The movie was progressing in a very satisfactory manner until it started spewing it's rubbish about religion/Christianity.
The religion crap TOTALLY ruined the movie for us - what on EARTH was it doing there in a camp sci-fi horror film?!
Tell me I'm going to hell if you must, but PLEASE don't tell me that it's appropriate to put religion in a film like this.
I think I preferred the Startship Troopers 2...
It's really not a question of it being 'appropriate'. People are entitled to their beliefs.
I personally thought that the film was satorising religion - after all, it wasn't god who saved them at the end, it was superior firepower(!)
Not being religious myself, it did get on my pecs after a while. hoo-ha.
"My PC smells funny"
Didn't get on my nerves at all, because if you have been taking anything said by the Starship Trooper movies as anything but disingenuous then you missed the point. I especially loved putting the towel over her so she looked like Mary.
----
Even if you hate Uwe Boll, give Postal a try, be offended or entertained.
As an atheist, I was under the understanding that it was SATIRE. There was no "agenda", nor was it preachy.
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm2339870/
It's funny how atheists get their panties in a bunch whenever Christianity is mentioned. Kinda weak-minded to get offended so easily...aren't they!?!?
shareAll due respect, I think you missed the film's intentions. Wikipedia entry says it better than I can:
"Just as the first film of the series sought to satirize the use of nationalism and jingoism as the political tools of a militant government, Starship Troopers 3 satirizes the nationalization of religion. While the film could be accused of promoting the Christian faith, the conclusion of the film, in which Christianity is co-opted by the Federation and God made a "citizen", plays for satire, in addition to providing commentary on the countless political regimes that have used faith as a recruitment tool throughout history.
Complicating matters, however, is the fact that while the satire of Starship Troopers 3 clearly portrays the weaponization of religion as morally reprehensible, it also concludes that religious freedom is an innate human right. Beyond the satire of the film, religion is shown as having a personal effect on several of its characters, one of whom converts from Atheism to Christianity by the conclusion of the film. During the confrontation with the supposed Bug God Behemecoatyl in the climax of the film, a character invokes the Lord's Prayer - however, while this prayer may be meaningful to the character's development, it is also played largely for satire, as we see her protectors, giant robots manned by Federation soldiers, descend from the sky and slaughter their enemies. Moreover, by characterizing the Sky Marshal as a religious apostate who has embraced the worship of Behemecoatyl, Starship Troopers 3 also suggests that religion poses a threat to the concept of free will."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_troopers_3
Best comment gets flatly ignored.
Seriously, these boards are as predictable as they are shameful ...
Even so, whatever satire the movie had intended religion to be was promptly booted aside when Lola Beck (the captain) converted to Christianity at the epilogue. I mean, come on! She is presented as a staunch rationalist all the way up until the marauders form a freaking halo around that other girl's head. Then, all of a sudden, she becomes the arch-freaking-bishop of Canterbury and starts reciting verses from the Bible like she knew them her entire life. And then she wants to have a Christian wedding after the fact that she knew it was Rico's marauders who saved her, and not some divine power? What?!
I know people complained about the climax as being overtly cheesy, predictable and typical of a b-movie, but I actually found it to the contrary. Why the hell did she convert? How can the movie claim to be a satire if it goes completely along with the utter ridiculousness of Beck's end decision? What if Yoda right before he died told Luke to join the Sith? What if Gandalf, after the span of three movies, stole the ring from Frodo and became a follower of Melkor? Of all the people, why the hell did the voice of reason have to convert in the end? It makes no bloody sense! Aaargh!
p.s., I find it a tad bit funny that the peace protesters were the religious ones. *lists all the historical events mutually inclusive to religion + violence*
Quod Erat Demonstrandum
THE WHOLE MOVIE IS A SATIRICAL PROPAGANDA MOVIE
Her going with it at the end doesn't matter. I don't think you quite understand what satire is.
It's a movie with a message, which is not actually what the makers believe.
The in-movie government found that religion is a good way to control the people, so the movie reflects that by going all religious at the end. As the movie is propaganda for the in-movie government.
----
Even if you hate Uwe Boll, give Postal a try, be offended or entertained.
