Next is a half-hour featurette, presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, on the making of the movie. Even here, Tippett gets in a few words about how little time he had (26 days of shooting to be exact). The rest of the feature is general stuff with the actors praising each other and the staff. There are some small segments on the special effects as well.
"Green screen to silver screen" is an oddly titled feature (the film was never in theaters for good reason) that looks at three of the special effect sequences from concept to completion. Eric Levin, the visual effects supervisor, narrates over the footage. Finally you can look at some still photos, view various trailers, and check out the PC video game with a DVD-ROM weblink. (***)
This movie never should have been made. The meager budget (rumored to be around $6 million) is not enough for a movie like this. Even worse, you give a low budget movie like this to an excellent Academy Award winning special effects designer to direct (his first time ever behind the camera) and ruin his reputation in the process. If you simply have to see this one, check it out on cable where it premiered.
Originally posted at Breaking Windows.
Article comments
1 - RJ Elliott
This is unfortunate. I didn't even know this sequel had been made!
To ruin the Starship Troopers franchise in this manner really pisses me off...
2 - joey macias
Yeah, I totally agree. The first movie was great, even if it didn't stick to the book. But this... I watched the trailer, it looks like something that the Sci-fi channel made...
: ( bad times
3 - Chris Kent
Nice work Matt. I appreciate how your reviews cover all aspects of a DVD release. Myself, I tend to just review the film verbatim, as I think the extras are a bunch of marlarkey. I consider myself a purist, a sort of arrogant, close-minded stance granted. I see a DVD should be reviewed as a whole, realizing this when I watched The Wild Bunch and the accompanying documentary Peckinpah: A Portrait in Montage. The documentary, showing Peckinpah behind the scenes while filming the classic western was brilliant, and absolutely added to the film. I suppose when the extras add to the film experience, they should be noted.
I enjoyed the original Starship Troopers, and was glad to see director Paul Verhoeven flex his muscles in other areas besides obsessive titillation. He's a great talent who chooses poor projects. He had much to do with why the first film was such a great feast. Too bad he could not work on the sequel.....
4 - Matt Paprocki
Extras are important. There are plenty of people who buy dics like this only for the extras (like me!). I've always felt that's why the format took off like it did. Check out Citizen Kane or Cleopatra. They both have outstanding documentaries that are around 2 hours. You'd be amazed about Citizen Kane and the trouble they had. Of course, you can check RKO 128 (I think that's what it was called) which is a movie on the making of the movie.
Thanks for the kind words Chris.
5 - Chris Kent
That would be RKO 281 - The Battle Over Citizen Kane. I reviewed it about a year ago on Amazon. Not particularly good, though the PBS documentary it was based on was excellent. That documentary may be what is included on Citizen Kane DVD. It revealed previously unreleased facts about Hearst's attempts to destroy Citizen Kane. Quite good, though I am weary of hearing and seeing and reading about Citizen Kane. Let's move on people. Move on!!!!!!!
Funniest fact - the real meaning of the word "Rosebud." Evidently Hearst's pet name for his lover's vagina......
6 - Joey
I bought it.....not as bad as some say.....but not as good as I hoped. Dax is cool, but not enough story.
7 - TDavid
Wow, didn't know that this was out. I'm going to pick it up and take my chances. Thanks for the head's up :)
8 - Thomas Mak
Good job Matt. I really like how your review covered all aspects of a DVD release.
I definitely going to pick this one up! THanks