It points out that in order to get people in unison to rally round a cause, fascism and the dehumanisation of the enemy is an important part of that.
This notion is perhaps muddied by the fact the bad guys are mostly unthnking insects. If they were humans -- an army from another country -- I think viewers would have been much more appalled by it. The dehumanising element would have been a lot more apparent. But because they are bugs, they are conveniently non-human, allowing Verhoeven to push the fascist theories and hatred of the enemy.
There are only a couple of wimpy liberal views and they are portrayed as sappy and ridiculous. And they kinda are, but a more rational voice of peace never gets a mention. It's a fight or die world.
There are some really good dark elements to this movie, like the Doogie Howser psychic guy admitting he let people die, knowing there were bugs in the area. And then the next lot of troops drafted being literally children, implying that most of the young adults who recruited have being slaughtered.
So the victory is a sour one, a strangely weak victory of a bug captive, at the cost of millions of young people. That's what you're cheering for at the end of the movie.
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