Starship Troopers (film, 1997)

Starship Troopers (1997) is a film directed by Paul Verhoeven, based on a 1959 novel by Robert Heinlein.^[1] It presents a future in which humanity has unified under one world government, with a highly militarized society resembling fascism. It follows a group of youths recruited to fight a war against the "Bugs", an alien civilization that has threatened Earth.

Director Verhoeven is on record for hating Heinlein's original novel, so he decided to subvert its militaristic jingoism.^[2]^[3]

Originally written shortly after World War II, the novel was meant as a satire, but the film version was so good that many viewers took it at face value.

References

↑ Neil Strauss (1997-11-10). "50's Sci-Fi Camp Goes High-Tech; Icky Giants That Hop, Fight and Think". The New York Times. p. E1. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2026-06-05. In other words, Starship Troopers is a film with the premise of a B-movie flop and the budget of a blockbuster, a rare and risky combination to set about making consciously.
↑ T. M. Brown (2026-02-18). "Why Does Everyone Think We're Living in a Paul Verhoeven Movie?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2026-02-20. Retrieved 2026-06-05. The film is an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 novel, a moralistic tale about the necessity of war and the glory of a despotic society; Verhoeven famously disliked it, calling it “boring” and “very right wing.” He decided to subvert the fascistic themes by making them cartoonish, seeming to have drawn on his memories of growing up in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
↑ "Triple Dutch: Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi trilogy". Empire magazine. 2014-02-12. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2026-06-05.

[nytimes1997-11-10-1] Neil Strauss (1997-11-10). "50's Sci-Fi Camp Goes High-Tech; Icky Giants That Hop, Fight and Think". The New York Times. p. E1. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2026-06-05. In other words, Starship Troopers is a film with the premise of a B-movie flop and the budget of a blockbuster, a rare and risky combination to set about making consciously.

[nytimes2026-02-18-2] T. M. Brown (2026-02-18). "Why Does Everyone Think We're Living in a Paul Verhoeven Movie?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2026-02-20. Retrieved 2026-06-05. The film is an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein’s 1959 novel, a moralistic tale about the necessity of war and the glory of a despotic society; Verhoeven famously disliked it, calling it “boring” and “very right wing.” He decided to subvert the fascistic themes by making them cartoonish, seeming to have drawn on his memories of growing up in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.

[empireonline2014-02-12-3] "Triple Dutch: Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi trilogy". Empire magazine. 2014-02-12. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2026-06-05.

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