History Film / StarshipTroopers

** [[WebVideo/ReView Mike Stoklasa]] called it the "anti-''Franchise/StarTrek''", in that it offers a much more cynical and fascist view of what the Federation would be like. He specifically compares it to "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E18Arena Arena]]", the episode where Kirk faces off against a Gorn captain, an enemy who initially seems evil and monstrous, but ultimately shows signs of being [[ItCanThink a sapient being]] who just wants to defend his people, causing Kirk to spare his life--Stoklasa argues that the film shows a version of events where Kirk ignores those signs and murders the Gorn anyway.

* TenMinuteRetirement: Rico tries to quit after he is demoted (due to getting a fellow trainee killed because of his desire to win), but just as he is walking out of the base, [[spoiler:the Bugs supposedly ColonyDrop his hometown]] and he promptly forces his way back into the Infantry.

** Also, the scene when the soldiers were practicing throwing knives at targets. In the book, when Ted Hendrik (Ace Levey in the film) questioned Sergeant Zim on the purpose of this training exercise when the enemy uses more advanced and deadly weapons, Sergeant Zim responded by saying there are no such thing as dangerous weapons; only dangerous men. He explained that he is training his soldiers to be dangerous with any weapon in battle even if they only have one arm and one leg left. The movie changed this scene by having Sergeant Zim throw a knife at the questioning soldier's hand without even explaining the purpose of the training, which is doubly silly when you remember that the Bugs aren't tool users so throwing the knife would do precisely squat.

* AlliterativeName: Rico's assigned unit for most of the movie is Rasczak's Roughnecks. In a MeaningfulEcho, this becomes [[spoiler:''Rico's'' Roughnecks.]]

* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: The cowardly General Owen is treated with utter contempt by the [[SpaceMarines mobile infantry]] who find him hiding in a supply closet. So when he gets smeared across the ground by the shot-down corpse of a flying bug landing on top of him, the response is whoops and cheers from the nearby soldiers.

* AnkleDrag: One soldier loses her nerve after seeing another soldier torn apart by several Bugs and flees for her life. As she runs, the ground collapses beneath her and she lands in one of the Bugs' tunnels and is confronted by one. She tries to crawl away but the Bug grabs her ankle and drags her deeper into the tunnels to an undoubtedly grisly end.

* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: Lt. Raschak has a reputation for being a "real nutbuster" among troops outside his unit, but Raschak's Roughnecks are fiercely loyal to their commander. He comes across as stern and demanding, not hesitant to [[MercyKill shoot one of his own troopers]] to save the poor ape from [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath being eaten alive by a nest of Bugs]], and says he'd expect anyone in his unit to do the same for him. But then we see that he understands the importance of soldier morale by ordering his troops to have a party while they're in a safe zone, and even allowing Rico and Dizzy to finish up their [[DoubleEntendre R&R]] in the tent.

* BettyAndVeronica: Rico for Dizzy and Ibanez. [[spoiler:Interestingly, he essentially winds up with neither as Dizzy dies and Ibanez [[LetsJustBeFriends ends their relationship]] to concentrate on being a career pilot.]]

* BloodFromTheMouth: Dizzy, after she gets ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice, justified, as at least one of the Arachnids talons clearly goes through where the lung is located.

** Shujumi tries to be one in the Klendathu battle by charging into the middle of the Arachnid horde but ends up quickly torn to pieces.
* BloodyHilarious: Several examples, most notably [[spoiler:General Owen]] getting crushed by a Flying Bug that had already been killed because he didn't move out of the way in the absurdly long time it took to crash and instead screamed his head off. Ace is clearly struggling not to grin at this.

* BorrowedCatchphrase: After the death of [[spoiler:Rasczak (rad-chak)]], Rico takes lead of the Roughnecks and recites each of the former's phrases nearly verbatim perhaps to honor his legacy. Its almost as if he was becoming a LegacyCharacter.

