Johnny Rico is back and this time he’s leading a team on a distant planet in Bug War 2. When a Starfleet commander goes missing and Rico’s team is sabotaged, he leads a classified mission to rescue his commander and restore his name.

I really got a kick out of the first STARSHIP TROOPERS. It was campy, but in a fun, classy kind of way. The subsequent sequels have taken that campiness and made a joke out of it. There’s a fine line between cheesiness and fun and I’m pretty sure the third troopers movie crosses that line.

For starters, it is admittedly nice to see Rico back in action. I always think it’s nice when stars return to a series, especially after skipping out on a sequel or two. In this case, he carries the film and it gets nearly unbearable when he’s not on camera. No one else is cut out to be in front of a camera. This is a bad thing since Rico is only in about 60% of the film. But as much as I like Van Dien, I couldn’t stand his dialogue. Again, I don’t expect Shakespeare, but they could have done better.

I also got a little sick of the religious and political statements. I don’t mind if a film has a religious or political message, just don’t jam it down my throat. These guys slapped me across the face repeatedly with their “religion is flawed” theme. I get it; you don’t dig on religion and their all basically the same. Enough already!

Despite the problems, you have to take this film for what it is; a campy continuation to the fun, original STARSHIP TROOPERS. This one is also moderately enjoyable despite coming from a misguided screenwriter and lacking a budget for adequate special effects. But when it comes down to it, bugs die, people die and a good time is had.

Video: Widescreen (1.85:1): Colors were a little saturated, but overall the video quality was average.

Audio: English 5.1 and French Dolby with English, Spanish and French subtitles: The audio was fine.

Commentary with Ed Neumeier, Robert Skotak, David Lancaster: This one focuses on the overall making of the film, taking it from concept to actual film. They all have things to say and it keeps going pretty well. They were a little overly complimentary, but it was still pretty interesting despite some down time.

Commentary with Ed Neumeir, Casper Van Dien, Jolene Blalock: This track, however, was much more interesting. Neither Casper or Jolene contribute much on their own, but thankfully Ed asks them questions and keeps them involved. If you’re going to watch one track, I recommend this one because it offers more information and is more enjoyable.

Evolution: The Bugs of Starship Troopers 3 (11:31): It’s all about the bugs. This featurette focuses on all the different bugs and how the made and designed them. It’s cool. I liked that the actually made some of these bugs, which is nice. It’s more of an overview of what they did and they stay away from the technical aspect.

Enlist! Marauder’s Mobile Infantry (13:55): Most of the cast and crew talk about their experiences on the set and the intensity of the film. It’s cheesy, but it’s kind of funny and they continue with the campy feel of the film.

There are also some Previews

I think there’s enough here to pacify STARSHIP TROOPERS fans. Hopefully, you’ve accepted there will never be a sequel in theaters, so you have to take what you can get if you want the story to continue.