Phil Tippett Movies

Humanity's war against the bugs continues in this sequel to Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi soap opera epic, Starship Troopers. This time, when a squad of troopers is stranded on a bug-infested planet, their only hope for survival lies in an abandoned outpost, where things take a turn for the worse. A lone survivor by the name of Captain Dax (Richard Burgi) awaits them there, locked away for killing his crazed commanding officer. When a group of strangers arrives at the base, the squad is faced with a new threat from their alien enemy that will pit every surviving human against each other. With an army of bugs surrounding the compound and mysterious internal forces plotting against the group, it's up to Dax and Pvt. Lei Sahara (Colleen Porch) to try and hold out before the rescue team arrives. Effects maestro Phil Tippett (Star Wars, Jurassic Park) makes his directing debut in this made-for-cable movie that features a script by the series' original scribe, Edward Neumeier. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

In the 1860's, industrialist Hugh Crain financed the construction of Hill House, a beautiful but forbidding mansion where Crain hoped to house a wife and children. However, Crain died an unexplained death at Hill House, and ever since tales have circulated that the mansion is haunted by evil spirits. 130 years later, Dr. David Marrow (Liam Neeson), long fascinated by the Hill House legend, brings three people there for what he tells them will be a study in sleep disorders. Theo (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is outwardly brave, but it soon becomes evident that Hill House's sinister reputation has her on edge. Luke (Owen Wilson) quickly finds himself wondering: if this is really about studying sleep, why bring everyone to a haunted house? And Nell (Lili Taylor) finds herself inexplicably drawn to the mansion, with a fascination that soon bears terrifying fruit as the true story of Hill House is revealed. The Haunting was directed by Jan de Bont; the screenplay was written by David Self and based on Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting Of Hill House, which was also the basis for Robert Wise's 1963 film The Haunting, widely regarded as one of the screen's finest ghost stories. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Director Paul Verhoeven (Showgirls, Total Recall) reunited many from his 1987 Robocop team for this $100-million science fiction adventure, adapted from Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 novel, originally serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (October-November, 1959). After graduation, Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien) volunteers for the Mobile Infantry to do his Federal service -- but also to win over his girlfriend, Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards), who has signed with the Fleet Academy to become a starship pilot. Johnny joins other boot-camp recruits -- Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer), who has had a crush on Johnny since school, and Ace Levy (Jake Busey). Ace and Johnny become pals, and Johnny's abilities earn him the squad leader position. A training accident occurs on Johnny's watch, and he is about to resign when Earth is attacked by alien insects intent on eradicating all human life. Johnny's home, Buenos Aires, is no longer on the map. Horrified, he chooses to stay on and fight to destroy the insect threat. The Mobile Infantry travels to the planet Klendathu to battle the warrior bugs, a ruthless enemy with only one goal -- survival of their species no matter what. In the initial encounter, some 100,000 lives are lost. At a distant fort, Johnny's unit discovers that the bugs drain brains to acquire knowledge. Soon they are overwhelmed by an advancing arthropod army of immense proportions, attacking both in space and on the planet surface. The notion of human extinction becomes a possibility. For this $100-million production, some 300 artists and technicians combined models and miniatures with CGI effects to fashion a variety of creatures -- from breeder bugs to armored tanker bugs. The film employed hundreds of extras and has over 500 visual effects shots. Filming began 4/29/96 in California (LA and Long Beach, where Cal State's pyramid gym was used for the Jumpball game), New York, South Dakota, Wyoming (Casper, Hell's Half Acre), and Utah (an abandoned Wendover airstrip where the Enola Gay WWII bomber crew trained). At an abandoned airfield in Fountain Valley, California, an elaborate set was constructed to resemble a military boot camp of the future -- complete with an array of pup tents, gull-winged spaceships, hurdle obstacle course, and training facility buildings. Cinematography by Jost Vacano (Showgirls). Licensed products include Lewis Galoob Inc. toys. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

The serialized story structure and barbed social commentary from comic book creator and co-writer Frank Miller earned critical respect in this satirical science fiction sequel directed by Irvin Kershner. Peter Weller returns as RoboCop, a futuristic cyborg fashioned from cutting-edge technology and the biological remains of slain Detroit police officer, Alex Murphy. Still patrolling the city streets, RoboCop is scheduled by his creator, Omni Consumer Products, to be replaced by a new "superior" model, RoboCop 2, that according to designer Juliette Faxx (Belinda Bauer), will contain the human remains not of a cop but a criminal. In the meantime, an instantly addictive drug called Nuke is sweeping through Detroit thanks to a kingpin named Cain (Tom Noonan). Taking Cain to task, RoboCop is captured and dismantled. When he's put back together, the cyborg is reprogrammed with a series of socially conscious commands (in a sly mocking of the then relatively new concept of "political correctness") that render him impotent as a law enforcer. Taking charge by rewiring himself with an electrical overload, RoboCop arrests Cain, who is injured in the process. Faxx secretly takes Cain's brain and inserts it into RoboCop 2, turning the robot immediately into a law-breaking murder machine and leading to a violent showdown between two generations of robotic crime-fighters. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Paul Verhoeven's American breakthrough film, Robocop, is an exceedingly violent blend of black comedy, science fiction, and crime thriller. Set in Detroit sometime in the near future, the film is about a policeman (Peter Weller) killed in the line of duty whom the department decides to resurrect as a half-human, half-robot supercop. The RoboCop is indestructible, and within a matter of weeks he has removed crime from the streets of Detroit. However, his human side is tortured by his past, and he wants revenge on the thugs who killed him. The film was later followed by two feature-length sequels and a live-action television series, neither of which were as successful as the original film. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

In the final episode of the Star Wars saga, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) emerges intact from the carbonite casing in which he'd been sealed in The Empire Strikes Back. The bad news is that Solo, together with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), is prisoner to the grotesque Jabba the Hutt. But with the help of the charismatic Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), our heroes and our heroine manage to escape. The next task is to rid the galaxy of Darth Vader (body by David Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones) and the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid), now in command of a new, under-construction Death Star. On the forest moon Endor, the good guys enlist the help of a feisty bunch of bear-like creatures called the Ewoks in their battle against the Empire. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide