Starship Troopers (1997)

IMDb plot summary: Humans in a fascistic, militaristic future do battle with giant alien bugs in a fight for survival.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Starring Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, and Jake Busey.

While usually I wouldn't be all that into a war movie, even a sci-fi war movie, this is a light, fun, and casual flick that I found really likable. Even though it manages to slip in some interesting commentary on nationalism and the adrenaline of war, for the most part it's fluffy as can be. Heads and limbs get torn off by bugs left and right and the camera barely stops to notice, let alone care. Maybe the violence is gratuitous, but the fact that there was so little blood involved made it feel less realistic and more like a silly video game. (Of course, I have been playing Earth Defense Force recently, so that came to mind more than once when watching this.) I also particularly liked the news networks as a gimmick to set up atmosphere and speed plot along -- it was integrated seamlessly with the tone and world of the movie. Overall, this is a great goofy blockbuster and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

3.5 stars.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Starship Troopers > Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Starship Troopers < Eat Pray Love
Starship Troopers > What Maisie Knew
Starship Troopers < Sergeant York
Starship Troopers > Junebug
Starship Troopers > The Shining
Starship Troopers < The Chorus
Starship Troopers < How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
Starship Troopers > After the Wedding
Starship Troopers < Gandhi
Final spot: #769 out of 2362.