* CapitalOffensive: The Federation shows what a [[HollywoodTactics bunch of geniuses]] they are by invading Arachnid territory and going straight for their homeworld Klendathu, the most heavily populated and fortified planet of the Arachnid's interstellar empire. [[DeconstructedTrope The human assault force is routed within the hour and they are forced to retreat with embarassing casualties]]. The next Sky Marshal goes for the somewhat more sane strategy of attacking the outlying colonies first.

** Rico's and Dizzy's football chops from their schooldays serve them well during boot camp, and again on Planet P in their respective fights against Tanker Bugs.

* ColossusClimb: The hero climbs up on top of a giant bug that's attacking his squad. He blows a hole in the bug's body, drops a large explosive in the hole, and jumps off.

* CrapSaccharineWorld: The United Citizens' Federation is a military-led society in which only veterans are citizens, you need an official license to have children, and you can be tried, found guilty, and executed all in one day (on live TV), and that is fighting an endless colonial war across space against an implacable enemy with superior numbers. Yet, this is all presented in a bright, sunny, matter-of-fact way. In the original novel, veterans are veterans of any public service, the film highly implies that it is only military service that counts.
* CreatorCameo: Screenwriter Ed Neumeier makes an appearance in one of the news segment as a murderer sentenced to death with his execution to be broadcast live.

* CurbStompBattle: The attempted invasion of Klendathu to end the war right away ends up putting a critical dent in the Federation and takes at least 100,000 Mobile Infantry soldiers including some of Johnny's boot camp buddies when they stumble into the Arachnids' defensive swarms; it doesn't take long before the ZergRush tilts in the Bugs' favor and an order to abort the mission is given. The propaganda clip after the battle states "100,000 dead in one hour," but the casualty list on the hospital ship shows a number above 300,000. Another communication broadcast during the battle mentions the Bugs are actually ''overrunning the dropships as they're picking up the retreating troops''.

* DeadMansTriggerFinger: During a ([[NoOshaCompliance remarkably unsafe]]) live-fire training exercise, one recruit is hit in the back by a StaticStunGun as she turns to bicker with another recruit who was trying to fix his helmet (on Rico's orders) [[TooDumbToLive by taking it off]]. She ends up inadvertently firing a burst that takes part of his head off.

* DeathOfTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Dizzy. Also, [[spoiler:the male fleet pilot who was trying to hook up with Carmen the whole time (Zander).]]

* DoomMagnet: Rico, to almost WalkingDisasterArea degrees. Anyone in his squad should have a counter ticking down on their head. By the end of the movie, he and Ace are the only surviving members of his main squad, his initial squad is whittled down to just himself, Ace and Dizzy by the initial attempt at invasion gone horrifically wrong, then his new squad is killed (including Diz, who had just completed a RelationshipUpgrade with Rico) in their third outing as well his commanding officer (also his high school teacher). By the end of the movie, the only surviving named members of the initial group are himself, Carmen, Ace and Carl.

* DramaticSpaceDrifting: On their escape route from the collapsing spaceship, Carmen and Zander pass by a field of debris and bodies floating in space.

* DyingDeclarationOfHate: a human soldier is about to be killed by a "brain bug" which controls the seemingly mindless insects in the BugWar and he uses his last words to tell it, "One day, someone like me is gonna kill you... and your whole fucking race!"

* FalseFlagOperation: Very heavily implied to be the case regarding the "bug's" attack on Buenos Aires. Not only is the science displayed [[ArtisticLicenceSpace absolutely ludicrous even for the standards of a goofy sci-fi flick]] but the bugs never demonstrate anywhere near this level of technology anywhere else in the film (firing off plasma to knock out ships in orbit is one thing, dislodging an asteroid ''on the other side of the galaxy'' is another). Also the fact that Earth's powerful orbital defences apparently did not see it or stop it.
* FalseReassurance: When Rico first signs up, the recruiter boasts that the Mobile Infantry made him the man he is today... as he shakes Rico's hand with an artificial arm and rolls his chair back to reveal he's had both legs amputated.

* {{Fartillery}}: The alien army has a literal fartillery, capable of taking down a large spaceship. It's less farting and more projectile... gobbets of bio-plasma.

