Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) (V)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Phil Tippett

Writer (WGA):

Edward Neumeier (written by)

Release Date:

4 May 2004 (Hungary)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

They're coming back to wipe us out!

Plot:

In the sequel to Paul Verhoeven's loved/reviled sci-fi film, a group of troopers taking refuge in an abandoned outpost after fighting alien bugs, failing to realize that more danger lays in wait.

Plot Keywords:

Bug | Starship | Outpost | Sequel | Private

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Billy Brown	...	Pvt. Ottis Brick
Richard Burgi	...	Capt. V.J. Dax
Kelly Carlson	...	Pvt. Charlie Soda
Cy Carter	...	Pvt. Billie Otter
Sandrine Holt	...	Pvt. Jill Sandee
Ed Lauter	...	Gen. Jack Gordon Shepherd
J.P. Manoux	...	TSgt. Ari Peck
Lawrence Monoson	...	Lt. Pavlov Dill
Colleen Porch	...	Pvt. Lei Sahara
Drew Powell	...	Pvt. Kipper Tor
Ed Quinn	...	Pvt. Joe Griff
Jason-Shane Scott	...	Pvt. Duff Horton
Brenda Strong	...	Sgt. Dede Rake
Brian Tee	...	Cpl. Thom Kobe
David Wells	...	Recruiting Sergeant

Also Known As:

Starship Troopers 2 (Australia)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexual content and brief language.

Runtime:

USA:88 min | 92 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) | Japan:R-15 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Raleigh Manhattan Beach Studios - 1600 Rosecrans Avenue, Manhattan Beach, California, USA

Company:

Startroop Pictures Inc.

Trivia:

The storm clouds are actually toilet paper tubes with cotton stuck to them, slowly rolled forward. They were darkened and layered digitally.

Goofs:

Continuity: Countless bugs are destroyed by the perimeter burn, yet in later scenes there are none.

Quotes:

[first lines]
FedNet: Our war's going better than ever, but we need heroes! We need you!
Smiling Lieutenant: Come on, you apes... You wanna live forever?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Inside the Federation (2004) (V)

Not even particularly good for a B-movie

From the very first frame of this film to the very last, it's completely obvious that it's a B-movie. A modern, low-budget, direct-to-video no less, action-B-movie. As a follow-up to the first, it's very bad. It turns the plot and theme of the first completely around. The plot is lame, and very unoriginal. The acting is horrible; there were times when it felt like a comedy, or a parody of the first. The characters are badly written cliches, derived from war movies and other B-movies. The cinematography is amateurish and lesser than that of the typical level of early film-student test film(believe me, it really is that bad). The director(or possibly the director of photography, or maybe the cameramen) seems to have a fetish for pointless and very quick zooming shots, and there seems to be quite a lot of camera angles that are zoomed much too far in. I also hated a few of the pan shots, but there were not as many as the zoom shots, and they were somewhat far between. The special effects are quite awful, though there were one or two effects that looked decent. The heroism and stereotyping of the main character/hero is ludicrous. I couldn't stop laughing at the scenes where he tries to look heroic. The whole film is quite laughable. The attempts at humor are cringe-worthy, and almost every scene that is supposed to inspire fear, tension or horror, inspired laughter and mockery instead. The dialog is ridiculous, and very badly written. The action is tame and never really intense. The horror elements are derivative of several much better movies, and generally don't work like they're supposed to, for various reasons(bad special effects,bad acting, bad camera angle). I know that this was direct-to-video, low-budget, and was possibly even intended as a B-movie, but come on, you can do better than this. Almost anyone could. I would guess that, given the same budget(about six million dollars, I think), I could have supplied a better, more interesting 90 minute flick. None of the limitations can be used to excuse how bad the film is. Direct-to-video? Please. So was Children of the Corn IV and American Psycho 2, and at least they were somewhat entertaining and much more professionally made. Low budget? Two words: El Mariachi. B-movie? Honestly... there are plenty of much more entertaining B-movies out there. Take Barb Wire, for example. All in all, a pretty bad film, but fans of B-movies might enjoy it. I recommend this only to fans of B-movies, and people who wished the first had been more like a B-movie. Fans of the first should stay away. I don't regret watching this, though. It was good for a laugh, and knowing that it's so bad is better than wondering about it. If you somehow, as a fan of the first, see this movie, try to think of it as comic relief, a spoof of the first. It'll soften the blow. 1/10