The series is set hundreds of years in the future, after a collapse of Western democracy and many resulting wars. In this future, human society is now ruled by the Terran Federation, a government run by military veterans. Military service is voluntary, but required to earn the full rights of citizenship, such as holding office and voting.
Much of the series focuses on the experiences of Juan "Johnny" Rico and the lessons he learns enlisting in military service along with his hometown friends, Carmen Ibanez (a love interest who becomes a pilot) and Carl (who, in the films, is shown as being a psychic who joins military intelligence). Johnny joins the 'Mobile Infantry', the primary foot soldiers of the Federation (depicted in the book as having advanced armored suits equipped with jetpacks and nuclear weapons). While Johnny is in training, an alien species known as the "Arachnids" attacks Buenos Aires, resulting in the death of Johnny's family (only his mother in the books, his entire family in the film). After this, the Federation goes to war and the series follows their attempts to defeat the "bugs", especially by capturing part of the Arachnid ruling class.
At some point between 1958 and 1959, Robert Heinlein put aside the novel that would become Stranger in a Strange Land and wrote Starship Troopers. His motivation arose partially from his anger at US President Dwight Eisenhower's decision to suspend US nuclear tests, and the Soviet tests that occurred soon afterward.[1] Writing in his 1980 volume Expanded Universe, Heinlein would say that the publication of a newspaper advertisement placed by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy on April 5, 1958, calling for a unilateral suspension of nuclear weapons testing by the United States sparked his desire to write Starship Troopers.[2] Heinlein and his wife Virginia created the "Patrick Henry League" in an attempt to create support for the US nuclear testing program. Heinlein stated that he used the novel to clarify his military and political views.[3]
Like many of Heinlein's books, Starship Troopers was completed in a few weeks. It was originally written as a juvenile novel for New York publishing house Scribner; Heinlein had previously had success with this format, having written several such novels published by Scribner. The manuscript was rejected, prompting Heinlein to end his association with the publisher completely, and resume writing books with adult themes.[1][4][5] Scholars have suggested that Scribner's rejection was based on ideological objections to the content of the novel, particularly its treatment of military conflict.[4][6]
Commentators have written that Starship Troopers is not driven by its plot, though it contains scenes of military combat. Instead, much of the novel is given over to a discussion of ideas.[7] In particular, the discussion of political views is a recurring feature of what scholar Jeffrey Cass described as an "ideologically intense" book.[8] A 1997 review in Salon categorized it as a "philosophical novel".[9] Critics have debated to what extent the novel promotes Heinlein's own political views. Some contend that the novel maintains a sense of irony that allows readers to draw their own conclusions; others argue that Heinlein is sermonizing throughout the book, and that its purpose is to expound Heinlein's militaristic philosophy.[8]
In December 2011, film producer Neal H. Moritz announced plans to produce a reboot of the Starship Troopers film franchise.[10] In November 2016, Columbia and Moritz announced the writing team of Mark Swift and Damian Shannon had been signed to pen the screenplay.[11] Verhoeven expressed skepticism at the proposed remake, citing reports that it draws heavily from the original militaristic 1959 novel.[12]
This table shows the principal characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise.
A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film or video game, or that the character's presence in the film or video game has not yet been announced.
^Both Neumeier and Verhoeven are involved on the writing of the movie; the former received the screenplay credit. Four of the five films that form the main continuity of the movie universe (including the first movie itself) were written by Neumeier.
^ abGifford, James (1996). "The Nature of Federal Service in Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers" (PDF). Retrieved March 4, 2006.
^ abSamuelson, David N. (1979). "Starship Troopers". In Magill, Frank N. (ed.). Survey of Science Fiction Literature: Volume V. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, US: Salem Press. pp. 2173–2177. ISBN0-89356-199-1.
^ ab"Biographies of Robert and Virginia Heinlein". The Heinlein Society. Retrieved March 4, 2006.
^Crim, Brian E. (2009). ""A World That Works": Fascism and Media Globalization in Starship Troopers". Film & History. 39 (2): 17–29. doi:10.1353/flm.0.0105. S2CID 155012971.
