Frankly, I’m surprised the movie took off the way it did.  When I first saw the trailer, I figured for sure someone had lost their mind (and, when it comes to Verhoeven, I still stand by that theory, but the guy does make a halfway decent flick every decade or so).  Giant bugs?  From outer space?  Love triangles?  In outer space?  A blatant political and social commentary?  A name like Casper Van Dien?  The whole thing seemed like a throwback to science fiction’s golden Atomic Age in the 1950s (when Heinlein’s story first appeared) and, in essence, it was… but nobody seemed to mind (except the people that actually read Heinlein’s story, that is).

The movie has just about everything anyone could ever want: mankind vs. giant bugs, kids fresh out of high school learning the hard way that life sucks, Charlie Sheen’’s future ex-wife, the guy from Scanners, the other guy from Highlander, a psychic Doogie Howser, people that have great difficulties pronouncing other peoples’ names, the dead narrator of “Desperate Housewives” and a shower scene full of eye candy for both man and woman alike.

Now that’s entertainment.

Unfortunately, as with every good (or at least successful) movie, the inevitable sequel is not far behind… which brings us to Starship Troopers 2: Hero Of The Federation: a somewhat boring, low budget, direct-to-video offshoot that was directed by FX guy Phil Tippett (somebody must have had some compromising photos of him - that’s my theory at least).  Originally conceived as a spin-off with Clancy Brown’s character of Zim returning to kill some bugs, the whole thing was re-written when Brown announced he had other, better things to do.  So, instead of the Kurgen running around as Zim, we get TV regular Richard Burgi playing a similar character named Dax.

Those of you expecting battlefield sequences will be disappointed (they didn’t even get John Cunningham back to voice the FedNet propaganda material): the whole story begins with some stock footage from the original and then relocates to a deserted post where several survivors of two doomed regiments hole up.  From there, the movie turns into a horror film (so those of you hoping for more political or social commentary will also be less than thrilled), with the soldiers being taken over and/or killed by a new breed of bug enters the human body and takes it over.

The highpoint here is the gore (albeit low budget gore - which is sometimes better anyway) and a naked Kelly Carlson.  Colleen Porch and Sandrine Holt are also on-hand to ogle over (although they keep their clothes on) and Brenda Strong (Capt. Deladier in the first film) returns as an entirely different character.  Ed Lauter hams up every other frame of film as a General.  Personally, I thought the idea of the film was a novel one, but the filmmakers shouldn’t have done it without signing on Clancy Brown (or perhaps another actor from the first film… like Jake Busey… no, wait, what am I saying?).  Maybe they should have made a prequel with Michael Ironside out on the field, kicking some ass, losing his arm, etc.  Oh, wait, that’s right: they didn’t have the budget for that.  Oh, well, it still works if you let it. 

Both films had the same screenwriter (Ed Neumeier, a familiar name in the RoboCop universe), but Part 2 just wasn’t enough for most people: the sequel went virtually unnoticed in video stores and was chewed-up, spit out, bashed, balked at, and lambasted by fans of the original movie and animated series, most of whom wish that the ““2” was taken out of the title (I think some may have started an online petition to do so, too).

With not a lot of other things to occupy his time with, screenwriter Ed Neumeier took a stab at directing (in addition to writing) Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, as well as bringing back Casper Van Dien’s Johnny Rico back in the mix.  This time around, Rico (who was originally Filipino in Heinlein’s story) is up to his handsome little ass in “Archie” once again when - wait for it - BUGS ATTACK!

Although the budget is not as high here (it’s a lot more than Part 2, though) and the special effects are a little on the low side (particularly during the climactic battle where we find out what the hell Marauder is all about), Part 3 is still fun.  Not only does Neumeier return with the political commentary in this chapter (government conspiracies abound, the entire Federation has become synonymous with Fascism, etc.), but religion enters into the mix, too (and anytime someone makes fun of that shit, I’m happy).

Plus there are titties and Casper’s booty, too! 
 

