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$105M budget β tentpole studio territory.

"A new kind of enemy. A new kind of war."
Set in the future, the story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry. Rico's military career progresses from recruit to non-commissioned officer and finally to officer against the backdrop of an interstellar war between mankind and an arachnoid species known as "the Bugs."
βA new kind of enemy. A new kind of war.β

Casper Van Dien
Johnny D. Rico

Dina Meyer
Dizzy Flores

Denise Richards
Carmen IbaΓ±ez

Jake Busey
Private Ace Levy

Neil Patrick Harris
Colonel Carl Jenkins

Clancy Brown
Career Sergeant Zim

Michael Ironside
Lieutenant Jean Rasczak

Patrick Muldoon
Zander Barcalow
Credits
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Paul Verhoeven directs. Jost Vacano behind the camera. Basil Poledouris scores. Caroline Ross cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.
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Starship Troopers is an American military science fiction media franchise based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein and the satirical 1997 film adaptation by screenwriter Edward Neumeier and director Paul Verhoeven.
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Community reviews
A rare example of when a bad adaptation of a book winds up making a good standalone movie. Near Kubrick-ian in its wartime satire, Starship Troopers is, before it is anything else, fun. Final rating:β β β β - Very strong appeal. A personal favourite.
##No time for regrets in the fury of battle Again and again there are undertones in this movie that show us that the situation is not as simple as the leaders of the world portrayed in the film might want their underlings to believe. A reporter asks the question whether the humans were the ones who started the war and whether the Arachnids are simply acting in self-defense. A talk show guest finds the idea that there could be intelligent Arachnids preposterous, showing how much the propaganda has done to degrade the enemy. In a great scene we see the eye of one of the arachnids for the first time and for a second I was wondering what was going on inside the creature. Of course, this brief moment of reflection is quickly erased by a gun shot and the continuation of the fury of war. But this, to me, seems to add to the overall anti-war message: The soldiers can only stay obedient servants if they are not given moments to reflect and question the system. And so when the viewer see the propaganda clip at the very end of the movie proclaiming triumphantly and bombastically "They'll fight and they'll win", they might have already forgotten that just a moment ago they saw a sentient being being tortured in the name of this promised glorious victory.
Good watch, will watch again, and can recommend, possible for a Bad Movie Night. I'll start by saying the movie definitely isn't good, it's infamous for being a bad movie that people still love. Granted it was 1997, but the cg effects were horrendous. The practicals actually weren't so bad, but there are very few shots to actually appreciate them. Again, 1997, this movie is weirdly dated with its perception of what the future would have been. For those that weren't familiar, this is most decidedly spurred by the popularity of Starcraft in the late 1990's, and that there weren't too many horde movies out there, at least not ones that weren't zombies. Clearly inspired by Starcraft's Zerg and Warhammer 40K's Tyranids, a bug by any other name. The world is amazingly crafted, and we only see the tip of the iceberg. There could have been an entire "Star Trek" style series set in that universe. For the parts written all the acting is sufficient, the cannon fodder acts at the level of characters that would be thrown away, the stars are clearly the stars, and there is some hierarchy in between. I honestly don't know how much better they could have casted this, but I imagine if the character work in the script had been better, then maybe they could have drawn a couple of names. There is a young Neil Patrick Harris, and Amy Smart, and Dina Myers was golden, but the other characters weren't exactly likable, and I can't figure out if it was the character writing or I just didn't like their faces. I get Denise Richards was a big deal, but her nose makes me remember the Grinch blooper where Carey bites off the mayor's nose, and even in "Wild Things" I thought Neve Campbell could do better. The large picture stuff is a good enough, and it's filled with enough action and well placed comedy that it'll get you through the movie. It's fun, please don't take it seriously. If i can do it then you can.
Production companies

TriStar Pictures
US

Touchstone Pictures
US
Jon Davison Productions
US
Big Bug Pictures
Themes & keywords
Release history Β· US
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