Over the span of ten years during the
late Eighties/early Nineties, director
Paul Verhoeven dominated the box
offi ce with some of the all-time
greatest dystopian sci-fi movies of
not only the era but perhaps of all
time, most notably with Robocop in
1987 and Total Recall in 1990 (with
psychological thriller classics, Basic
Instinct in 1992 and Showgirls in
1995, thrown in for good measure
too). But a fi lm that’s perhaps less written
about but certainly deserves to be on this list is
Starship Troopers, released in 1997.
The darkly funny, bold satire of right-wing
militarism focuses on high-schoolers Johnny
Rico (played by Casper Van Dien who had
largely been in TV roles until this point) and
his girlfriend Carmen Ibanez (a fresh-faced
Denise Richards) in a future where humans
have started to colonise other planets and are
in battle with alien Bugs who hurl meteorites in
to space to defend their planet.
Based on the book by Robert A Heinlein,
Starship Troopers, which was released in
1959, was reportedly written as a response
to the US suspending nuclear tests, though it
garnered some controversy with its depiction
of a world dominated by the military – where
residents of the planet cannot become true
citizens (and thus be afforded the right
to vote) until they have completed their
military service.
The fi lm, too, follows these themes. The
teachers are ex-military and instead of
dissecting frogs in biology class, they dissectTHE LEGENDARY PAUL VERHOEVEN FOLLOWED HIS DYSTOPIAN
CLASSICS TOTAL RECALL AND ROBOCOP WITH 1998’S STARSHIP
TROOPERS – WE DELVE INTO THE SATIRICAL MILITARY SCI-FI WONDER
TO FIND OUT JUST WHY WE ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW MORE
WORDS RACHAEL HARPERRETRO CLASSIC
STARSHIP
TROOPERS
baby Bugs to fi nd out how best to kill them.
Corporal punishment is standard. Graduation
day is dominated by a military sorting and
signing up process, with colourful banners
encouraging the excitable kids to join the
army. Which is exactly what Rico and Ibanez
do (the former joining the infantry to impress
the latter, who is heading for fl ight school).
Unfortunately for them (and the human race),
the Bugs have just sent the biggest meteorite
yet, completely wiping out Buenos Aires, and
Earth is now going to glorious, glorious war...
It’s an ugly vision of the future, a Bug
vision of the future. Politics and people areseemingly governed by the media, portraying
fake news long before Mr Trump made the
phrase so popular. The movie is littered
with propaganda, showing young children
gleefully stamping on regular Earth-bound
bugs to ‘do their bit’ and graphic videos of
Bugs being gunned down, so we know exactly
where to aim for when we slaughter their
race. The movie is joyfully self-aware, pointing
out the extreme power of the media and the
futility of war under a veil of dark comedy and
light-hearted segways. At a time when the
internet was arguably just beginning its mass
domination and Facebook was a whole seven088 | W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K
STARSHIP TROOPERS
RETRO CLASSIC
We’re at
glorious war!RobocopRobocopRobocop
Total RecallTotal RecallTotal Recall
psychological thriller classics, Basic
InstinctInstinctInstinct ShowgirlsShowgirlsShowgirlsStarship TroopersStarship TroopersStarship TroopersStarship TroopersStarship TroopersStarship TroopersTHE LEGENDARY PAUL VERHOEVEN FOLLOWED HIS DYSTOPIAN
CLASSICS TOTAL RECALL AND ROBOCOP WITH 1998’S STARSHIP
TROOPERS – WE DELVE INTO THE SATIRICAL MILITARY SCI-FI WONDER
TO FIND OUT JUST WHY WE ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW MORE
WORDS RACHAEL HARPERRETRO CLASSIC
STARSHIP
TROOPERS
Corporal punishment is standard. Graduation(^088) WWW.SCIFINOW.CO.UK
STARSHIP TROOPERS
RETRO CLASSIC
glorious war!