| Starship Troopers | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Paul Verhoeven |
| Produced by | Jon Davison Alan Marshall |
| Screenplay by | Edward Neumeier |
| Based on | Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein |
| Starring | Casper Van Dien Denise Richards Dina Meyer Jake Busey Neil Patrick Harris Clancy Brown Michael Ironside |
| Music by | Basil Poledouris |
| Cinematography | Jost Vacano |
| Editing by | Mark Goldblatt Caroline Ross |
| Distributed by | USA/Canada TriStar Pictures International Touchstone Pictures Buena Vista International |
| Release date(s) | November 7, 1997 |
| Running time | 129 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $105 million |
| Box office | $121,214,377 |
Starship Troopers is a 1997 American military science fiction film, written by Edward Neumeier (screenplay), directed by Paul Verhoeven, loosely adapted from Starship Troopers, a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. It is the only theatrically released film in the Starship Troopers franchise. The film had an enormous budget estimated around $105 million and grossed over $121 million worldwide.
The story follows a young soldier named Johnny Rico and his exploits in the Mobile Infantry, a futuristic military unit. 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".
Starship Troopers was nominated for an Academy Award (visual effects) in 1998. Director Paul Verhoeven says his satirical use of irony and hyperbole is "playing with fascism or fascist imagery to point out certain aspects of American society... of course, the movie is about 'Let's all go to war and let's all die.'"[1]
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In the future, humans have become part of a spacefaring Federation and have encountered a hostile species of large insects, the Arachnids or "Bugs," whose homeworld is the distant planet Klendathu and who contend with humans for possession of other planets. In the Federation, citizenship is not a birthright: it is a privilege granted to those who better society or risk their lives by serving in the military; citizens are granted many opportunities that are limited for non-citizens. Athlete John "Johnny" Rico (Casper Van Dien}, his girlfriend Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards) and best friend Carl Jenkins (Neil Patrick Harris) attend high school in Buenos Aires. Fellow student Dizzy Flores (Dina Meyer) is in love with Rico, but he does not return her affections. After graduation all decide to enlist in Federation service. Carmen excels academically and becomes a spaceship pilot while Carl, who is mildly psychic, is assigned Military Intelligence for scientific research on the Bugs. The less-studious Rico enlists in the Mobile Infantry mainly to see Carmen, but is surprised to see Dizzy, who has enlisted there to be near him.
At Mobile Infantry training the brutal but effective Career Sergeant Zim (Clancy Brown) heads the recruits. Rico is promoted to squad leader and finds a friend in Ace Levy (Jake Busey), but his hopes for continued romance with Carmen are dashed when he learns that she desires a career with the fleet and now serves under Rico's high school sports rival, Zander Barcalow (Patrick Muldoon). After a live-fire training incident that results in the death of one of Rico's squad members, he is demoted and publicly flogged. After deciding to resign, Rico calls his parents, but the call is unexpectedly dropped; an asteroid launched by the Arachnids has obliterated Buenos Aires, killing millions, including Rico's family. Rico rescinds his resignation and remains with the Infantry as an invasion force is deployed to Klendathu.
The first strike on Klendathu is a disaster, with heavy casualties in both the Fleet and Infantry. Rico's unit is nearly wiped out, and Rico himself is wounded and mistakenly labeled KIA, causing Carmen to believe he is dead. Rico, Ace, and Dizzy are reassigned to the Roughnecks, commanded by Rico's high school teacher Lieutenant Jean Rasczak (Michael Ironside). Dizzy and Rico begin a romance, and The Roughnecks respond to a distress call from Planet "P", where they discover a deserted outpost that had been overrun by Bugs. The distress call is a trap: the Arachnids swarm the outpost, Rasczak is killed, and Dizzy is fatally wounded, dying in Rico's arms as they are retrieved by a rescue ship piloted by Carmen and Zander. Rico and Carmen reconnect at Dizzy's funeral, where they encounter Carl, now a high-ranking Intelligence officer. Carl reveals that the reason for the ill-fated mission on P was to confirm the existence of an intelligent "brain bug", directing the other bugs and showing that the bugs have a desire to learn about their human enemy. He field-promotes Rico to lieutenant and gives him command of the Roughnecks, ordering the infantry to capture the brain bug.
As Rico's Roughnecks join the mission on the planet, the Fleet encounters fire from the Bugs, and Carmen's ship is destroyed. The dying Captain Deladier (Brenda Strong) orders them to abandon ship. She and Zander leave in an escape pod but crash into the Bug tunnel system near Rico's location. The Roughnecks continue the search for the brain bug, while Rico, unknowingly guided by a psychic suggestion from Carl, takes Ace and teammate Sugar Watkins (Seth Gilliam) into the tunnels to rescue Carmen. They find a wounded Carmen and Zander disarmed in a cavern at the mercy of several Arachnids, including the brain bug. The brain bug drains the contents of Zander's cranial cavity with a proboscis but before it can do so to Carmen, she severs it with a knife. Rico threatens the Bugs with a small nuclear bomb, so the brain bug reluctantly allows them to withdraw with Carmen. When Arachnids pursue them, Watkins is mortally wounded and sacrifices himself by detonating the nuke while the others escape. After returning to the surface, they find that former Sergeant Zim (Clancy Brown), who had demoted himself to private so that he could serve on the front lines, has captured the brain bug. Carl congratulates Rico and tells him and Carmen that the humans will soon be victorious now that Military Intelligence can study the brain bug.
