Robocop and Starship Troopers are both classic Paul Verhoeven films. But is one really better than the other?
You may remember a few weeks ago Matt Edwards wrote a column that put Rocky IV up against Demolition Man – if you haven’t read it, it might be worth starting there. The piece was inspired by a daily movie game I run on Twitter, where my followers choose which is the better of two related movies – basically, Matt did all of the groundwork for me, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.
Having run dozens of these so far, I thought I’d write a movie showdown article based on two films that received the highest number of votes, and also one of the closest run contests: Robocop versus Starship Troopers.
Premise
If faced with the choice of watching a film about a robot cop dishing out justice, or a film about a futuristic military force sent to a far off planet to do battle with an alien race of killer bugs, I’d go with the latter. I appreciate that technically Robocop is the better film, but on paper, Starship Troopers wins this hands down.
Social commentary
As is the case with most of Paul Verhoeven’s films, there’s plenty of social commentary and subtext to enjoy in both of these. Sure, both work incredibly well taken at face value, but to get the most out of either, examining their subtexts is key.
Starship Troopers is perhaps less subtle than Robocop, but by no means any less effective, with its obvious allusions to Nazi Germany in its use of propaganda, uniforms and the invading forces’ attitude towards their enemies. The film’s often read as an exaggerated look at how the US would evolve as a military power, but really, it could be applied to a number of major military forces throughout history. (It’s also worth noting that Verhoeven’s film works as a sly inversion of Robert Heinlein’s pro-military source novel.)
Like Starship Troopers, Robocop comprises many layers of social commentary that enhance the film. There’s the scathing view on the dumbing-down of the media, and how this affects the populace – though the media is far from the biggest problem in the film. It paints a stark image of Detroit, a city once the heart of the American motor industry, but has since degenerated into a ghost town following factory closures. This has led to mass unemployment, which is referenced in the film quite heavily.
The creation of Robocop himself could be seen as a crass exercise. While so many of Detroit’s inhabitants are unemployed, big companies are spending obscene amounts of money on creating robot security devices. As an attack on the financial elite’s disregard for the poor and the widening gulf between the rich and destitute, Robocop is incredibly effective, and it’s the skill in which that these themes are woven into the narrative that makes it such an effective film.
Robocop’s multilayered satire of consumer culture, crime and commerce soundly beats Starship Trooper’s commentary on US military policy and fascism.
Gore, gore, gore. How do you like it? How do you like it?
Both films are spectacularly violent, and seem to take great pleasure in being so. However, I feel this is another category where Robocop has the edge. Sure, Starship Troopers’ bugs dish out a fair amount of kills, but given that the vast majority of Robocop’s violence is human on human (or robot on human), it makes it considerably more effective in my eyes.
The scene where Clarence Boddicker and his gang ruthlessly murder hapless cop Alex Murphy gave me nightmares for weeks when I first saw it, and it’s surely one of the most effective depictions of a helpless protagonist in cinema, as our well meaning hero is well and truly put in his place by a gang of psychopaths.
Watching the scene even now, after numerous viewings, I feel incredibly anxious. It’s one of those sequences where you desperately want the outcome to be different each time you watch it, as what happens is so horrific. Even after setting the gore bar so high early in the film, the remainder far from disappoints, since it’s filled with all manner of carnage.
The Stakes
There’s no real contest here, is there? An alien species of bugs threatening human kind, or corporate greed and a psychopathic criminal and his gang terrorising the population of Detroit. Now, the inhabitants of Detroit are put through a rough ordeal, but when compared to something that affects the entire planet and quite possibly the galaxy, their problems pale in comparison. Starship Troopers wins.
The Kurtwood Smith factor
So, we inevitably come to the matter of Mr Kurtwood Smith, the most terrifying of screen presences, who terrorises Murphy here in a way he would Eric Foreman some years later in That '70s Show. Robocop has the edge because of the presence of Smith and the glee with which he plays Clarence Boddicker.
Sure, Starship Troopers has another fine character actor in Michael Ironside (who was considered for the role of Robocop at one point), but he’s nowhere near as menacing as Smith here. If Boddicker were involved in the bug war he would simply have to utter, “Bitches leave” and it would be game over (or war over, if you prefer).
Basil Poledouris: settling scores
I’ve written extensively about Poledouris’ work as part of my Music in the movies column. Both of the scores are great, and in particular, the score for Starship Troopers is one of the most dramatic pieces he composed throughout his career, which really is saying something given the quality of his output. But with Robocop, he created one of the most iconic pieces of music in the history of action cinema, a piece that has barely been out of my head since I first saw the film at the tender age of eight. Based on the main theme alone, Robocop wins.
ED-209 versus the bugs
ED-209 is a formidable foe on the surface, but really, how can you be that scared of an opponent who can’t master stairs? The bugs, however, are a formidable foe that offer up all kinds of threats, and are seemingly unlimited in number – until you discover the well-hidden and protected brain bug, that is. They certainly wouldn’t have any trouble with stairs. Starship Troopers wins.
Crappy sequels
Both films have two sequels, with the Robocop sequels exemplifying the law of diminishing returns. Starship Troopers fares slightly better as, despite an awful second instalment, the third managed to bring back some of the original cast and provide some decent entertainment, despite having a plot best described as utter nonsense.
Robocop had an awful spin-off TV series (also covered by Matt Edwards recently) that further flushed the series down the crapper, making it an obvious loser in this category.
Bright future or bleak future?
Both series are far from over, with a remake of Robocop on the cards and a fourth Starship Troopers rumoured to be in development. I know it’s easy to sneer at remakes given the frequency they appear to be churned out, but despite the number of bad and lazy reboots out there, there have been a few great ones over the years, so not all of them should be treated with doom and gloom.
Personally, I’m very excited about the remake of Robocop, mainly because of who’s attached to direct. José Padilha seems a great fit, as anyone who’s seen either of the Elite Squad films will attest. Providing he’s able to apply the same level of gritty action seen in those two films to the project it, should be one worth waiting for. And given that the Robocop series has been diminished considerably by poor spin-offs already, this is one instance where a remake should be welcomed rather than written off.
Overall winner
Murphy uses his fist spike to kill off the brain bug and then shoots Rico and the rest of the Roughnecks in the face for good measure, as Robocop beats Starship Troopers five-four based on the above categories.
Robocop was also the winner when put to the Twitter vote, but which do you prefer? Feel free to cast your votes in the comments section below.
If you fancy taking part in the daily movie showdowns, you can follow Glen on Twitter.
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