''Starship Troopers'' is a 1997 American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
action film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
. The film is based on the 1959
novel of the same name by
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
and was written by
Ed Neumeier. Set in the 23rd century, the film follows the story of teenager Johnny Rico and his friends as they serve in the military under the Earth
world government
World government is the concept of a single political authority with jurisdiction over all humanity. It is conceived in a variety of forms, from tyrannical to democratic, which reflects its wide array of proponents and detractors.
A world gove ...
, known as the United Citizen Federation. As humanity explores and colonizes outer space, they come into conflict with an alien species known as the Arachnids, leading to an
interstellar war
An interstellar war is a hypothetical space war between combatants from different planetary systems. The concept provides a common plot device in science fiction, especially in the space opera subgenre. In contrast, the term ''intergalactic war ...
. The film stars
Casper Van Dien
Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the 1997 science-fiction action film ''Starship Troopers''. He has also appeared in a large number of television and ...
,
Dina Meyer
Dina Meyer (born December 22, 1968) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in a recurring role on the Fox teen drama series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1993–94), before landing a leading role opposite Keanu Reeves in the 1995 fi ...
,
Denise Richards
Denise Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress, television personality, and former fashion model. Her most recognized roles are Carmen Ibanez in ''Starship Troopers'' (1997), Kelly Van Ryan in '' Wild Things'' (1998) and Bond gi ...
,
Jake Busey
William Jacob Busey is an American actor. Among his most prominent roles have been serial killer Johnny Bartlett in 1996's ''The Frighteners'', Ace Levy in 1997's ''Starship Troopers'', Kyle Brenner in 2001's '' Tomcats'', Aiden Tanner in the 20 ...
,
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...
,
Patrick Muldoon
Patrick Muldoon (born September 27, 1968) is an American actor, film producer, and musician.
Early life and education
Muldoon was born in San Pedro, California, the son of Deanna, a homemaker, and William Patrick Muldoon II, a personal injury ...
, and
Michael Ironside
Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters.
E ...
.
Development of ''Starship Troopers'' began in 1991 as a separate project called ''Bug Hunt at Outpost 7'', written by Neumeier. Producer
Jon Davison
Jon Davison (born January 16, 1971) is an American singer, musician and songwriter who has been the lead vocalist of progressive rock band Yes since 2012.
He is also known as the former lead singer of progressive rock band Glass Hammer from 2 ...
noticed many similarities between Neumeier's work and Heinlein's book and asked him to re-work the script to more closely follow the novel and gain more interest from studio executives. Even so, development was slow, with studios remaining non-committal on funding the expensive project up to the filming date. Filming began in April 1996 on a $100–110million budget, nearly half of which was committed to the extensive computer-generated (
CGI) and
practical effect
A practical effect is a special effect produced physically, without computer-generated imagery or other post-production techniques. In some contexts, "special effect" is used as a synonym of "practical effect", in contrast to "visual effects" ...
s required to vivify the Arachnid creatures, before concluding that October.
''Starship Troopers'' was released on November 7, 1997, to negative reviews from critics who perceived the film as promoting fascism, including accusations against Verhoeven and Neumeier of being Nazis, as well as criticism over its violence and performances. The reviews and poor word-of-mouth led to box office grosses dropping week after week until it left theaters, earning $121million and becoming only the
34th highest-grossing film of the year. ''Starship Troopers''s performance was blamed, in part, on competition from a high number of successful or anticipated science fiction and genre films released that year, and its satirical and violent content failure to connect with mainstream audiences. Verhoeven believed audience misconceptions about the film were the result of poor marketing that presented ''Starship Troopers'' as an action film instead of a satire.
Since its release, ''Starship Troopers'' has been critically re-evaluated, and is now considered a
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
, one of the greatest science fiction films ever made, and a prescient satire of fascism and authoritarian governance that has grown in relevancy. The film helped launch a
multimedia franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
that includes four sequels, ''
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation'' (2004), ''
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'' (2008), ''
Starship Troopers: Invasion'' (2012), and ''
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars'' (2017), as well as an animated television series, ''
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles'' (1999), video games, comics, and a variety of merchandise.
Plot
In the 23rd century, Earth is governed by the United Citizen Federation, a
military government founded generations earlier by "veterans" after democracy and social scientists brought civilization to the brink of ruin. Citizenship is gained only through federal service, which grants rights restricted from ordinary civilians such as voting and breeding. Now spacefaring, humans conduct colonization missions throughout the galaxy, bringing them into conflict with a race of highly evolved insectoid creatures dubbed "Arachnids" or, derisively, "bugs".
Despite the protestations of his parents about the risks, teenage
jock Johnny Rico enlists as a mobile infantryman to remain close to his girlfriend, spaceship pilot Carmen Ibanez. Their
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...
friend Carl Jenkins joins
Military Intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
, while Isabelle "Dizzy" Flores, who is in love with Rico, deliberately transfers to his squad. Carmen eventually breaks up with Rico because their career paths separate them and she has developed a mutual attraction with fellow pilot Zander Barcalow. During training, Rico impresses
drill sergeant
A drill instructor is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces, fire department, or police forces with specific duties that vary by country. Foot drill, military step, and marching are typically taught by drill instructors.
Australia
A ...
Zim, earning a promotion to squad leader. He makes a mistake during a training exercise causing the death of one of his squad and the resignation of another, resulting in his demotion and
flogging
Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...
. Rico resigns from the military, but reconsiders after learning that an asteroid sent by the Arachnids has destroyed
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
, killing millions, including his parents.
An invasion force is deployed to Klendathu, the Arachnids' home planet, but the military intelligence underestimates the Arachnids' defensive abilities, leading to thousands of casualties. Badly wounded, Rico is rescued by lieutenant Jean Rasczak, his former high-school teacher, but is mistakenly reported dead, devastating Carmen. Following his recovery, Rico, Dizzy, and squadmate Ace Levy join Rasczak's
special forces unit, the "Roughnecks". Rico eventually earns the rank of Corporal for his feats against the Arachnids, including killing a gigantic "Tanker Bug" on Tango Urilla, and becomes romantically involved with Dizzy. The Roughnecks respond to a distress call on Planet P, where they reconnoitre an Arachnid-ravaged outpost but are quickly overwhelmed by the bugs. Carmen and Zander recover the surviving Roughnecks by dropship, but not before Dizzy is killed and Rico is forced to
mercy kill
''Star Wars: X-wing'' is a ten-book series of '' Star Wars'' novels by Michael A. Stackpole (who also co-wrote the similarly named comic book series) and Aaron Allston. Stackpole's contributions cover the adventures of a new Rogue Squadron forme ...
the mutilated Rasczak. The group returns to the fleet assembled in orbit above P, where Dizzy is eulogized.
Jenkins, now a high-ranking colonel, explains the Roughnecks were deliberately sent into the trap, justifying it as a necessary sacrifice to prove the existence of a "Brain Bug"; an intelligent Arachnid strategically directing the others. He grants Rico command of the Roughnecks and
field-promotes him to lieutenant, ordering him back to P to capture the Brain Bug. As the battle commences, Carmen's ship is destroyed by the Arachnids, forcing her and Zander to flee in an escape shuttle that crash lands into an underground tunnel system. The pair are captured by the Arachnids and the Brain Bug uses its
proboscis
A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...
to consume Zander's brain, absorbing his knowledge. Rico sends his squad to complete their mission while he, Ace, and their squadmate Watkins find Carmen and hold the Arachnids at bay with a
miniature nuclear bomb.
The Brain Bug escapes while the Arachnids attack and mortally wound Watkins, who sacrifices himself by detonating the bomb while his teammates escape. On the surface, they learn that Zim has captured the Brain Bug, and the assembled troops rejoice as Jenkins psychically detects it is afraid. A
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
advertisement details how the Brain Bug is being invasively studied to learn its secrets and ensure humanity's victory. The advert encourages the viewers to enlist and do their part in the war so they can become like Carmen, now captain of her own ship, and Rico, who enthusiastically leads his troops into another battle.
Cast
*
Casper Van Dien
Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the 1997 science-fiction action film ''Starship Troopers''. He has also appeared in a large number of television and ...
as Johnny Rico: A school sports star turned military infantryman
*
Dina Meyer
Dina Meyer (born December 22, 1968) is an American actress. She began her career appearing in a recurring role on the Fox teen drama series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1993–94), before landing a leading role opposite Keanu Reeves in the 1995 fi ...
as Dizzy Flores: Rico's former classmate who joins the mobile infantry
*
Denise Richards
Denise Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress, television personality, and former fashion model. Her most recognized roles are Carmen Ibanez in ''Starship Troopers'' (1997), Kelly Van Ryan in '' Wild Things'' (1998) and Bond gi ...
as Carmen Ibanez: An aspiring starship pilot and Rico's girlfriend
*
Jake Busey
William Jacob Busey is an American actor. Among his most prominent roles have been serial killer Johnny Bartlett in 1996's ''The Frighteners'', Ace Levy in 1997's ''Starship Troopers'', Kyle Brenner in 2001's '' Tomcats'', Aiden Tanner in the 20 ...
as Ace Levy: A military infantryman
*
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received multiple accolades throughout ...
as Carl Jenkins: A psychic who joins military intelligence.
*
Clancy Brown
Clarence John "Clancy" Brown III (born January 5, 1959) is an American actor. Prolific in film and television since the 1980s, Brown is often cast in villainous and authoritative roles.
Brown's film roles include Viking Lofgren in ''Bad Boys'' ...
as Sgt. Zim: Rico's sergeant during training
*
Seth Gilliam as Sugar Watkins: A member of the Roughnecks special forces unit
*
Patrick Muldoon
Patrick Muldoon (born September 27, 1968) is an American actor, film producer, and musician.
Early life and education
Muldoon was born in San Pedro, California, the son of Deanna, a homemaker, and William Patrick Muldoon II, a personal injury ...
as Zander Barcalow: Rico's rival who is romantically interested in Carmen
*
Michael Ironside
Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters.
