Johnny Rico is back to battle bugs
His name is Johnny Rico. He’s from Buenos Aires. And what does he say, boys and girls? That’s right…
“Kill ’em all!”
Rico is back, but don’t call him Private. The hardened soldier of the mobile infantry has been bumped up to Colonel in Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, the second sequel stemming from Robert Heinlein’s novel and Paul Verhoeven’s acerbic and gleefully violent 1997 feature film that gave us bugs of all sizes, Denise Richards and a fan favorite line: “We can ill-afford another Klandathu.” Ed Neumeier (Robocop) who has been on board the series as screenwriter since day one tests his mettle in the director’s chair after Phil Tippett helmed Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation. Tippett’s entry was a more contained affair sans Rico as played by Casper Van Dien.
“They wanted me in the second one but it wasn’t up to Neumeier,” Van Dien explains to us during a phone chat. “The director, Phil Tippet, didn’t want any of the sense of humor from the first one or the original characters. He basically wanted to do a zombie movie in space. So, Ed said he would put me in his. There have been scripts for another Starship Troopers for the last four years – I’ve seen a total of five different versions of Starship Troopers 3.”
The story that was eventually selected and greenlit finds Rico leading a squad on a rescue mission to Planet OM-1. There he needs to retrieve the survivors of a crashed Federation starship including Sky Marshal Anoke (Stephen Hogan) and pilot Lola Beck (Jolene Blalock). And in case you were wondering, the film picks up eleven years after Verhoeven’s film. The war against the bugs continues and things are not looking good for the human race.
“Johnny Rico has grown, too,” says Van Dien. “He’s a pure warrior. He joined the military in the first film for a chick. That never worked. He becomes a soldier in this. I think, often in the military, the true soldiers are the pure warriors, they’re doing it for the right reasons and they get the job done.”
Lensing took place in South Africa over the course of six weeks with two units working in unison, a task Van Dien says Neumeier faced head-on. “It’s a perfect segue for him to go from writer to director because he was on the set of Robocop every day and on the set of Starship Troopers every day. He has the best training by being around one of the best directors, Paul Verhoeven.”
“Ed has a dark, sick sense of humor that is absolutely wonderful and just delicious. If you’re sick,” he continues with a laugh. “I love that sense of humor, I love the way he writes. I love that most people miss stuff when they watch his films or even read them. They go ‘Wait a minute, was that supposed to be like that? Because it’s really pissing me off.’ Starship Troopers had a sense of humor, Robocop had a sense of humor and this new Starship Troopers has the political fascism like the first one – and then some – it also has a religious twist that I think only Ed can do really well.”
Some science fiction can be especially potent when it thematically reflects current real world drama. Asked if this new Troopers, a snapshot in time during a never-ending war, parallels certain Middle East events, Van Dien responds: “Ed always goes that deep. He writes about what he knows. Political satire. He applies things to different wars and war films.” The actor shares a certain kinship with Neumeier in their affinity for John Wayne and John Ford films. “We understood each other in this respect and I went back and re-watched all of those films when we were making this. That way I could apply some of that to the film and to see where he got some of his ideas and concepts. He wrote [Rico] with a lot of things he sees me. It was interesting to see someone write about you based on how they think you are – it gave me some insight into myself.”
Departing from the human element for a moment, let’s know Rico’s foe. The bugs. By now fans recognize the spider-like warriors, the giant beetles that propel glowing, fiery goobers from their abdomen and the brain bugs with their overt vaginal visages. Marauder offers a few new creepy crawlies. “We have Robert Skotak, who won Academy Awards for Aliens and Terminator 2 doing the special effects on this film,” Van Dien reveals. Joining Skotak is brother Dennis, revered in his own right. “They added some more special effects than they were supposed to add. Robert was a huge fan of the book and wanted to be a part of the first film, but it didn’t work out. He added some variations onto the standard bugs that we have but he made some really great new bugs off of Ed’s script with his own sick perversions and twists. There are some new ways in which the bugs kill the Troopers. They’re really funny, which is odd to say.”
And to counter this menace, the Federation has whipped up a new weapon: The titular Marauder, a robotic suit that bears shades of Robotech and the power loader from Aliens (take a look). However, if one takes a look at the source material, they’ll see this is inspired by power suits worn by the troopers in Heinlein’s story.
“That’s the reason why I fell in love with Starship Troopers in the first place,” Van Dien enthuses. “I read the book when I was 12-years-old. On the movie I remember thinking, ‘Wow, I was 12 and I really got this!’ Then I went back to re-read it and I realized the satire was all Ed. But the satire that Ed wrote is different than any you find in the novel which I love because of the power suits and ‘Kill ’em all!’ The Marauder suits are awesome. Skotak has created a phenomenal weapon.”
Van Dien says he would love to reprise his role as Johnny Rico one more time if given the chance and if Neumeier returned. “It also depends on ShockTillYouDrop.com reader to support and push Sony to maraud them until they cave in to do another one!”
Would you like to know more?
Well, keep you eyes peeled for Starship Troopers 3: Marauder when it storms its way onto DVD August 5th.
Source: Ryan Rotten
