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So I saw this on Hulu and forced myself to watch it. Oh boy, was it bad. To be fair I think my brain was damaged by 2 and 3 and don't remember the 1st CGI movie that this one is a sequel to because of it that well. Also the only SST production I've found I actually liked was the CGI kids TV series so far, for what it is worth. That and Clancy, because I always like seeing Mr. Brown no matter what. Yes I do know the first one is satire, it still doesn't do anything for me.

So with that out of the way, the movie follows Col. Rico and an inept squad of martians recruited for the MI as a surprise infestation of bugs is uncovered on Mars. The CGI is actually pretty good and the armor they use has inched closer to the Marauders of the book. The storyline and the characters are pretty bad though. It was clear that very little research was done about militaries in general. Without dropping any real spoilers, here are two that atand out to me:

You have a Sky Marshal who is obsessed with her public approval rating.

The squad pauses for a moment to pay respects for a fallen squad member. What is said "present arms". What they actually do is salute. I'm pretty sure that's not what present arms is supposed to have you do.

As a bonus, I'm pretty sure that the psi cops from this movie are pretty the equivalent to what Mr. Bester from B5 has for those nightmares where you show up at work/school in your underwear.

You should watch "Frozen" then.

It might teach you to just "let it goooooo" ...

Rather than have it fester in a little lump inside you - otherwise you will end up like a certain type of strek or star wars fans ...

Me, I liked the armour, the props and set design (All CG but still) and the bugs. Let's be honest here ... NOONE watches a SST movie for the story or the acting.


I didn't give two craps about military protocols and their adherence to them, because they AREN'T a real world miltary and our world leaders aren't focussed on how good their public profile is ... (well, outside of a certain tangerine infant).

Yes, great advice, I know I base all my life philosophies on children's movies made by toy-selling megacorporations

They're right, it's transcendently awful. But then, all of the "sequel" material to the SST movie has been as bad, only the original film and, to a degree, the CGI cartoon were decent. I'm still trying to find some of the brain cells that ran away from home after I watched the third "movie", and that was probably the least craptacular.

Are we supposed to be like a certain other type of fandom where everything must be worshipped no matter how bad it was, chromedog?

Honestly, the examples I gave were tiny things that made me laugh but wouldn't give away things that happen in the movie. There were much bigger plot holes and abandoned threads than the dialogue not matching the action on screen or a military commander with the motivation of an elected official. It's not like I even went into things like how dated the bugs seem at this point. They kind of remind me of bobble heads and look silly considering the advancement in animation since they were created, but I don't see that as a fault of the series, just advances in technology . Feel free to watch it and find out for yourself and decide on your own.

As far as myself goes, if I can accept and forgive that George Lucas prequels for SW was heavily influenced by the fact that he had a six and eleven year old when Phantom Menace came out, I think I shouldn't have any problem in letting this one go lol.

I bought it a while ago and haven't been able to bring myself to watch it. I hear it's really bad.

I actually really enjoyed Invasion, felt it presented an interesting way to bring the conflict home and took the time to show the world of the movies was evolving into the world of the books.

Nothing can be as bad as SST Marauder was

Skaorn wrote:
Are we supposed to be like a certain other type of fandom where everything must be worshipped no matter how bad it was, chromedog?

Nah, I just like what I like and forget about the stuff that was crap. Life is easier that way. Water off a hippo's back.
You can focus on what you hate about them all you like - says more about you than it does about me. :p

Works for Star trek wars (there's almost enough material for a decent movie in the three SW prequels ... almost, once you cut the crap out of it).
There's maybe 4-5 good movies in the 13 Star trek ones if you cut out all the unnecessary feel good utopia crap ... Humanity will never put their petty differences aside and gather around the campfire to sing kumbaya as one.

As for a Game of Lords of the throne rings ... I'm not waiting for them to suck less. Life is too short. I have one of GRRM's books from the time before he was writing bloated overwrought fantasy tropes (when he was an SF writer), that does me.

The SST movies are fun (ish ... #2 sucked ubiquitous, mendacious and polyglottal donkeyballs). The last 10 minutes of marauder were kinda cool (and even good compared to the entirety of the second movie). I liked them. Some people like AGoT and LotR (but like they say, there's no accounting for taste.)

Really, I like watching bad movies and laughing about them with others. Guess that must say I'm a fan of MST3K. Guess that is something I will have to bare.

Stay edgy my friend.

Present Arms is just effectively saluting with your weapon when you have a weapon. So, sounds like it's within the realm of reason.

 Bromsy wrote:
Present Arms is just effectively saluting with your weapon when you have a weapon. So, sounds like it's within the realm of reason.

Present Arms is the command for ordering a formation to render a salute whether equipped with a weapon or not. Order Arms is the command to end the salute and return to Attention.

 Just Tony wrote:

 Bromsy wrote:
Present Arms is just effectively saluting with your weapon when you have a weapon. So, sounds like it's within the realm of reason.

Present Arms is the command for ordering a formation to render a salute whether equipped with a weapon or not. Order Arms is the command to end the salute and return to Attention.

Fair enough, but usually you only perform a classical salute if you're unarmed. If armed with a rifle or sword your holding the weapon at length, parallel to your body. As I recall, all the troopers were armed with rifles at the time yet they performed a classical salute. It could have easily been handled with a simple Salute order with out looking silly that none of the armed troopers actually presented the arms they had in hand. There was also no Order Arms command to end it.

Then they dropped the ball. Watch the first Starship Troopers, Rico gives both orders at Dizzy's funeral.