We all know it, and we all love it; Starship Troopersis one of the best films of the 1990s. However, it wasn’t always seen that way. Upon release, the sci-fi classic faced pretty scathing reviews, with an overwhelmingly negative reaction rumbling through Hollywood. Incredibly, this anti-fascist satire of war — directed by a man who grew up in Nazi-occupied territory — was seen as pro-fascist, with critics tearing down its supposed military-glorifying propaganda. Thankfully, time has been kind to Starship Troopers, and its true intent has shone through in the years since.
Now it has taken its place as one of the best of its kind from that era, Starship Troopers is, of course, the subject of much reboot and remake speculation. In fact, it was confirmed in 2025 that District 9director Neill Blomkamp would be taking on a new interpretation of the 1959 book by Robert A. Heinlein, instead of reworking the 1997 movie, which is likely to remove much of the biting satire. This comes after two direct sequels to Paul Verhoeven‘s film have already been produced, including the most recent in 2017.
None has quite lived up to the genius, campy standard of the 1997 edition, with fans still waiting for news of a specific reboot of that movie. In an interview with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt at the Indiana Comic Convention, Amy Smart, who portrays a pilot cadet in the movie, was asked if she would return if a long-rumored TV reboot got the green light. “I mean, if they decide to do it well, yeah,” she responded, giving fans hope that a revival could be on the cards. She also shed some light on her experience working on the film, saying:
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“I didn’t get the script. I just got my character, and we were filming on stage. I mean, I only have a few scenes in it, but Paul Verhoeven was such a big director, meaning he was very energetic, and we were on the sound stage with nothing around us, and he was yelling, so loud, so animated, and fun. So he got everyone going. I took it very seriously. I thought it was a very serious movie. Then I went to the theater, and I was like, ‘Everyone’s laughing. Oh.’ It was fun.”
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Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Personality Quiz Which Sci-Fi Hero Are You Most Like? Paul Atreides · Captain Kirk · Princess Leia · Ellen Ripley · Max Rockatansky
Five iconic heroes. Five completely different ways of facing an impossible universe. One of them shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of refusing to back down. Eight questions will tell you which one.
🏜️Paul Atreides
🖖Capt. Kirk
✊Princess Leia
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🔦Ellen Ripley
🔥Max Rockatansky
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01
How do you lead when the stakes couldn’t be higher? The way you lead under pressure is the most honest thing about you.
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02
What is your greatest strength in a crisis? The quality that keeps you alive when everything else fails.
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03
What is the thing you’d sacrifice everything else for? Your deepest motivation is your truest compass.
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04
How do you relate to the people around you? Who you are to others under pressure is who you really are.
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05
You’re facing a threat that no one else believes is real. What do you do? How you respond when you’re the only one who sees it defines everything.
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06
What has your heroism cost you personally? Every hero pays. The question is what — and whether they’d pay it again.
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07
How do you feel about the rules of the world you’re in? Every hero has a relationship with the system. What’s yours?
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08
When everything is on the line, what keeps you going? The answer is the most honest thing about you.
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Your Hero Has Been Identified Your Sci-Fi Hero Is…
Your answers point to the iconic sci-fi hero who shares your instincts, your values, and your particular way of facing the impossible.
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Arrakis · Dune
Paul Atreides
You carry a weight most people would crumble under — the knowledge of what you’re capable of, and the burden of what you might have to become.
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You see further ahead than others and you plan accordingly, even when the vision frightens you.
You are driven by loyalty to your people and a sense of destiny you didn’t ask for but can’t escape.
Paul Atreides is not simply a hero — he is someone who understands the cost of power and chooses to bear it anyway.
That gravity, that willingness to carry what others won’t, is exactly you.
USS Enterprise · Star Trek
Captain Kirk
You lead with instinct, warmth, and an absolute refusal to accept a no-win scenario — because you’ve always believed there’s a third option nobody else has thought of yet.
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You take the mission seriously without ever taking yourself too seriously.
Your crew would follow you anywhere, not because you demand it, but because you’ve earned it.
Kirk’s genius isn’t tactical — it’s human. He reads people, bends rules with purpose, and wills outcomes into existence through sheer conviction.
That combination of warmth, audacity, and relentless optimism is unmistakably yours.
The Rebellion · Star Wars
Princess Leia
You are the kind of person who holds the line when everyone else is losing faith — not because you’re fearless, but because giving up simply isn’t something you’re capable of.
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You lead through conviction. Your voice carries because your belief is unshakeable.
You gave up everything ordinary the moment you chose the cause, and you’ve never looked back.
Leia is not a supporting character in her own story — she is the moral centre of the entire rebellion.
That same fierce, principled, unbreakable core is what defines you.
The Nostromo · Alien
Ellen Ripley
You are not reckless, not grandiose, and not particularly interested in being anyone’s hero — you just refuse to stop when it matters.
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You see threats clearly, you document the truth even when no one listens, and when the time comes you handle it yourself.
Ripley’s heroism is earned, not performed. She doesn’t have a speech — she has a flamethrower and a plan.
You share her composure under the worst possible pressure, and her refusal to pretend the monster isn’t there.
When it counts, you don’t flinch. That’s everything.
The Wasteland · Mad Max
Max Rockatansky
You have been through fire that would break most people — and what came out the other side is something the world underestimates at its peril.
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You don’t ask for help, don’t need validation, and don’t wait for anyone to tell you the rules no longer apply.
Your loyalty, when it finally arrives, is absolute — but it’s earned in silence and tested in action, not in words.
Max is not a nihilist. He is someone who lost everything and found, against his will, that he still has something worth protecting.
That bruised, stubborn, ultimately human core is exactly yours.
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‘Starship Troopers’ Was a Box Office Bomb
Perhaps unsurprisingly, thanks to the wild misinterpretation of the movie that took place upon its release, Starship Troopers was an undeniable box office bomb. The film boasted a bloated production budget of over $100 million, according to reports, and could only return $121 million at the global box office, split between a domestic haul of $55 million and a further $66 million from overseas markets. The film did open at #1 in the U.S., but quickly dropped to second-place in weekend #2.
For more of the latest movie news, stay tuned to Collider.
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Release Date
November 7, 1997
Runtime
129 minutes
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Director
Paul Verhoeven
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Writers
Edward Neumeier
Sequel(s)
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Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation, Starship Troopers 3: Marauder, Starship Troopers: Invasion, Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars
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