The movie is very tongue-in-cheek, and it doesn't seem to take itself very seriously, so I suppose that a lot of it's flaws were on purpose. For example, Casper Van Dien, who played "Johnny Rico," would actually grit his teeth as he spoke whenever he was angry. And Denise Richards, who played "Carmen Ibanez," spent the first three-quarters of the movie flashing her pearly white teeth as though she was posing for a "Vogue" cover.
Neil Patrick Harris (Remember when I mentioned "Doogie Howser"?) was surprisingly good as the wise-ass psychic friend of "Johnny Rico." I could never really see him as anything other than that teenage doctor, but he convinced me that he can be taken seriously as a real actor. Also, Jake Busey (Gary Busey's son, though they look more like twin sibs) was just great as one of the mobile infantry soldiers. His character is the total opposite of the creepy ultra-religious extremist guy he played in "Contact."
"Starship Troopers" was directed by Paul Verhoeven who's no stranger to science fiction. He directed the first "RoboCop" as well as "Total Recall." Then again, he also directed "Showgirls." I really think that he should stick with sci-fi. He has great vision when it comes to that genre, and he seems to know the subject very well.
Though I liked
the movie, it's far from great. It's just mindless, violent fun. REALLY
violent. You'll see human bodies shredded, mutilated, sliced, decapitated,
crushed, and just plain destroyed. It's got some excellent visuals, seamless
computer animation, and other revolutionary special effects. And like I
said, all the characters actually go through a character arc. Still, the
story (based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein) was pretty lame... and
a bit too long. I'm sure it'll make a great video game, though!