Starship Troopers (1997)

Humans in a fascist, militaristic future wage war with giant alien bugs.

Director:

Paul Verhoeven

Writers:

Edward Neumeier (screenplay) (as Ed Neumeier), Robert A. Heinlein (book)

Stars:

Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Casper Van Dien	...	Johnny Rico
Dina Meyer	...	Dizzy Flores
Denise Richards	...	Carmen Ibanez
Jake Busey	...	Ace Levy
Neil Patrick Harris	...	Carl Jenkins
Clancy Brown	...	Sgt. Zim
Seth Gilliam	...	Sugar Watkins
Patrick Muldoon	...	Zander Barcalow
Michael Ironside	...	Jean Rasczak
Rue McClanahan	...	Biology Teacher
Marshall Bell	...	General Owen
Eric Bruskotter	...	Breckinridge
Matt Levin	...	Kitten Smith
Blake Lindsley	...	Katrina
Anthony Ruivivar	...	Shujimi

Storyline

In the distant future high school kids are encouraged to become citizens by joining the military. What they don't know is that they'll soon be engaged in a full scale war against a planet of alien insects. The fight is on to ensure the safety of humanity.

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Plot Keywords:

space war | giant insect | future war | satire | space travel | 

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Taglines:

A new kind of enemy. A new kind of war.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic sci-fi violence and gore, and for some language and nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Arkelian sand beetle dissection scene was director Paul Verhoeven's favorite scene filmed.

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Goofs

Through out the movie, all space craft are flown like they are airplanes in an atmosphere. This is not realistic as a no atmosphere environment would make craft with wings or rear only thrusters useless.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Newsreel announcer: Young people from all over the globe are joining up to fight for the future.
Soldier #1: I'm doing my part.
Soldier #2: I'm doing my part.
Soldier #3: I'm doing my part.
Young kid dressed up as a soldier: I'm doing my part too.
[Soldiers laugh]
Newsreel announcer: They're doing their part. Are you? Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world. Service guarantees citizenship.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD release features deleted scenes. These scenes are mostly references to how Carmen Ibanez gets sexually involved with both Johnny Rico and Zander Barcalow. There is also a alternate ending where Johnny and Carmen kiss and are "back together."

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Connections

Featured in The Angry Video Game Nerd: Chex Quest (2019)

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Soundtracks

La golondrina (The Swallow)
Written by 'Narciso Serradell'

User Reviews

A high-tech splatterfest disguised as a heavy-handed satire that actively perverts the novel it purports to adapt.

Verhoeven disguises this queasy ode to gore as an anti-military cautionary tale. It's kind of like watching a prude drooling over pornography while protesting to the world how evil it is.

The combat scenes are laughable. The soldiers have the tactical acumen of a heard of sheep with assault rifles. The movie doesn't just ignore significant aspects of the book, it goes out of its way to deliberately distort them. A single example (one of many). The protagonist of the novel, Johnny Rico, was a Filipino. Verhoeven casts stereotypically Aryan Casper Van Dien as Johnny. Is this a cynical distortion of the book to `prove' that the author wasn't `honoring diversity?' Or is it a cynical marketing ploy to appeal to a particular demographic? Or didn't Verhoeven care?

The movie's supporters seem to fall into three main categories. There are those who enjoyed watching people being torn limb-from-limb while thinking `Gee, what a great science fiction action movie!' There are those who justified watching people being torn limb-from-limb because they were thinking `Gee, what a clever satire of a militaristic society!' And there are those in the first category who apparently had to see the movie more than once to move to the second category. This is amazing to me since I thought the satire was about as subtle as a brick through a window.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine

Filming Locations:

The Henman House - 33583 Mulholland Highway, Malibu, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$105,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$22,058,773, 9 November 1997

Gross USA:

$54,814,377

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$121,214,377

Company Credits

Production Co:

TriStar Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Big Bug Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS (8 channels) Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1