The most disturbing war movies I have ever seen

[DAWGIE]

LAST night i woke up at around 0230 hours because of arthitus pain in my back
 and hips; afyrt i went to the john to de-fuel, i looked at the TV channel
 guide, and discovered that TBS was showing SST#3 MARAUDER from 0300-0500
 hours. since i _wasup and awake, i decided to watch this ( i had never seen it
 befoe).


 SST:THE MOVIE i have seen many times and accept it for what it is, and not like
 it should be according the SST: THE BOOK. SST: THE MOVIE is sci-fi eye candy
 and fun, and is most certainly not SST:THE BOOK.


 WHEN SST:HERO OF THE FEDERATION came out i watched it from beginning to end in
 a state of disbelief and morbid fascination (could it get any worse as the
 movie
 progressed
 - the answer is a very definite YES, IT COULD, AND DID!).


 SOOOOOO with great trepidation, i tuned and watch the movie unfold before my MK
 I BIG BLUE EYES. . . .


 IF SST: HERO OF THE FEDERATION was bad, SST 3: MARAUDER completely redefined
 the terms BAD, and CHEESY. it achieved a level of bad acting, bad writing, and
 low budget special effects that would have made ED WOODS (ROBOT MONSTER, PLAN
 NINE FROM OUTER SPACE, GLEN OR GLENDA) proud.


 MOST of the movie was what i would describe as a complete waste of money, time
 and film.


 WHEN the ass kicking MARAUDERS (all 7 of them; they were very poor copies of
 THE SEVEN SAMURAI and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN) finally arrrived on BUG PLANET
 WOTZIT,
 they performed the mandatory BUG ASS KICKING and heroics, but even this the
 core of the movie failed to impress me.


 IF had payed money at the theater or for a DVD i would feel cheated. very bad.
 do not bother . . .



 OOPS i almost forgot the HOLLYWEIRD WAY OF THE STARSHIP TROOPER TACTICAL BUG
 COMBAT - form an an honest to GODa, two rank deep volley line across the width
 of the
 over run trench line and deliver volleys of MORITA RIFLE bullets (first rank)
 and then kneel and allow the second line to point blank fire volleys of MORITA
 launched grenades into the on-coming BUG column of mob horde. . .


 ALSO i learned to beware of the huge BUG warrior thing that had a long neck
 that ended in a mouth that spewed plasma, and the kamikaze bombardier BUGS that
 were launched from an unseen BUG support weapons critter (unseen also - the
 bombardier BUGS ARE SHOWN).


 AND the SINGING PSYCHIC SKY MARSHAL who was off his nut, the patented FLEET
 ADMIRAL BITCH who wanted to be the next SKY MARSHAL at any cost , and the hand
 propelled wheel chair riding, paraplegic, war protesting, ex-MI peace protest
 party leader ( who was no doubt BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY).


 WH 40K MORITA assault rifles/ grenade launchers, tactical shoulder nukes
 shot from re-loadable launchers, giant sized MORITA assault rifles/grenade
 launchers that would feel right at home in the WH40K UNIVERSE (is it just me or
 did the SST get smaller, or did the MORITA's get a lot larger during the 8
 years
 of war so far, and puny handguns are obviously the WAY FORWARD ACCORDING TO THE
 FEDERATION HIGH COMMAND . . . "we doan need no stinking SAWs, LMGs/GPMGs,
 armored fighting vehicles, artillery support, or air support to fight stinkin'
 stupid BUGS no how" is a message that i keep getting after warching all of the
 SST movies, particularly SST#2 and SST#3.


 ONE thing seems certain as far as promotion to the very top of the ARMED FORCES
 seems to go in the FEDERATION; stupidity, corruption, giant egos, and very
 little ability will rise to the top ranks as if by magic . . .


 DAWGIE

[Dr.Falkenhayn]

  its a good Day to die,if you know the Reason why!

[dexter]

Is this the one with the singing Sky Marshall ? If so that was real scary.
dex

[Eldorf.Dragonsbane]

The sad thing about the SST movie series is as mentioned they did everything wrong. The "Marauder" power armor should have been there from the very beginning, though it still isnt what I think of when I think of the MI grubnts Power Armor, to me its more of a heavy assault armor, since as in the book the armor is the MI soldiers main weapon, second to the MI grunt himself. I actually enjoyed SST III better then I did SST II, then again I did ignore the preachy religion will save us bit that Sky Marshal Anoke (its bad that I have only seen the movie once and I remember his name) seemed to like to spout off. The Marauder Armor is a good attempt to try and set the movies right by the book, but come on, you should have has the power armor from the get go. IIRC in the book didn't it take months or training to fully use the suit.

I do have to give props to the animated series Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicle, at least from what little I remember of it. To me the animated series was closer to the book then the movies could ever be including their power armor being somewhat close to what I envisioned while reading Starship Troopers.