E ...
as Jean Rasczak: A former teacher turned squad leader
''Starship Troopers'' also features
Rue McClanahan
Eddi-Rue McClanahan (February 21, 1934 – June 3, 2010) was an American actress and comedian best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on '' Maude'' (1972–78), Aunt Fran Crowley on ''Mama's Family'' (1983–84), and Blanche De ...
as a biology teacher,
Marshall Bell
Archibald Marshall Bell (born September 28, 1942) is an American character actor. He has appeared in many character roles in movies and television. He is known for roles in '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'' (1985), '' Stand by M ...
as General Owen,
Eric Bruskotter
Eric Bruskotter is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Cleveland Indians rookie Catcher Rube Baker in ''Major League II'' and '' Major League: Back to the Minors'' as well as his role as Private Scott Baker in the TV series '' To ...
as Breckinridge, Matt Levin as Kitten Smith,
Anthony Ruivivar
Anthony Michael Ruivivar (born ) is an American actor. He is known for playing Carlos Nieto on ''Third Watch'' and Alex Longshadow on ''Banshee''. He also voiced Batman on ''Beware the Batman''.
Early life and education
Ruivivar was born in Ho ...
as Shujumi,
Brenda Strong
Brenda Lee Strong (born March 25, 1960) is an American actress. She began her career in television, including guest starring appearances in ''Twin Peaks'', '' Party of Five'', ''Seinfeld'', '' Scandal'', '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', '' ...
as Captain Deladier, and
Dean Norris
Dean Joseph Norris (born April 8, 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for playing DEA agent Hank Schrader on the AMC series '' Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and its spin-off ''Better Call Saul'' (2020). He also portrayed town councilm ...
as Commanding Officer.
Christopher Curry
Christopher Curry (born 28 January 1946 in Cambridge) is the co-founder of Acorn Computers, with Hermann Hauser and Andy Hopper. He became a millionaire as a result of Acorn's success.
In his early career days, he worked at Pye, Royal Radar ...
and
Lenore Kasdorf
Lenore Kasdorf (born July 23, 1948) is an American actress. She is known for her role as the alluring and promiscuous nurse Rita Stapleton Bauer, whom she played from 1975 to 1981 in the soap opera ''Guiding Light'', and for her performance as ...
appear as Mr. and Mrs. Rico, while
Bruce Gray
Bruce Gray (September 7, 1936 – December 13, 2017) was a Canadian actor, known for multiple roles in films and television shows for over 5 decades.
Early Years
Gray was born in Puerto Rico and lived in Toronto after 1949. He graduated from ...
and
Denise Dowse
Denise Yvonne Dowse (February 21, 1958 – August 13, 2022) was an American actress and director. She was best known for her roles as Mrs. Yvonne Teasley in the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1991–2000), Judge Rebecca Damsen in ' ...
appear as Sky Marshals Dienes and Meru.
Other military infantry characters include Katrina (Blake Lindsley) and Djana'd (Tami-Adrian George).
Corporals Bronski and Birdie are portrayed by Teo and Ungela Brockman, Sergeant Gillespie by Curnal Alesio, and
Robert David Hall
Robert David Hall (born November 9, 1947) is an American actor, best known for his role as coroner Dr. Albert Robbins, M.D. on the television show ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''.
Early life
Born in East Orange, New Jersey, Hall attended ...
portrays a heavily disfigured Recruitment Sergreant.
Key crew members make cameo appearances, including producer Jon Davison as the Angry Survivor of the Buenos Aires' asteroid attack who says "the only good bug is a dead bug," and Neumeier appears as a handcuffed prisoner standing before Federation judges. Verhoeven's assistant, Stacy Lumbrezer, is a smiling woman during a psychic advertisement, and Paul Sammon, author of ''The Making of Starship Troopers'', appears as one of the men feeding a cow to an Arachnid.
Production
Development as ''Bug Hunt at Outpost 7''
Since the release of ''
RoboCop'' (1987), producer
Jon Davison
Jon Davison (born January 16, 1971) is an American singer, musician and songwriter who has been the lead vocalist of progressive rock band Yes since 2012.
He is also known as the former lead singer of progressive rock band Glass Hammer from 2 ...
had wanted to develop another project that would reunite members of the creative team such as writer
Ed Neumeier and
stop motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
animator
Phil Tippett
Phil Tippett (born September 27, 1951) is an American movie director and Oscar and Emmy Award-winning visual effects supervisor and producer, who specializes in creature design, stop-motion and computerized character animation. Over his career, ...
, but struggled to progress any relevant projects. Neumeier had separately been struggling to develop new story ideas alongside his ''RoboCop'' co-writer Michael Miner. The pair eventually realized their writing partnership was no longer working and Neumeier began developing a
story treatment called ''Bug Hunt at Outpost 7''.
He said, "I wanted to do a big, silly, jingoistic, xenophobic, let's-go-out-and-kill-the-enemy movie, and I had settled on the idea that it should be against insects... I wanted to make a war movie, but I also wanted to make a teenage romance movie."
Insects were chosen as the enemies based on Neumeier's wife's strong fear of the creatures.
In December 1991, Neumeier brought his idea to Davison at
Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank
Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, formerly known as First National Studio (1926–1929), Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Studios (1967–1970) and The Burbank Studios (1972–1990), is a major filmmaking facility owned and run by Warner Bros. Entertainmen ...
, which also headquartered
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
, with whom Davison had a pre-existing development deal. After discussing the idea, Davison realized it bore many similarities to the 1959 science fiction novel, ''
Starship Troopers'', by
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
.
The novel had received a strongly divided reception on its release for promoting military power and necessary violence while criticizing
liberal social programs, but it had remained an enduringly popular work for over four decades.
Neumeier and Davison had both read the novel as children and considered directly adapting ''Starship Troopers'' instead of Neumeier's story. However, Davison believed the film adaptation rights would have already been purchased by that point and encouraged Neumeier to continue his original idea, later retitled ''Outpost 7''. By late 1992, Davison was working out of
Sony Pictures Studios
The Sony Pictures Studios is an American television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard (south), Washington Boulevard (north), Overland Avenue (west) and ...
,
Culver City
Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...
, when Neumeier brought him the finished ''Outpost 7'', alternately referred to as ''Bug Hunt''. Although Davison liked the treatment, it was rejected by TriStar executive
Chris Lee. Undeterred, Neumeier and Davison decided to research the film rights to ''Starship Troopers'', believing the more well-known intellectual property would change Lee's mind. They learned the rights were available and instead pitched making ''Starship Troopers''. Lee was more receptive, but the pair also received broader support from other executives including TriStar head of production,
Mike Medavoy
Morris Mike Medavoy (born January 21, 1941) is an American film producer and business executive. He is the co-founder of Orion Pictures (1978), former chairman of TriStar Pictures, former head of production for United Artists (1974–1978), and ...
, who had been similarly supportive of making ''RoboCop''. With the studio's support in place, the rights to ''Starship Troopers'' were purchased and Neumeier began adapting his ''Outpost 7'' script to more closely fit Heinlein's novel.
Development as ''Starship Troopers''
![Paul Verhoeven Cannes 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Paul_Verhoeven_Cannes_2016.jpg)
Progress of the ''Starship Troopers'' adaptation remained slow for the next few years as TriStar regularly replaced executives, including Medavoy, and high-value or risky projects were more closely scrutinized.
Even so, Davison spent much of 1993 securing several key crew including Tippett and their other ''RoboCop'' collaborator,
Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...
. According to Neumeier and Davison, they had only ever considered Verhoeven as the director because they determined the fantastical creatures, genre, and political subtext suited his creative sensibilities.
Verhoeven said, "I like science fiction movies. I mean, the ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' series is delightful, you know? ...but the main reason I decided to do ''Starship Troopers'' was Phil Tippett. I had worked with Phil on ''RoboCop'' and felt that was really interesting..." Verhoeven considered himself the director of the live characters, and described Tippett as effectively his co-director, leading filming of the creatures. Verhoeven also brought in
Alan Marshall as a producer, having worked with him on ''
Basic Instinct
''Basic Instinct'' is a 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film follows San Francisco police detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who is investigating the brutal murder of a wealt ...
'' (1992) and his current project, ''
Showgirls
''Showgirls'' is a 1995 erotic drama pulp noir film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film stars Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Robert Davi, Alan Rachins, and Gina Ravera.
Produced ...
'' (1995). Verhoeven was in need of a promising project as, despite his previous successes in the early 1990s, his efforts to develop the pirate adventure ''Mistress of the Seas'' and the
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
-starring ''Crusade'' had failed. Additionally, ''Showgirls'' had become a financial failure and earned him the worst reviews of his career.
By 1994, the studio had still not agreed to move ''Starship Troopers'' out of the development phase and into pre-production. Key crew members, including Davison and Verhoeven, decided to produce test footage to demonstrate their intended visual style and tone.
Although still busy filming ''Showgirls'' at this point, Verhoeven was determined to direct the sequence himself. The scene was storyboarded and detailed enough that Tippett's design for the "Warrior Bugs" changed little by the time of actual filming.
The resulting 40-second to 2-minute scene, dubbed the "Bug Test", was filmed on July 21, 1994, at
Vasquez Rocks
Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park is a park located in the Sierra Pelona in northern Los Angeles County, California. It is known for its rock formations, the result of sedimentary layering and later seismic uplift. It is located near the town of ...
near Los Angeles at a cost of $225,000 provided by TriStar.
Filmed by
John Hora
John Charles Hora (February 16, 1940 – February 9, 2021) was an American cinematographer and actor who was active from the 1970s to the 2000s.
Career
Hora worked with director Joe Dante in numerous films, including '' The Howling'' in 1981, ' ...
with a 30-person crew, the sequence depicts a soldier (played by
Mitch Gaylord
Mitchell Jay Gaylord (born March 10, 1961) is an American gymnast, actor, and Olympic gold medalist.
Early life
Gaylord was born in Van Nuys, California, the son of Fred and Linda Gaylord, and is Jewish. Gaylord graduated from Grant High Schoo ...
) being pursued and killed by two Warrior Bugs; Neumeier makes a cameo appearance as a dead soldier. The visual effects were finished by September, and the completed "Bug Test" screened for TriStar executives in early October.
Executives including Lee and
Mark Canton
Mark Canton (born June 19, 1949) is an American film producer and executive.
Life and early career
Canton was born to a Jewish family in Queens, New York, the son of Shirley and Arthur Canton, who worked in the film industry on marketing and pub ...
were impressed with the visual effects and did not realize they had been produced with
computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the use of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, simulators, and visual effects in films, television programs, shorts, commercials, and videos. The images may ...
(CGI) and approved moving into pre-production, but others remained non-committal on providing any substantial funding as, according to Neumeier, they did not understand the project.
