I think I also heard he wants to do a comedy.

As an actor, I kind of prefer the bad guy, too. You're the one who makes everything happen. You're the one with the most powerful motives/desires. You're the reason everything happens. It's fun.

And Denzel does it well.

Actually, when I think of Denzel, more than anything I think of that smile. And he gets such depth and range in to/out of that smile -- in Mighty Quinn, it's a smile that tells you what a upstanding, strong man he is, morally bound to do the right thing, even when it involves his friend.

In Training Day, that same smile let's you know you're in the presence of a powerful predator, and you're now basically fucked.

I cannot accept Starship Troopers as satire because I don't think it can actually be satire if you're in favor of the fetishized fascism presented in the movie, as the writer and director seem to be.

In rebuttal, I offer: Doogie Howser. Dressed like a Nazi.

But actually, I sort of agree with your point.

I thought ST was just very funny. I loved the 90210-ish quality of the characters.

Was that because he was doing that weirdo dieting to look like a heroin addict?

Yep.

In rebuttal, I offer: Doogie Howser. Dressed like a Nazi.

That's one of the things that lets me watch the movie and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh.

I would like to think that the actors in the movie thought they were making a satire of nazism/fascism (to the extent that some of them thought -- Caspar Van Diem doesn't strike me as the cereberal type), but in order to be satire, it needs to be intended on the part of the writer and director, which is where I don't believe it was intended as satire.

I don't know too much about the screenwriter, but I understand the director, Paul Verhoven, is very similar to John Milius in personality - uber-macho.

FWIW, Paul Verhoven has stated that ST is satire.

FWIW, Paul Verhoven has stated that ST is satire.

I know. I'm not sure I believe him, but that's all about me.

but in order to be satire, it needs to be intended on the part of the writer and director, which is where I don't believe it was intended as satire.

Well, I dunno. I think there's hints of it in the completely absurd "Newsreel" footage used throughout the movie. But it's NOWHERE in the actual narrative or in the characterizations themselves. I don't demand that one of the characters challenge the prevailing worldview, but if neither the characters or the narrative shows this is satire, how can it be satire?

It's just a bad, bad, bad, bad movie. Gah.

Again with the bad. And the brain-sucking. Eeeewwwww.

Well, Verhoeven did make Robo-cop, which actually seemed like a satire on fascist impulses. But, yeah, I've heard both sides on Starship Troopers, and I think that Verhoeven may have thought he was making a satire, but his lack of respect for his audience (and dearth of humor) killed any satirical content. The movie plays like a straightforward, almost nihilistic, embrace of military culture. Y'know, I can appreciate some nihilism in cinema and as a cultural statement, but it has to have some smarts behind it. Verhoeven may have thought he was playing Celine, but it came across as Mein Kampf.

IOW, authorial intent is irrelevant. The movie doesn't work as satire, or as straight adventure. So I don't much care what the director says.