* FieldPromotion: Taken to extreme levels with Rico once they end up in the Roughnecks. After taking out a tanker in an extremely reckless move, he is elevated to corporal. After the previous commander dies, Rico becomes acting lieutenant. After they get back to HQ, instead of assigning another one, Carl just makes the promotion permanent. It's even directly shown that Rico is only getting this bump up to Lieutenant because his friend can make it happen. Even when he's promoted to Corporal, it's because he showed he could take initiative in the thick of action, and THEN only because Rasczak's previous man in that role was recently killed. It's also suggested that Rico simply got the promotion because the war is going so ''badly'' for the Federation that all the senior officers are out of action.

* GracefullyDemoted: The DrillSergeantNasty is shown wanting to fight the [[BugWar Bugs]] rather than train cadets. There's a minor background moment where a commanding officer tells him there's no way he's fighting the Bugs unless he busts his ass down to private. This turns out to be a BrickJoke, as said character wound up doing just that, and winds up capturing the Brain Bug and possibly turning the tide of the war.

* HeroicBSOD: Ace is shutting down mentally during the nocturnal raid on the alien planet.

* HowWeGotHere: The opening newsreel takes place during the initial invasion of Klendathu, before the movie jumps back a few months, then catches up about half-way through.

* InappropriatelyCloseComrades: There's quite a lot of fraternization in the military. Rico even turns down an offer from a squadmate only for the CO to tacitly encourage him to take her up on it. But that's merely one of many symptoms of discipline that the Federation military is clearly shown to be lacking in.

[[caption-width-right:349:''"The only good Bug is a dead Bug!"'']]

->''"Join the Mobile Infantry and save the galaxy."\\
"Service Guarantees Citizenship!"\\
"Would you like to know more?"''
-->-- '''Various buzz-words''' in Federation propaganda

* IfYouTauntHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: A fleet officer taunts the main character, Johnny Rico, trying to get him to fight back. When Johnny tells him that he would have to be insane to hit an officer, the man tells him to 'disregard rank'. This ends in an all-out brawl. This is an aversion because the room was full of people, including officers who outranked them both, who heard the guy loudly announce "We are disregarding rank" right before Rico beat the shit out of him.

-->''[[TheStinger They'll keep fighting...and they'll WIN!]]''

-->''[[Franchise/StarshipTroopers Would you like to know more?]]''

* [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfDistance Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense Of Distance]]

* [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfDistance Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Distance]] and [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfVelocity Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Velocity]]

** Whatever the Arachnids did to crash the asteroid into Earth, judging by the distance in the galaxy of both solar systems, it would physically be impossible for the effect to take place less than '''70,000 years''' later (and that's assuming the attack moved at light speed, which is orders of magnitude from what we see of the Bugs' capabilities). If the Arachnids are responsible for the attack, it was conducted tens of thousands of years before the first human civilizations - which leads more plausibility to the fan theory that this was not an actual attack. If the attack "only" moved at a sizable fraction of the light speed, which in itself would be an incredible achievement, it would need to be set up literally millions of years in advance.
** And if the Bugs did launch an asteroid at speeds fast enough to reach Earth in a timely manner, unless someone put retrorockets on the rock, it would still be going FTL when it hit the planet. We'd have much bigger things to worry about than a Buenos Aires sized crater at that point if that happened.

* ArmorIsUseless: The MI's heavy body armor doesn't do shit against anything, least of all the Bugs. There's not a single instance in the movie where it actually provides protection. It's possible that it's simply flak armor designed to protect against shrapnel, but we don't see it perform this function either. As [[https://youtu.be/vqBAjl0QA0I Advanced Sci-Fi Civilisations Too Stupid to Exist]] notes, the armor is actually a detriment because it restricts movement and the Bugs don't use human weapons which it was built to protect against.[[note]]And even then, we see Rasczak MercyKilla trooper who was taken by a Hopper bug and the bullet goes right through his armor, at long range and center-mass. Makes you wonder if the armor is good for ''anything''.[[/note]]

* ArmorIsUseless: The MI's heavy body armor doesn't do shit against anything, least of all the Bugs. There's not a single instance in the movie where it actually provides protection. It's possible that it's simply flak armor designed to protect against shrapnel, but we don't see it perform this function either. As [[https://youtu.be/vqBAjl0QA0I Advanced Sci-Fi Civilisations Too Stupid to Exist]] notes, the armor is actually a detriment because it restricts movement and the Bugs don't use human weapons which it was built to protect against.