Development continued at a slow pace into early 1995 when Davison put together a detailed budget totalling $90million, based on Neumeier's third draft. Davison said TriStar was reluctant to provide this amount, often bringing up the financial failure of the $200million-budgeted ''
Waterworld
''Waterworld'' is a 1995 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by Kevin Reynolds and co-written by Peter Rader and David Twohy. It was based on Rader's original 1986 screenplay and stars Kevin Costner, who also produced it with Charl ...
'' (1995), which was seen by industry experts as an example of excessive spending and had led to the firing of many involved executives at
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
. TriStar executives determined that the only way for ''Starship Troopers'' to continue development was to identify a business partner with whom they could split the production costs. Davison said he began screening the Bug Test for anyone he could, eventually attracting the interest of
Walt Disney Studios. A meeting was held with, among others, Canton and
Marc Platt from TriStar, Sony, Disney's head of motion pictures,
Joe Roth
Joseph Emanuel Roth is an American film executive, producer and director. He co-founded Morgan Creek Productions in 1988 and was chairman of 20th Century Fox (1989–1993), Caravan Pictures (1993–1994), and Walt Disney Studios (1994–200 ...
, Verhoeven, Davison, and Marshall. An agreement was made that the studios would produce ''Starship Troopers'' via TriStar and Disney's
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...
, splitting the budget costs and box office profits evenly, in exchange for Touchstone receiving all distribution rights to the film outside of the United States and Canada.
Each studio was also given creative input on the film and its marketing.
Writing
![Edward Neumeier 2007](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Edward_Neumeier_2007.jpg)
Neumeier began adapting the ''Starship Troopers'' novel at the beginning of 1993, working out of his office in
Eagle Rock, Los Angeles
Eagle Rock is a neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, abutting the San Rafael Hills in Los Angeles County, California.
Eagle Rock is named after Eagle Rock, a large boulder whose shadow resembles an eagle.http://www.eaglerockcouncil.org/index.p ...
.
He was initially concerned about how to translate the tone of Heinlein's work, recalling his awareness as a youth of the controversy surrounding the novel that identified Heinlein as alternately a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
,
militarist
Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
,
libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
, and
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
.
The novel espouses the benefits of military service, citizenship, and masculinity.
Heinlein described the central theme as being "that a man, to be truly human, must be unhesitatingly willing at all times to lay down his life for his fellow man.
his themeis based on the twin concepts of love and duty-and how they are related to the survival of our race." Neumeier was interested in writing about fascism, but was concerned it would be difficult to do so successfully. Despite this, he and Davison wanted to accurately adapt the novel's and Heinlein's viewpoint. Neumeier believed audiences would appreciate the concept of a failing democracy and stricter cultural controls. He said: "you want a world that works? Okay, we'll show you one. And it really does work. It happens to be a military dictatorship, but it works. That was the original rhythm I was trying to play with, just to sort of mess with the audiences."
Neumeier struggled to adapt certain aspects, finding the first and third acts to be narratively strong but the middle act, focusing on Rico's boot camp experience, to be a lengthy piece "preaching to his readership," which would not make for an interesting film. He identified the elements he considered essential, including the high school opening, boot camp, battles and the underlying philosophy and sociopolitics, and compensated for the novel's second act by expanding on sequences such as the high school romance, basing it on his own experiences of chasing women with no interest in him. The first draft was completed on July 8, 1993. It remained generally faithful to Heinlein's novel, including a secondary alien race known as the "Skinnies," the "Bounce"—a jet-assisted traversal method, and power armor, which granted the troops superhuman strength. Rasczak's lecture on citizenship was also paraphrased from the novel. A copy was sent to Heinlein's wife who was pleased despite the minor differences to the novel.
However, as development progressed, many aspects would be changed or removed, in part because of financial reasons, but also Verhoeven's influence.
Verhoeven tried to read the novel but "stopped after two chapters because it was so boring... it is really quite a bad book... it's a very
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
book."
He had Neumeier summarize the narrative for him, and found it militaristic, fascistic, and overly supportive of armed conflict, which clashed with Verhoeven's childhood experiences in the
German-occupied Netherlands
Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal family re ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Verhoeven determined that he could use the basic plot to satirize and undermine the book's themes by deconstructing the concepts of
totalitarianism
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...
, fascism, and militarism, saying: "All the way through I wanted the audience to be asking, 'Are these people crazy?'"
By 1994, Verhoeven was still filming ''Showgirls'', but remained active in the second draft. Among his suggestions was to introduce a romantic subplot between Rico and Carmen, and combined the male character Dizzy with a Neumeier-created female called Ronnie who was romantically interested in Rico. This in turn led Neumeier to develop romantic triangles between Dizzy, Rico, and Carmen, and Rico, Carmen, and Zander. Other aspects were removed such as the Skinnies, because Verhoeven thought too many alien races would be confusing, while queen bugs and advanced canines called Neo-dogs were considered financially unviable. Another financially motivated change was the removal of "the Drop", a method of dropping troops from orbit in capsules that shed consecutive layers during landing, leading to the nickname "Cap Troopers". Preliminary designs were made of the capsules but were generally attached to parachutes which was did not match the intended aesthetic, and adding rockets was deemed impractical because it would have required numerous different visual effects and taken too much time to accomplish, so they settled for dropships. The most substantial change was making the enemy more insect-like, as Verhoeven did not want to "see a bug with a gun in his hand.”
The Bounce was also removed due to cost and because Marshall said they made the troops look like they were on pogo sticks and removed the threat of the Arachnids if troops could easily jump away. The most controversial omission from the novel, for fans, was the power armor. Davison said that despite the importance of the armor, it was financially impossible to create hundreds of suits for the cast and extras. He and Verhoeven initially agreed to use the power armor sparingly, and integrate various different ideas such as the Bounce and weapons into them, but later determined it gave the troops too much of an advantage against the Arachnids. Additionally, as development continued, any further increase in costs risked the production being cancelled entirely. The FedNet sequences, the main source of information in the future, was invented for the film. An intentional prediction of how Neumeier believed television and computers would eventually be combined, the sequences were depicted in a way that would excite a population with very patriotic narration. Verhoeven described the final script as being about contemporary American politics, such as a lack of
gun control
Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians.
Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...
and increasing
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
under Texas governor
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, which he believed could potentially lead to fascism. The characters of ''Starship Troopers'' were "fascists who don't know they're fascists."
He said: "If I tell the world that a right-wing, fascist way of doing things doesn't work, no one will listen to me. So I'm going to make a perfect fascist world: everyone is beautiful, everything is shiny, everything has big guns and fancy ships but it's only good for killing fucking Bugs!"
Neumeier completed his third and final draft by early 1995.
Pre-production
Under the company name Big Bug Pictures, the ''Starship Troopers'' team were provided with a large suite in the Astaire Building on the Sony lot, from which to work. While pre-production began in earnest by September 1995, after Verhoeven concluded work on ''Showgirls'', he had spent several months producing over 4,000 storyboard images of the ''Starship Troopers'' script. Conscious that the Arachnids, among other CGI elements, would be added after filming, he wanted a detailed image of how each scene would be set out during filming. Storyboard artists Robin Richesson and Giacomo Ghiazzi refined Verhoeven's storyboards, the bulk of the comic-book–style art being done by Ghiazzi.
Many key crew members were hired during 1996, including Verhoeven's long-time cinematographer,
Jost Vacano
Jost Vacano, BVK (born 15 March 1934) is a German retired cinematographer. His work included ''Das Boot'', and he also worked together with director Paul Verhoeven on seven films, including ''RoboCop'' and '' Total Recall''. He was also the cin ...
,
as well as
Vic Armstrong
Victor Monroe Armstrong (born 5 October 1946) is a British film director, stunt coordinator, second unit director, and stunt double—the world's most prolific, according to the ''Guinness Book of Records''.
Career
The Armstrong doubled for H ...
(
second unit director
Second unit is a discrete team of filmmakers tasked with filming shots or sequences of a production, separate from the main or "first" unit. The second unit will often shoot simultaneously with the other unit or units, allowing the filming stag ...
and
stunt coordinator
A stunt coordinator, usually an experienced stunt performer, is hired by a TV, film or theatre director or production company for stunt casting. Their job is to arrange the casting (stunt players and stunt doubles) and performance of stunts for ...
),
Mark Goldblatt
Mark Goldblatt is an Academy Award nominated American film editor and film director and president emeritus of the American Cinema Editors.
Brooklyn born Goldblatt studied at the University of Wisconsin and London Film School, where his instru ...
(
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...
),
John Richardson (
special effects supervisor
A special effects supervisor, also referred to as a special effects director, special effects coordinator or SFX supervisor, is an individual who works on a commercial, theater, television or film set creating special effects. They are generally th ...
),
Basil Poledouris
Basil Konstantine Poledouris (; August 21, 1945 – November 8, 2006) was an American composer, conductor, and orchestrator of film and television scores, best known for his long-running collaborations with directors John Milius and Paul Verhoe ...
(
music composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
), Stacey McIntosh (construction coordinator), Karen Higgins (construction foreman), Gregg Goldstone (first assistanct director), Kenneth Silverstein (second assistant director), John Blake (makeup artist), Kathy Blondell (hair stylist), William Petrotta (prop master), Robert "Rock" Galotti (weapons coordinator), production manager
Robert Latham Brown
Robert Latham Brown (born June 20, 1947) is a film producer, line producer, Unit production manager, production manager, author, and teacher. In his 30-year film career, he has worked with Mel Brooks, George Lucas, Paul Verhoeven, Steven Spielber ...
, production coordinator Daren Hicks, and assistant production coordinators Janet Campolito and Lisa Hackler. Tippett also began hiring the nearly 100 additional staff required to realize the Arachnids, including Jules Roman (
Tippett Studio
Tippett Studio is an American visual effects company specializing in computer-generated imagery (CGI) for films and television commercials. The studio has created visual effects and animations on over fifty feature films and commercials, garnerin ...
visual effects producer),
Craig Hayes
Craig Hayes (also known as Craig Davies) is a visual effects artist. He was nominated at the 73rd Academy Awards for his work on the film ''Hollow Man''. He shared his nomination with Scott E. Anderson, Stan Parks and Scott Stokdyk.
During the ...
(visual effects artist),
Trey Stokes
Trey Stokes (born 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American filmmaker and puppeteer, best known for his '' Star Wars'' parody series '' Pink Five'', and his puppeteering work on various movie, TV, and motion-ride projects.
Early career
Stoke ...
