Paul Verhoeven
Starship Troopers

‘Starship Troopers’ by Paul Verhoeven is a 1997 science fiction film loosely inspired by the homonymous novel by Robert A. Heinlein from 1959, first published in Italy by Urania in 1962. The work, probably also thanks to the great success achieved by the film (which I re-watched in recent days, not remembering well the plot and content), is one of those that can be considered among the most popular by the author, whom I personally consider one of the giants of the science fiction genre and a true thinker like few other literary authors. The film was a notable success in theaters. Several sequels have been made, as well as derivative works like computer graphics TV series, video games, and board games.

The film is predominantly focused on the clashes and battles between the Earth infantry and the ‘bugs’ of the distant planet Klendathu. In particular, it follows the adventures of the protagonist Johnny Rico (who in the film is Argentinian, instead of Filipino like in Heinlein's novel), a boy from a good family who decides to enlist driven by militaristic propaganda and because he is in love with Carmen Ibanez, a girl who has enlisted in the navy with the desire to become a pilot. The clash with the new reality will prove brutal for Rico, but when he receives news of Buenos Aires's destruction at the hands of the bugs, his conviction to pursue a military career leads him to become a real war machine and perform heroic acts, eventually achieving the rank of lieutenant.

But aside from the protagonist's story, it must be said that there are substantial differences from Heinlein's novel, which spends a lot of time describing the structures of society on Earth in a much more elaborate manner than happens in the film. The society described by Heinlein (which coincides with the expression of his ideas), where world powers have finally reached a balance, is based on a meritocratic system rather than the military autarchy of the film; it thus provides considerable freedoms in all fields, even though the principle remains that to obtain citizenship and enjoy electoral rights, one must take part in activities as volunteers, which in this case do not necessarily involve enlisting in the armed forces.

Similarly, the film mentions nothing about technological progress, particularly the battle suits, a feature described in detail by Heinlein but apparently difficult to bring to the screen in 1997 when the film was made.

Recently I wrote about the novel ‘Red’ by Linda Nagata, just released in Italy, originally published in 2013, and it was pointed out to me how this indeed reminded one of Heinlein's work, which is clearly a reference point for all authors of the genre. Re-watching the film, I could clearly notice the analogies and points of contact between the two different works; after all, ‘Red’ was written sixty years after Heinlein's novel, but in both cases, the protagonists are from good families and enlist apparently for different reasons, but truly to test themselves, and where both will become heroes also by making autonomous choices from the command; Heinlein's suits are clearly a base version on which the titanium exoskeleton of 'Red' (very similar to the one worn by Matt Damon in 'Elysium' by Neill Blomkamp) was developed; in both novels, prevision is discussed, even if in 'Starship Troopers' it is about paranormal powers, while in 'Red' this is due to a virus spread in the software connecting people neurally to the web. Finally, both novels have an underlying antimilitarist component reflecting the authors' thoughts, expressed through the main characters of the story.

Returning to the film, however, it is evident that it does not hold up to the original novel and can be practically defined as a sort of surrogate. Instead, it configures as a work mainly of military science fiction, imbued with a certain foundational ideological militarism and the exaltation of infantry troops compared to other branches of the armed forces, but it does not lack a certain irony that translates into propaganda films disseminated by the government, which are indeed parodic and of sure effect, making it consequently an appealing product especially for a youthful audience even today, twenty years after its creation.