, small scale war. Due to the low budget they had to change the story to a overly done, very cliche` rendering of "Aliens taking over the brains of soldiers and turning them against themselves." Some of the special effects footage is repeated often throughout the movie and some of the footage is from the first movie!. They obviously did this to keep the audience thinking "Oooooh Ahhhhh" when really most are thinking "What a waste." And a waste this movie is. Fans, you have been warned.

The original "Starship Troopers" movie is my favorite film; I had waited for the second one with great anticipation. Unfortunately, I don't know what to think of the second one. It is definitely not as good as the first one. At times, I could describe it as horrible. Why, oh why did they try to make a horror movie out of Starship Troopers, they missed the point completely!

There were a couple of good actors in the movie. Brenda Strong was one of them. What I couldn't figure out, is how come after being killed in the first movie... Ok, maybe the medicine is pretty darn good in those advanced space age days, so she didn't really die, and they patched her up. I can believe that. But, why did they give her a different name, and stuffed into the different branch of the military?

Unfortunately, the select few of the good actors could not overshadow the play of the rest of the cast. Did they make a special effort to find actors that suck? I mean, come on! Even I can play better than that, and I couldn't play my way out of a potato sack.

Ok, the story is good. It definitely needed some polishing out. Like for example, we meet the main character while he is locked up for killing his CO. Wouldn't you think the audience deservers to know why the guy killed his commanding officer? Apparently the makers of the movie didn't think that was important, like, yea, he killed his CO, it happens all the time. But anyway, I buy the story, it had a potential - which unfortunately never materialized.

The movie is full of holes, you could see at times, that they probably meant to include some things here and there, but then run out of time or money or creativity, or all there, and whatever there was supposed to be at places never happened. What a shame.

On the other hand, if you want to see somebody's head cut off and put in a microwave, you will not be disappointed. There is some nudity too, by Kelly Carlson. But Dina Meyer and Denise Richards are not in this one.

I loved the first sst. This one though....an illerate person could have written a better script. The story was lame, they tried to make it like an old b-rate horror movie. Hardly any bugs from the original, none of the characters or weapons for that matter. The acting sucked. The blond was pretty cute but thats about it. Even the special effects were pretty bad. I think the best scene was when the used a scene from the first sst for a ferderation comercial!!!
please dont do what I did, it'll be 70 minutes of your life you'll never get back.