(Animation department head), Adam Valdez and Blake Clark (animators), Paula Luchessi (lead cg painter),
Julie Newdoll (supervisor of CG lighting), Brennan Doyle (lead compositor), Desiree Mourad (lighting), and Joanna Ladolcetta (lead rotoscoper). Davison's responsibilities focused mainly on the special effects, while Marshall was concerned more with the filming.
Production designer Allan Cameron and location manager Bill Bowling scouted several locations but rejected most as they did not consider them unique enough. Others, such as the
Valley of Fire State Park
Valley of Fire State Park is a public recreation and nature preservation area covering nearly located south of Overton, Nevada. The state park derives its name from red sandstone formations, the Aztec Sandstone, which formed from shifting s ...
in Nevada had too many environmental restrictions which could impact filming. The situation was made more difficult by an
extended period of U.S. government shutdowns, which made obtaining the necessary filming and associated permits protracted, so they intentionally avoided further scouting of national or state parks or government-owned land. This restriction limited their options particularly for impactful scenery. Bowling eventually discovered Hell's Half Acre, located just outside of the town of
Casper, Wyoming
Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-largest city in the state, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Only Cheyenne, the state capital, is larger. Casper is nic ...
, which offered "colorful buttes and pinnacles," which could portray the alien planets of Klendathu and Planet P.
The location was remote, being about from the Astaire Building or hotels and requiring an hour long drive every morning at 5am. It offered other logistical challenges as it was generally undeveloped land, so the production had to build roads for the trucks carrying their gear into the canyons for filming. Anything that could not be driven in had to be lowered by helicopter.
Construction of some on-location sets such as Whiskey Outpost camp began in February 1996 and took six weeks.
The local government was supportive of the project, subsidizing the building of the roads and camp. The crew later learned that the area was rife with rattlesnakes, although no crew was bitten.
Another, more easily accessible location, Barry Barber Ranch near
Kadoka, South Dakota
Kadoka is a city in, and the county seat of, Jackson County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 543 at the 2020 census. The town occupies about 2.3 square miles.
History
Kadoka got its start in 1906 when the Chicago, Milwaukee, S ...
and the
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park ( lkt, Makȟóšiča) is an American national park located in southwestern South Dakota. The park protects of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United State ...
, featured little vegetations and smooth, undulating landscape, which could serve as Tango Urilla.
Even as pre-production continued, Davison remained concerned about the studio's ongoing executive turnover and its inconsistent commitment to funding, saying: "I felt the plug could always be pulled on us any minute." In contrast, Verhoeven believed the repeated regime changes at the studio meant the project was being overlooked until it was too late to cancel it.
Casting
In casting ''Starship Troopers'', Verhoeven wanted cast who visually embodied the caucasian, blonde, blue-eyed, and beautiful image he had perceived in ''
Triumph of the Will
''Triumph of the Will'' (german: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 German Nazi propaganda film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Leni Riefenstahl. Adolf Hitler commissioned the film and served as an unofficial executive producer; his na ...
'' (1935) and ''
Olympia
The name Olympia may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games
* ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
'' (1938), the
Nazi propaganda film
The propaganda used by the German Nazi Party in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's dictatorship of Germany from 1933 to 1945 was a crucial instrument for acquiring and maintaining power, and for the implementation of Nazi policie ...
s by
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda.
A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...
.
He described it as "an idiotic story, young people go to fight bugs, so I felt the human characters should have a comic-book look."
The search initially focused on popular, well-known film actors aged between their late teens and early twenties, but he realized that many of the contemporary stars were already in their thirties or already committed to other projects. Although television actors were still generally ignored when casting films, the production looked at shows such as ''
Melrose Place
''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, in ...
'' and ''
Beverly Hills, 90210
''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...
'', which featured young, photogenic, but less well known actors, such as Van Dien, Richards, and Meyer.
Verhoeven later said ''Starship Troopers'' could have benefitted from casting actors for their ability instead of looks.
Van Dien went through five auditions for the Rico role. He shared a similar history to the character, his father and grandfather having been in the military and attending military school himself, as well as being the captain of his high school football team. Van Dien was also a science fiction fan, particularly of ''Star Wars'' and ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
''. He underwent eight months of training for his role, adding about of muscle and losing several from his waist.
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971), former stage name Marky Mark, is an American actor, businessman, and former rapper. He has received multiple accolades, including a BAFTA Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, three ...
and
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Americ ...
also auditioned, but Verhoeven believed Van Dien closely fit the aesthetic of Riefenstahl's films.
Richards also went through five auditions to portray Carmen in November and December 1995, before finally screen testing against Van Dien. Unlike her character, Richards said she was terrified of flying. She did not think about the politics of ''Starship Troopers'', saying she was focused on avoiding being fired from her first major film role.
Although her agent initially recommended auditioning for Carmen, Meyer was more interested in Dizzy. She thought she could convey the character's "heart" and vulnerability at being overlooked by Rico because her toughness makes her seem like just another guy.
Harris was mainly known at the time for portraying a child doctor on ''
Doogie Howser, M.D.
''Doogie Howser, M.D.'' is an American medical sitcom that ran for four seasons on ABC from September 19, 1989, to March 24, 1993, totaling 97 episodes. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, the show stars Neil Patrick Harris in the titl ...
'' (1989–1993), and wanted a project that would shed that image as he moved into his adult career.
Describing playing Jenkins, Harris said: "He's bipolar, in a sense. Almost two completely separate characters. When you first meet
enkins.. he's Johnny's best friend. A bit geeky, but also funny, with lots of energy and quips... when you finally see him again... he's worn and pale and has the whole weight of the world on his shoulders. He's also dressed like a
German Gestapo officer!" ''Starship Troopers'' was the feature film debut for Patrick Muldoon, who was mostly known for ''Melrose Place''. Muldoon said Verhoeven and Neumeier saw Zander as having a dark side, but he considered him to be an "ambiguous character... he's very competitive, and he gets what he wants. But what we finally ended up with, I think, is actually a slightly tougher version of the relationship between
Han Solo
Han Solo is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. The character first appeared in the 1977 film '' Star Wars'' portrayed by Harrison Ford, who reprised his role in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) an ...
and
Princess Leia
Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, portrayed in films by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the Star Wars (film), original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is princess of th ...
in the ''Star Wars'' movies." Busey considered Ace Levy to be an integral part of the cast, who finds the humor in the most macabre situations, releasing the tension for the audience. Seth Gilliam described his character "like the
">ietnam war veteranwho kept reenlisting after every tour of duty was over. To my mind, Sugar couldn't deal with being 'back in the world,' as they used to call it."
Clancy Brown portrays Sgt. Zim, a "crusty, macho, jingoistic, ultimately admirable drill instructor." Brown based his performance on archetypical "tough as nails" instructors from older American films such as ''
The D.I.
''The D.I.'' (1957 in film, 1957) is a black-and-white military drama film starring and directed by Jack Webb. The film was produced by Webb's production company Mark VII Limited and distributed by Warner Bros.
Webb's co-star was his future wife ...
'' (1957) and ''
Full Metal Jacket
''Full Metal Jacket'' is a 1987 war drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford. The film is based on Hasford's 1979 novel ''The Short-Timers'' and stars Matthew M ...
'' (1987), as well as taking guidance from retired Marine captain
Dale Dye
Dale Adam Dye Jr. (born October 8, 1944) is an American actor, technical advisor, radio personality and writer. A decorated Marine veteran of the Vietnam War, Dye is the founder and head of Warriors, Inc., a technical advisory company specializ ...
, who said that he should act as if his soldiers are watching every move he makes. Verhoeven was a fan of Ironside, having attempted to cast him in ''RoboCop'' and giving him a central role in ''
Total Recall'' (1990).
His Jean Rasczak character appears early in ''Starship Troopers'' to set the tone, and was an original character combining two characters from the novel: Rico's teacher, Lieutenant Colonel Jean V. Dubois, and Lieutenant Rasczak, a heroic soldier.
Ironside said that after the character's family is killed in the destruction of Buenos Aires, "there isn't a God in Rasczak's life anymore. That makes him a little suicidal."
About six main actors, including Van Dien, Meyer, Busey, Gilliam and Curnal Aulisio, as well as twenty-four extras undertook a 12-day boot camp training session under Dale Dye from April 17, 1996, to the first day of filming. Taking place in Hell's Half Acre, the boot camp taught basic combat skills and tactics as Dye perceived they may evolve centuries in the future. Activities included a daily run and other physical training in the very thin air of the area which was above sea level, how to march, perform maneuveurs, and handle weapons. Those involved slept in open-air military tents, dealing with the harsh conditions including of snow and ice following a blizzard, and windstorms, and some people did drop out. Extra Julia Rupkalvis later helped Dye train the hundreds of extras portraying troopers. As Richards was not in the Infantry cast she did not have to participate, but she chose to anyway, remarking how she, Van Dien and Busey bonded while huddling together for warmth during the blizzard.
Filming
Principal photography began on April 29, 1996, with six weeks of filming in Hell's Half Acre.
The location featured extreme weather, with very warm days and frigid evenings that took a toll on much of the on-site equipment, requiring various replacements to be flown in on a regular basis.
The location was also beset by torrential rain, blizzards, and wind storms up to per hour. The site had to be evacuated temporarily after rain mixing with the bentonite in the ground created a slick surface. The crew took as much equipment as they could, and after the rain stopped two weeks later, miles of electrical cables, some equipment, and even cars had been lost under the mud. Even so, only a few days were lost to the weather as a local warehouse had been converted into a soundstage for backup scenes to be filmed.
Alongside the weather conditions, filming in Hell's Half Acre took its toll on the crew, resulting in respiratory illnesses and exhaustion. H. Dozens of people per day were treated for heat stroke from wearing heavy costumes in the heat, and production had to be shut down for a week at a cost of $1.5million a day after it affected Busey.
The location was used for the Klendathu night battle, which featured about 1,300 background trooper extras on each night of filming. Scenes were filmed mainly with a
steadicam
Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for Movie camera, motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement ...
while handheld footage was occasionally used for battle scenes, inspired by the
Normandy landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
in 1944, to make the audience feel a part of the scene. It was designed to be disorienting and gory to set expectations of the film's future combat scenes.
The cast faced a lot of difficulties in interacting with creatures that were not present in the scene and had to learn how to act against invisible objects. Various methods were used to help, including cardboard cutouts and tennis balls or flags on sticks to indicate their positions, as well as Verhoeven wielding a broom.
