TMR 036 – Starship Troopers

Total Movie Recall

This week on Total Movie Recall, Steve and Ryan watch the most subtle satire ever made — Starship Troopers. What exactly is this movie skewering? We’re not sure. We thought we might have figured it out with the Nazi uniforms and Leni Riefenstahl shots and Aryan actors, but then we got distracted by the nudity and gore and decided not to think about it anymore. Starship Troopers (1997) d. Paul Verhoeven w. Edward Neumeier (screenplay) (as Ed Neumeier), Robert A. Heinlein (book) Starring: Casper Van Dien Dina Meyer Denise Richards Neil Patrick Harris Jake Busey Seth Gilliam Patrick Muldoon Michael Ironside

In the distant future, the Earth is at war with a race of giant alien insects. Little is known about the Bugs except that they are intent on the eradication of all human life. But there was a time before the war... A Mobile Infantry travels to distant alien planets to take the war to the Bugs. They are a ruthless enemy with only one mission: Survival of their species no matter what the cost...

Things discussed in the show:

Facebook and YouTube is trash (check out the Rabbit Hole podcast) The Floor is Lava (Rutledge Wood, Janine Hogan) Most Extreme Elimination Challenge The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim) Rear Window's homosexual subtext Caligula (Tinto Brass, Gore Vidal, Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, Helen Mirren) Da 5 Bloods (Spike Lee, Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Chadwick Boseman) Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts) Boyhood (Richard Linklater, Ellar Coltrane, Patricia Arquette, Ethan Hawke) Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodóvar, Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Penélope Cruz) Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Pedro Almodóvar, Carmen Maura, Antonio Banderas, Julieta Serrano) Walk Hard: the Dewey Cox Story (Jake Kasdan, Judd Apatow, John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, David Krumholtz) Step Brothers (Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Mary Steenburgen) Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Adam McKay, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Sacha Baron Cohen) Old School (Todd Phillips, Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Will Ferrell) Paul Verhoeven in nazi occupied Holland Nazi propaganda in Leni Riefenstahl films including the Triumph of the Will 22 Push Ups Challenge - to raise awareness and donations to help prevent veteran suicide Unit 731 and Joseph Mengele - and how it's easy to commit atrocities be dehumanizing your enemy Black Hawk Down as a military propaganda film (Ridley Scott, Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore) Mazzy Star fist fight Idiocracy (Mike Judge, Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard)