Well, maybe in a few ways. Like the bugs attacking us first is sorta like Pearl Harbor. And the ending seen with all the ships was sort of like many of the propaganda posters of the time. Thats all I can think of though.
I thought it was an imitation of Nazi Germany to a great degree, note the colonels uniform with collar tabs etc. The bloke who wrote it said something about his intent being a comparison between US and Germany kinda thing IIRC. The thing about the bugs attacking first was propaganda, half the point in the film is that the troopers attack the bugs first and then use the bugs revenge as propaganda. Then there is the whole torturing the bugs, teaching everyone to hate them, soldiers giving guns to kids and so on. All very strange really...
That is very true Stephan, or how a bout the time when the troopers are on that remote planet and try and hold that outpost againt all those bugs? Isn't that sort of like Leningrad(although the bugs triumphed, isn't it essentially the same idea?)
The film really annoyed me. I didn't like it. And I agree about the propaganda stuff. It was alla bout cheap propaganda and I immediately noticed the German-like uniforms. Actually the field cap is identical to the German one.
"Starship Troopers" is one of the more famous books by one of the sci-fi greats, Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988). Other stories and books include include "Have Space Suit - Will Travel", "The Door Into Summer", "The Puppet Masters", "Stranger in a Strange Land", "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and more. The movie is a pretty entertaining and well-made piece of pulp. It has very little in common with the book, except the bugs and a few names, except that the love-story is not in, and the bugs are more advanced technologically, and...you get the picture. Also, the Mobile Infantry are mobile not for trudging around like 19th century infantry (movie), but rather for highly mobile powered armour complete with tactical nukes, grenades and other nasty weaponry incorporated. Of course, this all-enclosing tank-like personal armour would have concealed the good looking actors, and (gasp!) we can't have that. From http://www.kentaurus.com/troopers.htm "Since its debut in 1959, Robert Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers has been one of the most popular -- and controversial -- works of science fiction ever published. Written in a few weeks as a response to a proposed nuclear testing moratorium and other issues, it has been interpreted and misinterpreted, praised and excoriated. It recently generated hundreds of "reviews" on the Amazon.com website -- not bad for a book published 38 years previously! Long on philosophical discussions about citizenship, government, and sociology, this is a book that can be read on several levels: classic coming of age story, political commentary, and science fiction adventure. It virtually defined the powered armor subgenre of military science fiction...The novel is told by Juan Rico, a young trooper in the Mobile Infantry, the Terran Federation Army's 22nd-century equivalent of the 82nd Airborne. Chapter 1 opens with a quick strike mission on a world of the Skinnies, the humanoid allies of the Federation's main foe, the insect-like Arachnids. The story then flashes back to Johnny's graduation from high school, and his decision -- on a whim, really -- to sign up for Federal Service over the objections of his wealthy industrialist father. After some aptitude testing and preliminary screening, young Johnny finds himself at a boot camp so rigorous only one percent of the recruits finish basic training. He survives, is assigned to a unit, takes part in a few operations, almost gets killed, goes career, attends Officer Candidate School, is commisioned, and eventually commands his own unit. Interspersed through this are flashbacks to his high school History and Moral Philosophy course. These flashbacks are not filler; indeed, in many ways they are the core of the book. For in the flashbacks we learn that in the Terran Federation of Johnny's day, the rights of a full Citizen (to vote, and hold public office) must be earned through some form of volunteer "military" service. Those residents who have not exercised their right to perform this Federal Service retain the other rights generally associated with a modern democracy (free speech, assembly, etc.), but they cannot vote. This structure arose ad hoc after the collapse of the 20th century western democracies, brought on by both social failures at home and defeat by the Chinese Hegemony overseas. This is a society where John Kennedy's "Ask not want your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" isn't simply a musty old speech, but a core political philosophy."
Great effects, shame about the acting. Likeness to World War Two? Its got giant bugs in it!!! They werent in the war... But I do have a curious fascination to see what an 88mm HE shell would do to one of those tanker bugs...
Well RedBaron, probably nothing since these bugs look like they can take a lot. But maybe put a dent in it's shell, who knows?