A fatal accident occurred during the
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
holiday weekend in May when some crew, returning to Casper from their vacation at Yellowstone park, were involved in a car crashed caused by an oncoming driver, killing the opposing driver and two crew members, and severely injuring
Rachel Campos
Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her au ...
, a crew member's girlfriend. Counselling was offered for the remaining cast and crew, who provided donations towards Campos' recover, as did the studio. Filming moved to Barry Barber Ranch on June 14, for scenes set on Klendathu and Tango Urilla,
before returning to Casper on June 26. The post Tango Urilla battle celebration was filmed separately at Vasquez Rocks.
Obstacles continued as the crew boarded their return flight to Los Angeles on June 29, to begin filming on sets July 3. One crew member was intoxicated, refused further alcohol by flight attendants and uttered a remark about a bomb which resulted in the plane being evacuated, cargo being searched, and all passengers being held in a holding area. The crew member was arrested for violating federal bomb threat laws while the remaining team had to wait another day for a flight, having to travel on a scheduled rest day and losing a day of filming in Los Angeles. The Buenos Aires education center classroom and biology lab sets were built on Sony Studios Stage 23 and filmed in late July. Jenkin's basement scenes were filmed on Stage 29; it involved a real ferret and features many of Heinlein's books in the background. The Jump Ball scene was filmed at the
Long Beach Pyramid
The Walter Pyramid, formerly known as The Long Beach Pyramid, is a 4,000-seat, indoor multi-purpose arena on the campus of Long Beach State University in Long Beach, California.
History
The Walter Pyramid was officially opened on November 30, 19 ...
arena. Van Dien, Meyer, and Muldoon performed many of their own stunts for the scene apart from flips and somersaults, but otherwise encouraged each other to "go for it, try to lay me out." The exam results scene and the prom were both filmed at
Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (; KP), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser P ...
. The prom scene involved over four hundred extras. The Federal Recruitment Center scene and the segment where Rico sees off Carmen were filmed over four days at the
Los Angeles Convention Center
The Los Angeles Convention Center is a convention center in the southwest section of downtown Los Angeles. It hosts multiple annual conventions and has often been used as a filming location in TV shows and movies.
History
The convention center, ...
, which Verhoeven chose because he considered its architecture to be futuristic and clean. The scenes there involved the highest number of extras in ''Starship Troopers'', with about 400. Some minor scenes were also filmed at the
Park Plaza Hotel.
It was difficult to find a location for the Camp Currie boot camp scenes until finding
Mile Square Regional Park Mile Square Regional Park is a park located in Fountain Valley, California, United States. It includes two lakes, three 18-hole golf courses, archery range, baseball and softball fields, picnic shelters, and a urban nature area planted with Califor ...
in
Fountain Valley. Cameron liked it because it had an abandoned World War II blimp runway onto which they laid a top coat of tarmac and paint for a parade ground. It also fit their image of a low-pollution Earth, being surrounded by flat ground and many trees. The entire structure was about and included an obstacle course and artillery ranges, as well as involving up to 300 extras. About six weeks were spent transforming the site, including adding seventeen pre-fabricated buildings. For the Rico flagellation scene, Teo was trained to use a bullwhip by Armstrong, who himself learned while doubling for
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
in the
Indiana Jones
''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
film series. The tip of the whip was removed to avoid harm and the camera angle concealed that the whip ended a short distance away from Van Dien.
The co-ed nude shower scene was filmed on a set at Sony Pictures and involved about fifteen cast members. Verhoeven had them gather around him clothed before clearing the set of all crew but himself and Vacano, after which he told the cast to undress at their own pace. Although some of the cast admitted to being nervous, they all undressed fairly quickly, but requested that Verhoeven and Vacano also be nude, to which they agreed.
The scene would become one of ''Starship Troopers'' most infamous scenes, but Verhoeven remarked he had done a similar scene in ''RoboCop'' although few seemed to notice. For ''Starship Troopers'' he wanted people to take notice. He described the point of the scene as being that since all of the characters are fascists, they have no libido and only talk about their careers and combat.
A separate nude scene was written for Richards but she refused to take part as she did not see the purpose.
Armstrong filmed many of the film's action sequences as well as the complex stunts and special effect sequences that would be too consuming for the first unit. Also working as the stunt director, Armstrong delegated much of the first unit stunt work to Dickey Beer to avoid overworking himself. The fight between Rico and Zander was mainly performed by their actors while wearing padding suits. Van Dien was injured during a stunt that involved him riding on the back of a gigantic, moving, fiberglass "Tanker Bug" shell. The movement kept slamming him into the shell as he was held in place with ropes, chipping one of his teeth and bruising his ribs over the days of filming, but he refused to mention the pain and interrupt filming.
One of the more dangerous stunts came near the end of filming, involving Van Dien, Busey, and Richards running out of an Arachnid tunnel followed by a real explosion. Only one take was done, and they were told that if someone tripped to pick them up and keep moving.
Despite the difficult conditions and obstacles, principal photography concluded after six months of filming generally six days a week on October 16, 1996, not longer after the intended finishing date. Second unit filming concluded a week later on October 23, after filming various explosions and background scenery. Armstrong estimated that about 40% of ''Starship Troopers'' constituted second unit-filmed scenes. Most effects scenes were shot early in the schedule so there was sufficient time for the effecs team to complete their work.
Post-production
Post-production began in late October 1996, and concluded about August 1997, covering editing, music, and effects. ''Starship Troopers'' was edited by
Mark Goldblatt
Mark Goldblatt is an Academy Award nominated American film editor and film director and president emeritus of the American Cinema Editors.
Brooklyn born Goldblatt studied at the University of Wisconsin and London Film School, where his instru ...
with co-editor Caroline Ross. Goldblatt described Verhoeven as very collaborative, allowing them to interpret his footage in their own way and even allowing them input during filming on how special effects may be staged. Even so, he said Verhoeven was conservative with what he filmed and generally only captured what he wanted with no coverage footage. Some scenes were changed for the release, including trimming the scene of the Brain Bug sucking brains. Another scene, of Carmen kissing Rico at the end was cut because
test audiences thought it was "immoral" after Zander's death, and were unconvinced that a woman could love both men simultaneously. The audiences were also unhappy with Carmen choosing her career over her relationship with Rico and wanted her to die at the end instead of Dizzy.
Several scenes were filmed during this period, including some of the FedNet propaganda sequences as there was no time to complete these during principal photography. Filmed over a week in late January 1997, with many of the same crew including Verhoeven and Vacano, mainly on location in and around Los Angeles, these sequences included survivors digging through the remains of Buenos Aires, shot on a vacant lot in downtown Los Angeles that was dressed with broken concrete and flame effects. Some of the crew stood in for the cast including Davison, Neumeier, Stacy Lumbrezer, and Paul Sammon, author of the film's "Making Of" book. Another scene of a psychic with a third eye was filmed in a Delta Airlines hangar at the Los Angeles International Airport. ''Starship Troopers'' is reported to have had a final budget of $100–$110million.
Two
rough cut
In filmmaking, the rough cut is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still used to describe projects that are recorded and ...
screenings were held on May 29 and 30, 1997, for executives, and the reaction was positive with discussions of a sequel. Discussing the long development of ''Starship Troopers'', Marshall said that he was proud of it whether it was a success or not, but would be happiest if audiences appreciated the work that had gone into it. Davison called it the project he was proudest to have associated with his name.
Special effects
About half of the budget for ''Starship Troopers'' was dedicated to realizing the required 500 special effect shots.
Tippett Studio was mainly responsible for producing effects relating to the Arachnids while
Sony Pictures Imageworks
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. is a Canadian visual effects and computer animation studio headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with an additional office on the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City, California. SPI is a unit of Sony Pi ...
(SPI) was tasked with spaceship effects. Davison wanted to use other studios but it was made clear to him by studio executives that the film would not receive financing without using the in-house studio.
SPI would lead to production problems, with their contributions falling months behind schedule and those effects that were completed being deemed insufficient by the filmmakers. A "highly placed" production employee said that SPI was poorly managed, disorganized, and rarely on set or involved in the production. while another said that SPI's priorities were split with developing the effects for the science fiction film, ''
Contact
Contact may refer to:
Interaction Physical interaction
* Contact (geology), a common geological feature
* Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye
* Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects
* ...
'' (1997). Due to the high quantity of effects that needed to be completed, many of the special effects shots were reassigned from SPI to other companies, including
Industrial Light & Magic
Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began pro ...
(ILM),
Boss Film Studios
Boss Film Studios was a prominent American visual effects company, founded by visual effects veteran Richard Edlund after his departure from Industrial Light and Magic, producing visual effects for over thirty films from 1983 to 1997. Before that ...
, Visual Concepts Engineering (VCE), and Mass. Illusion.
Toward the end of production, visual effects supervisor Laura Buff recommended visual effects artist,
Scott E. Anderson, to Verhoeven, who insisted Anderson take over as effects supervisor at SPI, which improved the studios output.
Designing the Arachnids was a collaborative process between Tippett, Hayes, Davison, Neumeier, and Verhoeven. Hayes said they "started by breaking the insects down into a bug hierarchy, then into individual groups. We did different drawings of bugs with weird stuff here and there, then fleshed out designs for each particular style. But there was a concerted effort to make them pretty familiar.
'Starship Troopers''is not about this fantastic lifeform: the bugs had to be real and grounded so you wouldn't have any trouble telling the good guys from the bad guys."
The final designs included the Warrior, Tanker, Plasma, Hopper, and Brain bugs. While CGI was the main method of realizing the creatures, some practical appliances were built by
Amalgamated Dynamics
Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. (ADI) is an American special effects company specializing in animatronics and prosthetic make-up, headquartered in Chatsworth, California. It was founded in 1988 by Stan Winston alumni Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gilli ...
, including two full-scale mechanized Warrior bugs capable of lifting an adult in their jaws.
Realizing the wide variety of effects for the spaceship scenes required the efforts of SPI, ILM, and Boss Film.
Jim Martin and SPI art director Michael Scheffe were mainly responsible for the design of the craft, with Martin providing broad outlines which were given greater detail and a more consistent appearance by Scheffe. Alongside developing the appearance of most of the spacecraft, SPI was also primarily involved in designing the outer space battles. Verhoeven provided ongoing input on the designs, based on what he thought futuristic spaceships would look like, being less streamlined due to the lack of air resistance in space, and taking some influence from compact combat places, such as the
de Havilland Mosquito
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or ...
used in World War II.