I might have to see if I can find a copy of Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicle either on DVD or online to watch again, of course this will be after bi-annual reading of Starship Troopers (yes I read it every year, typically once in the early part of the year around Feb/March, then again around Aug/Sept, with the occasional reading between the two that I typically do). While in Basic traing after I blew my shoulder out and was put in a physical therapy rehabilitation unit the Drill Sergeant there recommended reading Starship Troopers at least once a year when he asked if I had ever read it and I told him yes about 5 years prior to that, and I have followed his advise though as i said I read it more then once a year, typically twice a year.

[Bugsda]

For a couple of weeks last summer this film was my sons all time favourite film, it was on constantly! Dunno' how I lived through it 

[mattblackgod]

I think I will give this a miss! I am surprised you didnt crack up Bugsda! 

[Grimmnar]

Yes, yes indeed this movie is horrid. But damn since i got the 1st SST on DVD a while back i have to get the other two. :-(
Not even Jolene Blalock was able to bring this movie to acceptable levels of watching.  :-)

Grimm

[Connectamabob]

IIRC at the time the first movie was made, the state of CG effects was such that they couldn't afford to do both the bugs and the power suits at the same time. They wanted to do the suits, but one of them had to go so the other could stay, and so they chose to keep the bugs instead.

The first film is supposed to be a satire of recruitment propaganda movies, so all the silliness, horrible tactics, and shallow-yet-over-the-top dramatics is 100% deliberate. I haven't seen the sequels, but if they're that bad... then just grandfather in the "daft propaganda film" premise of the first film, and Rasczak's your uncle: it all makes sense again. A lot of movies of that type that came out during WWII (and later. Anyone remember Navy Seals?) were just as silly, cheap, and unrealistic, but people sometimes tend to give 'em more credit than they actually deserve out of respect for the real war.

[Arlequín]

I actually quite like them. Once you get over 'it's not like the book' I find them entertaining and I while I think the gung-ho mentality displayed throughout the films is exaggerated, that's the point though. It's a satire on a society where life is cheap, only those that have served are part of the political process (and get to make the decisions).

While there are endless amounts of bugs to fight, there is also a seemingly endless amount of young people to throw at them. It's also a war of attrition, so sneaking about and trying to sap the enemy's will to fight isn't going to work, it's just a case of killing as many of them as possible... so firing lines and volley fire are quite valid. It's not like the bugs are shooting back.

I agree with Connectamabob, there are so many serious films out there doing the same thing, even today... Behind Enemy Lines 2 and that horrendous Iraq war movie, who's title slips my mind... but it's the one where the insurgents seemingly wait around while one of the individual squad members delivers their personal soliloquy on 'the cause' - and there are a few of them. The second one of the guys stops talking, a couple of SUVs roll into the shot and the shooting starts again.

[Bako]

I was bought the trilogy pack for Christmas. Only ever watched #3 once... then cried, then threw food at the telly. Do love how I called the killer shovel before it happened. A shovel you say? Loose? Explosions all around? Why, that can only mea-- oh!! Blammo!

The first and second were solid-gold B-movie beer n' pretzels, but the third is visual cancer. The television show on the other hand was and is excellent. The book is quite great too. It's funny actually, in the book one squad of troopers could take on millions of the things all operating roughly a kilometer apart, and the bugs had weapons (!). Dizz was just a dude/friend, among other things. How's that for completely different?

When I came into this I thought you would be talking about realistic war films, Like Saving Private Ryan. I have a fond appreciation for these films, even if I don't really want to see what happens when jerry-rigged explosives detonate in someone's hand. It's just the fact that I'm not seeing rag-dolls thrown out of explosions.

[Silent Invader]

For UK viewers, SST3: Marauder is on TV on Monday 7th Feb, Channel 5 @ 10:00pm

[Inso]

I've seen the film before and I completely agree that it was terrible.

I still watched it and didn't mind because I could at least take the mickey out of it and marvel at the amount of over-blown cliché it contained.

[Pil]

I missed out on my opportunity to buy the trilogy box when it was in the stores, but after reading so many bad reviews I recently just bought Starship Troopers.

I love Starship Troopers, I haven't read the book but I love Paul Verhoeven as a director. His over-the-top approach to sex and violence is what makes the movie work (and his other movies too). It took me a while to figure out the level of 'tongue-in-ckeek-ness' of the movie but when I did it just clicked. Since 2 and 3 weren';t directed by him I have little faith that will score as highly on my 'awesome' scale.

For completeness' sake I do wish to watch SST 2 and 3 someday but I'm not in a hurry, thanks for the review

[Grimmnar]

I missed out on my opportunity to buy the trilogy box when it was in the stores

It is still in stores. Just saw it on the shelf the other day at work.

For completeness' sake I do wish to watch SST 2 and 3 someday but I'm not in a hurry

Well, if you are not in any hurry i then suggest you wait till your on your death bed and you are looking for a little push over the edge. :-)

Grimm

[Bako]

Well, if you are not in any hurry i then suggest you wait till your on your death bed and you are looking for a little push over the edge. :-)

Great shot!