Originally Posted by
Aimless
I really love this aspect of the movie—the very different, very strong reactions. Those who watched it without having read the book may have gone in expecting a straightforward action movie in a scifi setting, and were instead treated to a borderline abusive experience incompetently evoking Nazi imagery and ideas (to the point where one prominent reviewer called Verhoeven and Neumeier Nazis) that left them feeling cheated. Those who had read and thoroughly enjoyed the book in their early teens were offended on another level, because of the movie's clear and at times heavy-handed criticism of a book they loved without ever considering this unflattering angle. I think the criticism really hit a little too close to home for many who did not want to entertain the notion that they themselves may in fact have an appetite for proto-fascism—in their books, movies and political discourse. I like that. I love books and movies about punishing the enemy, but I appreciate the occasional reminder of precisely where that appetite originates, and what it means. While these ideas are especially topical in the age of cultural syphilis we're currently living through, they were also very relevant when the movie was first released—but we were even less ready to face our shortcomings back then. Which may perhaps be a reason why we are where we are now.