Thunderstone, SPI's model department, had to construct the various necessary craft, such as dropships and attack fighters, as well as versions that could be destroyed and a full-scale attack fighter for some close-up scenes.
Many miniatures were made of the ships for different scenes, some of them measuring up to long.
Music
The score for ''Starship Troopers'' was composed by Basil Poledouris over a six month period.
Poledouris intended to score the film as an action movie, but Verhoeven wanted the music to offer a realistic background for the character's experiences. As a result, Poledouris focused on creating a sense of excitement, passion, and poignancy. He developed several distinct themes for specific characters and relationships, including one for the relationship between Rico and Carmen, and one for Rico and Dizzy, whom he considered the "heart" of ''Starship Troopers''. He did not create a theme for the Arachnids, as he wanted their distinct noises to contrast with the music for the humans. Verhoeven eventually settled on Poledouris' theme for the Rodger Young spaceship as the basis for the overall score, with variations on this theme appearing throughout the score in cues later titled "Klendathu Drop."
The score was recorded on a Sony Studios recording stage between June and September 1997, with a full orchestra of 97 musicians using mainly acoustic and percussion instruments. Evelyn Oz, a band including Poledouris' daughter, Zoe, performs two songs during the prom scene: an original song, "Born With It," and "
I Have Not Been to Oxford Town
I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plural ...
," composed by
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
.
Release
Context
In 1997, a record number of costly blockbuster films were released. By August, a record 10 films had earned over $100million, with ''
The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' and ''
Men in Black
In popular culture and UFO conspiracy theories, men in black (MIB) are purported men dressed in black suits who claim to be quasi- government agents, who harass, threaten, or sometimes even assassinate unidentified flying object (UFO) witnesse ...
'' earning over $200million. However, the high cost of film production, with an average film costing $80million to produce and an additional $40million to promote, coupled with the large number of films vying for a limited audience, resulted in even successful films underperforming by 15%-20% at the box office.
Despite this, Sony Pictures set an industry record by earning over $500million in ticket sales from summer releases including ''
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...
'', ''Men in Black'', and ''
My Best Friend's Wedding
''My Best Friend's Wedding'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by P.J. Hogan from a screenplay by Ronald Bass. The film stars Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, and Rupert Everett.
The film received generally positive ...
''. The company was also restructuring its business to focus on translating its films, including ''Starship Troopers'', into media franchises that would extend their merchandising profitability beyond their time in theaters.
Marketing
The first trailer for Starship Troopers was released in November 1996, in front of ''
Star Trek: First Contact'', with the second playing before ''Men in Black'' and ''Air Force One'' in 1997. ''Starship Troopers'' was initially scheduled for release on July 2, 1997, but was later pushed back to July 25, then September, and finally November 7.
These shifts were reportedly made to allow more time to complete special effects work and increase public awareness of the film, but it was also thought that ''Men in Black'' and ''Air Force One'', which starred well-known actors like
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
, were more commercially viable options for Sony Pictures.
Marshall, a producer on the film, stated that no one involved in the production was happy about moving an anticipated summer blockbuster to the autumn.
Verhoeven later said that Davison, the film's producer, had told him it would "never make its money back.
avison Avison is a name. Notable people with that name include:
; As a surname
* Al Avison (192084), American comic book artist
*Charles Avison (170970), English composer during the Baroque and Classical periods
* David Avison (19372004), American photogr ...
saw there was a problem with the American audience better than I had."
Box office
The premiere of ''Starship Troopers'' took place on November 4, 1997 in
Westwood, Los Angeles
Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south ...
, with an afterparty at the
Museum of Flying.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released on November 7, 1997, earning approximately $22.1million from 2,971 theaters, an average of $7,424 per theater. It was the top film of the weekend, beating out ''
Bean
A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...
'' ($12.7million) and the horror ''
I Know What You Did Last Summer
''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Jim Gillespie, written by Kevin Williamson, and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. It is loosely based on ...
'' ($6.5million), both in their fourth weekend.
This also made it TriStar's third-largest opening weekend, behind ''
Total Recall'' (1990) and ''
Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (1991).
. ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' gave 1,000 tickets for ''Bean'' to young males as a test, and recorded that many then snuck into the
R-rated ''Starship Troopers''.
In its second weekend, the film dropped to second place, earning $10million, ahead of the re-release of ''
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...
'' ($9.8million) and behind the debut of ''
The Jackal'' ($15.2million). This represented a 54% decrease from the previous weekend's box office.
In its third weekend, ''Starship Troopers'' fell to seventh place with a box office gross of $4.7million, and left the top 10 highest-grossing films by its sixth weekend in mid-December.
The film left most theaters by the end of the year with a total box office gross of about $54.8million, making it the 33rdhighest-grossing film of the year.
Outside of the U.S. and Canada, the film is estimated to have earned an additional $66.3million, giving it a worldwide box office of $121million against its $105million budget, and making it the 34thhighest-grossing film worldwide.
Reception
Critical response
Upon its release, ''Starship Troopers'' received generally negative reviews and was unpopular with critics and audiences. Audience polls by CinemaScore found that moviegoers gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an scale.
Many reviewers did not interpret ''Starship Troopers'' as a satire and believed that its fascist themes were literal. An editorial in ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' described the film as pro-fascist, made, directed, and written by Nazis.
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter (born March 25, 1946, Kansas City, Missouri) is an American novelist, essayist, and film critic.
Life and career
Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. His father was Charles Francis Hunter, ...
said the film was "spiritually" and "psychologically" Nazi and born of a Nazi-like imagination. Hunter described it as a "perversion" of
Erich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque (, ; born Erich Paul Remark; 22 June 1898 – 25 September 1970) was a German-born novelist. His landmark novel '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1928), based on his experience in the Imperial German Army during Worl ...
's 1929 novel, ''
All Quiet on the Western Front
''All Quiet on the Western Front'' (german: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit=Nothing New in the West) is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental trauma du ...
'', which portrays the physical and mental tolls of war, by glorifying the horrors of war.
Others, such as ''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'', argued that the "constant fetishizing of weaponry" and "
ryancast", combined with the militaristic imagery in ''RoboCop'' and ''Total Recall'', made it seem like Verhoeven admired Heinlein's world more than he claimed.
Those who recognized the satirical elements said that the film walked a thin line between "overblown melodrama" and parody, with Verhoeven's ''RoboCop''-style "news breaks", but that these ideas were often indistinguishable from the promotion of the "fascist utopia" it was satirizing. ''Salon'' argued that even with good satire, it is "self-defeatingly stupid" to use it in a story that wants its audience to care about its characters, and that ''Starship Troopers'' fails to replace Heinlein's themes with a worthwhile ideal. The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' wrote that Verhoeven had "lost his touch" with satire by failing to respect his audiences' intelligence and make the world of Starship Troopers interesting or convincing.
Reviews generally regarded ''Starship Troopers'' as an unintelligent and "discordant" combination of ultraviolence, poor acting, and special effects, but in spite of this, it was one of the more "jaw-dropping" films of the year, amid a series of "disappointing" blockbusters. Berardinelli said that at its best, ''Starship Troopers'' replicated the thrills of ''
Aliens
Alien primarily refers to:
* Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
** Enemy alien, the above in times of war
* Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...
'' (1986), while emulating ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' in its worst moments.
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
said that Heinlein's novel was written for juveniles and the film's content would only be of interest to younger audiences.
Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
and
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
found Neuemeier's script to be unsuccessful in transitioning from the teenage love story to the carnage of war, but that ''Starship Troopers'' remained watchable as a live-action comic book.
Turan, in particular, said that unlike its contemporaries, such as ''
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
'' and ''
Twister
Twister may refer to:
Weather
* Tornado
Aviation
* Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike
* Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design
* Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paraglider design
Entertainment
* ''Twister'' (1989 ...
'' (both 1996), ''Starship Troopers'' benefitted from a lack of pretence, that the effects were less important than emotions or "pseudo-sensitivity."
Ebert concluded that outside of the satire, ''Starship Troopers'' lacked any humanity or basic entertaining value to connect with the audience.
Reviews were generally dismissive of the central cast, describing them as "no name" "mannequins" that offered an all-American superficial Aryan stereotype of beauty, while criticizing their limited acting abilities that made some of their critically derided peers seem like "classical thespians", and made it difficult to become invested in the narrative. Even so, some critics, such as
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic and former engineer. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of r ...
, said that ''Starship Troopers'' content would not work with good "or even competent" actors.
Berardinelli also praised the cast for being "appealing and enthusiastic," particularly Van Dien and Meyer for retaining some human interest once the special effect sequences become more prominent.
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
and others found the violence to be consistent with Verhoeven's other work, offering a "kinky-camp ghoulishness", but that the battles with waves of Arachnids were "joyless", emotionally unsatisfying, and grew tiresome because the creatures lacked any personality and that audiences would quickly become desensitized to the extreme gore. Ebert said the battles were worsened by the "boring" rock-like planets on which the battles took place, that featured no other species beyond humans and Arachnids.
The film's special effects received a mixed reception from those who found them impressive or "astonishing",
and others who thought that the creations sometimes faltered and looked fake.
Accolades
At the
2nd Golden Satellite Awards in 1998, ''Starship Troopers'' was nominated for Best Motion Picture (Animated or Mixed Media).
For the
70th Academy Awards
The 70th Academy Awards ceremony, organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 23, 1998, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles beginning at 6:00 p.m. PST / 9:00 p.m. EST. During the show ...
, Tippett,
Scott E. Anderson,
Alec Gillis
Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc. (ADI) is an American special effects company specializing in animatronics and prosthetic make-up, headquartered in Chatsworth, California. It was founded in 1988 by Stan Winston alumni Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gilli ...
, and
John Richardson were nominated for
Best Visual Effects.
''Starship Troopers'' was also nominated for Best Action Sequence at the
MTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie & TV Awards (formerly the MTV Movie Awards) is a film and television awards show presented annually on MTV. The first MTV Movie Awards were presented in 1992. The ceremony was renamed the MTV Movie & TV Awards for its 26th editi ...
, as well as receiving a nomination for Best Dramatic Presentation from the
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
s.
The
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards (formerly known as the ''Hastings Bad Cinema Society'') was a Los Angeles-based group of film buffs and film critics devoted to honoring the worst films of the year.
