Starship Troopers (1997): Casper Van Dien & Denise Richards

[00:00:00] We worked at Blockbuster, we spent years surrounded by thousands of movies, and somehow there are still films from the 90s and 2000s that neither of us ever saw. So we're officially declaring this month No-vember, a whole month dedicated to movies we've somehow managed to avoid until now.

[00:00:20] And we're kicking things off with a little movie from 1997 about attractive people, giant alien bugs, and a whole lot of military propaganda. That's right, we finally watched Starship Troopers. And the real question is, have we been missing out on a sci-fi masterpiece, or should we have left this one on the Blockbuster shelf?

[00:00:45] Welcome to the No More Late Fees podcast, I'm Danielle. And I'm Jackie, and we're just two best friends and ex-Blockbuster employees re-watching some of the best and worst movies from the late 90s and early 2000s. Welcome to No-vember, where Danielle and I finally tackle the movies we've somehow never seen.

[00:01:15] You voted, and now we're taking on 1997's Starship Troopers. But before we dive in, let's get into some... Housekeeping! If you love the podcast and you want to support us, here's how you can. Make sure you hit the subscribe button or follow button on the podcast platform you listen to and never miss an episode.

[00:01:44] Alright Jackie, tell the people what Starship Troopers is about. Starship Troopers is a 1997 American science fiction action film set in the 23rd century. The story follows teenager Johnny Rico and his comrades as they serve in the military of the United Citizen Federation, an Earth-based world government engaged in an interstellar war against an alien species known as the Arachnids.

[00:02:09] It stars Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, and Michael Ironside. It was directed by Paul Verhoeven, a Dutch filmmaker who directed Robocop, Total Recall, and Showgirls, and had grown up in Nazi-occupied Netherlands. The screenplay was by Edward Neumeier, and it was based on the novel Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.

[00:02:38] We currently watch it on Netflix. But before we start, let's get into our ratings rewind. So you know the drill before we get into the movie. We normally reveal the rating our Y2K versions of ourselves would give, but it's November, so you know we've never seen the movie. So instead we're going to dive into why we didn't see the movie originally, and what we thought our Y2K versions of ourselves would have rated it had we seen it.

[00:03:05] Our scale consists of would buy it, would buy it again. The best would play on repeat. Five day rental. Wood watch again. Two day rental. Eh, it's okay, but nothing to write home about. And same day rental. Trash. Straight up bug trash. Alright, Jackie. Why did you not see Starship Troopers? And what do you think your rating would have been had you seen it back in the day?

[00:03:36] I, just, certain sci-fi was not my thing. And military stuff was not my thing, so you combine the two and it's like, I don't care if it's like a comedy. Like I'm not into it. So, if I were drugged to the movies, which I did watch this with my brother and he said that he went with my parents to see it. Don't know where I was. And when we get to a particular scene, I'll let you in on his reflections.

[00:04:06] Okay. But I probably would have been same day rental. I'd be like, okay, I'm good. How about you, Danielle? The bugs. I mean, you know me. Yeah. I was terrible. Once I saw that trailer, I said, wait a minute. We're fighting bugs? No. Now, I'm all for eradicating bugs. But I don't want to watch it on the big screen. So, I just...

[00:04:36] There were so many more bugs in this than Men in Black. And I know how you barely got through Men in Black. Here's the thing though. If I had saw this movie when it came out, yes, I'd been creeped out. But because the CGI has not aged as well or just looks damn near comical at this point, I didn't feel that same creepy crawly feeling. Okay. It was giving... It was giving Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

[00:05:06] You know? Yeah. Yeah. So, I do think younger me would have given this a same day rental. We'll see if I still feel that way. Like, if old adult me feels that way. So, this movie came out November 7th, 1997. Very big range. Well, it has a range of $100 to $110 million for the budget.

[00:05:34] And then it made $121 million. So, yes, it made its budget back. But barely. Barely. Barely. It was number one at the box office. The first week it made $22 million. Number two was Bean. Now, here's the thing. I'm reading what you're about to say. And my flabbers are gasted. Oh, okay.

[00:06:01] Well, the first thing is that they suspect that a lot of the numbers for Bean were for people, kids sneaking in to see Starship Troopers. Ah. But like, I think this happened in another movie we were talking about a while back. So, Bean came at number two. Number three is I Know What You Did Last Summer. Number four was Devil's Advocate. And number five is Red Corner. Never heard of Red Corner. Same.

[00:06:29] But what do you mean Bean is still on the charts at 15 weeks in the theater? I'm sorry, what? I don't know. I wonder what it was at the previous week. Now I'm invested. Find out. Go dig into Bean. So, as we all know, Starship Troopers face critical backlash.

[00:06:54] The reviewers interpreting the film as endorsing fascism and disparaging its violence in cast performances. And so, yes, it started off really strong, but once word of mouth started to hit, it really slowed down ticket sales and the negative reviews really just cut it off at its knees. So, it made the movie eventually the 34th highest grossing film in 1997.

[00:07:21] I'm sure it could have done better had the reviews not killed it. So, the disappointing performance of Starship Troopers was blamed in part on competition, high number of successful, you know, anticipated science fiction movies. We know 97 was tough. Mm-hmm. The satire was keeping us in a chokehold as a, like, I'm starting to think that we're not so bright. I As a collective. I-

[00:07:50] I mean, current- Current events and belief in certain things would lead me to believe that you are correct. Yeah. Because when we did Josie and the Pussycats, it was the same thing. I do think that marketing has a lot to do with this. Mm-hmm. Because had I no- I had no idea this was satire. At all. I- So, when I said I- This was the movie we're gonna watch.

[00:08:18] The only reason I knew it was satire was because we were out to dinner with friends and Ken and our friend Louise were like, oh yeah, like, bugs or propaganda. I was like, well, like, obviously we're never going to watch a straight propaganda film, well, like, knowingly. Mm-hmm. So, I'm like, it has to be, and I knew it was a comedy. Mm-hmm.

[00:08:44] So, I knew that it was gonna, had to be leaning into the political satire of like, come join and lose your life for- Right. The government type thing. So, but that was the only inkling that I had up until Sunday night. Yeah. I- So, I think that was like a huge miss. Same thing with Josie and the Pussycats. I think, had people understood that there was just more thought that had to go into it

[00:09:13] that it's supposed to like make you think. Mm-hmm. That was a huge miss. So, here you have- Let's talk about how this got made. So, Sony Pictures experienced a whole lot of turnover in like the mid-90s. The start of this movie, like them working like to produce this, I think started in 91. Okay. So, that's when development started. So, keep that in mind.

[00:09:43] So, you have a ton of turnover. It started in 91. And then you just had executive after executive after executive just being cut loose. And so, the movie just keeps getting completed without really a whole bunch of oversight in that sense. So, by the time an executive might have realized what the director was making, they had already left the studio. Ah. You know?

[00:10:13] So, according to the director, Starship Troopers might have never been made the same way if Sony executives had like actually paid attention. I just like visualize like these executives start catching on to what Starship Troopers really is. And then it's that scene from Wet Hot American Summer where they just throw the kids out of the van on the side of the road. You knew too much. Like you got to go. Yeah. So, let's talk about Lil Raj.

