STARSHIP TROOPERS 2 - HERO OF THE FEDERATION
Starship Troopers 2 - Hero of the Federation (2004)
Director: Phil Tippett
Edition Details:
Region 2 encoding (Europe, Japan, South Africa and the Middle East
including Egypt)
Running Time:
88 minutes
Soundtrack Language:
English, Czech, Hungarian
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Subtitles:
Arabic, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, Greek,
Hindi, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Slovenian, Swedish, Turkish
DVD Features:
Director, Writer and Producer commentary,
From Green Screen to Silver Screen featurette,
Inside the Federation featurette,
Photo Gallery,
Theatrical Trailer
Movie:
  
Disc:
 Description:
In this sequel to the cult favorite Starship Troopers, the Federation's
best mobile infantry unit goes back into action against the Bug horde. But
this time, the Bugs are waiting for them. Trapped on a remote outpost
light years from the nearest reinforcements, a small group of soldiers
fight an enemy smarter and more cunning than they've ever faced. Now they
must join forces with an infamous traitor to the Federation if they are to
have any hope. And it's not just their lives at stake, it's the survival
of the human race. If they want to live, they'll have to use their heads
before the bugs do.
-
Amazon.com
As long as you're not expecting a real sequel to the under-rated and
misunderstood 1997 movie by Robocop director
Paul Verhoeven, or anything remotely to do with the original Heinlein
novel, this cheap sequel will make for some passable viewing. (It was so
cheaply made that it was filmed on high-definition video instead of normal
film stock.) In fact I found it much better than other recent
straight-to-video fare such as Timecop
2
and Dragon Storm I had to endure. Then
again, that's not saying much . . .
This time around, irony and big budget spectacle are ditched as a small
group of soldiers fleeing alien enemy hordes find refuge in a remote
fortified outpost. Unbeknownst to them however they had been infiltrated
by soldiers being controlled by the alien bugs. Think
Aliens meet The
Thing and The Hidden, and you'll get the
general idea. Little of the subversiveness of the original film makes it
to the screen this time around and Starship Troopers 2 is more of a
straight-forward SF horror flick than anything else.
It's
not particular original or anything, but the cheap sets (both of them!)
are effectively utilised and the unknown cast isn't too bad either. This
is special effects legend Phil Tippet's directorial debut, and unlike
most effects people turned director he does a passable job both with both
the effects and the human cast. Tippett is best-known for his work on
Jurassic Park and the original
Starship Troopers, and while the low-budget
effects here may not impress that much, they are not too shoddy at all.
Sure, this is a franchise that deserved better than being relegated to the
small screen. However, as far as this sort of thing goes, Starship
Troopers 2 isn't that
bad. There are
enough action, gore and nudity to
appease horror
fans and while the screenplay by original
Starship Troopers scribe Ed Neumeier isn't
all that good,
the truth is that everybody involved in this project
acquitted themselves quite well under the zero budget circumstances.
THE DISC: Some ?making of? promo features and director's
commentaries. Also, trailers and a photo gallery. Not too bad.
WORTH IT? Better than most critics made it out to be: just don't
think of this as a sequel to Starship Troopers, but rather as
straight-to-video fodder. Once you've made that mental shift, then
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation will make a neat double
bill along
with something like Returner . . .
RECOMMENDATION: Rent it as an evening's undemanding viewing.
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