The bugs are back, and as promised they are the same old evil creatures, but with some surprises. The intrepid troopers will have to battle the biggest bug brain of them all to rescue their trapped comrades from the mysterious planet of OM-1.
In a story set many years into the future all mankind is at war with bugs, huge creepy insects that have universal domination as their goal. Twice before Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) has fought these critters, and he has been called in again.
This time he is to head a mission called Marauder, which will use the latest bug zapping technology to rescue Sky Marshall Anoke (Stephen Hogan) and Captain Lola Beck (Jolene Blalock) among others from a shipwreck on OM-1.
The Federation has been cracking down on terrorists who are the anti-war and religious protestors. They are arrested and hung for their crimes, and Johnny almost shares their fate, due to some misunderstandings that take place on Roku San and result in a massacre of troops.
Heading the elite group of troopers as Marauder, he will have to use everything that he knows about the bugs to make the rescue. With a lot of action, bad bugs that you love to hate, a healthy dose of irony, a little nudity, some corny sentimentalism, blood, blown up body parts and yucky bug guts everywhere, this is summertime sci-fi escapist fare for adults.
Filmed in South Africa, the planet scenes are very good, evoking a strange place which is ruled by arachnids, with gorgeous sand dunes, the ocean and towering mountains in the background.
The sound in some parts of this film is enough to drive you bonkers. It must have been someone’s great idea to let voices reverberate to give authenticity to large metal bunkers, or deeply buried underground chambers housing unnamable secrets. All very effective, except you can’t understand a word anyone is saying.
After awhile I quit backing up to hear lines again, I was so weary of trying, I didn’t care if revelations in plot were being delivered. However, the resident scientist popped popcorn, and I made lemonade, and watching this movie we felt like kids on a holiday.
Jolene Blalock is terrific, as always, makes the most of her roles, and gives a good performance. Also, the Marauder team was fun to watch, and we wished there was more of their mission and less of the big bug brain story. But hey, we laughed and groaned and said euuuuuww (I said euuuuuw, the resident scientist is more stoic) and had a very good time watching the film.
Starship Troopers 3 is presented on single disc in widescreen format. The playing time is 106 minutes and it is available with English and French audio, English, French and Spanish subtitles. Special Features include 2 commentaries, one by the film maker, the other with director/writer Ed Neumeier and cast members Casper Van Dien and Jolene Blalock.
There is a featurette called Evolution: The Bugs of Starship Troopers 3 Marauder, another featurette Enlist Marauder’s Mobile Infantry, and the extended version of the music video “It’s a Good Day to Die” with singing Sky Marshall Anoke. This DVD is rated R for language, violence and some nudity.
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Sept. 29th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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