[00:10:43] He gave this movie two out of four stars. He called it the most violent kiddie movie ever made. And he appreciated the film's satirical elements but criticized its repetitive actions, shallow characters, and lack of emotional depth. Yeah. Okay, Lil Raj. I looked up, okay, I was misreading what that 15 was. That was what it was at the week before.

[00:11:12] So, it absolutely correlates that it went from 15 to two. Oh, for Bean. Okay, got it. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, for Bean. I was like 15 for what? Well, before we get into the cast and crew, let's hear a message from our pod pals. 30 Dirty and Dying is the podcast for flailing millennials by flailing millennials.

[00:11:40] Every week, two sick, sad millennials who just happen to be best friends get together to talk about what it's like hitting the 30 mark and still feeling like you don't quite have your life together. We're 30-ish. We're dirty-ish. We're dying-ish. Every week, we go back in time to relive the years of our millennial youth, whether that's cringe posts from the earliest days of social media or all the way back to the 90s to see what was going on in pop culture.

[00:12:06] 30 Dirty and Dying is available on all major podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. We have new episodes every 30 Thursday, and you can follow us on TikTok and Instagram at 30DirtyAndDying to keep up with what our millennial midlife crisis looks like next. Okay, cast and crew. Let's do it. All right.

[00:12:33] We have James Marston, Keanu Reeves, and Jason Priestley were reportedly considered for Johnny Rico. I had to really keep in mind that, okay, again, if I didn't read these notes, I had no idea like this was going to be a teen movie. And as I'm watching it, I got Sky High vibes. Yeah.

[00:12:58] Okay, so you're, I was like, I thought I was going to defend that because I know how much you love Sky High, but it felt in the vein of like, it is being very meta and cheeky and funny. Mm-hmm. And it's very, even the way it's shot is like very glossy. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, I had no, like watching it. I was like, they're teenagers or in high school? What's happening? Yeah.

[00:13:25] I was very, because again, I went in here knowing zero, nada. I, all I knew was bugs. The only difference is that the kids in Sky High look like kids. Right. And these are full grown ass adults, which, okay, reading this list of potential Johnny Rigos. Mm-hmm.

[00:13:50] No shade to Casper Van Dien, but he's just not my flavor. So having any other of these people in that role, I've been like, at least I'm attracted to the lead. Mm-hmm . I, I get what you're saying. He has one of those things where like, he's so clean cut, so pretty. Mm-hmm . It's almost like. Disarming. It backfires on him.

[00:14:20] Yeah. And when I look at this cast and I'm like, oh my God, these look like 30 year olds. So I had to like, take a second and remember that one, it's the 90s. So everyone looked like they were 30. And two, every teen movie that we've watched had 20 something year olds in it anyways. And they were in their twenties. So it's not like they were 30. But I also think that goes into the satire of the joking about, you know. Which. You know, it was a teen movie, but we know that they're 30. Yeah.

[00:14:49] Which Jason Priestley would have been perfect for it. Because he had already been doing it on 90210. Right. And like, the only person that looked like they were in high school was Neil Patrick Harris, who was 24 at the time. It was a mind fuck all around. Yeah. He's like, what is happening here? And I think for him too, because like this is, like on the set, he said people were calling him Doogie and all this other stuff. Mm-hmm . Immediately watching this movie and seeing him in it, I'm like, he's a bad guy. He's a bad guy.

[00:15:19] Because now with the context of like, I think he's a horrible human being now. Mm-hmm . Anything I watch, I think he's going to be a villain. Yeah. Well, it didn't help that like, it was a, because the heart of the movie is trying to portray like this fascist government where you want to die for your government and to have like, rights as a citizen.

[00:15:46] You have to serve in the military and all this stuff. Like, I get what they were trying to do. But when he walked in, in that straight up like, SS uniform towards like the middle of the movie, I was like, Nazi. And then I was like, and Ken's like, yeah, they're all dressed very similar to Nazis. I was like, I get what they're doing here. But now like my brain identifies that uniform with bad guy.

[00:16:15] But the movie is trying to say, we're just trying to save the world from bugs. Right. And I'm confused. And that's, I think that's the whole point. Yes. I think for, especially us as Americans, that is like the context of everything that we've been swallowing propaganda pills for God knows how long. Yes. I don't regret not watching this movie back in the nineties.

[00:16:40] I think the universe made me watch this movie at the perfect time because of what the hell is going on. This movie is one of the most relevant things I've seen in a while considering where we're at. As for Johnny Rico being cast by or Vandy and playing him or Casper, the director, Paul,

[00:17:07] he confirmed that Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon auditioned, which is funny because like, I feel like that was a blessing for Matt Damon. That would have totally changed the trajectory of his, his career. But Casper landed the role because his appearance matched the idealized soldiers depicted in Nazi propaganda films. Like when you look at him, he does look like he fits that. So yeah, he looks like a GI Joe doll come to life.

[00:17:37] Right. Yeah. And I was surprised that the females in the movie weren't all like blonde. Mm hmm. Yeah. We didn't have any blondes. Oh, we did. Amy smart. I was like, Hey, wait a minute. Yeah. Yeah. Well, Denise Richards confirmed. She refused to topless scene added after the original script in her memoir. She explained that she didn't believe the scene contributed to her character or the story.

[00:18:07] And she also stated that Verhoeven respected her final decision. I have to just believe that this man, that this man at this point really loved to push the boundaries with that because if you look at his past movies that like, you have, you already have this naked scene that we get everybody, everybody in the shower, that whole situation. And then we know what happened to show show girls. Mm hmm.

[00:18:36] So, and then I don't remember a total recall. I know Sharon stones in it, but I don't think. I don't think she's naked in that one. I don't know. I will say in that shower scene, I don't think anything was like glorified. Like it was really, it was a weird scene to have. Mm hmm. But also it wasn't. I don't know. I, I, I felt like we weren't. It wasn't sexualized. Exactly. Yes.

[00:19:06] It wasn't created for us to. Oh, well. Yeah. But I'm here. I'm an opera. Sorry. An equal opportunist. When it comes down to nakedness. Mm hmm. If women have to show their boobs, I want to see penises. I don't want to see them, but I believe in the equal rights of that because why, why is it that the men are hidden, but the women it's fine? So.

[00:19:31] Well, according to all the right movies, which remember they made this wonderful book. Oh yeah. On their website, they did some fun facts about this movie and they said that Neve Campbell reportedly was the first choice for the director for Carmen, but she was unavailable because she was already in production for Scream 2. So. I could have seen this as she signed up for. Yeah.

[00:20:00] But I don't think Denise Richards did a poor job and I, I really do want to give props to how poorly this role could have been. Mm hmm. Yeah. Considering that like, Denise Richards is a gorgeous woman and we've seen in other movies where they kind of like downplay like her having the skills to act or anything. Mm hmm. Carmen's character was extremely intelligent, badass.

[00:20:31] She rarely needed a man to save her. Yeah. And she dumped them, the main character and we don't really know if she really goes back to him or, or, or not. So big up, big up for Carmen. I can't say the same. Can't say the same for Dizzy. And I love Dina Meyer so much because I love the TV show Birds of Prey. Mm hmm. One hit wonder.

[00:21:00] Pick me, pick Misha. Thirsty. Thirsty. Thirsty, thirsty. Pick Misha. Pick Misha. Why Dizzy? Dizzy, you making me dizzy. What are you doing? Leave that loser alone. First of all, his mass scores were 35%. I really, really think for Carmen, that was it. That was the ick. Yeah. She didn't say it, but that was the ick. Yeah. She's like, I'm gonna be a pilot.

