M14 Forum

DaveH

Here's a tidbit- there's a bad sci-fi movie on right now called "Starship Troopers". I caught a close-up of the cases ejecting out of what appears to be some kind of futuristic bull-pup type rifle. Inside all the plastic it looks like an M14 receiver!!!

harleyany1

Mini 14.

DaveH

Oh well.

Butzbach

bad = bad a$$ or bad = poor in quality and socially unacceptable?

PursuitFRC

Yes, it is bad. What makes it even worse is how far it is from the outstanding novel of the same name. The classroom lecture near the beginning of the movie barely scratches the surface of the ideas Heinlein was conveying in the book.

CAVman

One of my Favorite Books of Heinlein from my High School Days...along with...'Stranger in a Strange Land' !

Also, My Son was an Extra in 'Starship Troopers', most of the outdoor scenes of which were filmed here in Central Wyoming at 'Hell's Half Acre' !
(most of his work consisted of being told to: Run from Here to There Pretending that the Creatures are Chasing You! ...When I watched it with Him, he said---See! Back in that large group of Troopers, That's me in the back!)



CAVman in WYoming

tjh121

What is unknown to some is that... originally R.A.H. was an ultra Liberal- as his "education" progressed he became an ultra Conservative (with a bit of Libertarianism mixed in).

PursuitFRC

The vast majority of his novels were written after this "transformation".

I think "Beyond This Horizon" is a good example of this, with a main character who carries a 1911 and participates in duels.

NVFirefighter

I kind of liked Starship Troopers.....

If you want to see bad,look up the sequels.....horrible!

Gus Fisher

I read Heinlein's Starship Troopers two or three times over the years. Robert Heinlein patterned his Star Ships on Submarines as he was a Naval Officer and his Mobile Infantry from the U.S. Marines. He did start out as a liberal and then changed over the years to very conservative and libertarian.

I was disappointed in the first movie, but it was "OK." Didn't think much of the second and just saw the third one. It FINALLY showed the Starship Troopers in the Exo Skeleton Fighting suits mentioned in the original book, so that was a slightly redeeming factor. I almost puked when I saw Troops flying in Starships, landing in Ram Jet type Orbiter vehicles and using Mini-14 actions in their incredibly outdated shoulder arms.

If you like that kind of science fiction then all of the "Hammer's Slammers" novels and short stories by David Drake should interest you.

Some may know Gordon Dickson's incomplete "Childe Cycle" series about the futuristic Dorsai Warriors. I decided as a Master Sergeant that I was FINALLY going to get a 290 out of 300 PFT score certificate in the late 80's - even if it killed me. I was stationed at Edson Range, so I could train hard on running for months. When I finished the 100 sit ups in about a minute and a half and knew I had scored over 290 - I didn't even think about it and stood up and screamed, "Shai ! Dorsai !!" A couple of Marines there actually knew what that meant.

Some of my favorite Military Science Fiction, though, has to be about the Bolo Fighting Machines in the short stories and novels by Keith Laumer.

M1A's r BEST

Great books all. If you can find Armor, by Robert Steakley (not sure the author's name is spelled right) it's almost as good as Starship Troopers. The "Faded Sun" trilogy (author's name just left my brain) is good, too.

PursuitFRC

Another novel similar to starship troopers, as far as the military aspect, is "Forever War" by Joe Haldeman. It is also a Hugo and Nebula award winner.

msinabottle

Laumer was U.S.A.F., knew a bit of whereof he spoke. Also wrote the Retief series, which was about a Terran diplomat who had a bad habit of not toeing the politically correct line toward our little carnivorous brothers as they chewed on his leg.

I... loved the Bolo series, at least the ones written by Laumer himself before his health got wrecked in a car crash and strokes finished him off. It's become a franchise since and weird new ideas have been introduced that detract from Laumer's original concepts.

My biggest problem was the constant theme of taking a sentient war machine that had fought bravely for humanity and DISCARDING and DEACTIVATING it afterwards. Sorry. Self-aware, it has a soul and is a citizen and can't just be extinguished. They were good stories. No wonder I'm a gun collector. It's hard finding good pictures of the Bolos.

Heinlein's 'Starship Troopers' was the first 'modern' adult science fiction I can remember reading. Don't forget the paratroops, a lot of 'em swear by the book, it's their kind of warfare. 'Where were his drops' = 'Where were his jumps?' That was the old question the 101st and 82nd asked a great deal in the years after '45.

Best!

Gus Fisher

Folks, thanks for mentioning other writers as it took me down memory lane. I had read and enjoyed all of them.

Good point about the Paratroops drawing inspiration from the Mobile Infantry. I know in WWII it was popular in both the Marine Corps and Paratroops (as well as some other forces and I don't mean to leave anyone out) to get a tattoo or something to denote how many combat landings or drops they had done. The silver skull with the number of bones hanging from them spoke to that.

If I remember correctly in "Field Test," Denny was filled with information and "joined" the 27th Virginia Regiment. One of General Jackson's regiments in the Stonewall Brigade. I picked up on that right away so I was not surprised by the ending of the story.............

"Honor of the Regiment is a title, I feel, was developed from Keith Laumer's story "Field Test," which tells the story of the first Bolo, named Denny, to use the full capabilities of self-directing and self-aware computer circuitry. Denny's unknown capabilities and the fear by his creators of not being able to control this powerful war machine also prevent him from being deployed to fight off an invasion of his creators country. When Denny was deployed there appeared to be no chance of stopping the enemy advance, even with his added firepower and other capabilities. Denny does the unexpected, instead of doing a fighting retreat against a superior force he charges towards the enemy's lines. This charge eventually breaks the enemy's invasion and forces them to retreat, but the victory came with a price. Denny, in human terms, was going to die from the many wounds he had taken in his charge, and there was no way to save him. Just before Denny dies, his Commander asks "Why he had continued his charge, when he knew he would be destroyed?" Denny's last words were "For the HONOR OF THE REGIMENT."

http://www.amazon.com/Honor-Regiment.../dp/0671721844

M1A's r BEST

Gus, that stuff just "popped" into my head. I thought it was neat you'd read so many of the same books I enjoyed.

Yes, that short story about the first BOLO really "got me".