The Mormon colony? Yup; I was living in Provo at the time when the movie came out and had a good laugh at the scene. FYI, I recommend reading the book and also "Stranger in a Strange Land." Heinlen is a great writer
Awesome stuff! would be nice if it happened. messed up, but that may be perhaps the only way we can get rid of their infestation. Not by the blood of our own hands, but by aliens. That way at least we'd carry no responsibility for their demise.
In the movie, the bugs had attacked a Mormon colony - not on Earth. I was living with my TBM wife when I watched the movie on my VCR. I called the her and the kids to see that scene, and my then-wife refused. She said it was some kind of "anti-mormon propaganda"... God, I'm glad I'm rid of her.
Thanks for clearing that up of the location. it's been a while. I thought the colony was on earth or something and they all had congregated there for safety, but failed.
Was this the 1997 movie with Casper Van Dien as Rico? Been awhile since I've seen it, but I don't remember any Mormon massacre scene ... Of course, in 1997, I wasn't a Mormon, so such a detail just might have escaped me.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2011 10:59PM by Sorcha.
RAH's "Starship Troopers" is probably one of the top ten military science fiction novels and has been required reading at the service academies and command/staff courses. The film has a lot of differences from the novel, but it did show the aftermath of an Arachnid (i.e. "Bug") attack on the planet Dantanna which was "colonised by Mormon extremists." The film shows the ruins of a bombed temple, etc.
I've read "Starship Troopers" many times and I did like the film even though it was vastly different in scope and tone from the novel. It was made as a dark parody and the director admitted that he didn't even read it all the way through. Don't bother with the sequels except for the third film--the only thing worth seeing are the powered armour suits which were the chief feature of the Mobile Infantry from the book but aren't seen at all in the first or second film.
In my real-life role as the Supreme Nerd Queen of The Universe I went back and checked the DVD (I have all three movies). What is shown is a short news clip of a Mormon outpost called "Port Joe Smith" on the planet Dantanna in the Arachnid Quarantine Zone with debris, dead bodies, and the ruins of a partially built building with a still standing large tower with a golden Moroni statue on top.
And I definitely remember the (in)famous shower scene. But it has been about thirteen years. Maybe I'm conflating a couple of different memories.
I did a Google search to see what I could find. There are sites claiming that some of Denise's "naughty" scenes were deleted from the movie ... so maybe I saw the "European" version!?!?!? But probably not. Sigh ... (I'll admit my memory is hardly perfect!)
Mormon names come up in his stories and his protagonists sometimes go out of their way to justify their smoking habit. One short story includes the transfiguration of a new church leader into the likeness of his successor just as it was claimed Brigham Young was transfigured to appear as Joseph Smith. Heinlein, to my knowledge, wasn't a Mormon, but things Mormon popped up in his work.
Addition: The story was "If This Goes On." I wrote a paper on Mormonism in Heinlein's work for a BYU class.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2011 01:05AM by robertb.
Wow I didn't know that. That is so interesting. I've just finished a book about MMM and recently watched September Dawn.
By the way, I'm pretty sure it was the second movie that had the mormon outpost destroyed. When the first movie came out I saw it at the theatre and then rented it several times. I liked it. I'm weird.
Later I read somewhere that "starship troopers" is anti mormon and I was like "Huh?" So I rushed out, watched it again and was dissapointed. The only thing I could find that was even remotely mormon related was the commercials in the film asking "do you want to know more?" That seems like a definate take off from the mormon advertisements at the time.
Then I found out about the sequel and saw what they were talking about. Not anti-mormon anti-extremist people maybe. I thought it was called "camp Joe Smith". Anyway, it was a colony that disregarded conventional advice and set up on a planet near the bugs--it got wiped out in a fairly graphic manner.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2011 12:29PM by onendagus.
onendagus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Wow I didn't know that. That is so interesting. > I've just finished a book about MMM and recently > watched September Dawn. > > By the way, I'm pretty sure it was the second > movie that had the mormon outpost destroyed. When > the first movie came out I saw it at the theatre > and then rented it several times. I liked it. > I'm weird. > > Later I read somewhere that "starship troopers" is > anti mormon and I was like "Huh?" So I rushed out, > watched it again and was dissapointed. The only > thing I could find that was even remotely mormon > related was the commercials in the film asking "do > you want to know more?" That seems like a definate > take off from the mormon advertisements at the > time. > > Then I found out about the sequel and saw what > they were talking about. Not anti-mormon > anti-extremist people maybe. I thought it was > called "camp Joe Smith". Anyway, it was a colony > that disregarded conventional advice and set up on > a planet near the bugs--it got wiped out in a > fairly graphic manner.
Yup. Bugs HATE it when a couple of young guys in white shirts ring the door bell.