The film was [[IntendedAudienceReaction intentionally designed]] as the polar opposite of the book in terms of message, characterization, and themes -- an attack on the idea that WarIsGlorious. A fairly detailed exploration of the film's themes can be found on [[https://film.avclub.com/starship-troopers-1798220409 The AV Club]]. The film was also riffed by Podcast/RiffTrax. (It should be noted that some people [[MisaimedFandom missed the satire]], perceiving a simple gung-ho action flick instead; to Verhoeven's credit, the film is his most action-packed.)

A co-production between Creator/TriStarPictures and Creator/TouchstonePictures, the film is a satire of militarism, the Cold War, dehumanization of the enemy, war movies, propaganda and military sci-fi in general. It originally started out as an unrelated script called ''Bug Hunt'' before the studio acquired the rights to the novel and Verhoeven, disgusted by what little he was able to stomach of Heinlein's book, had the script rewritten to deepen the satire.

The film was [[IntendedAudienceReaction intentionally designed]] as the polar opposite of the book in terms of message, characterization, and themes -- an attack on the idea that WarIsGlorious. A fairly detailed exploration of the film's themes can be found on [[https://film.avclub.com/starship-troopers-1798220409 The AV Club.]] The film was also riffed by Podcast/RiffTrax. (It should be noted that some people [[MisaimedFandom missed the satire]], perceiving a simple gung-ho action flick instead; to Verhoeven's credit, the film is his most action-packed.)

* BrokenAesop: Director Paul Verhoeven claimed to have wanted to use this movie to demonstrate the dangers of fascism, but he either never read, or finished the book and instead relied mostly on script writers to deliver the message. The movie depicted a highly militarized society and the will to demonize and exterminate the 'other' (that being the bugs), but aside from tidy uniforms and what seems to be a ForeverWar, the Federation itself (as portrayed in the movie) does not show much 'Fascistic' elements. In fact, many scenes in the movie are outright contradictory. Take the following depictions in the movie for example: The Federation's motto is 'service guarantees citizenship', when in actual Fascist societies, this would have been 'citizenship guarantees service'. There is an absence for reverence of the state, a political party apparatus or even national leader(s). Heck, there is a lack of demonstration in BigBrotherIsWatching, or even a hint of a SecretPolice. Moreover, the Federation admitted to have made a mistake in their initial invasion of Klendathu, which is unimaginable in a Fascist society. Rico's history teacher, Mr. Rasczak encouraging the former to think freely, whereas in a Fascist society he would have encouraged Johnny to just 'trust the state'. Not to mention open debates are still very much a thing in the movie's version of late-night television. Lastly, one of the main focuses of the movie, that being the 'mobile infantry', is made of an entirely voluntary force, not forced conscription as it would have been in a Fascist regime. Recruits can apparently quit at any time without penalties except being unable to apply for Federal Service in the future. In a later scene, Sergeant Zim ripping Rico's resignation papers while his superior looked on with encouragement demonstrated flexibility in the adherence of established rules and lacking any fear of possible retaliation from the state. Battles are broadcasted live and casualty rates calculated in real-time. Again not something a Fascist regime would do especially when the latter admitted to have unequivocally failed in their initial invasion.