[00:21:29] You do you damn immigrant work. Yeah. Yeah. You go fight bugs and shoot pewpews because you can't make it anywhere else. I'm gonna be up in the air. I'm literally, literally above you. And Dizzy was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be in the shot. I want that dick. I'm going to move myself, position myself. I've been rejected, but that's fine. I'm gonna get my shot. Yeah.

[00:21:59] Oh, Dizzy. What a disappointment. Dizzy the Disappointer. Dizzy the Disappointer. All right, let's dive in. Okay. I, there's just so many, like, I feel like there were so many notes of like, just the, the thought that went behind so many of the decisions of this movie. We could do this for days. Yeah. So it was really hard to like cut stuff off, but it, it really did make the experience of

[00:22:28] watching the movie so much better. Understanding all the, the meat. That's, I, I literally had to go and like, after I watched it, be like, okay, my brain's tired. Like, just point out, point out like the high notes of like what I should be understanding. Right. About this movie. There is a lot of action sequences.

[00:22:51] So the whole thing is shot like, like an interactive, like website almost would be today with videos. Yeah. Cause it's like, do you want to defend? Do you want to know more? Yeah. Like, do you want to defend the earth? Do you want to become a citizen? Join the starship Academy. I that's star Trek, whatever their academy is.

[00:23:19] And it's star fleet Academy, but join our Academy and you can do all these things. And then it's like, do you want to know more? And I'll have like a little button and like someone, it acts like someone clicks it. And then like, we go into the movie and it does this a lot, but it is very much like those propaganda movie films. Yeah. From the thirties and forties, like recruiting people to join the military.

[00:23:44] And it's a brave and honorable service, which I'm not saying that it's not, but it's kind of positioned as like, hey, you should be okay with giving your life for the greater good. And like just very fascist beliefs and that your status as a person is determined by your service to your country or your. To the state. Yeah. World in this case.

[00:24:12] And so the, the, the book that it's based on was made in 1959 and the movie itself and the character in the book is Johnny Rico. So we're following his journey as to like how he even gets to where he gets to. The funny thing is in the book, Johnny Rico comes from a wealthy Filipino family.

[00:24:38] Are we surprised that they changed the race to from Filipino to a blonde white man? No. Am I angry about it? No, not so much because of the context that they were building this worldview of like a parallel to the Nazis and to everything that happened in Germany.

[00:24:56] So I overlooked a lot of the stuff of, you know, like there being representation kind of in the background versus like main characters, the black man dying, the black woman getting her arm cut off.

[00:25:11] I, I let all of that fly into the ether because I knew what the premise was, but I thought it was really interesting that the character was supposed to be Filipino and, and from Buenos Aires is where he was supposed to be in the book too. So that was also interesting. Yeah.

[00:25:33] Well, and especially because we know a lot of Nazi leaders fled to Argentina at the end of the war. So to correlate that was an interesting level to this. Yeah. Yeah. The Nazi war criminal, Adolf Ekman, Ekman, Ekman. I don't see where you're looking. Oh, it's okay. I believe.

[00:25:59] He lived in Argentina until Israeli agents captured him in 1960 and he was later tried and executed in Israel. So just another example of them hiding in Argentina and to read, trying to see what else. The other group is the Mormons. And that part, I heard them say Mormon.

[00:26:28] I had to rewind and say, wait, what happened now? So the movie references the Mormon colony. So it's a propaganda reel, like Jackie was saying, like you get these clips, like on the internet, it looks like you're clicking on a website. And the reel reveals that the Mormon colony established outside the arachnid quarantine zone was massacred by the bugs. So here's the context.

[00:26:54] We're watching this movie and we know that the arachnids are like the supposedly the evil group or who were fighting. And then what is not really put in our face is the fact that this whole war was not started by the arachnids.

[00:27:12] The arachnids were in quarantine away from everybody and they were in quarantine to prevent any kind of colonizations or colonies from the humans in their colony. And what ends up happening, the Mormons go into the quarantine zone. There's a few groups that do try to build these colonies. And this is what pisses off the bugs in the first place.

[00:27:42] So the historical correlation is that the Mormon church experienced violent conflicts in the U.S. with the government and neighboring communities beginning in 1830s. So after Joseph Smith's murder in 1844, Bingham Young led Mormon settlers west to Utah, then part of Mexico. So the tensions between Bingham Young and President James Buchanan's administration led to a military standoff.

[00:28:12] And an 1857 Mormon militiamen and their accomplices killed approximately 120 immigrants traveling through Utah. So all of that history is why they've kind of added this aspect into the movies. So, yeah. I thought that was very, very interesting that he even incorporated that. He incorporated a lot of stuff in this movie. Yeah.

[00:28:42] He knows his history. For sure. So we meet Johnny, Dizzy, Carmen, and Carl are all classmates together in high school. And the high school is very much centralized around like essentially national pride. But it's worldwide pride because it's a worldwide federation.

[00:29:09] And just we need to defend Earth against these bugs that are attacking us, killing our people. We see at the very beginning is like a fight and just humans are getting massacred by these bugs. And it's just like the government is like we need more bodies. Essentially, we need to recruit as many people as we possibly can. Where do we go to do that? High school. High school.

[00:29:38] Which is not very different from many other military regimes. But because we have to also understand that this world that we're living in is fully militarized. Like the military is in charge of the government. And you see Johnny, who is wealthy. His family is wealthy. He's, again, not the brightest. 35%. I'm just mad. His daddy is like, let's go to the outer rings instead. Yeah.

[00:30:08] Let's go to vacation. Yeah. You don't have to worry yourself about any of this war. No. But Johnny is influenced by his professor, his teacher, who clearly is a, like he's been in the military. So he's been placed there. Now, the funny thing is that this character is actually two characters from the book put together.

[00:30:34] There is the actual military guy and the teacher, but they put it together, which is smart because you have to understand Johnny's why. And his why is because he's been militarized. Yeah. Radicalized at school because they're taught that citizens take responsibility while civilians are just kind of almost leeching off the tit of the, you know, the country or something.

[00:31:01] So he really takes on to what his professor, I mean, his teacher is telling him. And then Carmen, he's wanting to get in her pants and she's very, very focused on her career and wanting to be a pilot. And like, let me look at my math score. I think it was like 90. 97. Yeah. And she's like, bingo. And then like someone looks up Johnny's and is like 35. Johnny looks it up and it's 35. And then his BFF makes it bigger for everyone to see.

[00:31:31] And I'm like, are you not embarrassed? Like, why is it 35%? My God. That's horrible. But yeah, Johnny feels a little ashamed, but not too much to go play in the football game. Well, before. Well, he goes home first. Well, before that, we also see like the science lab. Right.

[00:31:54] And when I tell you, I want a whole movie about the biology teacher played by Rue McClanahan. Just her attitude. She's all scarred up. So it's implied that she's also served in the military. I want her whole life story. Like, tell me everything about the biology teacher.

[00:32:14] And then there is the difference between Carmen and Johnny displayed here as Johnny's like not really grossed out by anything. Like he and he's like full steam ahead, just like pulling guts out, handing them to Carmen. Carmen ends up vomiting, which was mashed bananas, by the way.

