View Full Version : Starship Troopers: The Book
JeffNights
04-25-2004, 07:55 PM
The book wrote much before the movie, about 40 years...Is absolutely great.
Goes through an entire saga of his military life, and yet i am wanting more.
Why couldnt the film studio follow the epic more closely? even though i did enjoy the movie, things in the book should have been incorporated.
just had to rant..but i do know there are some sci-fi book lovers here.
Honolulu_Blue
04-25-2004, 08:02 PM
The book wrote much before the movie, about 40 years...Is absolutely great.
Goes through an entire saga of his military life, and yet i am wanting more.
Why couldnt the film studio follow the epic more closely? even though i did enjoy the movie, things in the book should have been incorporated.
just had to rant..but i do know there are some sci-fi book lovers here.
I knew some people who swore by the book. There was this guy I met who said that it was given to soldiers starting in the military as a good guide of what to expect or how to approach it, or something along those lines. He was disgusted with the movie. The movie is basically a satire. It takes the source material, which I understand takes itself quite seriously, and mocks it quite strongly. I love the movie. Great stuff.
Everyone fights, no one quits. You don't do your job, I'll kill you myself!
SirFozzie
04-25-2004, 08:34 PM
I'm stoked, there's going to be a RPG and a war(board)game based in the Starship Troopers Universe coming out soon.
Celeval
04-25-2004, 09:13 PM
Great book. Popcorn movie that has nothing to do with the book except that there are bugs involved.
JPhillips
04-25-2004, 09:14 PM
The few movies based on Heinlien have all sucked. I don't know why his material isn't adapted more faithfully for the screen. He wrote great adventures that would play well. Hollywood screws him every time they try. I don't know why Hollywood can't see the great adventure movies in his books.
JeffNights
04-25-2004, 09:21 PM
I'm stoked, there's going to be a RPG and a war(board)game based in the Starship Troopers Universe coming out soon.
Hey Fozz, is it going to be based on the book universe or the movie one? Theres a huge difference in my opinion..
and if its the book universe.....I want M.I. and i'll take a "Marauder" suit. :D
tucker342
04-25-2004, 09:39 PM
wow, I didn't even know there was a book... I may have to check it out.
Hurst2112
04-25-2004, 09:55 PM
wow, I didn't even know there was a book... I may have to check it out.
I agree. This does sound like something I would enjoy reading.
SirFozzie
04-25-2004, 10:10 PM
Hey Fozz, is it going to be based on the book universe or the movie one? Theres a huge difference in my opinion..
and if its the book universe.....I want M.I. and i'll take a "Marauder" suit. :D
Mostly the book, they'll have a few visuals from the movie If I Remember Correctly.
www.mongoosepublishing.com
ntndeacon
04-25-2004, 10:12 PM
That was a wonderful book. of course several of Heinleins books and short stories could be made into wonderful movies.
Starman Jones
The Man who Bought the Moon
among others
Drake
04-25-2004, 10:35 PM
I'd like to see a faithful movie version of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, my personal favorite of Heinlein's, with Stranger in a Strange Land a close second.
Mr. Wednesday
04-25-2004, 11:09 PM
The trouble with translating the book to the screen, IMO, is that all of the really good stuff takes place in the narrator's head. The things that happen are interesting, too, but you really need the narrator's thoughts.
While I found the viewpoints Heinlein expressed to be overly idealistic, I think mocking it is unfair; it deserves a serious response.
SFL Cat
04-25-2004, 11:20 PM
In the book, Mobile Infantry soldiers wore a$$-whuppin' power-armor. Aided by booster rockets, they could "jump" about a mile and could pretty much outfight any enemy hand-to-hand. In the movie, they were just ordinary grunts who marched from place to place (after all the times they were ambushed out in the open, you would think these guys would have at least used heavily-armed & armored transports to move from place to place).
Also, in the book, the Arachnids weren't just dumb bugs either, but had advanced starships and weaponry just like the humans.
Hurst2112
04-25-2004, 11:53 PM
wow, I didn't even know there was a book... I may have to check it out.
I just bought one on amazon.com for about $1.75 and $3.00 for shipping. Sight unseen, but according to all of the talk here, a good investment.
Thanks
damnMikeBrown
04-26-2004, 12:31 AM
As long as Dina Meyer gets naked again, I'm all in.
Crapshoot
04-26-2004, 04:03 AM
I'd like to see a faithful movie version of The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, my personal favorite of Heinlein's, with Stranger in a Strange Land a close second.
Stranger in a Strange Land is the ultimate Libertarian fantasy, and an amazing book at that. You think Hollywood could possibly make a movie where they acknowledged a libertarian stance today ? Its the same reason why I think Atlas Shrugged never got off the ground. That being said, I think its fairly hard to reflect the philosphical underpinings that make either of those books great in a movie- and without that, its somewhat pointless.
