5 Questions: Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation

In this edition of 5 Questions, I have some questions (5 of them to be exact) about Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation.

1) How are you going to make a Starship Troopers movie without Johnny Rico?

I’m not just asking this question because it is Casper Van Dien’s birthday later this week, to me this is akin to having a Star Wars movie without a Skywalker in it. Johnny Rico was the heart and soul of the original movie and him not being involved in the sequel hurt. They apparently learned that lesson, because when the third chapter of the trilogy was released, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Johnny Rico was back. Although I have no complaints about the casting of Kelly Carlson in ST2.

 2) Why did it take 7 years for a sequel to Starship Troopers to be released?

One of the positives of direct to video sequels is they are able to strike while the iron is hot. They are working with a lower budget, but if you follow up quickly you can capitalize on the success of the original. 7 years is not my idea of quickly, especially in today’s world. Especially when you didn’t bring back Van Dien, Denise Richards, Neil Patrick Harris etc. If you were waiting for a time when the original cast was all free and available to do the sequel that would make more sense, but instead they started entirely from scratch where the cast was concerned, for the most part…

3) Why in the world would you cast someone from the original movie to be in the sequel as a completely different character? 

For some strange reason, Starship Troopers 2 features Brenda Strong as Sgt. Dede Rake. The problem is the original Starship Troopers featured Brenda Strong as Captain Deladier. This is the equivalent of Peter Cushing playing Grand Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars and then coming back in Empire Strikes Back as another Imperial officer. Are you trying to tell me there were no other actresses that could play Dede Rake?

4) Am I the only one who thinks that Captain Dax (Richard Burgi) bears a striking resemblance to WWE Hall of Famer “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels on the DVD cover?

Every time I would see the cover of Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation at the store, I would have to do a double take. I thought there was some sort of WWE Film starring Shawn Michaels that got zero hype on any WWE programming (highly unlikely) .

5) Why do I own this movie? 

I’ll be honest with you, this movie is not very good. But why after watching it do I still own it and haven’t exchanged it for a used copy of Ladybugs starring Rodney Dangerfield? There are a few good reasons, one is the inclusion of Ed Lauter. Lauter turned this movie into something that was going to be tough to keep my attention to a movie that I’d at least give a chance. Another reason, I own the original, I own the third one, there’s the OCD part of me that would be bothered that there was a gap in the collection. Lastly, Kelly Carlson.