[00:32:36] So it's kind of like the different, like she's very much like does not want to be on the front line, understanding like the interior structure of these insects. She wants to be piloting in something very analytical and mathematical where he's just ready to go whole ham and just destroy. It seems like.

[00:33:01] I think just like her line when she's talking about we as humans have this like arrogance to think that we are the most evolved being on this planet. And she's as she's talking about the anatomy of the bugs and just like how quickly and how more advanced they have evolved in the sense that their body has given them the ability to survive as long as they have.

[00:33:31] And will most likely out survive us. And on top of that, we look at them as they're extreme, like they're stupid, but you cannot survive as long as they have. Right. Without being smart. Yes. But also we see that Carl, played by Neil Patrick Harris, demonstrates an unusual ability to be able to influence animals or like their nervous system.

[00:33:59] So he can kind of put thoughts into their head or suggest things and they'll go and do them. So there's different divisions in the military. And this is very in line to what was happening with the Nazi experiments because the Nazis weren't just experimenting on like it was a lot of pseudoscience.

[00:34:24] And they very much were into the like the fringes of science of like psychic abilities and stuff like that. So they were cutting and dicing and doing horrific things to people. So seeing that these different factions that they have in this military in this movie is really in line. So the fact that he has the psychic ability, we learned pretty early on that he can only do it with animals.

[00:34:52] He hasn't been able to do it to people. So he says at first. And so you see that each one of them represents different things. You see that Carmen is smart, strategic. Then you have Rico, who's just pure, like physical. And then with has this like psychic outside experience.

[00:35:21] Back to their teacher, though, their teacher, Gene Raksik, I think is his name. So he teaches violence and military force are like the ultimate ways to resolve conflicts. And this is what really resonates for Johnny. Well, and he also like emphasizes like you have to know like hand to hand combat and using other weapons, not just a gun.

[00:35:51] Because you have to be able to understand the enemy's weakness and be able to like attack that. Yeah, that and I think that's really pushed home when they get to basic training. And they're the guy who's teaching them there. I forgot what his name is or what his role is. He really drives that home. They also have, again, some verbiage about military, like a military control society.

[00:36:20] The veterans are credited with saving civilization after democracy supposedly failed. And it's almost like you can't do anything. So you see this in a later scene when they're in the showers and they're talking about like what's their why? Why are they in the military? Why have they joined? They, everybody has different reasons. One girl's like, I want to have babies.

[00:36:45] So now we see that like you need, you need permission. You need a license to have children. Then there is one person who wants, he got into Harvard but can't afford it. So it's so, they were like, it makes it easier when you're a citizen. So everybody has different reasons and you can see how much the government really controls and limits what exactly you have the opportunities to do.

[00:37:15] Essentially, if you're a civilian, you're just, you're protected by the government. But beyond that, you have very little rights. And so to have full rights, which I'm sure are still very limited, you serve and then you become a, no, civilians just have protection rights and don't really have any other rights behind that.

[00:37:40] And then citizens, if you serve, you become a citizen and then you have a lot more rights and you can vote and hold office and all of that. Yeah. And one of the girls was saying that she wants to be a politician and you can't do that unless you serve. So that, that was pretty interesting. So a lot of this worldview is framed and taught to us as the audience in this high school class very early on in the movie.

[00:38:06] And we see that Johnny like eats that up because he gets home to his parents who are just kind of like sweet people. And like you said, the dad's like, I'm going to take you to the rings. Like they're very beige. Yeah. And Johnny's like, no, I'm, I'm serving. I'm going, I'm going, I'm going up. And the dad and him like really bump heads because like, there's no reason the dad's like, you're only doing this because of this girl.

[00:38:34] Like she, she, I'm sure she'll look great in her uniform, but like, this is not it for you. And the mom's like trying to keep things solid. So they tell him about the vacation and he kind of dies down on him wanting to go to the military. That this happens after there's like a big football game. They play these football games in a gym. So it's not, it's football, but not football. And we meet his nemesis played by Patrick. Muldoon.

[00:39:03] Who I think passed away. RIP. So he plays Xander. Yeah. He plays on another team. And this is where I'm confused about the math. So after this game, and apparently this is like their last dance and last game. They're all seniors. So you find out this dude is Xander is going to the military as well. He's signing up, but he's going to be a pilot as well. So he's in the stand.

[00:39:32] He gets thrown into the stands after a play and he meets Carmen and they like automatically click. We also know that Carmen has been dating Johnny, but like, it's not like Johnny seems to be more invested than Carmen. Carmen's like, I'm about to go be a pilot. She's career driven. Right. And she clicks automatically with Xander. And that starts like a fight between Johnny and Xander or whatever.

[00:40:00] But what I get confused about is when she gets into the pilot program or whatever, she meets up with Xander, but it seems like he's got a higher rank than her. Almost like he's been there longer. And I'm very confused as to why that is. I agree. Or maybe it's just mediocre man, like acting like he. No, he like, he, she like reports to him at first. So it's just weird. I don't know.

[00:40:30] Like, cause he's like, it's, he's teaching her essentially once she moves from the simulation. So I would just like, was he doing after? Was he an ROTC? Like what happened? How many explained? Yeah. So they're at prom. He shows up. Xander shows up. And is talking to Carmen. Carmen had walked away. This is when Dizzy comes in.

[00:40:55] Dizzy has made a lot of effort from the very beginning because they're in class together that she wants Johnny, Rico, bad. And she makes it known. So the moment Carmen, she's watching him. Like, she's not just liking him. She's stalking him at this point. She goes up to Johnny and she's like, yo, let's dance. And he's like, I'm not interested. Like, girl. And she's like, just one more. One dance. One dance. One dance. And so they dance.

[00:41:24] And he tells her, like, why can't we just be friends? Yo, girl. Get stopped talking about it. Yeah. But then, like, Carmen sees this happening and comes back. She don't care, though. Yeah. She don't care. She is not in the bit intimidated. And that's not even why she comes back. I think he goes and sees that, like, she's still talking about being a pilot. She don't give a damn. She don't give a damn.

[00:41:51] And Dizzy ends up dancing with Carl. Carl comes in and whatever. And they're all cool. But it seems like Dizzy, Carl, and Carmen are really cool. And they make a pledge to each other that no matter where they go, they're going to be, like, cool together. Dizzy, Hurl, and Johnny. Yes. Yeah. Yes. No. No. Johnny, Carmen, and Carl make a pact that they're going to stay with each other.

[00:42:22] Disney is not included in that. You said Dizzy, Carl, and Carmen. My bad. I was clarified. Carl, Carmen, and Johnny. I'm just surprised we know all these people's names. I'm looking at the list. Okay. Don't give me too much credit. So Johnny goes and tells his parents that he's going to enlist, essentially. And his dad's like, if you walk out this house, we're done. And Johnny does that.

[00:42:52] And Carmen, again, does not give a fuck. Yeah. Because when they meet up to, like, go off. Mm-hmm. He has his one little bag. You can tell he's kind of sad. And Carmen's like, I'm so sorry for you, buddy. My dad and I stayed up all night packing. And we had a great time. Like, does not care. At all. Yeah. And, um. They go to the recruitment and, like, enlistment center.