Crapshoot
04-26-2004, 04:04 AM
Btw Drake - I far prefer Stranger to The Moon is a Harsh Mistress- though I think they're both incredible books.
Marc Vaughan
04-26-2004, 04:07 AM
The book wrote much before the movie, about 40 years...Is absolutely great.
Goes through an entire saga of his military life, and yet i am wanting more.
Why couldnt the film studio follow the epic more closely? even though i did enjoy the movie, things in the book should have been incorporated.
just had to rant..but i do know there are some sci-fi book lovers here.
I read it years ago - thought it was very cool, the film is only very loosely associated with it though imho (but was equally cool imho as a seperate entity).
daedalus
04-26-2004, 04:29 AM
I read it years ago - thought it was very cool, the film is only very loosely associated with it though imho (but was equally cool imho as a seperate entity).I agree, the movie itself wasn't "bad". It was an amusing action flick. My problem with it was that they chose to associate it with a title then completely ignored the book.
gstelmack
04-26-2004, 08:44 AM
If they had done with this movie and book pair what they did with the Jurassic Park book and movie, it would have been fantastic. With Jurassic Park, the movie focused on stuff that movies can do well: the action. It left all the philosophical discussions to the book. As a result the book and movie complemented each other nicely. This movie could have done the same. Focus on guys in power armor lobbing fusion bombs around, and the hunting bugs in tunnels bits, with maybe a bit of "Full Metal Jacket" training thrown in for good measure, and it could have complemented the book nicely.
Armor by John Steakley is a book you might enjoy if you enjoyed Starship Troopers. I thought both were excellent.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0886773687/qid=1082987109/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/102-0087206-3736172?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
CamEdwards
04-26-2004, 09:37 AM
As long as Dina Meyer gets naked again, I'm all in.
Damn straight.
I really like Heinlein's older stuff, like Starship Troopers, Citizen of the Galaxy, and even Space Cadet.
Actually, Space Cadet is probably my favorite. I don't know why... it just captures the 1940's spirit so well.
Drake
04-26-2004, 09:38 AM
Stranger in a Strange Land is the ultimate Libertarian fantasy, and an amazing book at that. You think Hollywood could possibly make a movie where they acknowledged a libertarian stance today ? Its the same reason why I think Atlas Shrugged never got off the ground. That being said, I think its fairly hard to reflect the philosphical underpinings that make either of those books great in a movie- and without that, its somewhat pointless.
You're most probably correct, Aadik. I suppose I'll have to be content with going back and reading TMiaHM and SiaSL every couple of years. :)
Oh, and I don't remember who said it above, but the best part about the movie version of Starship Troopers was definitely a naked Dina Meyer. Though I must add that she owes me at least two hours of my life back for having breasts that talked me into sitting all the way through Bats (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200469/) on the off chance that they might make an appearance.
bigdawg2003
04-26-2004, 10:12 AM
I saw the Starship Troopers movie when I was 12 and thought it was pretty good (remember, I was 12, and hormones were raging)
Now I'm 19. I saw the movie again, and WOW what a shitty movie. Not even boobies can save it.
Honolulu_Blue
04-26-2004, 11:06 AM
I saw the Starship Troopers movie when I was 12 and thought it was pretty good (remember, I was 12, and hormones were raging)
Now I'm 19. I saw the movie again, and WOW what a shitty movie. Not even boobies can save it.
I saw the moive when I was 23. I saw the movie again on New Years day 2004, I was 29. I loved the movie both times. And all the times I watched it in between. Classic stuff. Doesn't take itself seriously at all. It's a great satire. Toss in some good violence and action and some hot chicks... It's all good.
JeeberD
04-26-2004, 11:23 AM
I agree, the movie itself wasn't "bad". It was an amusing action flick. My problem with it was that they chose to associate it with a title then completely ignored the book.
Sounds like 95% of the movies that have been made from Stephen King novels... :(
gstelmack
04-26-2004, 11:28 AM
I'm stoked, there's going to be a RPG and a war(board)game based in the Starship Troopers Universe coming out soon.
Avalon Hill had a war(board)game out based on Starship Troopers a LONG time ago.
Critch
04-26-2004, 04:03 PM
If you enjoyed the Starship Troopers book, you should give "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman a try. Similar idea, following a single soldiers experiences in a war against a strange alien race.
JeffNights
04-26-2004, 05:06 PM
If you enjoyed the Starship Troopers book, you should give "The Forever War" by Joe Haldeman a try. Similar idea, following a single soldiers experiences in a war against a strange alien race.
The forever war sounds fmailiar hmmm..
also i think i like the single soldier novels..
anybody ever read a yarn called "Thier Masters war" really indepth covers a huge expanse and you never really know whos in charge of the the ultimate scheme.
Flame Eater
04-26-2004, 08:36 PM
The Forever War is great. My brother gave it to me when I was a kid, and I loved it.
I reread it every year or two. Other Haldeman books are good too.
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