^"Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
^"Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
Sourcesedit
Booker, M. Keith; Thomas, Anne-Marie (2009). The Science Fiction Handbook. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN9781405162067. from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
Cass, Jeffrey (April 1999). "SS Troopers: Cybernostalgia and Paul Verhoeven's Fascist Flirtation". Studies in Popular Culture. 21 (3): 51–63. JSTOR 23414533.
starship, troopers, franchise, starship, troopers, american, military, science, fiction, media, franchise, based, 1959, novel, same, name, robert, heinlein, satirical, 1997, film, adaptation, screenwriter, edward, neumeier, director, paul, verhoeven, starship,. Starship Troopers is an American military science fiction media franchise based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert A Heinlein and the satirical 1997 film adaptation by screenwriter Edward Neumeier and director Paul Verhoeven Starship TroopersOfficial franchise logoCreated byRobert A Heinlein original novel Edward Neumeier and Paul Verhoeven film and Sony Pictures owned adaptations a Original workStarship Troopers 1959 OwnerHeinlein Prize Trust copyright to original novel Sony Pictures through TriStar Pictures Sony Entertainment Sony film and TV rights Years1959 presentPrint publicationsNovel s Starship Troopers 1959 Films and televisionFilm s Starship Troopers 1997 Animated seriesStarship Troopers 1988 Roughnecks Starship Troopers Chronicles 1999 2000 Television film s Starship Troopers 2 Hero of the Federation 2004 Direct to videoStarship Troopers 3 Marauder 2008 Starship Troopers Invasion 2012 Starship Troopers Traitor of Mars 2017 GamesTraditionalStarship Troopers 1976 Starship Troopers The Miniatures Game 2005 Role playingStarship Troopers The Roleplaying Game 2005 Video game s Starship Troopers Terran Ascendancy 2000 Starship Troopers 2005 Starship Troopers Terran Command 2022 Starship Troopers Extermination 2023 MiscellaneousPinballStarship Troopers 1997 Official websitestarshiptroopers wbr com Contents 1 Setting 2 Novel 2 1 Starship Troopers 1959 3 Films 3 1 Live action 3 2 Future 3 3 Animated 4 Television 5 Video games 6 Cast and characters 7 Reception 7 1 Critical and public response 8 References 9 Sources 10 External linksSetting editThe series is set hundreds of years in the future after a collapse of Western democracy and many resulting wars In this future human society is now ruled by the Terran Federation a government run by military veterans Military service is voluntary but required to earn the full rights of citizenship such as holding office and voting Much of the series focuses on the experiences of Juan Johnny Rico and the lessons he learns enlisting in military service along with his hometown friends Carmen Ibanez a love interest who becomes a pilot and Carl who in the films is shown as being a psychic who joins military intelligence Johnny joins the Mobile Infantry the primary foot soldiers of the Federation depicted in the book as having advanced armored suits equipped with jetpacks and nuclear weapons While Johnny is in training an alien species known as the Arachnids attacks Buenos Aires resulting in the death of Johnny s family only his mother in the books his entire family in the film After this the Federation goes to war and the series follows their attempts to defeat the bugs especially by capturing part of the Arachnid ruling class Novel editStarship Troopers 1959 edit Main article Starship Troopers At some point between 1958 and 1959 Robert Heinlein put aside the novel that would become Stranger in a Strange Land and wrote Starship Troopers His motivation arose partially from his anger at US President Dwight Eisenhower s decision to suspend US nuclear tests and the Soviet tests that occurred soon afterward 1 Writing in his 1980 volume Expanded Universe Heinlein would say that the publication of a newspaper advertisement placed by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy on April 5 1958 calling for a unilateral suspension of nuclear weapons testing by the United States sparked his desire to write Starship Troopers 2 Heinlein and his wife Virginia created the Patrick Henry League in an attempt to create support for the US nuclear testing program Heinlein stated that he used the novel to clarify his military and political views 3 Like many of Heinlein s books Starship Troopers was completed in a few weeks It was originally written as a juvenile