[00:43:22] And so they're evaluated on their skills. Yeah. And by the time they get to the, when they're, like, about to ship out, they've already been placed. Mm-hmm. So because Johnny got a 35% on that math, he's going straight into, like. Mobile infantry. Thank you. Because Carl has that psychic ability, he's in, like. Military intelligence. Yes. I have it up here.

[00:43:51] Okay, good. And Carmen ends up going into. Fleet training. Yeah. So they're separated. Again, Carmen gets on that. Deuces. She's on that flight and she gone. She don't give a damn. And when we get to basic training, essentially, we get to meet all these different characters, all these people who are going to be fighting alongside Johnny.

[00:44:18] And he, they're all fighting to be, what is it? What's the level that you're trying to. Something lean. Yeah. Like. Squad lead. Squad leader or something like that. When I tell you that their Sergeant Zim is a beast, he broke that man's arm. No problems. Like, that thing was sticking out. So we watched this with Johnny and Mom.

[00:44:45] And the hoot that Mom hollered when he broke that man's arm. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. And I was like, where, where I see Sergeant Zim before he's in Dexter resurrected. Oh God. I'm like, it all comes back to Dexter. Look at that. But yes, he is a very intimidating, sizable man.

[00:45:13] And knows his shit, knows hand-to-hand combat, can break a wrist or an arm just like that. He loves to hear the bones crack. I was like, is this like Harry Potter when they're just gonna, like, fix the bone? Because, like, sir, that was, was that necessary? Yeah. I had that same thought because they had that, like, futuristic, like, gel pack on it. Yeah. Like, cast.

[00:45:40] And I was like, is this like, it heals in 24 hours, so it's not a big deal if you break a recruit's arm as soon as they get into basic training? Because I feel like that would be poor protocol when you're losing soldiers by, like, the hundred thousands. So you have Johnny, we have Jake Busey who plays Ace. And a mean violin. Yeah. You have Sergeant Zim. Who else do you have? Kitten.

[00:46:10] Kitten. I don't know. He was the one with the really bright blue eyes and the dark eyelashes. Oh, okay. Yeah. Like, really big, but we have Breckenridge who's really big but not too bright. Yeah. Which is brought up quite a few times and we find out a little bit later why. And then all of a sudden, I hear this grating sound. No, let me stop. Dizzy shows up. Yes.

[00:46:40] Dizzy shows up because she has transferred. She says she wants to be where the best is. And Johnny rightfully is like, bitch. What? Do I need to get a restraining order? Like, I don't want you. Well, and how as like a newly recruited grunt did you get the power to dictate which squad you get placed in? Right. Girl, they were just making up shit. I don't know.

[00:47:08] Dizzy did what she had to do. Lord knows what she had to do to get there, but she got there. And then she tells, we just watched this man break a bone and Dizzy's like, I got you hand to hand. And he puts his knee on her and like makes her pass out from being able to breathe. And I'm like, this shit is insane. Equal rights though. I kept going back to that. I'm like, you know what?

[00:47:38] But the director, he was doing, he was doing all the things like equal rights, like co-ed shower. So we're seeing butts from both sexes. We're fighting men and women together, like co-ed squads. Like, okay, I see what he's going for here. Did he do it perfectly? No. But there was an attempt. Yeah. And it does pass the Bechdel test.

[00:48:07] I was just going to ask. Yeah, because Amy Smart and Carmen have conversations and it's not about men. I don't ever really see Dizzy and Carmen talk to each other though. But I wouldn't want to talk to you either because you're thirsty, like girl. Yeah. But with the scene where they're showering together. Everyone, like it is jarring at first because you're like, wait, what?

[00:48:37] But it's never spoken. Like no one ever has, like no one walks and says, oh wait, we're together. But none of the guys are looking at the girls. None of the girls, like there's just no sexual anything that's happening with these people just in a shower scene. Yeah. And Jake Busey is paying particularly close attention to his ass crack, washing it in that scene.

[00:49:00] Like he's in the background and we're just like, how long is he going to spend washing the crack of his ass? Like what's happening? He was turning around trying to look back there. It was, you should go back and watch it. I don't want, because I'm just going to get mad at. Please tell me if our skin is the largest organ of our body and it sheds and it has dead cells on it. Like exfoliate and clean it.

[00:49:29] And you're telling me what, you clean your crevices like your butt crack and your verjeejay with a sliver of soap. Like nothing. No cloth, no nothing. Just, I think, what? Because what are you doing? And where is that soap going next? Like, what? Nobody, not one person had a washcloth. That is true.

[00:50:00] But, so I'm not going back to watch that. Anywho. So, throughout this whole process, Rico, Johnny, he does move to squad lead, squad leader. And they do a lot of practicing and stuff like that. But they do have simulations where it's real. They're using live ammunition. I was like, say what now?

[00:50:30] And I did misspeak. I misspoke earlier. It wasn't the high school teacher that talked about hand-to-hand combat. It was Sergeant Zim that had an emphasis on that. But yet, like, what you say we're using live rounds to practice? First of all. Because shortly after this scene, they're just dropped off on a planet to fight the bugs. There is no formation.

[00:50:59] There is no strategy. It is just everyone running in. I'm like, there has had to have been so much friendly fire. Because they're just running in front of one another. Just shooting their guns. Willy-nilly. And I'm like, what is happening? For us to be in boot camp for so long and to go in and have no, like, strategy whatsoever for fighting these bugs.

[00:51:29] I was, I was baffled. Sorry, I had to think. And Carl, there's a video, propaganda video, whatever, where he's talking to the soldiers and telling them, if you're going to be shooting, shoot for this area. This is going to get them the quickest. Yeah. And I don't see that one of them say, oh, let me go do that. And my question also is, okay, we had a whole class where we're studying bug anatomy.

[00:52:00] I would think so that you know where, like, the sensitive areas are, where, like, the brain is stored, if it's not stored in the, you know, like, where all of those things live so that you can quickly, efficiently attack and kill these arachnids. There was none of that. It was YOLO. Oh, this is where the 35% math scores go. And I'm not a mathematician.

[00:52:29] I'm not making fun of people who have a hard time with math. I'm just laughing because when you set up someone that looks like Johnny, it's, you know, it's, it always, they always position them as, like, the best and the brightest. And he is dumb as a doorknob. Yeah. So while all of this is going on, we see Carmen, like you said, meets back up with Xander.

[00:52:57] She becomes a pilot of a spacecraft. This is where we get Amy Smart. I don't think her character even has a name. She just shows up as kind of, like, another pilot recruit. Oh, and the lady who dies in the very first episode of Desperate Housewives is her commander, which I was like, oh, yeah. Which I love. More females.

[00:53:21] Yeah, so we see Carmen's ability to kind of anticipate and maybe not take the most obvious route. But to really think about what's best when maneuvering the spacecrafts. We do see that Johnny sends videos. She did say, well, that's right. They said they were going to write to each other, but it's just videos that they're sending to each other.

[00:53:48] So we see the first video that he sends to her and the whole, like, his whole bunk is all showing ass, playing violins, all sorts of stuff, kissing him. And, again, she don't give a damn. Don't care. And then she finally sends a video to him, shows him, like, how badass everything is. Everybody's like, your girlfriend's hot. And then she's like, and by the way, there's Jupiter behind me. And I don't. It's for the best.

