Disney's Starship Troopers [Blu-ray]

I am going to assume that most of you who are reading this want to know about this blueray's contents and technical merits.There are at the time of writing this 4 ways of obtaining this movie on blueray here on Amazon:- the one I own and am reviewing here, call it the "Three Heads" version, apparently produced in 2008, the main feature starts up with the "Tristar"-logo.  Starship Troopers [Blu-ray] [1997] [US Import ]- the version seen about most often, call it the "Ochre" edition, I own it too and my copy does not have a product date on it, the main feature starts up with the "Buena Vista International"-logo.  Starship Troopers [Blu-ray ]- the steelbook limited collectors' edition, I have no further info on it.  Starship Troopers - Limited Edition Steelbook - the "triple box set" of the three live-action movies in the franchise, which I also do not own.  Starship Troopers 1-3 [DVD] [2008 ]Note that in the Amazon description of the Three Heads version there is talk of it being a DVD. It is NOT a DVD, it is a BlueRay disk.I am going to talk about the Three Heads version and how it differs from the Ochre version.TLDR; if you want to own the movie for the extra's, get the Three Heads, if you don't care about extra's and want a version with more audio and subtitle-options, get the Ochre. The Three heads differs mainly from the Ochre in that it has great menu's, the documentary 'Death from Above', FX- and Storyboard-comparisons and most importantly 2 commentary tracks that are simply a must for anyone who likes this movie.Extra's:The BlueRay features an interactive game which is reasonably fun. There is also a "Fed-Net Mode" where you are presented, during the movie, with a small Picture-in-Picture image of behind the scenes footage and interviews with cast & crew. And although at least a good part of this info is reiterated from some of the other extra's, they are presented here at their relevant moments during the main feature.Aside from the Fed-Net mode there is also the Blu-Wizard mode, where you can select which of the special features footage you want to start running automatically at their respective moments during playback of the main feature. I guess it's similar to the Fed Net mode, but it's presented in full screen, plus you cannot as far I can see watch the Fed Net mode material outside of the Fed Net mode, if that makes sense.Death from above is a pretty exhaustive 30-minute mini-doc on conception, production and all that jazz with interviews with cast and crew. The model-shop is visited, as well as the practical effects shop where the life-sized bugs and gore were created. There are even a few minutes with Denise Richards which is nice, since she's semi-privately stated she did not like the production or the final product.The FX-comparisons are a blast, where you are presented with full screen "raw-footage" of 9 different scenes with a small picture-in-picture bottom-right displaying the final scene as it is in the movie, all synced up.The StoryBoard-comparisons are done in the exact same vein and very nice too, although I would like to know if the SB-drawings we see in the main screen are by the designated SB-artist or buy Mr. Verhoeven himself, who reportedly story-boarded the movie as well, sometimes while on the set.The "scene-deconstruction with Paul Verhoeven" is also done in the same vein, although this time unshaded pre-viz animation replaces the storyboards.Where the extra features shine most however, are in the commentary-tracks. The actors and director track was recorded, if I deduced correctly, in the year 2007. It is clear that all participants are having a blast while sitting in the same room reminiscing anecdotes, jesting with each other and occasionally calling each other out on some event that happened during the shoot. Great stuff for lovers of the story and the characters, though I'd have loved Mr. Busey to have been present as well. The commentary track by Mssrs. Verhoeven & Neumeier caters more to those interested in the backgrounds of the production itself, but lacks not in the fun-department. There are no subtitles for either of the commentary tracksLastly: the often maligned BD-Live functions that were more prevalent in the early days of the medium than they are now. Short story: they don't function for my hardware at least. My guess is that this service has been withdrawn from the servers.Presentation:The menu is simply gorgeous, with a hilarious animation of a warrior bug loosing it's front-palps between sliding doors shutting. The chapter selection menu offers custom bookmarks for your convenience. There is an in-movie menu-bar that lets you jump directly to the special features menu, unlike in the "Ochre" blueray which has atrocious navigation. The chapters are lain out differently between the two versions, so I guess that these were chosen somewhat arbitrarily during the mastering process. I give the Ochre versions a point for putting the credit-roll in a chapter of its own.Technical:Whereas this disk only has Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (tm), I suppose that's the best version to have for those who have a compatible system. I do not have such a system, but never noticed anything wrong or missing with the sound playing through my TV's speakers. The Ochre disk has more sound-options, but lacks TrueHD.Picture-wise both versions feel identical. Subjectively, I had a slightly more "cinematic" feeling with the Three Heads disk, whereas the Ochre one felt a bit more "crispy", if that makes any sense. Again, I think this was subjective. They are fine transfers and the actors even comment on this during the commentary track.Packaging:The version I got from a vendor in Canada has a bilingual front- and back cover and is in a slimline case with a latch for secure closing. As said: the artwork is horrible and seems Photoshopped by a very incompetent 10-year old (at no point in the movie does Carmen Ibanez wear infantry armor). What it does have however is decent art on the reverse side of the cover insert, visible through the translucent blue plastic case when in place.The Ochre Edition only differs positively with:- Movie Showcase: direct links to 3 of the movies most iconic scenes,- end credits have a separate chapter,- Teaser Trailer included (Three Heads has no Starship Troopers trailers at all, why?)- extra audio language: Spanish- extra audio options: 5.1 dolby & 5.1 DTS for all three audio languages- extra subtitles Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Denmark, Finland, IcelandConclusion:If you want an as complete an experience as possible but only want to buy the movie once, get this one, the "three heads" bad photoshop cover, as contradictory as that sounds. If you are a true fan, get both the Three Heads and the Ochre, buy an empty dual disk BR case and insert the Ochre artwork over the three heads artwork. There: your personal "Ultimate Edition", at least until the the 25 or 30 year anniversary edition comes out :) (please Denise, give this movie some love when that time comes!)

Cracking film, needs to be seen.

Hard to imagine this would still be a highlight after all these years, but it still does!Try it yourself to see what I mean.

Great movie from 1997. It works so brilliantly because the actors play it straight. Great to see some familiar faces in the cast like Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown. The effects have stood the test of time very well. it really works as a black comedy, Paul Verhoeven has made some really good films i am not surprised this is his favourite movie. Lots of cartoonish violence and the obligatory nude shower sequence. Love the scene with the tattoo's and when they are dancing after the tanker bug. One of the great sci-fi films of the last 30 years and to think that some people still think this is to be taken seriously, I mean come on surely you can see it's a huge piss take. Wonderful entertainment, love it.

Pure 90's Sci fi

This 25th anniversary steelbook is an improvement over the old HDR10 release. It has Dolby Vision, higher bitrate but this film is still fun to watch.

This is such an interesting movie! TL;DR If you've never seen it just watch it & think about it later.This was based off a book by Robert Heinlein. Like most good science fiction the story acts as a vehicle for larger concepts. It it he does a fair job of showing what a decent limited Democracy of the future would look like. As a film its a cool action movie & stands up even though its several decades old at this point.What makes it so interesting though is that the director Paul Verhoeven (as he admitted) never even bothered to read the book & tries to paint it as a pastiche of a totalitarian society - completely missing the point of the whole thing. Yet, despite his ham-fisted, silly fascistic imagery throughout he can't help but make some of the core points of the book - entirely contrary to what he intended.Watch the film & enjoy it - its fun, but maybe look at some of the analyses online & even read the book. Its a classic.