Starship Troopers (USA: Paul Verhoeven, 1997)

Starship Troopers (USA: Paul Verhoeven, 1997: 129 mins)

Barton-Fumo, Margaret. "Paul Verhoeven." The Film Comment (November 15, 2016)["What are the uncanny forces at work behind Paul Verhoeven’s visceral and transgressive cinema? In anticipation of the Film Society’s complete retrospective of the Dutch master’s films and the U.S. release of Elle, this episode offers a comprehensive discussion of the director’s audacious and eclectic career encompassing art-house Dutch films (Turkish Delight [1971], Spetters [1980]) and big-budget Hollywood productions such as Basic Instinct (1992), Total Recall (1990) and Starship Troopers (1997). In the first part of the podcast, Film Comment Digital Editor Violet Lucca sits down with a panel of Verhoeven connoisseurs, including Cinema Scope critic Adam Nayman, Film Comment Deep Cuts columnist Margaret Barton-Fumo (also the editor of a forthcoming book of interviews with Verhoeven), and Fort Buchanan director Benjamin Crotty, to tackle the controversy that lies at the core of Verhoeven’s work. In the final part of the episode, Margaret Barton-Fumo speaks to Verhoeven about the uncomfortable eroticism that pervades Elle and his Brechtian influences."]

Britt, Lawrence W. "Fascism Anyone?" Free Inquiry 23.2 (Spring 2003)

Cribbs, John, James Hancock and Leanne Kubicz. "The Cinema of Paul Verhoeven." Wrong Reel #200 (November 2016)

Dien, Caspar Van and Paul Verhoeven. "Robocop and Starship Troopers." The Close-Up (March 2, 2017)

Hedges, Chris. War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. Public Affairs, 2014. ["General George S. Patton famously said, "Compared to war all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance. God, I do love it so!" Though Patton was a notoriously single-minded general, it is nonetheless a sad fact that war gives meaning to many lives, a fact with which we have become familiar now that America is once again engaged in a military conflict. War is an enticing elixir. It gives us purpose, resolve, a cause. It allows us to be noble.
Chris Hedges of The New York Times has seen war up close -- in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Central America -- and he has been troubled by what he has seen: friends, enemies, colleagues, and strangers intoxicated and even addicted to war's heady brew. In War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, he tackles the ugly truths about humanity's love affair with war, offering a sophisticated, nuanced, intelligent meditation on the subject that is also gritty, powerful, and unforgettable."]

Koski, Genevieve, et al. "Kill 'em All, Pt. 1 - Starship Troopers." The Next Picture Show (March 18, 2025) ["This week’s pairing is brought to you by: space bugs! Specifically, space bugs as a metaphor for a fascistic society’s disregard for any perceived-to-be-lower life form, human or otherwise. Inspired by the clear satire of Bong Joon Ho’s new MICKEY 17, we’re revisiting Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, whose satirical intent was less clear to some audiences when it hit theaters in 1997. Today, while we’re on the same page as far as what Verhoeven was going for with his propagandistic display of military might, opinions still differ among our panel as to how well he pulled it off. We get into that disagreement, as well as the surprisingly enduring effects and the improbability of a film like this being made in Hollywood today."]

---. "Kill 'em All, Pt. 2 - Mickey 17."  The Next Picture Show (March 25, 2025) ["Bong Joon Ho’s new MICKEY 17 takes a lot of big swings, from star Robert Pattinson’s vocal affectation to a comedic fixation on “sauce,” all of it in service of big, bold, arguably blunt satire. It all makes for a somewhat messy but highly discussable film, both on its own and in conversation with Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, another big swing of a sci-fi satire that aims to entertain as it undermines propagandistic societies where leaders rule by catchphrase, where citizenship is conditional, and where working-class lives are expendable. We dive into all of that, plus space bugs that may not actually be bugs, then offer a Your Next Picture Show recommendation for another MICKEY 17 pairing contender, Duncan Jones’ MOON."]

Laliberty, Justin. "Buggin’ Out: The critical lashing and cultural reappraisal of Starship Troopers." Deep Impact (August 2, 2024) ["To celebrate 100 years of Columbia Pictures, Justin LaLiberty examines the marketing blitz, initial dismissal and eventual reappraisal of Paul Verhoeven’s fascism satire Starship Troopers."]

Marvin, Carolyn and David Ingle. "Blood Sacrifice and the Nation: Revisiting Civil Religion." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 64.4 (1996)

Neumeier, Ed and Paul M. Sammon. "Starship Troopers." The Projection Booth #99 (January 29, 2013)

Scott, Suzanne. "Starship Troopers: The Massacre Is the Message." Reverse Shot (June 22, 2003)

"Starship Troopers: A Misunderstood Masterpiece." Stay Connected with Chesco Libraries (August 2, 2024)

Thorn, Bill Rose. "Starship Troopers and Intelligence." Critical Fantasies (April 23, 2022)