[00:54:20] Like, brutal. She breaks up with him. Thinking about her career, she's like, bitch, I ain't never going to see you. Like, this is stupid. I got one ass pilot next to me. Like, we can wrap this up. We can wrap this up. For sure. And then it's after she breaks up with him that the live training incident happens where his recruits like something wrong with my helmet. Something's wrong with my helmet.

[00:54:49] And Johnny's like, yeah, go ahead and take it off. Live ammo. He doesn't say take it off. He says that the guy asked for permission to take it off. Oh, and Johnny grants it. Look, I. And, but it's because Dizzy trips and shoots him. Like, the. I'm not laughing at that. It's just like, what the hell?

[00:55:17] It really did, like, kind of throw me off in the movie. Because I was like, wait, what just happened? What the hell? So Johnny gets in trouble. And so instead of kicking him out, they have to do, like, corporal punishment. Or. It is corporal punishment, but they call it something else. And so they flog, flag, flat, flog him. Yeah. And I was like, this is giving too much roots. I'm not with this.

[00:55:43] But then afterwards, he's like, I'm not meant for this. My parents were right. I'm going back to Buenos Aires. I'm leaving. I'm going to the outer rings on vacay. Yeah. Like, I'm out. I'm going home. He calls his parents on video chat. And he's like, yo, can I come home? Is that cool? And they're like, yeah, buddy. And then things just get really dark on the screen. And they're like, what's happening? And they go in and out. And they lose connection. So Johnny's just like, oh, well. First of all, I've been scared.

[00:56:13] Like, why was it getting dark? Like, what the fuck? Yeah. Johnny's like, whatever. And then they find out. Must be the whiffies. Right. That his entire city has been conquered and taken, like, blown up from the wreck. And he is upset and pissed. And so him, Dizzy, Carmen, they're all feeling kind of way. A lot of people are feeling kind of way. And now they're not just having these conflicts. They're in full-blown war, essentially. Yeah.

[00:56:42] And now they have to go and attack the Arachnids. And so they get moved from basic training. Yeah. And as you had said earlier, we're only provided the perspective of, oh, the aliens attacked Buenos Aires. That's why we need to go and defend ourselves.

[00:57:03] When actually, if you know the backstory and that, like, Earth attacked the alien colony first, it's like, oh, they're doing retaliatory attacks to us. It's not the other way around. It was called administrative punishment instead of corporate punishment. Yeah. And in this period of time, just to, like, quicken it up.

[00:57:31] Essentially, big, big bugs, big bugs, big bugs. Slimed, like, Nickelodeon orange and green grossness. And so we kind of, we see Carmen in her territory. And we see Johnny end up having to go into war. He has to say to Zim, like, and Zim's higher sergeant, I don't know, and say, like, I want to be in this. Mm-hmm.

[00:58:01] And so they, one thing that they go out and they get massacred, essentially, like, these bugs are killing them. And Johnny gets tore up. And he is listed as deceased. And so Carmen thinks that he died. But, again, a tear shed, not in the slightest. She's still living life. Yeah. There's just, like, a moment of silence. And then she continues to go. But then we see Johnny in this water thing.

[00:58:30] And it is, like, fixing his leg or whatever. Mm-hmm. Which is crazy because you see so many people in this war lose their limbs. And miraculously, Johnny gets his leg saved. Yeah. Yeah, that was my question. Because when the teacher comes back and becomes, like, a leader for the military, and he, like, gets ripped in half. Okay. And he's, like, you know what to do when Johnny shoots him.

[00:59:00] Mom was, like, well, wouldn't the liquid just put him back together? Like, if we hadn't shot him, didn't he have a chance of living? Like. It's giving very ableism for sure. Yes. Which I think also feeds into the symbolism and the parallels of Nazi, the Nazis,

[00:59:23] because they very much, like, if you were disabled in any way, you were, you know, because I think a lot of people forget, like, a good portion of the people that were killed in the Holocaust were not just Jewish. They were gay. They were black. They were disabled. The Romani people were also targeted. Yes. By the Nazis, along with, like you said, the disabled.

[00:59:48] So, yeah, obviously the Jewish population was the largest by far, but there were other groups that were targeted because of either their beliefs or. Just being different. Yeah. Not fitting into the Aryan race, you know, thought process. So, they. Ended up getting sent on a new mission.

[01:00:15] So, they get the rest of the crew from, like, Dizzy and Busey. I forgot what his name was. Ace. Ace. They all get. Ace. Ain't. I don't know the military. And they meet up and there's, like, a lot of people. They're, like, what's with these young kids? What the hell? But they're more now. So, everybody who's enlisted has got to be put to post.

[01:00:43] And this is where we actually see two black characters. One of the guys is from. I remember him from Teen Wolf. So, I was, like, oh, there. He looks so young, but also very much the same. It's kind of crazy. And off the bat, because Ace can't stop running his mouth, he's, like, I heard that you're. I don't know what he was. What's his rank? Ironside guy. Gene.

[01:01:13] I don't know what his rank was, but they were, like, I heard he was, like, a hard ass. And they were, like, he saved our lives. And he saved your life. Because apparently he saved Johnny from being completely massacred. So, they find out. Oh, I took that as, like, he saved the earth type. Like, he was such a decorated war veteran. No, he was, like, who do you think saved you? So, I. That's how I took it. You could be right. Either way. The Lord and Savior is here. So.

[01:01:43] And as he walks in with his, like, electronic mechanical hand. Bucky Barnes. We see. We see him. And Johnny's, like, oh, my God. It's my teacher who, like, got me in this situation because of his propaganda. Love him. I know him. Right. Because they're. They find out that they get sent to.

[01:02:09] They get sent to places that they weren't supposed to, like, on purpose. It was an outpost. That was. There was a massacre there. So, they're supposed to go and, like, figure out what happened. Right. To that fleet that was there. I bet people that know military terms are just. Pissed. It's like with the sports. Look. I'm sorry.

[01:02:38] I don't know. Carmen on the other hand. Oh. I don't know. Carmen on the other hand had gone through some other stuff, too. Because. I don't know. I honestly don't know what happened here. But there was a rock. And apparently the rocks have a bunch of the arachnids on it. And. They somehow missed the rock. Because Carmen's really good at flying. I thought the arachnids were pooping out the rocks at Earth.

[01:03:08] Was that not? I don't know. I really don't know what the rock situation is. Every time they had. The meteors, right? Or the. The meteors. The meteors with. Yeah. Every time they had formations. I couldn't tell the difference between the ships and the rocks. And I didn't know what was happening. But all I know is that. They get. They. There's one. I don't know who. Somebody got sent to somewhere. And it was a setup.

[01:03:36] And then they find out that the bugs are getting smarter. And they're drilling in these motherfuckers heads. And sucking their brains to learn more. So they know what's happening. And they're doing. So yeah. Now that they're with. The teacher Jean. Mm-hmm. They have. They're on this mission. And they realize that like. Things ain't going well. They got a brain sucker bug. And they're learning. Like they're not dumb.

[01:04:04] They're learning about humans. By consuming their brains. And there's this one particular bug. That does the sucking. Okay. So the bugs launch meteors towards earth using giant ground-based plasma bugs. These massive arachnids fire bursts of blue organic plasma from their rear ends directly into orbit. They do poop out meteors. I did not see this at all. What do you mean?