But when does it stop pushing religion and when does it start becoming satire? One could also argue that Passion of the Christ was also a religious satire by the same logic that both of these movies lack rational sense. :/
If it is purely satire, then it is poorly done. Religious persons are seen as the victims, heroes, and peace protesters banned by a fascist state. Just how is this movie ultimately subtly mocking religion? (There was that one scene where the woman says, 'that's not the real god!' But there aren't many scenes of that nature after that)
Quod Erat Demonstrandum
Whenever the film is pushing religion it is pushing it disingenuously. Just as it was pushing fascist nationalist militarism. It doesn't need to stop pushing it for it to be satire.
The government in the film state that Religion is actually a powerful tool to rule the people and fight the war. Which is why they go overboard to push religion, even going so far as to have the main character be a born again and dress up like Mary.
Try searching for Brasseye for more examples
----
Even if you hate Uwe Boll, give Postal a try, be offended or entertained.
I dunno, having repressed religious peace protesters being framed for treason and being summarily executed doesn't exactly seem like a disingenuous martyrdom.
With Heinlein's book and Verhoeven's adaptation, at least they portray the fascist state as being largely ineffectual with huge bureaucracies and pyrrhic victories, and we ultimately find out that the motives offered by the named characters vastly differ from the motives offered by the fascist propaganda. It doesn't matter that the fascists were successful in the end, so much as the book/film showed the means to the end to be undesirable.
With this third adaptation, what does it actually show us? It shows us that Christians are innocent, peace-loving martyrs that have been wrongly marginalised and persecuted, and it shows us that these same people ultimately triumph over the evil 'false' god of the Arachnids without any repercussions whatsoever. Where's the criticism? Or perhaps it is only criticising organised religion as portrayed in the epilogue with state-sanctioned religion? If so, then they couldn't have chosen a worse real-life equivalent (the big three monotheistic Eurasian religions).
To put it simply (and I am trying not to be too specific as I've only seen the film once about a year ago) The protesters show the more positive (though naive) side of religion, but then later show how easily it can be hijacked to justify iniquitous actions.
----
Even if you hate Uwe Boll, give Postal a try, be offended or entertained.
No, it's a goddamn direct-to-DVD gibfest action movie, and should stop pretending to be anything else.
It was terrible, preachy, simplistic moralizing when Verhoeven did it in the original, and it's not any better with a budget ten fold lower.
Very good point, why did the Captain convert? The movie was clumsy in the handling of religion but maybe they wanted to point out that even the rational ones can get sucked into it.
shareI thought it was pretty damn funny, as it was intended. The passion may or may not have been "satire", but the satire in this film was waaaaaay too obvious and over the top. But yeah it did have satire, and the cap'n converting to Christianity is part of the humor.
shareThe movie was clumsy in the handling of EVERYTHING. All you we’re saying is that the movie is consistent in tone, Jake buddy.
shareIt's basically a summary of how some people tend to get converted to religion due to a traumatic event that involved religion. So even though we see the logical process that led to Lola's rescue, from her point of view it was a god that helped rescued her (this is hinted at since Rico was only able to locate them by the sound of prayer). It's a sad, stupid conversion that pisses atheists off but that's the point.
share[deleted]
Erm...I honor the god of the pilcrow.
shareI think that the religion was a little over the top and was pushed a bit hard in this film. However, By reading your comment I guess you are also against all subtle pushes at religion as well like the Matrix movies or Star Wars.
I am sorry that the freedom of speech offended you so much. A great movie with rape of children and hacking people to death as in saw must really bring out the best in you right?
It's funny how people have the freedom of speech as long as they say what they are supose to say huh?
I do not think your comment is bashing religion, but to see someone pray when facing trouble...if more people in the world tried this...think of what it would look like.
Your assumption that I don't like Matrix or Star Wars is (woefully) incorrect, and I'm happy that you bought that up.
I actually preferred Passion of the Christ to SST:3, because I was EXPECTING a religous film (though, I certainly did not enjoy it per se).
When I tune into a Space Horror genre, I don't expect to have religion thrown down my throat. It didn't suit the movie, it was misplaced (and for the record I don't agree with the argument that it was being satirical - though that's a seperate debate).
So, please do not infer that just because I don't like religion in my Space Horros that I like only movies with children getting raped and a society where freedom of speech is denied, and everyone is pleased to do as they wish.
It's a bit of a leap...
I'd agree, a bit of an unfair leap was made as to sugaraspa's tastes beyond this particular movie...and we're all entitled to our own cinematic perspectives, anyway.
However, it's not really a point of debate about religion being satirized in SST3 -- there are way too many obvious moments confirming this in the movie, and satire was the essence of the Starship film series to begin with.
