On this IMDbrief, we break down the worst gifts ever given in our favorite holiday movies. For some great gift ideas, check out IMDb's Holiday Gift Guide, curated with the entertainment lover in mind!
When a man goes for virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or does he?
Director:
Paul Verhoeven
Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Sharon Stone,
Michael Ironside
In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr. Zorg at bay.
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.
Cyborg law enforcer RoboCop returns to protect the citizens of old Detroit but faces a deadly challenge when a rogue OCP member secretly creates a new, evil RoboCop 2.
A fearless, globe-trotting, terrorist-battling secret agent has his life turned upside down when he discovers his wife might be having an affair with a used-car salesman while terrorists smuggle nuclear war heads into the United States.
Director:
James Cameron
Stars:
Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Jamie Lee Curtis,
Tom Arnold
Amidst a territorial gang war in 1997, a sophisticated alien hunter stalks the citizens of Los Angeles and the only man between him and his prey is veteran L.A.P.D. officer, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan.
In the distant future high school kids are encouraged to become citizens by joining the military. What they don't know is that they'll soon be engaged in a full scale war against a planet of alien insects. The fight is on to ensure the safety of humanity.Written by
Christopher Van Pelt
Tippett Studios' responsibilities didn't end with just the bugs and their animation. They also were tapped to create various particle effects, including the Tanker Bug's lethal spray, and the Plasma Bug's destructive plasma blasts. Weiss remarked, "In designing the look of the tanker spray, we looked at a lot of lava footage for reference. It wasn't supposed to be lava, but it was meant to have that kind of consistency. We played around with Dynamation for a long time to come up with the final look." The plasma blasts was a challenging task, especially since the data used to create the blasts was shared between Tippett and Sony Imageworks. "Tippett Studio designed the plasma blasts in Dynamation," Weiss said, "and then when Sony needed the blasts in their shots, we gave them all of our data so they could integrate the blasts into their shots. Walt Hyneman, who was co-CG supervisor at Sony for the show [along with senior CG supervisor Louis Cetorelli], was instrumental in translating our data. The plasma blasts that you see actually emerging from the rear ends of the Plasma bugs were completed at Tippett, while the ones that you see in the distance, or weaving in between spaceships were created by Sony using our Dymamation designs." See more »
Goofs
Earth spaceships sent for attack the alien planets don't have (used) cockpits under the hull, and don't have tactical directives for turning the spaceship where the pilots can see the dangers (anti-air projectiles) coming from surface below. In a spaceship the "down" is not should be towards to the center of the nearly planet. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Newsreel announcer:
Young people from all over the globe are joining up to fight for the future.
Soldier #1:
I'm doing my part.
Soldier #2:
I'm doing my part.
Soldier #3:
I'm doing my part.
Young kid dressed up as a soldier:
I'm doing my part too.
[Soldiers laugh]
Newsreel announcer:
They're doing their part. Are you? Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world. Service guarantees citizenship.
See more »
Alternate Versions
The Australian Cable, VHS, DVD, and theatrical releases are uncut. The free-to-air TV version makes a few cuts in order to receive an 'M' rating so that the movie may be shown at an earlier 8:30pm time-slot. Nudity and language are intact, and the following scenes are cut for violence:
The decapitation/trench run at the beginning is cut by a few seconds. In the middle of the movie where the scene is replayed, it is still cut. The death of the cameraman is not shown and cuts to Rico shooting the bug still.
The 'knife' scene is cut. The knife is thrown, but it is not actually shown going into the hand, let alone Zim calling out Medic! when he pulls the knife out.
Shujumi's death is cut, the Bug doesn't carry him around before chucking him away.
One of the announcement breaks are cut, The one when the reports of Mormons settle on a military base, with the corpses being shown.
When the Radio Technician is picked up by a Flying Bug, the initial stinging of him is cut.
When Rasczak has his legs bitten off, the shot of Rico fully plays out over the gunshot wound to Rasczak, instead of cutting to the shot.
The three victims of the Tanker Bug are cut.
The showing of Farley with his brains gone is cut.
Numerous cuts occur on the attack on the military base.
Dizzy's death is cut, the initial 2 stabs are in, the next 2 stabs are cut and the pulling out of the claw is cut too, just Rico and Levy carry her back to the lifeboat.
A shot of Carmen wincing in pain after she gets stabbed by a Bug is cut
The scene where the brain bug sucks Zander's brains out is cut; it cuts away to a shot of Carmenafter the head is pierced.
Based on the famous Robert A. Heinlein novel, Starship Troopers is set in a world of the future where militarism is the norm, largely because we've discovered alien civilizations of huge insect-like creatures and we're at war with them. The film follows a quartet of high school friends as they make their varied ways through the military.
Starship Troopers is both a tongue-in-cheek satire of society and an intense sci-fi/action/war film filled with horror-like insect monsters and a healthy dose of graphic gore. That's a genre combination that will not please all viewers, especially if the tongue-in-cheek humor goes over their heads. For those more in tune with the genre melding, Starship Troopers promises a quick, edge-of-your-seat ride from the first moments to the last.
The film can be looked at in three sections, with slight crossovers from one section to another. The first is focused on the social satire. The cultural differences of the future are given in mostly indirectly, and occasionally, the point is what hasn't changed, or perhaps what is currently (per the film's setting) in vogue as a retro element. The second and third sections could be seen as a sci-fi Platoon (1986), with the second section focused on military basic training and the third focused on wartime. Like Platoon, the basic training scenes show order and a clear sense of purpose, while the wartime scenes show comparative chaos.
That the film could be compared to something like Platoon shows that although director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Edward Neumeier are aware that the material could easily be seen as absurd, they have the chops to make it believable and suspenseful at the same time.
This is not to say that Starship Troopers is a rip-off of any other movie. The film-making here is highly original, and we could almost see the entire film as a computer-based CNN-styled collection of wartime newsreels of the future. It remains quick, witty and intense throughout. My only regret is that they didn't incorporate Yes' song Starship Troopers in the score somehow.
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Based on the famous Robert A. Heinlein novel, Starship Troopers is set in a world of the future where militarism is the norm, largely because we've discovered alien civilizations of huge insect-like creatures and we're at war with them. The film follows a quartet of high school friends as they make their varied ways through the military.
Starship Troopers is both a tongue-in-cheek satire of society and an intense sci-fi/action/war film filled with horror-like insect monsters and a healthy dose of graphic gore. That's a genre combination that will not please all viewers, especially if the tongue-in-cheek humor goes over their heads. For those more in tune with the genre melding, Starship Troopers promises a quick, edge-of-your-seat ride from the first moments to the last.
The film can be looked at in three sections, with slight crossovers from one section to another. The first is focused on the social satire. The cultural differences of the future are given in mostly indirectly, and occasionally, the point is what hasn't changed, or perhaps what is currently (per the film's setting) in vogue as a retro element. The second and third sections could be seen as a sci-fi Platoon (1986), with the second section focused on military basic training and the third focused on wartime. Like Platoon, the basic training scenes show order and a clear sense of purpose, while the wartime scenes show comparative chaos.
That the film could be compared to something like Platoon shows that although director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Edward Neumeier are aware that the material could easily be seen as absurd, they have the chops to make it believable and suspenseful at the same time.
This is not to say that Starship Troopers is a rip-off of any other movie. The film-making here is highly original, and we could almost see the entire film as a computer-based CNN-styled collection of wartime newsreels of the future. It remains quick, witty and intense throughout. My only regret is that they didn't incorporate Yes' song Starship Troopers in the score somehow.