I enjoyed this movie purely as an action, special f/x and gore-fest. However, besides the title there are about 2 main things this movie has in common with the book "Starship Troopers" by Robert A. Heinlein: the names of some of the characters, and the fact that it's about a war with the Bugs.
The book is primarily about the development of Johnnie Rico; the movie is mostly action. Obviously, to make an entertaining action movie, some of the character development must be traded for battle sequences, but regardless of this the movie fails to agree with the book on several major points. To point out all the discrepancies would take hours, but the glaring and unnecessary ones are:
* In the book, the M.I. (Mobile Infantry) are serious ass-kickers with powered armor, they drop in capsules, and they usually lay waste to the bugs with few casualties. This is the aspect where the movie lacked most. In the movie, they're more like a bunch of sheep being led to the slaughter.
* In the book, Carmen Ibanez is not Johnnie Rico's girlfriend (they're just friends), she's not the reason he joins the M.I., and there is also no competition for her affection. I think the idea behind her role in the film was that if you have someone as beautiful as Denise Richards to play Carmen Ibanez, you have to make her part in the story bigger. She also doesn't crash-land into bug territory at the end where she is saved by Rico, as in the movie. It would have been more true to the book to omit her part from the movie entirely.
* In the book, Carl does join military intelligence, but for electronics, not game strategy. And he isn't telepathic, and doesn't give Rico any insight about how to rescue Carmen either; rather he is killed before being commissioned.
* In the book, Dizzy Flores is a guy, not a beautiful woman pining for Rico's affection (I guess this would put a pretty big dent in Dina Meyer's part in the movie as well). In the book, nobody ever "has" Rico; the book has no sex at all. Wake up, Hollywood! The most that happens is that Carmen takes Johnnie on a single date while he is in O.C.S. The fact that Rico goes through O.C.S. to become an officer is completely omitted from the movie.
* In the book, retired Colonel DuBois was Johnnie's teacher of History and Moral Philosophy, not Lt. Rasczak.
* In the movie, both of Rico's parents are killed on Buenos Aires. In the book, Rico believes both of his parents are killed, but in fact only his mother is killed on Buenos Aires. His father actually joins the M.I. and is assigned to the "Roughnecks" where he reunites with Johnnie before he ultimately reunites with his son.
I think this is a good movie for the action genre, but it could have followed the book much more closely without losing anything. Rather, I think it would have gained more.
The book is primarily about the development of Johnnie Rico; the movie is mostly action. Obviously, to make an entertaining action movie, some of the character development must be traded for battle sequences, but regardless of this the movie fails to agree with the book on several major points. To point out all the discrepancies would take hours, but the glaring and unnecessary ones are:
* In the book, the M.I. (Mobile Infantry) are serious ass-kickers with powered armor, they drop in capsules, and they usually lay waste to the bugs with few casualties. This is the aspect where the movie lacked most. In the movie, they're more like a bunch of sheep being led to the slaughter.
* In the book, Carmen Ibanez is not Johnnie Rico's girlfriend (they're just friends), she's not the reason he joins the M.I., and there is also no competition for her affection. I think the idea behind her role in the film was that if you have someone as beautiful as Denise Richards to play Carmen Ibanez, you have to make her part in the story bigger. She also doesn't crash-land into bug territory at the end where she is saved by Rico, as in the movie. It would have been more true to the book to omit her part from the movie entirely.
* In the book, Carl does join military intelligence, but for electronics, not game strategy. And he isn't telepathic, and doesn't give Rico any insight about how to rescue Carmen either; rather he is killed before being commissioned.
* In the book, Dizzy Flores is a guy, not a beautiful woman pining for Rico's affection (I guess this would put a pretty big dent in Dina Meyer's part in the movie as well). In the book, nobody ever "has" Rico; the book has no sex at all. Wake up, Hollywood! The most that happens is that Carmen takes Johnnie on a single date while he is in O.C.S. The fact that Rico goes through O.C.S. to become an officer is completely omitted from the movie.
* In the book, retired Colonel DuBois was Johnnie's teacher of History and Moral Philosophy, not Lt. Rasczak.
* In the movie, both of Rico's parents are killed on Buenos Aires. In the book, Rico believes both of his parents are killed, but in fact only his mother is killed on Buenos Aires. His father actually joins the M.I. and is assigned to the "Roughnecks" where he reunites with Johnnie before he ultimately reunites with his son.
I think this is a good movie for the action genre, but it could have followed the book much more closely without losing anything. Rather, I think it would have gained more.