Anyone who thinks any Starship Troopers movie delivers its commentary straight-up just isn't getting it. Now, whether or not the satire was effective -- that's a discussion topic.
Excellent points sir! Thank you and I agree with what you say, though doubt if I've the energy to partake in aforementioned debate :)
shareFirst I AM LEGEND, now this?
Frankly, would you imagine if the original themes of the book were actually taken seriously?
If con is the opposite of pro, wouldn't congress be the opposite of progress?
[deleted]
you are a shame of your misspelled nickname. get another one.
shareFirstly, I am a Christian, and am watching the film as we speak. I must admit, that the theme of Religion (it hasn't mentioned Christianity specifiaclly yet, it may be Judaism, Islam etc as all that is mentioned (so far) is God) is handled in a manner that is not in line with the telling of the rest of the story, but as for religion in horror, and or sci-fi, there are countless films that include religion within the film. War in real life is intertwound with religion, Both George Bush and Tony Blair claim to be men of faith, and many wars around the world are motivated by differences in faith styles.
shareI agree. I wasn't so much bothered by all that rubbish talk about religion. After all, most religious characters got killed or at least realized that they were being misled.
Anyways, what bothered me was Cpt. Lola's conversion to Christianity at the last minute. I mean, her rational stance had won as the wacko Christian characters had been proven wrong. So why would she jump to the Jesus camp at that point?
I was severely disappointed because I liked Cpt. Lola. She was smart and tough. I hated all the whiny religious nuts. If anything's a blasphemy, it's seeing a rational human being turn into a Christian.
I liked the movie but but I couldn't explain the final shots:the sudden and unexpected conversion of Cpt Lola Beck. It's unrealistic!
However in Myspace Jolene Blalock there is a photo with Jolene by Jesus tomb, maybe a connection.....?
Oh well at least she's not a scientologist. The German government is right - scientology is a threat to a free society and we must resettle all scientologists.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118604/board/nest/45170697?d=124482056#50057239
I was severely disappointed because I liked Cpt. Lola. She was smart and tough. I hated all the whiny religious nuts. If anything's a blasphemy, it's seeing a rational human being turn into a Christian.
I don't usually have a problem with religion, but I agree, the whole praying in here was completely out of context. Too much. And all the sudden, my beloved Tpol , or Lola here, looks very awkward here. I don't know if her face is trying to convey conversion in the final scenes on the planet, or just hatred for the director to put her in such an stupid position.
share[deleted]
"A. God Exists
B. He's on our Side!
C. He Wants Us to Win!"
This was broad, broad, BROAD satire. I was laughing out loud.
There were some aspects of religion in this film I liked (including the above quote), but I thought it was very badly and campy handled otherwise. Especially the scene with the two women praying and being saved by the 7 "angels" made me cringe.
shareWell, it depends on how much you like camp.
shareI loved that scene. The juxtaposition of traditional Christian imagery - Lord's Prayer, fire shaped like crosses, etc.) and ultra-violent warfare - nay, slaughter - was gold.
______________
You bring up a good example; I believe that scene displays the irony that writer/director Edward Neumeier is going for.
From the perspective of Beck and Little, their rescue is an answer to prayer. As the viewer we know it's just coincidental good timing--we saw Rico and the others prepping (if I remember correctly)before they began praying.
The point being that we have a tendency to see what we want to see, especially when it comes to religion and spirituality. The entire satire of the movie being that religion and war are a dangerous mix.
Yes, that's right, that exchange totally ruined the whole franchise for me.
Well done, I can see I'm dealing with a diabolical mind here...
[deleted]
i think its satirize the W.Bush kind of religion
shareI enjoy the third film as well as the religion in the movie, I think it added another layer to the universe.
HOWEVER, I do feel that by the end of the movie with them praying and the halo...and...ugh... personally, they went overboard with it than.
Also, I feel they went overboard cheesy with this one at the end as well with the "I got religion" line, it made me feel like it got so campy the actors were winking at me. To me the campyness always lied in the news bulletin segments while the action and drama always had a slight nod of cheesiness but nothing deliberate like that line or the ending.
That is my BIG complaint with the film.
hahaha yea the praying scene at the end was horrible. at first i saw this thread (b4 watching the movie) and thought it was just a loser atheist who hates all religions. it is very sad that they had to bring religion into the movie the way they did. it really did take at least 1 star off this films rating. im atheist and believe everyone has a right to their own beliefs but the way that last scene just shoved god down all the viewers throats... it just felt like church
share