IT’S ABOUT a young Filipino soldier learning the doctrine of a militarian Earth society as he rises through the ranks, fighting a future war against a race of giant insects.
POSITIVES: All the amazing, frightening machinations of the Earth government you know and fear from the film are fully represented and explored in Robert A. Heinlein's novel, which predates the movie by a staggering 38 years. The fireworks of the bug battles are calmer and more sterile as Johnny Rico and company jump across the alien worlds in small squads wearing mechanised suits - pretty cool! The detail in the dialogue-driven narrative is spookily believable.
NEGATIVES: Vast chunks of the novel are, literally, lectures about the morals and philosophies of the in-universe society. The fact that this novel is required reading for entrants to three of the five branches of US military service speaks of its value as a textbook rather than simply a story - and the storytelling does sometimes grind to a halt. As anyone who has seen the film will know, Johnny Rico is about as deep and extraordinary a character as Postman Pat’s cat.
POSITIVES: All the amazing, frightening machinations of the Earth government you know and fear from the film are fully represented and explored in Robert A. Heinlein's novel, which predates the movie by a staggering 38 years. The fireworks of the bug battles are calmer and more sterile as Johnny Rico and company jump across the alien worlds in small squads wearing mechanised suits - pretty cool! The detail in the dialogue-driven narrative is spookily believable.
NEGATIVES: Vast chunks of the novel are, literally, lectures about the morals and philosophies of the in-universe society. The fact that this novel is required reading for entrants to three of the five branches of US military service speaks of its value as a textbook rather than simply a story - and the storytelling does sometimes grind to a halt. As anyone who has seen the film will know, Johnny Rico is about as deep and extraordinary a character as Postman Pat’s cat.
Link to the detailed, informative and interesting Wikipedia page about Heinlein's controversial original text.
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