Three Underappreciated SciFi Satires - Demolition Man, Idiocracy and Starship Troopers
The history of science fiction is littered with satire. Here are three underappreciated films which approached satire in relatively different, but hilarious ways.
Starship Troopers
Paul Verhoeven's 1997 war flick is probably the best English language movie the director has ever made. A perfect fusing of clueless actors, a brilliant script, and pitch perfect direction, Starship Troopers coalesced a number of the ideas Verhoeven had seeded throughout previous films. The dystopian future and sly satire of Robocop and Total Recall, the over-the-top sexuality of Basic Instinct and Showgirls, all came together in one beautiful, ridiculous package. When a bunch of pretty boys and girls go to war against the evil Bug menace, it's implied, but never said, that the Bugs are, in fact, the good guys, and we're the evil invading force. This is never clearer than when Neil Patrick Harris essentially enters towards the end of the movie wearing a Nazi uniform. The upcoming Starship Troopers 3 is looking to recapture its progenitor's tone, but so far, seems to be missing Verhoeven's sly, subversive touch.
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