* BrokenAesop: Director Paul Verhoeven claimed to have wanted to use this movie to demonstrate the dangers of fascism, but he either never read, or finished the book and instead relied mostly on script writers to deliver the message. The movie depicted a highly militarized society and the will to demonize and exterminate the 'other' (that being the bugs), but aside from tidy uniforms and what seems to be a ForeverWar, the Federation itself (as portrayed in the movie) does not show much 'Fascistic' elements. In fact, many scenes in the movie are outright contradictory. Take the following depictions in the movie for example: The Federation's motto is 'service guarantees citizenship', when in actual Fascist societies, this would have been 'citizenship guarantees service'. There is an absence for reverence of the state, a political party apparatus or even national leader(s). Heck, there is a lack of demonstration in BigBrotherIsWatching, or even a hint of a SecretPolice. Moreover, the Federation admitted to have made a mistake in their initial invasion of Klendathu, which is unimaginable in a Fascist society. Rico's history teacher, Mr. Rasczak encouraging the former to think freely, whereas in a Fascist society he would have encouraged Johnny to just 'trust the state'. Not to mention open debates are still very much a thing in the movie's version of late-night television. Lastly, one of the main focuses of the movie, that being the 'mobile infantry', is made of an entirely voluntary force, not forced conscription as it would have been in a Fascist regime. Recruits can apparently quit at any time without penalties except being unable to apply for Federal Service in the future. In a later scene, Sergeant Zim ripping Rico's resignation papers while his superior looked on with encouragement demonstrated flexibility in the adherence of established rules and lacking any fear of possible retaliation from the state. Battles are broadcasted live and casualty rates calculated in real-time. Again not something a Fascist regime would do especially when the latter admitted to have unequivocally failed in their initial invasion.

** "It's afraid. IT'S AFRAID!" ''([[NoSympathy the gathered soldiers cheer triumphantly]])''

* FalseFlagOperation: Very heavily implied to be the case regarding the "bug's" attack on Buenos Aires. Not only is the science displayed [[ArtisticLicenceSpace absolutely ludicrous even for the standards of a goofy sci-fi flick]] but the bugs never demonstrate anywhere near this level of technology anywhere else in the film (firing off plasma to knock out ships in orbit is one thing, dislodging an asteroid ''on the other side of the galaxy'' is another).

* ObliviousAstronomers: The Bug Meteor isn't spotted by ''anyone'' before it crashes into Buenos Aires, despite the Federation's highly-advanced technology.

* BrokenAesop: Director Paul Verhoeven claimed to have wanted to use this movie to demonstrate the dangers of fascism, but he either never read, or finished the book and instead relied mostly on script writers to deliver the message. The movie depicted a highly militarized society and the will to demonize and exterminate the 'other' (that being the bugs), but aside from tidy uniforms and what seems to be a ForeverWar, the Federation itself (as portrayed in the movie) does not show much 'Fascistic' elements. In fact, many scenes in the movie are outright contradictory. Take the following depictions in the movie for example: The Federation's motto is 'service guarantees citizenship', when in actual Fascist societies, this would have been 'citizenship guarantees service'. There is an absence for reverence of the state, a political party apparatus or even national leader(s). Heck, there is a lack of demonstration of BigBrotherIsWatching, or even a hint of a SecretPolice. Moreover, the Federation admitted to have made a mistake in their initial invasion of Klendathu, which is unimaginable in a Fascist society. Rico's history teacher, Mr. Rasczak encouraging the former to think freely, whereas in a Fascist society he would have encouraged Johnny to just 'trust the state'. Apparently, open debate is still very much a thing in the movie's version of late-night television. Lastly, one of the main focuses of the movie, that being the 'mobile infantry', is made of an entirely voluntary force, not forced conscription as it would have been in a Fascist regime. Not to mention recruits can quit at any time without penalties except being unable to apply for Federal Service in the future. Sergeant Zim ripping Rico's resignation papers while his superior looked on with encouragement, demonstrating flexibility in the adherence of established rules and lacking any fear of possible retaliation from the state. Battles are broadcasted live and casualty rates calculated in real-time. Again not something a Fascist regime would do especially when the latter admitted to have unequivocally failed in their initial invasion.

** After the disasterous invasion of Klendathu, Sky Marshal Dienes accepts responsibility and resigns her position.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: After being mortally wounded Rasczak doesn't hesitate to order Rico to perform a mercy kill on him and not lose any more precious time during their retreat.