Starship Troopers (Superbit Edition)
Picture: A Sound: A Extras: D Film: A-
In May of 2002 Columbia
TriStar decided to release for the second time to DVD Paul Verhoeven’s terrific
film Starship Troopers. This
time the film would be a Deluxe Edition including many supplements that were
not in the previous edition. The review
for that DVD is also on this site and I had mentioned within that review that
it was unwise from Columbia TriStar to exclude the option of a DTS soundtrack
and that this film should have been one of their Superbit titles. Well, someone over at that studio must have
heard my pleas because sure enough just a little over a year later we receive a
much deserved and certainly much anticipated Superbit Edition of Starship
Troopers.
If you cannot get
something right the first or second time, I suppose the third time is a
charm. Well, it is sad in many ways
that it should take three tries to get a film onto DVD the correct way, since
the format is still quite young. We
will continue to see titles being released and re-released as time progresses
though because of certain upgrades, restorations, re-masterings, high
definition transfers, etc. Starship
Troopers happens to be a film that I have loved ever since my first viewing
since it opened back in 1997. My love
for this film has grown with repeated viewings, but I must say I was never able
to come close to my theatrical experience until this Superbit Edition, which
creates the soundtrack and picture in a way that comes close to the actual on
film in the theater. It is certainly
much improved over the past two DVD editions.
One of the biggest
problems with the two previous existing DVD’s for Starship Troopers was
the weak picture that had a softness problem.
Colors were never as sharp or defined as they should or could have
been. Perhaps the most evident problem
though occurred during the darker night scenes, or space scenes when the video
black became a big problem and detail was lost dramatically. Thanks to a high bit-rate transfer this new
Superbit Edition utilizes the entire disc for video and audio allowing the
picture to have a much sharper and solid look.
You can notice that the grays and silvers (such as uniforms or spaceships)
now have a more metallic and shiny look, where before it appeared more
flat. This transfer also gives the film
a more 3-Dimensional look, which is further enhanced by the crisper edges on
objects as well as standout colors and patterns. Blues, reds, greens, and yellows have a much stronger texture to
them that bring them to life in front of a gray-scaled backdrop. The use of a fuller bit-rate has also
improved the digital effects and makes them look more naturalistic, which in
comparison to the Star Wars Episode 1 DVD, makes the film all the
better.
The biggest improvement
with this new edition though is the inclusion of the much-preferred DTS 5.1
audio mix, which simply puts the Dolby 5.1 mix to shame. Listening to both audio mixes and doing an
A/B comparison even when both soundtracks are putting out equal volume the DTS
track delivers more fidelity, more spatialness, more coherence, more
aggression, more dynamics, and a larger range of sound. Starship Troopers was originally
released to theaters in Dolby Digital, DTS, as well as Sony’s SDDS 7.1 format,
which offers two more channels of sound behind the screen. Since this is the case one might wonder why
a center rear channel could not be created for the DTS mix and make it a DTS-ES
mix, which would allow for an even fuller surround experience. It its present 5.1 mix there is still a
large amount of surround activity as bugs can be heard moving about the rear
soundstage. Not only that, but certain
battles utilize the rears for directional effects such as bullets or
explosions.
Starship Troopers certainly has one of the best sound designs that
have even been created for any film.
All of the sound is an accurate recreation to what we see on
screen. The Dolby mix never delivered
the articulate design that this film had and always shortchanged the home
viewer with such a weak audio signal that never fully engaged the viewer into
the film. Not only are the sound
effects important to this film, but the music is also crucial element created by
Basil Poledouris this is one of his best compositions ever. The only downside to this DTS mix though is
the lack of a thicker bass management.
The bass is never as full as it should be especially in scenes that involve
the bugs.
Probably the biggest
question on the minds of fans is whether or not upgrading to this edition is
worth the extra investment. It
certainly seems unfair that we must own a film multiple times just to get all
the perks. Obviously the upgrade is
only worth it if you have the proper equipment to take full advantage of the
DTS soundtrack as well as a large enough TV to notice the better picture
quality. The Deluxe Edition released in
2002 definitely offered all the supplements anyone could ever expect for this
film, but this Superbit Edition delivers the film like never before, which is
also vital. If only the two were
together in one package it would make the choice easier, but that is not the
case. For someone like myself I
consider Starship Troopers to be one of the few films I would invest as
much money into in order to get all that I can out of the film, so upgrading to
me was a pleasure, but most will think it’s a pain in the butt or at least in
the wallet.
- Nate Goss
