Starship Troopers (franchise)

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Starship Troopers
Logo Starship Troopers.png
Official franchise logo
Created by
Original work Starship Troopers (1959)
Owners
Years1959–present
Print publications
Novel(s) Starship Troopers (1959)
Films and television
Film(s) Starship Troopers (1997)
Animated series
Television film(s) Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004)
Direct-to-video
Games
Traditional
Role-playing Starship Troopers: The Roleplaying Game (2005)
Video game(s)
Miscellaneous
Pinball Starship Troopers (1997)
Official website
starshiptroopers.com

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.

Contents

Setting

The series is set hundreds of years in the future, after a collapse of Western democracy and many resulting wars. In this future, human society is now ruled by the Terran Federation, a government run by military veterans. Military service is voluntary, but required to earn the full rights of citizenship, such as holding office and voting.

Much of the series focuses on the experiences of Juan "Johnny" Rico and the lessons he learns enlisting in military service along with his hometown friends, Carmen Ibanez (a love interest who becomes a pilot) and Carl (who, in the films, is shown as being a psychic who joins military intelligence). Johnny joins the 'Mobile Infantry', the primary foot soldiers of the Federation (depicted in the book as having advanced armored suits equipped with jetpacks and nuclear weapons). While Johnny is in training, an alien species known as the "Arachnids" attacks Buenos Aires, resulting in the death of Johnny's family (only his mother in the books, his entire family in the film). After this, the Federation goes to war and the series follows their attempts to defeat the "bugs", especially by capturing part of the Arachnid ruling class.

Novel

Starship Troopers (1959)

At some point between 1958 and 1959, Robert Heinlein put aside the novel that would become Stranger in a Strange Land and wrote Starship Troopers. His motivation arose partially from his anger at US President Dwight Eisenhower's decision to suspend US nuclear tests, and the Soviet tests that occurred soon afterward. [1] Writing in his 1980 volume Expanded Universe , Heinlein would say that the publication of a newspaper advertisement placed by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy on April 5, 1958, calling for a unilateral suspension of nuclear weapons testing by the United States sparked his desire to write Starship Troopers. [2] Heinlein and his wife Virginia created the "Patrick Henry League" in an attempt to create support for the US nuclear testing program. Heinlein stated that he used the novel to clarify his military and political views. [3]

Like many of Heinlein's books, Starship Troopers was completed in a few weeks. It was originally written as a juvenile novel for New York publishing house Scribner; Heinlein had previously had success with this format, having written several such novels published by Scribner. The manuscript was rejected, prompting Heinlein to end his association with the publisher completely, and resume writing books with adult themes. [1] [4] [5] Scholars have suggested that Scribner's rejection was based on ideological objections to the content of the novel, particularly its treatment of military conflict. [4] [6]

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction first published Starship Troopers in October and November 1959 as a two-part serial titled Starship Soldier. [5]

Commentators have written that Starship Troopers is not driven by its plot, though it contains scenes of military combat. Instead, much of the novel is given over to a discussion of ideas. [7] In particular, the discussion of political views is a recurring feature of what scholar Jeffrey Cass described as an "ideologically intense" book. [8] A 1997 review in Salon categorized it as a "philosophical novel". [9] Critics have debated to what extent the novel promotes Heinlein's own political views. Some contend that the novel maintains a sense of irony that allows readers to draw their own conclusions; others argue that Heinlein is sermonizing throughout the book, and that its purpose is to expound Heinlein's militaristic philosophy. [8]

Films

Live-action

FilmU.S. release dateDirector(s)Screenwriter(s)Producer(s)
Starship Troopers November 7, 1997 Paul Verhoeven Edward Neumeier Jon Davison
Alan Marshall
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation April 24, 2004 Phil Tippett Jon Davison
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder August 5, 2008 Edward Neumeier David Lancaster

Future

In December 2011, film producer Neal H. Moritz announced plans to produce a reboot of the Starship Troopers film franchise. [10] In November 2016, Columbia and Moritz announced the writing team of Mark Swift and Damian Shannon had been signed to pen the screenplay. [11] Verhoeven expressed skepticism at the proposed remake, citing reports that it draws heavily from the original militaristic 1959 novel. [12] In 2025, Neill Blomkamp was announced to write and direct a new adaptation of Starship Troopers which would be closer to the source material than the Verhoeven film. [13]

Animated

FilmU.S. release dateDirector(s)Screenwriter(s)Story byProducer(s)
Starship Troopers: Invasion August 28, 2012 Shinji Aramaki Flint Dille Shinji Aramaki
Joseph Chou
Shigehito Kawada
Joseph Chou
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars August 21, 2017Shinji Aramaki
Masaru Matsumoto
Edward NeumeierJoseph Chou
Max Nishi
Tomi Hashimoto

Television

SeriesEpisodesFirst releasedLast releasedShowrunner(s)Network(s)
Starship Troopers 6October 25, 1988December 17, 1988 Tetsurō Amino
Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles 36 + 4 clip showsAugust 30, 1999April 3, 2000 Richard Raynis BKN

Video games

Video gameU.S. release dateDeveloperPublisherPlatform(s)
Starship Troopers [14] 1979Dendron AmusementsDendron Amusements CP/M
Starship Troopers1997MGA EntertainmentMGA EntertainmentHandheld LCD game
Starship Troopers: Terran Ascendancy October 23, 2000 Blue Tongue Entertainment Hasbro Interactive Windows
Starship Troopers October 27, 2005Strangelite Empire Interactive and Destineer Windows
Starship Troopers: Terran Command June 16, 2022The Artistocrats Slitherine Software Windows
Starship Troopers: Extermination October, 11 2024Offworld IndustriesOffworld IndustriesWindows Playstation 5 Xbox Series X|S

