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Starship Troopers

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

1997 2h 9m EN
πŸ‘
7.1
SOLID
β˜…7.1TMDB Β· 5,751
AdventureActionThrillerScience Fiction
Synopsis
Spoiler shield

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."

β€œA new kind of enemy. A new kind of war.”

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Cast

Credits

Behind the camera

Director
Paul Verhoeven
Writers
Edward Neumeier, Giacomo G. Ghiazza, Jimmy Fusil
Languages
English
Countries
United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8
MONEY

Did you know

$105M budget β€” tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr Β· trivia#01
2 / 8
ERA

Did you know

29 years old β€” old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr Β· trivia#02
3 / 8
CAST

Did you know

Part of the "Starship Troopers Collection" β€” so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr Β· trivia#03
4 / 8
CAST

Did you know

544+ people credited in cast and crew β€” a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr Β· trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Paul Verhoeven, shot by Jost Vacano. Note their partnership β€” DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr Β· trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Basil Poledouris. Worth a dedicated listen after β€” most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr Β· trivia#06
7 / 8
DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Caroline Ross shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr Β· trivia#07
8 / 8
CAST

Did you know

Casper Van Dien and Dina Meyer and Denise Richards carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr Β· trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

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.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

  • 1$105M budget β€” tentpole studio territory.
  • 229 years old β€” old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
  • 3Part of the "Starship Troopers Collection" β€” so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
  • 4544+ people credited in cast and crew β€” a small city's worth of labour.
  • 5Directed by Paul Verhoeven, shot by Jost Vacano. Note their partnership β€” DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
  • 6Original score by Basil Poledouris. Worth a dedicated listen after β€” most great films lose half their impact without the score.
  • 7Editor Caroline Ross shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
  • 8Casper Van Dien and Dina Meyer and Denise Richards carry the top of the cast.
  • 9Marketing tagline: "A new kind of enemy. A new kind of war.".
  • 10IMDB entry: tt0120201 β€” still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
  • 11Classified under 18 themes, including "spacecraft", "space marine", "army", "moon".
  • 12Released under 14 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography
Jost Vacano
Original score
Basil Poledouris
Editing
Caroline Ross
Production design
Allan Cameron
Costume design
Ellen Mirojnick
Makeup / hair
Kathryn Blondell
VFX supervisor
Phil Tippett
Sound
Randy Thom
Stunt coordinator
Vic Armstrong
Runtime
129 min Β· 2h 9m
Aspect ratio (typical)
1.37:1 (Academy)
Status
Released
Budget
$105,000,000
Box office
$121,214,377
Return
115% of budget
Original language
EN
Certification (US)
R

Part of

Starship Troopers Collection

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.

Also by

Paul Verhoeven

Stills Β· wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames β€” open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

  • Gimly
    β˜… 8/10

    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.

  • Zamomin
    β˜… 8/10

    ##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.

  • Kamurai
    β˜… 6/10

    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

Who made it

  • TriStar Pictures

    TriStar Pictures

    US

  • Touchstone Pictures

    Touchstone Pictures

    US

  • JO

    Jon Davison Productions

    US

  • BI

    Big Bug Pictures

Key crew

  • Production DesignAllan Cameron
  • Costume DesignEllen Mirojnick
  • EditorCaroline Ross
  • CastingJohanna Ray
  • ProducerJon Davison
  • Art DirectionBruce Robert Hill
  • Set DecorationRobert Gould
  • CastingElaine J. Huzzar
  • EditorMark Goldblatt
  • Art DirectionSteven Wolff
  • ProducerAlan Marshall
  • Assistant AccountantPaul Pawlowski
  • Costume SupervisorNick Scarano
  • ModelingMartin Meunier
  • Set Production AssistantMichael K. DeVaney
  • Production SupervisorGregory Manson
  • Sound Effects EditorPatricio A. Libenson
  • Sound DesignerRandy Thom
  • Sound Effects EditorDean Beville
  • Sound Effects EditorCharles Maynes
  • Sound DesignerJohn Pospisil
  • Steadicam OperatorStephen St. John
  • Sound mixerJoseph Geisinger
  • Sound Effects EditorWarren Hamilton Jr.

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

  • spacecraft
  • space marine
  • army
  • moon
  • based on novel or book
  • asteroid
  • intelligence
  • dystopia
  • buenos aires, argentina
  • space battle
  • satire
  • giant insect
  • creature
  • soldier
  • alien invasion
  • drill instructor
  • military
  • bugs

Release history Β· US

When it landed

  • Premiere1997-11-04Β· Westwood, California
  • Theatrical1997-11-07R
  • Physical1998-05-20RΒ· DVD

Also known as

International titles

  • Starship Troopers 1US
  • Starship TroopersMX
  • Svemirski marinciHR
  • Infanteria stelaraRO
  • Svemirski vojniciRS
  • Vesoljski bojevnikiSI
  • Hviezdna pechotaSK
  • Ε»oΕ‚nierze KosmosuPL
  • Π—Π²Ρ‘Π·Π΄Π½Ρ‹ΠΉ дСсантRU
  • γ‚Ήγ‚ΏγƒΌγ‚·γƒƒγƒ—γƒ»γƒˆγ‚₯ルーパーズJP
  • 星河戰隊HK
  • 星河战队CN
  • ζ˜Ÿθˆ°ζˆ˜ε°†CN
  • ζ˜Ÿθ‰¦ζˆ°ε°‡TW

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