It’s a Bug’s Life… or it was in 1997 when ‘Starship Troopers‘ exploded onto screens. Now a CGI sequel will get a brief visit to cinema screens this coming August…
Twenty years ago the Paul Verhoeven-directed Starship Troopers became a sci-fi classic – the adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s sci-fi novel marrying extreme violence, solid special-effects and a storyline that meandered between a clever overview of a fascistic society with a simple action-film scenario. It featured the likes of Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Neil Patrick Harris, Clancy Brown and Michael Ironside and became the posterchild for action excess.
The film spawned two live-action films, Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) and Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008) which were largely inferior to the first movie. There was also a CGI outing Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012) and a CGI television series entitled Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, which lasted one season.
Two decades on from the original and the Troopers are returning – well, Van Dien as Johnny Rico and Meyer as Dizzy Flores, at least – for another CGI sequel that will get a one-off day of cinema screenings across the US. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions and Fathom Events will debut Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars on Monday 21st August on 500 screens with additional material and introductions from the cast.
Written by Ed Neumeier who was involved in the original Starship Troopers and RoboCop, the story sees a demoted Rico heading to Mars. While the Federation seeks out the honmeworld of the ‘bugs’ wanting to exterminate them once and for all, the bugs launch a simultaneous attack on Mars. Can Rico and a largely rookie team ‘hold the fort’ until help arrives?
It is believed that the new film will subsequently be available on DVD, but the cinema-screenings may be the only chance to see it for some time…
Here’s a taster:
