There are two ways of doing satirical comedy in my opinion. One option is to take yourself completely seriously, allowing the audience to laugh at the ridiculous situations in which you are not breaking face. Best in Show and other dry comedies come to mind in this camp. The other option is the exact opposite, where you throw all notions of seriousness out the window. Classics such as Playtime fit this category quite well. While these two camps are very different in their execution, the end goal is the same: to make fun of something and to paint it as ridiculous. 

Starship Troopers is perhaps one of the more interesting satricial "comedies" that has ever been made, and perhaps one of the most talked about comedies ever. My parents were probably talking about how stupid this film was before I was even born. But I will talk about it anyway, because who can say they don't enjoy beating a dead horse every once in a while. The reason for this amount of discussion over the film is, of course, because it fails as a comedy.

Of the two possible directions the film could have taken, it chooses neither. The film seems to take itself extremely seriously at many points, with scene after scene showcasing the emotional turmoil of the main characters and making the audience relate with them on some level. The war is brutal and real, the danger of the bugs is real, and the characters are constructed in a very real way so as to elicit an emotional response. However underlying this aura of seriousness is the actual content of the original work, the absolute ridiculousness of the nationalist humans. Every scene in which a character gives up freedom, life, or mind to the Federation should be a time to laugh, or at least laugh at the absurdity of it all. But none of these scenes are particularly funny or even satirical, thanks to absolutely nothing in the script or scene ever betraying their mask of seriousness.

As a result this films falls a bit flat. Sure it's possible for an antifascist to glean some humor out of it, as there are certainly many scenes which provide ridiculous situations in which to look at and laugh. But it is much easier to just sit back and cheer on the human soldiers. 

Anyway I can rest easy knowing I contributed my own take to an already thoroughly explored film. The film itself is fine, with some mediocre characters and visuals complementing a story that I can only imagine was much better in book form. Certainly a film which I will keep in my mind for a long time, if not for the wrong reasons.