Cast and characters

List indicator(s)
CharacterAnime seriesOriginal seriesAnimated filmsAnimated series
Starship Troopers Starship Troopers Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation Starship Troopers 3: Marauder Starship Troopers: Invasion Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles
1988199720042008201220171999–2000
Fed Net AnnouncerJohn Cunningham V Stephen Stanton V Corey Burton V Andrew Love V
Juan D. Rico
John
"Johnny"
Rico
Yasunori Matsumoto V Casper Van Dien Casper Van Dien David Matranga V Casper Van Dien V Rino Romano V
Carl Jenkins Yūji Mitsuya V Neil Patrick Harris Justin Doran V Rider Strong V
Carmencita Ibañez
Carmen
Rei Sakuma V Denise Richards Luci Christian V Tish Hicks V
Charles Zim
Charlie
Akira Kamiya V Clancy Brown Clancy Brown V
Yvette Deladrier Mika Doi V Brenda Strong
Emilio Rico
Bill
Shinji Ogawa V Christopher Curry
Mrs. Maria Rico Kazuko Yanaga V Lenore Kasdorf
Smith Alphard
Kitten
Kazuhiko Inoue V Matt Levin
Pat Leivy
Ace
Shō Hayami V Jake Busey
Ian Frankel Tomomichi Nishimura V
Theodore C. Hendrick
Ted
Kazuyuki Sogabe V
Greg Paterson Hirotaka Suzuoki V
T. Azuma Shūichi Ikeda V
S. Cherenkov Masahiro Anzai V
Clea Saeko Shimazu V
Dunn Shingo Hiromori V
Isabelle Flores
Dizzy
Dina Meyer Dina Meyer V Elizabeth Daily V
Shujumi Anthony Ruivivar
Jean Rasczak Michael Ironside Jamie Hanes V
Zander Barcalow Patrick Muldoon Nicholas Guest V
Breckenridge Eric Bruskotter
"Birdie" Byrd Ungela Brockman
Djana'D Tami-Adrian George
Katrina McIntire Blake Lindsley
Lei Sahara Colleen Porch
V.J. Dax Richard Burgi
Pavlov Dill Lawrence Monoson
Dede Rake
(née Deladier)
Brenda Strong
Dix Hauser Boris Kodjoe
Lola Beck Jolene Blalock
Omar Anoke Stephen Hogan
Enolo Phid Amanda Donohoe
Holly Little Marnette Patterson
Bull Brittles Stelio Savante
J. Kirby Nicole Salandra
"Slug" Skinner Garth Breytenbach
A. Sunday Tanya van Graan
Link Manion Cécile Breccia
A. Danner Graeme Richards
M. Hightower Antonio Summerton
Elmo Goniff Joe Vaz
Tony Daugherty  Sam Roman V  
"Ice Blonde" Melissa Davis V
Tia Durer
Trig
Emily Neves V
"Mech" Jovan Jackson V
Henry Varro
Hero
David Wald V
Otis Hacks
Bugspray
Andrew Love V
"Ratzass" Leraldo Anzaldua V
"Holy Man"Kalob Martinez V
Francis Brutto David DeLuise V
Richard LaCroix
Doc
James Horan V
Jeff Gossard
Goss
Bill Fagerbakke V
"Colonel" T'Phai Steve Staley V
Marlow Thomas Wagner V
Miriam Redwing Irene Bedard V
Sanchez R. Lee Ermey V
Earl Walker Michael Harrington V

Reception

Critical and public response

Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore
Starship Troopers 63% (63 reviews) [15] 51 (20 reviews) [16] C+ [17]
Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation 33% (6 reviews) [18]
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder 50% (6 reviews) [19]
Starship Troopers: Invasion — (4 reviews) [20]
Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars — (4 reviews) [21]

References

  1. Both Neumeier and Verhoeven are involved on the writing of the movie; the former received the screenplay credit. Four of the five films that form the main continuity of the movie universe (including the first movie itself) were written by Neumeier.
  1. 1 2 Gifford, James (1996). "The Nature of Federal Service in Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers" (PDF). Retrieved March 4, 2006.
  2. Heinlein 2003, pp. 468–469.
  3. Heinlein 2003, pp. 468–469, 481–482.
  4. 1 2 Samuelson, David N. (1979). "Starship Troopers". In Magill, Frank N. (ed.). Survey of Science Fiction Literature: Volume V. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, US: Salem Press. pp. 2173–2177. ISBN   0-89356-199-1.
  5. 1 2 "Biographies of Robert and Virginia Heinlein". The Heinlein Society. Retrieved March 4, 2006.
  6. Crim, Brian E. (2009). ""A World That Works": Fascism and Media Globalization in Starship Troopers". Film & History. 39 (2): 17–29. doi:10.1353/flm.0.0105. S2CID   155012971.
  7. Booker & Thomas 2009, p. 215.
  8. 1 2 Cass 1999, p. 52.
  9. Shoales, Ian (November 13, 1997). "Ill Humor". Salon . Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
  10. White, James (December 4, 2011). "Starship Troopers Remake Planned". Empire. Retrieved January 27, 2012.
  11. "'Starship Troopers' Reboot in the Works (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. November 3, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  12. Reed, Ryan (November 16, 2016). "Original 'Starship Troopers' Director: Remake Fits Trump Presidency". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  13. Kit, Borys (March 14, 2025). "New 'Starship Troopers' Movie in the Works from 'District 9' Filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  14. "Starship Troopers 1979".
  15. "Starship Troopers (1997)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  16. "Starship Troopers (1997) Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  17. "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  18. "Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  19. "Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  20. "Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  21. "Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved May 4, 2020.

Sources