The society was founded by Mike Lancaster and Ray ...
ceremony saw ''Starship Troopers'' nominated for Worst Picture, losing to ''
Batman & Robin''.
Post-release
Performance analysis
Retrospective analysis has attempted to understand the reasons for ''Starship Troopers poor performance at the box office. The film generally failed to connect with either critics or audiences, who found its mixture of satire, violence, gore, and "cheesy" performances unappealing to mainstream audiences. Other industry experts believe it was also adversely affected by the number of successful science fiction and genre films released in that year, such as ''The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' ($618.6million), ''Men in Black'' ($587.8million), and ''
The Fifth Element
''The Fifth Element'' is a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film conceived and directed by Luc Besson, as well as co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker, and Milla Jov ...
'' ($263.9million).. Additionally, Starship Troopers was released just a few weeks before ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United ...
'' ($1.8billion), which became the highest-grossing film of its time, as well as other successful or anticipated films such as ''
Alien Resurrection
''Alien Resurrection'' is a 1997 American science fiction horror film, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, written by Joss Whedon, and starring Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder. It is the fourth installment of the ''Alien'' franchise, and wa ...
'', ''
Flubber'', ''
Scream 2
''Scream 2'' is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. It stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Timot ...
'', and the latest
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film ''
Tomorrow Never Dies
''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay by ...
''.
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' also accused ''Starship Troopers'' of being a pro-Nazi film made by two Nazis, Verhoeven and Neumeier.
Verhoeven said "We were accused by ''The Washington Post'' of being neo-Nazis!... It was tremendously disappointing. They couldn't see that all I have done is ironically create a fascist utopia."
The narrative that ''Starship Troopers'' was effectively a "neo-Nazi" film was picked up by European news publications, such as
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Verhoeven described it as "extremely punishing to us," and had to repeatedly explain to European journalists the context that ''Starship Troopers'' was using fascist imagery ironically.
Verhoeven believed this helped dissuade audiences from turning out to see ''Starship Troopers'' and, alongside poor word-of-mouth from audiences that did attend, the U.S. box office gross dropped a rare 50% in its second weekend. The title was also seen as a possible factor, leading audiences to expect something akin to a light-hearted adventure such as ''Star Wars'' instead of a film about fascism.
Verhoeven also believed audiences were not happy about Dizzy dying instead of Carmen, remarking "we were trying to be good feminists."
American historian
Robert Sklar suggested that audiences had also grown tired of alien war films and science-fiction adventure in general after the recent releases of ''
Mars Attacks!
''Mars Attacks!'' is a 1996 American science fiction comedy film directed by Tim Burton, who also co-produced it with Larry J. Franco. The screenplay by Jonathan Gems was based on the Topps trading card series of the same name. The film featu ...
'' (1996), the blockbuster ''
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
'' (1996), and the
''Star Wars'' special editions (1997), and anticipated a resurgence in war films based on World War II instead.
Verhoeven believed ''Starship Troopers'' had been poorly marketed in the U.S. by labelling it as an action film, in turn leading critics and audiences to overlook the satire.
A ''Los Angeles Times'' editorial speculated the decision could have been a deliberate choice by the studio because satire films did not perform as well.
Verhoeven anecdotally remarked that it was appropriately marketed as a satire in the United Kingdom.
Home media
''Starship Troopers'' was released on
VHS in 1998
and on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in 1999.
The DVD included additional features such as a documentary about the making of the film, screen tests with some of the actors, commentary by Verhoeven and Neumeier, and deleted scenes including an alternate ending in which Rico and Carmen officially get back together.
In 2002, a 2-disc Special Edition DVD was released with additional features, including commentary by Verhoeven, Neumeier, and the cast, breakdowns of the special effects, and several documentaries: "Death from Above," a retrospective about the making of the film, "Know Your Foe," about creating the various Arachnid creatures, "The Starships of Starship Troopers," "FX Comparisons," showing how various components were combined to create various scenes, and "Scene De-Constructions," a breakdown of some scenes with commentary by Verhoeven.
''Starship Troopers'' was released on
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
in 2008, containing many previously released extras and the addition of FedNet mode, which places a graphic overlay to the film with pop-up facts.
A
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray remastered version was released for the film's 20th anniversary with previously released extras.
A 25th anniversary 4K Blu-ray was released in 2022, in a limited edition steelbook case, and includes a reunion discussion between Neumeier, Van Dien, Richards, Meyer, Ironside, Brown, Busey, and Gilliam.
The film score was released on
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
(CD) in 1997, by
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
, but was criticized for including only 30 minutes of content. Bootleg copies were made containing additional material using the score from the film's DVD release. A limited edition 2-disc CD was released in 2016, containing additional tracks.
Other media
''Starship Troopers'' merchandise included miniatures, action figures, and "Insect Touch," a three issue comic book by
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...
. Toy manufacturer
Galoob
Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc., was a toy company headquartered in South San Francisco, California. They are perhaps best known for creating Micro Machines, which accounted for 50% of its sales in 1989, and distributing the Game Genie in the United Sta ...
developed twelve different products including action figures and vehicles. Retailers were reluctant to stock toys for an R-rated film, with both
Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
and
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
, which represented about 20% of all action figure sales, declining, although
Toys "R" Us
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...
and
KB Toys
K·B Toys (also known as Kay Bee Toys) was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy who ...
agreed. Sony executives called it an "open secret" that children were attending R-rated films.
Author Paul Sammon spent six months accompanying filming for ''Starship Troopers'', through pre-production and leading up to the film's release. His resulting work was released alongside the film as ''The Making of Starship Troopers''. A CGI animated television series, ''
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles'', was released in 1999. Based on elements of the film and Heinlein's novel, the series ran for forty episodes.
The 1976 board game ''
Starship Troopers
''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of F ...
'' was re-released and repackaged alongside the film as ''Starship Troopers: Prepare for Battle''.
A
''Starship Troopers pinball'' game was also released in 1997. ''
Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy'', a strategy game, was released in 2000.
A 2005 video game ''
Starship Troopers
''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of F ...
'' features a narrative set five years after the events of the film, with Van Dien returning to voice Rico.
A 2022 strategy game '' Starship Troopers – Terran Command'' allows the player to defend colonies against the Arachnid forces.
Themes and analysis
Politics and propaganda
''Starship Troopers'' explores themes including patriotism, authoritarianism, militarism, colonialism, and xenophobia. Verhoeven interpreted Heinlein's novel as fascistic, nationalistic, totalitarian, and in favor of military rule, something antithetical to the director's beliefs following his childhood experiences under the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, and used the film adaptation to deconstruct and undermine these themes. Iconography of the German Nazi regime and Italian
National Fascist Party
The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The ...
, led by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
and
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
respectively, appear throughout ''Starship Troopers'' as symbols of fascism belonging to the United Citizen Federation (UCF). The UCF flag, bearing an eagle, resembles that of the
Nazi coat of arms, officer uniforms resemble those worn by the Nazi secret police, the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
, including the insignia, and the infantry uniforms bear a symbol similar to Mussolini's
Blackshirts
The Voluntary Militia for National Security ( it, Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN), commonly called the Blackshirts ( it, Camicie Nere, CCNN, singular: ) or (singular: ), was originally the paramilitary wing of the Natio ...
.
Neumeier said the Nazi uniforms were used, in part, because "the Germans made the best-looking stuff," but Verhoeven also wanted to use that aesthetic in "an artistic way."
Although some contemporary critics and audiences considered ''Starship Troopers'' to be an endorsement of fascism, Verhoeven said, "whenever you see something that you think is fascist, you should know that the filmmakers agree with your opinion."
Other aspects of the Nazi regime influence ''Starship Troopers'', from the architecture of
Albert Speer
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, he ...
,
to propaganda films such as ''Triumph of the Will'' and ''Olympia'' by Leni Reifenstahl. The first scene of ''Starship Troopers'', an advertisement for the Mobile Infantry, emulates scenes from ''Triumph of the Will'', including the dialogue, "I'm doing my part!" Although some critics believed ''Starship Troopers'' was supportive of fascism, Verhoeven emulated these themes to deliberately portray the film's protagonists as fascists, while casting attractive actors, described by ''Entertainment Weekly'' as conveying the Aryan ideal of beauty, to "seduce the audience into joining
'Starship Troopers''society... but then ask, 'What are you really joining up for?'"
In the novel, Rico is revealed at the end to be Fillipino, a deliberate choice to make readers empathise with the character before revealing he is not Caucasian. Verhoeven chose to make Rico white to further satirize the fascistic messaging.
Further influence was taken from writer,
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, philosopher, and political activist. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp'", in 1964. Her ...
's 1975 essay, "Fascinating Fascisms," that identifies key aspects of Nazism, such as the "cult of beauty," "fetishism of courage," "repudiation of the intellect," and serving the community at the expense of the self.
''Entertainment Weekly'' and ''The A.V. Club'' believed the filmmakers considered the main characters to be "petty and stupid," but that the film's best joke lies in Rico not being very intelligent but, in turn, becoming the ideal Citizen and the "perfect blunt instrument" for the Arachnid war, abandoning any personal hopes and dreams outside of Military life, to seek revenge against the creatures that apparently killed his parents.
The propaganda depicted in ''Starship Troopers'' on the "FedNet" uses extreme examples to satirize the UCF, such as children holding weapons or stamping on cockroaches while an adult looks on happily, as well as slogans such as "join the Mobile Infantry and save the world" because "service guarantees citizenship."
Writer Darren Mooney considered the FedNet to be prescient of the increasing prominence of
fake news
Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...
, presenting stories that those in positions of power want the populace to see, emphasizing patriotism and duty, while offering an illusion of choice and enlightenment by asking "would you like to know more?"
The youth are indoctrinated through these slogans and propaganda, and information relating to the Arachnids is intended to provoke a xenophobic response, both convincing the protagonists that their cause is righteous and presenting the Arachnids as less than, by saying "the only good bug is a dead bug." Peace is never presented as an option.
''The A.V. Club'' wrote that ''Starship Troopers'' presents a society that has been convinced to trade its freedoms, rights, and identities for security from an alien threat.
''Starship Troopers'' was also Verhoeven's response to events he perceived in contemporary U.S. politics, such as limited gun restrictions and an increase of capital punishment, which he believed could eventually result in open fascism, as well as films that glorified U.S. military forces and depicted a casual attitude to violence. ''Entertainment Weekly'' found similarities between ''Starship Troopers'' and the action film ''
Top Gun
''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an a ...
