Posted on 09/27/2012 6:46:06 AM PDT by C19fan
I recently watched Starship Troopers for the first time. It’s brilliant, isn’t it? I can’t believe I’d never seen it before. If you can set aside the laboured subtext about militarism and the whole America policing the world thing, it’s a brilliant epic about love and the indomitability of the human spirit. And they’re all pretty hot, which helps. But I had another train of thought watching this movie. It reminded me of a guilty secret, and of a violent change in attitude I’ve had toward science fiction in the past few years, and toward Star Trek in particular.
(Excerpt) Read more at kernelmag.com ...
H. Beam Piper for me. You want a guy who doesn’t pull punches? Read Piper.
To see how far our we have degenerated, read “Little Fuzzy” by Piper, then try to read the attempted “reboot,” “Fuzzy Nation” by Scalzi.
I’m a science fiction fan, and over the years I’ve read pretty near everything, starting with the pulps and the classics. Heinlein, Asimov, van Vogt, and onward to the latest, and everything in between. I even taught a course in it for a while, and had people like Roger Zelazny, Lester del Rey, John W. Campbell, and, once, Isaac Asimov himself (whom I persuaded to reduce his fee) come and speak to the class.
Star Trek is lightweight SF. Mainly, it’s amusing. You don’t watch it because it’s great writing, or great SF, but because you get attached to the characters and you enjoy the jokes. It’s SF for teens, but that can be fun for adults, too, after a tiring day.
That’s my take on it.
I really enjoyed First Contact because of that. Humanity was not saved by a bunch of utopian Socialists, but by a “greedy Capitalist” who greatly benefited others, by seeking his own self-interest.
I thought the Klingons in the original series were just dirty, smelly hippies.
Starship Troopers was a SHITTY movie that barely adhered to the most basic precepts of Henilein’s vision.
The whole fascist feel to the government, the fleet and the Mobile Infantry was an insult.
The author must not have read the book.
***The book Starship troopers is a classic.***
Especially when in the last paragraph we find out what the hero’s native tongue is.
Book is good.
Movie is crap. Special effects, great.
I read a guest editorial years ago in GUNS AND AMMO magazine in which the author expressed a desire to have certain voting laws and requirements. I knew he got that from the book STARSHIP TROOPERS.
The kid’s mom was a widow.
And they nukes - and use them, gleefully!
We should have gone through Afghanistan the way the MI went thought that Skinny city - killing everyone that crossed us and nuking everything of any value!
That runs through much of Heinlein. Consider Stranger In a Strange Land and especially The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.
Beep! "I'm a ten second bomb." Beep! "I'm a nine second bomb."
Truly a great concept.
David Drake is good.
**I remember a line from Quark ***
The TV show QUARK? about a space garbage collector? I miss Betty I and Betty II! They could take out my garbage anytime!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077066/
“7..6..I lied. *BOOM*”
True.
But Heinlein’s obsession with sex and his desire to rationalize his own swinging lifestyle makes A LOT of his work tough to get through. There’s not a novel that doesn’t spend an inordinate amount of detail on the hows and whys of polyandry, group marriage and, even in a few books, incest.
He could have cut those portions down 90% and still gotten his libertine points across.
I like both, especially Strangers and Troopers and Asimov’s Foundation series. Tough to pick among them, because they hit SciFi from two different ends - technological vs cultural.
"Let me tell you something about Hew-mons, Nephew. They're a wonderful, friendly people, as long as their bellies are full and their holosuites are working. But take away their creature comforts, deprive them of food, sleep, sonic showers, put their lives in jeopardy over an extended period of time and those same friendly, intelligent, wonderful people... will become as nasty and as violent as the most bloodthirsty Klingon. You don't believe me? Look at those faces. Look in their eyes."
I guess the Starship Troopers staff officers forgot about combined arms tactics. hee hee.
I figure they could have taken the bug planet using only a good dose of DDT.
Oh wait!
I’m sure it’s easy to live well when a society can, in effect, chew up entire planets as energy resources.
...anyone ever consider where dilithium crystals come from? and what the total volume in use over time by the Federation is? Age of the universe for sufficient dilithium mine to form, a couple centuries of star travel to use it all up. Stop dilithium drilling now!
In fairness, Lily calls him on that BS later in the movie, throwing his own words back at him, making it clear that Picard is motivated by rage & revenge, not some lofty ideal.
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