The "bug planet" scenes were filmed in the badlands of Hell's Half Acre in Natrona County, Wyoming.[2]
Several cameos in the film include producer Jon Davison as the angry Buenos Aires resident who says to the FedNet camera "The only good Bug is a dead Bug!" and screenwriter Ed Neumeier as the quickly captured, convicted, and condemned murderer in another FedNet clip. Former U.S. Marine Dale Dye, whose company Warriors, Inc. provided technical military advice on the film, appeared as a high-ranking officer following the capture of the Brain Bug ("What's it thinking, Colonel?").
Several nude scenes were kept in the original version (intersex shower and bedroom romp between Ricco and Dizzy), although broadcast version had them modified. [3][4]
Director Paul Verhoeven, producer Jon Davison, writer Edward Neumeier, creature effects designers Phil Tippett and Craig Hayes, and composer Basil Poledouris were all involved with the original RoboCop movie. Actor Michael Ironside was also considered for the role of Murphy/RoboCop. Ironside did appear in Verhoeven's Total Recall. The cast agreed to do the co-ed shower scene only if Verhoeven agreed to direct the scene naked, which he did.[2]
In the commentary track of the DVD release of the film, Verhoeven remarks that he had hoped to cast actors whose age more closely matched that of the characters—and indeed of real-world soldiers—but that the producers felt such actors would look too young. The teacher and leader of the "Roughnecks" in the novel are combined into one role played by Michael Ironside.[2]
Test audience reactions led to several minor changes before the film was released. Originally it was clear that Carmen was torn between Rico and Lt. Zander. Test audiences, regardless of gender, strongly felt that a woman could not love two men at once so scenes which portrayed this were cut. These audiences also felt it was immoral for Carmen to choose a career ahead of being loyal to Rico to the extent that many commented that for choosing the career Carmen should have died instead of Dizzy. While admitting it may have been a bad commercial decision not to change the film to accommodate this, the directors did cut a scene from after Zander's death where Carmen and Rico kiss, which the audience believed made the previous betrayal even more immoral.[2]
There are many differences between the original book and film; some of these include:
A report in an American Cinematographer article states that the Heinlein novel was optioned well into the pre-production period of the film, which had a working title of Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine; most of the writing team reportedly were unaware of the novel at the time. According to the DVD commentary, Paul Verhoeven never finished reading the novel, claiming he read through the first few chapters and became both "bored and depressed."[9]
Starship Troopers polarized audiences and critics alike. While much of this was the result of Verhoeven's departure from Heinlein's novel, some arguments did resemble the original issues that polarized readers of the novel 40 years before. A prominent theme of the film is the human practice of violence without reflection or empathy, which resembles the senseless aggression of the "Bugs". This is reflected in a mixed critical response with a 62% on Rotten Tomatoes.[10] Starship Troopers was nominated for a number of awards in 1998, including the Academy Award for Visual Effects; the film won Saturn Awards for Best Costumes and Best Special Effects at the 1998 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA Awards.[11]
The film included visual allusions to propaganda films such as Why We Fight, Triumph of the Will and wartime newsreels. The symbols, and certain clothing styles, of the Federation are modeled on those of the Nazis (e.g., windbreaker, suits, cap, etc.; moreover, the military intelligence officers' uniforms bear a striking similarity to those of the Waffen-SS). The satire was embedded in action sequences with special effects.[12][13]
In the DVD audio commentary for the film, Paul Verhoeven states the movie's message: "War makes fascists of us all." He evokes Nazi Germany - particularly through its use of fashion, iconography and propaganda - which he sees as a natural evolution of the post-World War 2 United States. "I've heard this film nicknamed All Quiet on the Final Frontier," he says, "which is actually not far from the truth." Ed Neumeier (who had previously worked with Verhoeven on RoboCop) broadly concurs, although he sees a satire on human history, rather than solely the United States. Since the filmmakers did not make these statements at the time of the film's release, viewers have interpreted it variously: as a satire, as a celebration of fascism or as a simple action film.[2]
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation was direct-to-video in 2004, directed by Phil Tippett. In May 2006, MovieHole.net reported that Ed Neumeier would be writing and directing a second sequel, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, and also stated that original cast members would be returning.[14] This movie was released directly to DVD in August 2008. Starship Troopers 3: Marauder was considered an improvement over the second film and the return of Casper Van Dien as Johnny Rico was well received by fans. However, it was also criticized for its poor low-budget special effects, confusing plot, and wooden acting. Starshiptroopersfans.net has reported that a fourth Starship Troopers movie has been given the green light and will be a full length CG feature using the most advanced computer graphic imagery, although no official press release has been issued yet.[15]
In December 2011, film producer Neal Moritz announced plans to do a remake of the film.[16]
In 1997, Avalon Hill released Starship Troopers: Prepare For Battle!, a boardgame based on the film version rather than Heinlein's book. Its gameplay focused on limited skirmishes rather than larger battles. The "Skinnies" do not appear, nor is there a political element.[17] Avalon Hill previously had released a game called Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers in 1976.[18] A real-time tactics video game titled Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy was released in 2000. This game also incorporated the powered suits in Heinlein's novel into the Verhoeven version of the Mobile Infantry. It was developed by Australian software company Blue Tongue Entertainment. A first-person shooter game also titled Starship Troopers was released November 15, 2005. This version was developed by Strangelite Studios and published by Empire Interactive. Set five years after the events of the movie, the game also featured Casper van Dien voicing the in-game version of Johnny Rico. Sega Pinball released a pinball machine based on this movie.[19]
The movie was released simultaneously with a graphic novelization, which retold events from the movie. There were also additional series that were released based in the Verhoeven universe, though not directly related to the movie. Further series were published by Dark Horse Comics and Markosia. The film was followed by the CGI animated television series Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, which is loosely set inside the events of the movie just after Rico and Diz join the Roughnecks but before Rico gets promoted (though the events and tone of the show differ from those of the film).
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