Starship Troopers

"We were accused by The Washington Post of being neo-Nazis! ... It was tremendously disappointing. They couldn't see that all I have done is ironically create a fascist utopia... Whenever you see something that you think is fascist, you should know that the filmmakers agree with your opinion."

Director Paul Verhoven

The full film is on Disney+, or...
You can also watch it on Youtube for free (see link to the right), or...
download it from the folder below ;) .
Read the screenplay - link below.

Further Reading: Click for Hotlinks, or see "Critical Articles" folder above for .pdf versions

Podcast:Space the Nation, E23

The Verge: "The world is finally coming around to Starship Troopers" or .pdf

The New Yorker: How “Starship Troopers” Aligns with Our Moment of American Defeat or .pdf

The Atlantic: Starship Troopers: One of the Most Misunderstood Movies Ever or .pdf

Even the Wikipedia page (click) is fantastic. Scroll down to "Development" and "Critical Response" sections

Many viewers may not realize it is meant to be ironic satire - the civilization is not to be admired, but mocked and loathed. The Nazi-esque dystopia in which the “citizens” are proud to sacrifice themselves for the government was initially taken to be honoring facism. Watch for these global issues and scenes:

Possible Global Issues

Culture, identity and community: Role of "citizens", desire to fit in and have a place in society (Johnny), social class, us v. them mentality; love existing only when it is part of celebrating the military collective; self-sacrifice for the good of the nation

Beliefs, values and education: Collective well-being and strength(the root of facism, the bug mentality, the infantry mentality); mix of education (classroom, news flashes) with propoganda; self-delusion as social comfort

Politics, power and justice: "Violence—the supreme authority from which all other authorities derived"; revenge as justice;

Art, creativity and the imagination: Satire as a political tool (effective?); the historical misunderstanding of the film as pro-facist; the novel was pro-facist, and Verhoven redesigned it as parody; use of very simple, clean artistic direction in sets to allude to simplicity of thought

Technology and the environment: Traveling across the galaxy to kill others (allusion to Vietnam?);