Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Pros and Cons of Being Killed by Various Sci-Fi Aliens

starship_troopers


John Scalzi has a post mulling how humans are killed by different alien species in science fiction movies and how, besides the obvious reason, the methods of death could suck. But he also looks at the bright side. A sample:

8. The Bugs (Starship Troopers, 1997)
Approved methods of killing: Biting, slicing, dicing; rather improbably launching flaming projectiles at spaceships in orbit out of the tail end of their digestive systems.
Pros: These babies can kill 100,000 humans an hour, so you'll likely die with friends.
Cons: As you die you'll wonder if this isn't some sort of karmic retribution for that time as a kid with an anthill and a magnifying lens (answer: Oh, you betcha).


I really liked Starship Troopers -- both the book and the movie. But especially the movie. Oh, sure, it wasn't for Heinlein purists, but it was an exciting story, well told. Have you seen it?

Link

4 comments:

bob said...

I saw it and very much enjoyed it even the soundtrack stood out with it's haunting melody. Don't bother with the sequels though not nearly as well done.

John said...

I'd forgotten about the sequels.

I'd heard the movie dismissed as mere "eye candy", but found that it had a strong enough plot to justify the special effects.

Rich said...

Yeah, seen Troopers and a sequel (one of?)

I looked at the link: there are SO MANY different sci-fi monsters. How could he have just listed ten? Wow. No goa'uld. No Borg. No Critters. What is this?

John said...

I think that he decided to stick with movies. For sure he knows about the Goa'uld, as he's a consultant for Stargate: Universe.