'' (1986), which follows physically strong, young, and attractive United States Navy pilots combating a vague enemy. Several action films from the 1990s, such as ''
Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Man ...
'' (1996) and ''
Air Force One
Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...
'' (1997), also offered a similar American jingoism and pro-military message, with both films featuring a U.S. president character who is able to take an active role in the action because of their military backgrounds.
Citizenship and violence
In the militaristic society depicted in ''Starship Troopers'', many rights are reserved only for citizens, those who have served in the military, and restricted to ordinary civilians.
The boot camp shower scene involves several characters discussing their reason for enlistment, such as being able to serve as a politician, have children, receive a scholarship, or just not having to work on a farm.
Such options, typical of everyone within a democracy, are restricted by the military government governing Earth, because they must be earned through military service and thus through violence and force.
Even voting is presented as an act of force, of supreme authority, a right that must be taken instead of given.
As Rasczak tells his students, "violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at worst."
The nudity in the shower scene was criticized, but Verhoeven believed such criticism was hypocritical, believing it was easier to depict extreme violence in American films without censorship than nudity. He wanted to convey that despite their nudity, the characters do not comment or react to the fact, implying that their libido was suppressed by their dedication to fascism, the war, and their careers.
Although humanity is mainly presented as victims of the Arachnid threat, aspects of ''Starship Troopers'' reveal that humanity may have instigated the conflict by invading Arachnid worlds, and the creatures are defending themselves.
The Arachnid's asteroid that strikes Earth is used to justify a full-scale war.
This presents a cycle of war, in which Earth's youths are emboldened by the propaganda slogans to become readily disposable infantry.
These soldiers' only orders are to kill anything inhuman, and strategic failures are solved by using more soldiers.
Writer, Lloyd Farley, considered the gory and explicit scenes depicting the dead were intended to overtly display the "horrors of war" in a society solely dedicated to conflict.
The countless soldier deaths on Planet P are quickly forgotten as troops celebrate their victory and capture of the Brain Bug, with the potential promise this will lead to the end of the war, but no actual conclusion is offered in ''Starship Troopers''.
This violence is reinforced with rewards, such as Rico's repeated promotions, but these openings often arise because his predecessor was killed.
''Starship Troopers'' culminates with the surviving protagonists not disagreeing with this system or choosing to fight against it, but becoming a part of it by appearing in recruitment propaganda to enlist the next generation of troops.
Legacy
Critical reassessment
Despite its initial negative reception, ''Starship Troopers'' has been re-evaluated and is now considered one of the best science fiction films ever made. The film has grown in esteem in the decades since its release, with retrospective analyses describing it as among the most subversive and misunderstood Hollywood studio films ever made, undermined by critics and audiences who misinterpreted the anti-fascist satire as an "endorsement of a fascist utopia." ''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
'' and ''
The Atlantic
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' described it as an obvious satire, in hindsight, that was released at the wrong time, amid an era of prosperity in the United States during the late 1990s when American audiences may not have seen, or wanted to see, the criticisms of their own society. The marketing was also blamed, which presented ''Starship Troopers'' as a typical science fiction action film, making it easy for audiences not expecting satire to misinterpret it.
Other publications argued that ''Starship Troopers'' was an example of
Poe's law, where views are presented to such an extreme that it becomes impossible for audiences to understand if it is parody or serious.
Opinions on the film gradually changed alongside societal shifts, making the satire more obvious, particularly in the 2010s as its critiques of right-wing militarism, the
military–industrial complex
The expression military–industrial complex (MIC) describes the relationship between a country's military and the defense industry that supplies it, seen together as a vested interest which influences public policy. A driving factor behind the r ...
, reactionary violence and American jingoism, made it seem ahead of its time. In a 2020 retrospective, for ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', David Roth argued that ''Starship Troopers'' message had become more meaningful because it presents a narrative in which humanity, built on a culture of fascism and violence, "gets its ass kicked," and its only solution is to inflict more violence, to little success. Roth further contrasted the culture of violence to contemporary police brutality against peaceful protests or government attempts to defeat the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
through will.
''
Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
'' said it remained "riveting," but was undermined by poor acting (even if that was intended) and melodrama.
Alongside being looked on more favorably by critics, ''Starship Troopers'' is also considered a
cult classic
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
and an "unsung masterpiece." ''
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' called it the true spiritual successor to ''RoboCop''s "savage satire" and "gonzo violence," unlike that film's own sequels.
''Starship Troopers'' is now considered one of the best films of the 1990s. In 2021, the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
named it one of the 10 greatest science fiction adaptations.
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes offers a approval rating from the aggregated reviews of critics, with an average score of . The website's critical consensus reads, "A fun movie...if you can accept the excessive gore and wooden acting."
The film has a score of 51 out of 100 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
based on 20 critics' reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews."
Cultural influence
''Starship Troopers'' has continued to generate interest in the decades since its release, in part because of its critical reassessment, but also because of its elements which came to reflect future events such as
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
and the subsequent actions of the U.S. government and president
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
to convince the American people to surrender certain liberties to enable a war and defeat their enemies.
Retrospectives in the late 2010s and early 2020s have described how a contemporary rise in fascist activity in the U.S. had made ''Starship Troopers'' seem prescient and more of a warning than satire.
''The A.V. Club'' described ''Starship Troopers'' as a "brilliant dissection" of wars and how propaganda is used to justify young people being set to their deaths against a dehumanized enemy.
Verhoeven followed ''Starship Troopers'' with the 2000 science fiction horror ''
Hollow Man
Hollow may refer to:
Natural phenomena
*Hollow, a low, wooded area, such as a copse
*Hollow (landform), a small vee-shaped, riverine type of valley
*Tree hollow, a void in a branch or trunk, which may provide habitat for animals
Places
* Sleepy ...
'', a film that he believed lacked his own personal style as he acquiesced to studio demands. Disillusioned with the
Hollywood studio system
A studio system is a method of filmmaking wherein the production and distribution of films is dominated by a small number of large movie studios. It is most often used in reference to Cinema of the United States, Hollywood motion picture studios ...
, and compounded by the failures of ''Showgirls'' and ''Starship Troopers'', Verhoeven returned to Europe to work outside of the Hollywood studio system, going on to earn acclaim for his subsequent works such as ''
Black Book'' (2006) and ''
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
'' (2016).
In 2015, Van Dien remarked: "There has not been a week in my life since I did
'Starship Troopers''where I can go down the street without someone going 'Rico!'"
Richards has said she loved her character and how people responded to her as a strong female.
Several filmmakers have named it as an influence or among their favorite films, including
Ari Aster
Ari Aster (born July 15, 1986) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for writing and directing the horror films ''Hereditary'' (2018) and '' Midsommar'' (2019).
Early life
Aster was born into a Jewish family in Ne ...
,
Margaret Brown
Margaret Brown (née Tobin; July 18, 1867 – October 26, 1932), posthumously known as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown", was an American socialite and philanthropist. She unsuccessfully encouraged the crew in Lifeboat No. 6 to return to the debris ...
,
Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor. Often regarded as one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, he was placed 2nd on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". Culkin rose to prom ...
,
David Lowery,
Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
,
Eli Roth
Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. As a director and producer, he is most closely associated with the horror genre, having directed the films '' Cabin Fever'' (2003) and ''Hoste ...
,
Riley Stearns
Riley Stearns (born June 29, 1986) is an American filmmaker best known for directing the films '' Faults'' (2014) and '' The Art of Self-Defense'' (2019).
Early life
Stearns was born on June 29, 1986 in Austin, Texas, and grew up in Pflugerville ...
,
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...
,
James Wan
James Wan (born 26 February 1977) is an Australian director, producer, screenwriter and comic book writer. He has primarily worked in the horror genre as the co-creator of the ''Saw'' and ''Insidious'' franchises and the creator of The Conjurin ...
and
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright (born 18 April 1974) is an English filmmaker. He is known for his fast-paced and kinetic, satirical genre films, which feature extensive utilisation of expressive popular music, Steadicam tracking shots, dolly zooms and a ...
.
A 2020 retrospective by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' suggested that, with hindsight, ''Starship Troopers'' formed the final instalment of Verhoeven's unofficial science fiction action film trilogy about authoritarian governance, preceded by ''RoboCop'' (1987) and ''Total Recall'' (1990).
Slogans used in the film, such as "I'm doing my part!" and "Would you like to know more?", have since become part of the cultural lexicon.
In 2022, ''Starship Troopers'' inspired the ending credits sequence for popular anime
Kaguya-sama: Love is War.
[https://comicbook.com/anime/news/kaguya-sama-love-is-war-season-3-ending-starship-troopers-watch-anime/ ]
Sequels and remake
Verhoeven had never developed a sequel to any of his films, but he was interested in directing a sequel to ''Starship Troopers'', depending on its performance, although he said "I would need another three or four years of thinking to make sure the movie doesn't repeat itself."
The relative failure of ''Starship Troopers'' derailed plans for a theatrical sequel and Verhoeven moved on to other projects.
Even so, ''Starship Troopers'' was followed by two low-budget, direct-to-home media sequels. The first, ''
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation'' (2004), was directed by Tippett from a script by Neumeier and featured no returning cast or characters. Neumeier wrote and directed the second sequel, ''
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder'' (2008), which brought back Van Dien as an older Rico.
The series narrative was continued in two CGI animated films: ''
Starship Troopers: Invasion'' (2012) sees the return of Rico, Jenkins, and Ibanez (with different voice actors), while ''
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars'' (2017) was written by Neumeier and features voice acting by Van Dien and Meyer.
Beginning in 2011, reports suggested that producer
Neal Moritz
Neal H. Moritz (born June 6, 1959) is an American film producer and founder of Original Film. He has produced over 70 major motion pictures which have grossed a total of over $11 billion worldwide as of 2021. He is best known for the ''Fast & Fu ...
and
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
were interested in
rebooting the ''Starship Troopers'' film series by more closely following Heinlein's novel; there have been no updated since 2016.
Verhoeven was unhappy with the idea of the reboot being more faithful to the book.
In 2021, Van Dien said a potential television series was being discussed at
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production and distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, it is a division of Sony Entertainment's unit Sony Pictures Entertainm ...
, although talks had been stalled due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
References
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1997 films
1990s science fiction action films
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American teen films
1990s English-language films
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Films scored by Basil Poledouris
Films set in Buenos Aires
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