[01:04:34] They're shitting bricks. Literally shitting rocks out. Like be so fucking for real. This movie cannot be any more ridiculous. But okay. Fine. Shitting out rocks. Meteors. Anywho. They get. They get taken over essentially. And everything's looking good. But then. The teacher guy.

[01:05:01] I don't know if the bugs are hiding in the ground. So they come up like tremors and shit. Yeah. He falls. He's like in quicksand again or something. And then his next thing you know is body parts. And they pull up like his legs. Anywho. We already know from another situation earlier that he's not about that life. So shoot him dead. Like if he. If this is. He doesn't want to be like this. And this outpost is reinforced.

[01:05:30] But we have like the praying mantis bugs that are like crawling up on each other to get in. I was like this is like the first episode of season two of The Last of Us. Where the zombies are just stacking themselves to get in. Like. Oh God. So like yeah. They're just completely surrounded. I'm like. There's just too many. I would just be like. Okay. Maybe. Yeah. You got me. Yeah. And then. We forgot to mention towards the beginning of the movie.

[01:05:59] To show they're like solidary together. They all get matching tattoos. That say. Death from above. And Ken goes. They're a ground based military operation. Carmen is the only one should. That should have. A death from above tattoo. Because she's a fucking pilot. I fast forwarded this. I was like. I don't know what they're doing with this paint. But let's get to it. Let's get to it.

[01:06:29] So yeah. What happens next? They would. Oh. Head sucker. So the teacher's dead. Yeah. He's like Johnny do it. Do it. Okay. Johnny shot him. And then. Dizzy takes one. And she. She takes a grenade. And she got this mofucker. Right in his. His head. Blows up. And. Bitch. She jumps up and down. Like. She just made a score. Because. By the way. Dizzy got a great arm. She was the quarterback for their football team.

[01:06:58] So that brings that full circle. But. Dizzy in her excitement. Turns around. And here come. Here come. The new Jack. And he. He stabbed her. Good. Many times. At the same time. Carmen. And. Xander. Have landed their little. Rescue. Plane. To come. Try to save them. And. Oh. And it's. Right before this. Outpost mission.

[01:07:27] Rico's like. Well I'm single now. Dizzy's about that dick. Let's bone real quick. How did I forget? Dizzy got dick before she died. She did. Classic horror trope. Yeah. So. He. Finally is like. All right. Yeah. I guess I can. And then like. All over it. The. The sergeant. The. The teacher comes in. He's like. We leave in 10. And then he's like. Who you got under there? And Dizzy's like.

[01:07:57] Hey. And he's like. We leave in 20. And just like. Zips up the tent. And he's like. Oh we could do this in 20. Oh no. 20 minutes. And before that. The only reason I think. He even goes after Dizzy. Is because his teacher is like. You never give up a good opportunity. Or something like that. What? So yeah. Dizzy and him getting on. And then Dizzy dies. And. But not quickly. Because they are still able to get her onto the plane. But the next scene.

[01:08:25] We essentially see them have like a funeral. Or some words. Said about Dizzy. Okay. So all of these hundreds of thousand people that are being killed. This decorated veteran is killed in the line of action. But who gets a space Viking funeral? Dizzy. Dizzy. Well that's all we saw. We don't know if the other ones didn't get one too. I'm just like. She died for the dick. She dick died. Died to the dick. Dick died. Dick died. Dick died.

[01:08:55] Dick died. Dizzy dick down died. Yeah. Hey who. We're moving on. Mm-hmm. They're on another trick. We know about this big bad that is drilling into people's heads. Mm-hmm. Carmen and Xander. They. They're shot. Essentially something happens to their plane. So they crash. And.

[01:09:24] They're trying to call for help. I think they had a poop meteor launched at them. Probably. I don't fucking know. Yeah. They're in trouble. They're crashing. And Johnny is like the closest person to them. And so. They're trying to like talk on comms. And then next thing you know. They're in like a cave. But they're surrounded now. Mm-hmm. And Johnny is so cold. He's like. She did. She. She ain't making it. Let's keep moving. Because they know. He.

[01:09:54] He got his lashes. He's not going against orders again. He's not. But then. Something happens where he's like. I just have this feeling that Carmen is still alive. So. I need some volunteers to go with me. And break some rules. And the rest of y'all go and do whatever needs to be done. At this point. Carmen and Xander have been attacked by the crazy ass bug with the thing coming out of his hand. His. Like. Oh. But like. What's crazy.

[01:10:24] Is that Xander has a knife. And instead of. Taking the knife. To cut the thing. The sucker off. The sucker off. Like Carmen does. He gives the knife to Carmen. Who by the way. Has the. One of the things. One of their legs in her. Lodged in her shoulder. So I'm like. Yeah. The knife. You get the knife. You. You have free range of both arms. Right. But he just stands there.

[01:10:53] And the sucking of his brain is quite. I was like. It was also funny. It took a really long time. He's got a lot of brains. Hence. He was a pilot. Yeah. He did not get 35% on his math. He had to get in his 90s. Yes. So then. Carmen's able to like. Finagle her way out. And then. Johnny comes and saves her. They have some sort of bomb thing.

[01:11:23] So he's like talking to the alien. Thing sucker. Brain sucker thing. And he's like. You know what this is. And so they're both at like. A stalemate. And they're like. Able to get Carmen in back off. And I'm pissed at this. Because black man dies. And I'm like. This was unnecessary. Yeah. Bucktooth Magoo over there. Ace. He could have easily died. You have three. Four white people. And the black person dies. The two black people. That are in the movie. I don't know if the lady dies.

[01:11:53] She gets her arm. Not even just like cut off. Or like. Lava flowed off. I was with it. Until this moment. This is where it was like. Oh hell no. But essentially. Getting this. Brain sucker. Was like. What they needed. To move further. It was like a turning point. For them. You know. Because they could study it. Because they knew it was intelligent.

[01:12:23] Right. Somehow. And they could. Sergeant Zim. Gets all the credit. For getting the big guy. I know. And I'm just. Was very confused by that. And Johnny's just like. Uh huh. I was like. You don't even side eye this man. That he gets all the credit for. Like. You capturing. This bug. I think. It's because. If he. If he didn't give credit. Then it would show that he went off. On his own. And they. Like. In this kind of environment. It does not.

[01:12:52] It's not like how America's kind of like. I will not. I don't want him to say that. You will get in trouble then too. Even if you save something. You'll get in trouble. Because you didn't follow orders. And you didn't follow protocol. So. I think it's to like. Protect them from getting in trouble. And also. Like. I don't even know. If Johnny was really. In his own body. It seems like Carl. Kind of. Put the idea. In his head. About Carmen. So. I don't know. If he was at the wheel. So. It works out. Carl. Carmen.

[01:13:22] And. Johnny. Are all together again. And. And. Did you think. Carl goes over to the bug. Like we see. Like this. Video of like. The captured bug. And he's like. I sense that he is afraid. And everyone's like. Cheering. I was like. It's not a video. He's. He's there. And this is what is so crazy. Is that. They're like. So obsessed with war. And killing. That. Here.

[01:13:52] You're seeing that this animal. Is scared. Again. Bringing it back to that now. And injured. And injured. He's scared and injured. And they're like. This is great. Like. So it. It. It. It's just so. Overly. In your face. About how. Like. Insane. War is. Like. This. This bug is scared. Yeah. And it is literally just trying to fight for its life. And we are just like. Taking this moment. Saying. Oh. They're scared.