Presentation 
All three films are brought to us in 1080p widescreen (Parts 1 and 3 are framed at 1.85:1 while Part 2 is 1.78:1) and look quite well, with the exception of the direct-to-video cheapie Starship Troopers 2: Hero Of The Federation (which I believe is only available in this set and won’t blow anyone out of the water with its A/V transfer… unless you somehow bring F.W. Murnau into modern times and show him the film on Blu-ray without showing him anything else and then promptly returned him to his time - which is unlikely): the presentation there suffers from a lot of noise and grain, but that’s understandable when you take into account that the budget. 

Discs 1 and 2 feature English and French Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound and English, English (SDH) and French Subtitles (The first film also features Spanish subs while Part 2 has some Hindi titles).  Disc 3 boasts an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 sound (with additional tracks in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Thai DD 5.1) as well as English, English (SDH), French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (both Traditional and Simplified), Korean, Thai and Indonesian subtitles. 

Out of all of the films, Starship Troopers sounds the best, while the other two titles don’t make full use of the actors’ voices as well as they should (or so I though… of course, that could have just been the fact that I had the air conditioner on and I’m getting old). 

Extras
Starship Troopers takes the cake as far as Special Features go, many of which were taken from the 2002 Special Edition DVD release.  The new special features assembled for this issue include FedNet Mode, which is similar to New Line’s short-lived Infinifilm feature on DVD wherein you can watch the and selected Special Features at the same time.  A similar feature is also available on this disc and referred to as Blu-Wizard, in which you can actually pick and choose which Special Features you want to play along with the film (and the list is pretty big).  There’s also a Recruitment Test game which seemed sort of lame but might keep a few of you entertained (I was rather shocked to discover I scored as a jarhead) and the optional ability to upload your picture into the movie and see yourself as a Roughneck running with the rest of the troops. 

Carried over from the previous release(s) are an Audio Commentary with Paul Verhoeven and writer Ed Neumeier; another Commentary with Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, and Neil Patrick Harris (what would Neil Patrick Harris do?); the documentary Death From Above: The Making Of Starship Troopers (31:57); Featurettes The Making Of Starship Troopers (7:58); The Spaceships From Starship Troopers (3:26), Bug Test Film: Don’t Look Now (1:13), Know Your Foe (17:04); side-by-side Comparisons for both FX shots (28:53) and Storyboards (11:13); Scene Deconstructions with Paul Verhoeven (7:35) Deleted Scenes (8:00); Screen Tests (3:42) 

Four Previews for Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Men In Black, CJ7, and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition; and a Promo for Blu-ray round the disc out.  The only thing I noticed that was missing from any previous releases was the Isolated Music Score with Commentary by composer Basil Poledouris. 

Starship Troopers 2: Hero Of The Federation has the least amount of Bonus Features out of all three titles (all of which are recycled from the DVD release).  It contains an Audio Commentary with director Tippett, screenwriter Neumeier, and producer Jon Davison.  Next up are two Featurettes: Inside The Federation (30:04) and From Green Screen To Silver Screen (9:06).  The Previews on this disc are the same as Disc 1 (as are the Menus). 

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder contains an Audio Commentary with Neumeier, producer David Lancaster, and Visual FX supervisor Robert Skotak; a second Commentary with Neumeier, Van Dien and actress Jolene Blalock; and two featurettes: Evolution: The Bugs Of Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (11:32) and Enlist: Mobile Infantry (13:55). The last tidbit is the Music Video of the Extended Version of “It’s A Good Day To Die” (2:40) which will have you rolling on the floor as it did in the film.  Previews for Prom Night (2008), 88 Minutes, 21, Vantage Point, Dragon Wars, Resident Evil: Degeneration, The Fall, Untraceable, Starship Troopers, and the obligatory Blu-ray Promo (which puzzles me since it’s a Blu-ray disc) fill out the rest of the disc.  BD Features include Marauder Mode (similar to FedNet Mode on Disc 1). 

All discs have BD-Live (should you find yourself bored enough to use it).  Only a handful of Extras on Disc 3 are presented in High Def. 

The Bottom Line  
“Would you like to know more?”  Then buy this fucking set, dammit!