The Starship Troopers’ director, Paul Verhoeven, has always been controversial and in controversies still, it is hard to believe how he manages all the debates and everything. Robert A. Heinlein’s classic sci-fi novel Starship Troopers could have been a reading delight for him, but it is not what it seems like. The story behind him not reading the book is yet to come.
The Starship Troopers is a controversial creation of a controversial director. The movie is adapted from 1997’s novel, and it gained the limelight because it was completely different from the original source. Both critics and audience felt that it didn’t match the standards of the novel; rather, it was naïve and simple as compared to Heinlein’s vision. It would have been easy for the audience to understand what Verhoeven had in mind while creating the movie if they knew the truth. The truth is that Verhoeven found the novel so boring to read that he left it unfinished.
Why he couldn’t move ahead of the initial chapters?
The movie was written by Heinlein’s huge admirer and fan, Ed Neumeier as a sign of love for his favorite novel. In an interview, Verhoeven revealed that he never wanted to make this movie, and when Neumeier proposed his script to him, he just threw it away, but Neumeier’s wife picked up the papers and requested him to direct the film and see if he could do something interesting with it.
In the same interview, the director labeled the novel as “boring and depressing” and it was really hard for him to continue reading it after a few chapters, and he simply asked Ed Neumeier to describe the story to him. He adds that it is more of a right-wing book.
Why he dislikes it so much?
The most basic reason for him to dislike the book is that he has grown up in a Nazi occupation in the Netherlands, and he just can’t understand the type of patriotism displayed in the book. He very soon decided that he would show his thoughts in the movie and depict how bad the book is.
This is the reason why the movie contains so much aggression and war. For this reason, the fans of the book are thankful that Verhoeven never completed the book.
However, there are rumors that Verhoeven might recreate the movie. Stay tuned with us for more updates.
