
Released in 1997, Starship Troopers is a sci-fi action movie directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier. The film, based on Robert A. Heinlein’s novel, takes place in the 23rd century and follows young Johnny Rico as he and his fellow soldiers fight an alien race called the Arachnids in a war for Earth’s government, the United Citizen Federation. While the movie, starring Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, and Michael Ironside, wasn’t a big success when it came out and received negative reviews, it’s now being recognized as a brilliant satire. Initially, some believed it promoted fascist ideas, but now viewers see it as a clever commentary on those very ideas.