1997 was supposed to be a big year for big bugs. Director Paul Verhoven adapted Robert A. Heinlein's celebrated novel Starship Troopers, the tale of humanity's bloody war against a galaxy-spanning arachnoid army, into a super-sized extravaganza. But before Starship Troopers' November release, a smaller big bug movie made its way to theaters, Guillermo del Toro's Mimic.
DOG: Ahead of the release of Mimic Director’s Cut on Blu-ray, we caught up with director Guillermo del Toro to talk about reclaiming the film.
LRA writes: The year was 1997, I was presented with an opportunity to go see a sneak preview of a movie called Mimic. At this point in my life I was gung ho to see any new movie that came my way (I guess I am not really all that different now though) so it didn't take much convincing to get me in that theater. All I knew about it at the time was that it starred Mira Sorvino and that it featured giant cockroaches. So along with a handful of close friends we made our way to the Beverly Center in Los Angeles for what I had hoped would be a decent little B monster movie. I came away from the experience fairly pleased with what was offered up, there were some neat effects, solid acting and a simple but straight forward story. The main thing that has always stuck with me though over the years whenever I look back on my initial reaction to the film is the general look and atmosphere it created. It had such a unique look and feel to it that made it stand out from all the other creature features of the same ilk. Little did I know at the time that the film's director, a then practically unknown Guillermo del Toro, was the wizard behind the curtain and that unique look and feel is now a signature of the extremely talented filmmaker.
LRA writes: There is someTHING we discovered this past week. Apparently nobody knows what this new THING is exactly. Is it a remake, a prequel or a re-imagining? So we say put everyTHING you have heard about this new version of The Thing out of your mind and join us as we pick apart what it is that makes this new THING better than we had ever anticipated. Other THINGs covered include the recent blu-ray release of Mimic, my thoughts on the 2009 psychological thriller Orphan along with some general badmouTHING on the Human Centipede series. Featured music this week is from "The Thing (2011)" motion picture soundtrack.