[01:14:21] Maybe we can come to talks. Maybe we can end this. Right. And that's not what thought comes to mind. So. Yeah. And then. At the end. We see. There's like. A new recruitment broadcast. Because even though they. They. Say this is a huge major achievement. That they have better understanding of the enemy and stuff. They still need. To fight the war. Against the bugs. And so. There's new recruitment.

[01:14:50] Rico's regarded as. Now like a. A sergeant. And so. He's kind of leading. A new group of soldiers. Yeah. Because Sergeant Zim is like. Lower rank than him. Which is crazy. Yeah. Because there's just a point where. He. Johnny just starts to level up. Every time. Because someone just keeps dying. Yeah. So he gets a better rank. Which is. Insane. And then. Like the movie. Literally closes. Almost exactly. As it opens. With like.

[01:15:20] We need new recruits. Yeah. Come join us. Type thing. Insane. And that is. Starship Troopers. There are a lot of fun facts. But we could just dive into. Just a few of them. So. It seems like. After they did. Robocop in 1987. The producer. John Davison. Aimed to develop another project. That would reunite everybody. The key members. Especially of the creative team. Which included. The writer. Edward.

[01:15:50] Newmeyer. And the stop motion animator. Phil. Tippett. I was just going to say. Like. Phil did. Yeah. Was in charge of the CDI. And all that stuff. So. Yeah. What else? Let's see. I do think it's interesting. So. In 2014. Michael Ironside. Who read the book. As a youth. Said. He asked the director. Paul. Abraham.

[01:16:20] Hoban. Sorry. I hope that's right. Who grew up in. Like we said. Nazi. Occupied Netherlands. Like. Why are you doing. A right wing. Fascist movie. And Paul said. If I tell the world. That a right wing. Fascist way. Of doing things. Doesn't work. Then no one will listen to me. So I'm going to make. A perfect fascist world. Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is shiny. Everything has. Every. Everything has big guns. And fancy ships. But it's only good.

[01:16:50] For killing. Fucking bugs. And even then. And even now. People still don't get it. Yeah. Like. Oh. Awesome. War against. Bugs movie. Yeah. Like. Way over their heads. Yeah. When this movie was made. It used the most. Ammo blanks. Ever used on a film. At the time. And apparently. There was about.

[01:17:19] The body count was. 256. Is that human. Or human and bug. I. I don't know. I'm guessing human. Because I feel like. They killed so many bugs. It would have been. More than that. I don't know. What other things. Do we have? I like. Clancy Brown. Who played Sergeant Zim. Affectionately described. The director. As a nut bag. Given to. Jumping up and down. With a bullhorn. Going.

[01:17:48] I'm a big fucking bug. I'll kill you. I loved him. He was so much fun. Man. That's because. For the CGI. They didn't have. Like the bugs. So. They would do all sorts of things. To try to. Give the actor. Something to look at. And he would. Do that. To like. Help them. With their scenes. Which. Now. When we think about it. That's not crazy. Because so much of our stuff. Is CGI. Yeah. Back then. I could imagine. That's like. What. What do you want me to do? Yeah.

[01:18:18] Or it's just a man. In like a. Motion capture. Suit. Yeah. And. And as for. The. That whole. Naked scene. They said. The director said. Like obviously. Everyone was kind of nervous. And he was trying. He's like. What's the problem? Just let's go. And. Dina. Meyer. Said that. She was like. Well. If. It's. It is a big deal. Like then. Why don't you get naked? And so. They did.

[01:18:47] The cinematographer. And the director. They ended up. Getting nude themselves. As a dare. Because. They wanted to help. And apparently. Dina was like. And Casper. Like yeah. Did help. So. Nice. I honestly don't want to see their dicks. But okay. Yeah. I. Saw an interview with Casper Van Dien. And. He has an eight-year-old daughter. And she came home. Or she got in the car. When he was picking her up from school one day. And she's like. Hey dad.

[01:19:16] Two boys in my class. Said that they. They saw your movie. And you were naked. And he was just like. Oh no. And he's like. Who. Why are they watching Starship Troopers? And she's like. They said. Their dad said it was an awesome movie. And they. He made them watch it with him. And they said you're naked. And he was just like. It was the most uncomfortable. Drive home. Being like. Yeah. So.

[01:19:46] Apparently Casper. Punched Patrick Muldoon. In the face. Giving him a bloody lip. During their fight scene. At the space station. Ticca. Ticonderoga. Space station. Patrick had. Said that. Casper hits hard. In an interview. Casper accidentally. Chipped two of his teeth. With the butt. Of the Marita. Assault rifle prop. During the Tinker bug. Sequence. Oh my god. And.

[01:20:15] He lost 15 pounds. For the whipping scene. Had to look good on camera. With his shirt off. I wasn't. I didn't watch. I fast forwarded that part. I don't like to watch that. And the film's. Political philosophy. Echoes real world. Prussian militarism. Reinforcing. Its satire. Of authoritarianism. And military propaganda. Don't forget. Make sure that you follow us. Facebook. TikTok. Twitter. YouTube. And threads.

[01:20:46] Especially YouTube. Again. We're trying to get to. A thousand subscribers. And let's get into. Present day ratings. Jackie. Now that you. We've. Watched. Starship Troopers. I understand. I understand. What they were going for. I understand. The importance. Of this movie. This movie. Is not for me. So I'm going to do. Two day rental. I. Like.

[01:21:15] Appreciate what you're doing. But. I'm not going to watch it again. Okay. Okay. I was pleasantly surprised. I know. That's crazy. I know. It's crazy. But. I. I would. I'll watch it again. I. Don't know. Like. I was smiling. Watching it. I don't know. I'm just. I want.

[01:21:45] I feel like. Every time I watch it. I'll absorb something new. And I. Still want to dive into. Like. Some of. The reasonings. Behind some of the decisions. Like. I'd probably. Like to go back. And listen to more interviews. And stuff like that. I. Think. The reason. That I was so surprised. And pleasantly surprised. Is because. I really thought. This was going to be. The dumbest shit ever. I really thought. It was just going to be like. Like. What the reviewer said. It was in the 90s. Like. Just a bunch of.

[01:22:15] Space. Bugs. And people killing. And bad acting. But. I. And I enjoyed it. I like Starship Troopers. I cannot believe it. So. I'm going to give it a five day rental. Nice. Shot. Shot. Me. Well. If you want to join in. On the conversation. About Starship Troopers. Or any of our other. Movies. Hit us up at our quick drop. You can call. Or text us at.

[01:22:45] 909-601-6653. Free. Toadis at the Twitter. Hemis at the threads. Butterfly in the sky. Blue sky. You can also comment. On Spotify. Leave us an Apple. Podcast review. Just engage with us. Please and thank you. And you can be featured. On a future episode. Like Selena. Who. Who. Left a message. For us on Spotify. In regards to our. Fear episode. From last week.

[01:23:14] She says. Not Toby. Becoming Dexter. Triple. Crying laughing emoji. I haven't laughed so hard. In a while. Thanks ladies. Great episode. With three clapping emojis. So. Thank you so much. Selena. I. I think. It's an. On target. Synopsis. Of Toby's character. Ready for our second movie. Of November. Make sure to join us. Next week. As we dive into.

[01:23:43] Spirited Away. And as always. Be kind. And rewind. Mind. In a while.