Directed by: Shinji Aramaki
Starring: Leraldo Anzaldua, Luci Christian, Melissa Davis, Justin Doran, David Matranga
MPAA Rating: R
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Release Date: August 28, 2012
Running Time: 89 minutes
Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3.5 out of 5 stars
“Starship Troopers: Invasion” is finally a true sequel to “Starship Troopers”. It took them four films to get it right. This is also the first of hopefully many CG-animated within this franchise. The series is way too ambitious to be done live-action without a very large budget and works very well computer-generated. They were also smart to include plenty of boobs, gore and plenty of wits, which is what made this series great. The story takes a little while to get started and it has it problems but this is what this series needed, some mindless kick-ass action. “Invasion” also brings back series favorite characters including Carl Jenkins, Carmen Ibanez and of course Johnny Rico, though they are not reprised by their original cast. Casper Van Dien does serve as an executive producer to the film but that is all. Fans of the series should definitely check out this film and will not be disappointed.
From Sony’s official synopsis: “A distant Federation outpost Fort Casey comes under attack by bugs. The team on the fast attack ship Alesia is assigned to help the Starship John A. Warden stationed in Fort Casey evacuate along with the survivors and bring military intelligence safely back to Earth. Carl Jenkins, now ministry of Paranormal Warfare, takes the starship on a clandestine mission before its rendezvous with the Alesia and goes missing in the nebula. Now, the battle-hardened troopers are charged with a rescue mission that may lead to a much more sinister consequence than they ever could have imagined.”
Sony’s Blu-ray release looks fantastic with the CG-animation in its 1080p transfer within its 1.78:1 aspect ratio. I meanm the film was made with computer, so I always feel that CGI films should look the best on Blu-ray. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is extremely explosive and sounds fantastic through the film’s many action sequences. The special features are also very impressive as well. There is an audio commentary track from director Shinji Aramaki. But the real star of the disc is a massive in-depth “The Making of Starship Troopers: Invasion” series of featurettes. The feature is broken up into numerous aspects of the film’s production including Character Design, Motion Capture, Powersuits, Bugs, Ships, Animation, Backgrounds, Compositing, Music and lastly a Gag reel. I really though these were very informative especially the featurette on the motion capture. Lastly there is a Blu-ray exclusive extra for the conceptual art gallery.
I really liked how they just ignored all of the other sequels, and made this one a direct descendant of the first film. I thought that the action was superb and fully utilized the CG medium to have out of this world battles. I agree that the only way to watch this movie is in 1080p off of the Blu-Ray because CG movies look so good in HD, better than real life! I rented it because I had legitimate fears that it would follow in the line of Starship Troopers sequels and be beyond bad, but the action was so good I think I will have to buy it.