novel for New York publishing house Scribner Heinlein had previously had success with this format having written several such novels published by Scribner The manuscript was rejected prompting Heinlein to end his association with the publisher completely and resume writing books with adult themes 1 4 5 Scholars have suggested that Scribner s rejection was based on ideological objections to the content of the novel particularly its treatment of military conflict 4 6 The Magazine of Fantasy amp Science Fiction first published Starship Troopers in October and November 1959 as a two part serial titled Starship Soldier 5 Commentators have written that Starship Troopers is not driven by its plot though it contains scenes of military combat Instead much of the novel is given over to a discussion of ideas 7 In particular the discussion of political views is a recurring feature of what scholar Jeffrey Cass described as an ideologically intense book 8 A 1997 review in Salon categorized it as a philosophical novel 9 Critics have debated to what extent the novel promotes Heinlein s own political views Some contend that the novel maintains a sense of irony that allows readers to draw their own conclusions others argue that Heinlein is sermonizing throughout the book and that its purpose is to expound Heinlein s militaristic philosophy 8 Films editLive action edit Film U S release date Director s Screenwriter s Producer s Starship Troopers November 7 1997 Paul Verhoeven Edward Neumeier Jon Davison Alan Marshall Starship Troopers 2 Hero of the Federation April 24 2004 Phil Tippett Jon Davison Starship Troopers 3 Marauder August 5 2008 Edward Neumeier David Lancaster Future edit In December 2011 film producer Neal H Moritz announced plans to produce a reboot of the Starship Troopers film franchise 10 In November 2016 Columbia and Moritz announced the writing team of Mark Swift and Damian Shannon had been signed to pen the screenplay 11 Verhoeven expressed skepticism at the proposed remake citing reports that it draws heavily from the original militaristic 1959 novel 12 Animated edit Film U S release date Director s Screenwriter s Story by Producer s Starship Troopers Invasion August 28 2012 Shinji Aramaki Flint Dille Shinji AramakiJoseph ChouShigehito Kawada Joseph Chou Starship Troopers Traitor of Mars August 21 2017 Shinji AramakiMasaru Matsumoto Edward Neumeier Joseph Chou Max Nishi Tomi HashimotoTelevision editSeries Episodes First released Last released Showrunner s Network s Starship Troopers 6 October 25 1988 December 17 1988 Tetsurō Amino Roughnecks Starship Troopers Chronicles 36 4 clip shows August 30 1999 April 3 2000 Richard Raynis BKNVideo games editVideo game U S release date Developer Publisher Platform s Starship Troopers 13 1979 Dendron Amusements Dendron Amusements CP M Starship Troopers Terran Ascendancy October 23 2000 Blue Tongue Entertainment Hasbro Interactive Windows Starship Troopers October 27 2005 Strangelite Empire Interactive and Destineer Windows Starship Troopers Terran Command June 16 2022 The Artistocrats Slitherine Software Windows Starship Troopers Extermination May 17 2023 early access Offworld Industries Offworld Industries WindowsCast and characters editList indicator s This table shows the principal characters and the actors who have portrayed them throughout the franchise A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film or video game or that the character s presence in the film or video game has not yet been announced A V indicates a voice only role Character Anime series Original series Animated films Animated series Starship Troopers Starship Troopers Starship Troopers 2 Hero of the Federation Starship Troopers 3 Marauder Starship Troopers Invasion Starship Troopers Traitor of Mars Roughnecks Starship Troopers Chronicles 1988 1997 2004 2008 2012 2017 1999 2000 Fed Net Announcer John CunninghamV Stephen StantonV Corey BurtonV Andrew LoveV Juan D Rico John Johnny Rico Yasunori MatsumotoV Casper Van Dien Casper Van Dien David MatrangaV Casper Van DienV Rino RomanoV Carl Jenkins Yuji MitsuyaV Neil Patrick Harris Justin DoranV Rider StrongV Carmencita Ibanez Carmen Rei SakumaV Denise Richards Luci ChristianV Tish HicksV Charles Zim Charlie Akira KamiyaV Clancy Brown Clancy BrownV Yvette Deladrier Mika DoiV Brenda Strong Emilio Rico Bill Shinji OgawaV Christopher Curry Mrs Maria Rico Kazuko YanagaV Lenore Kasdorf Smith Alphard Kitten Kazuhiko InoueV Matt Levin Pat Leivy Ace Shō HayamiV Jake Busey Ian Frankel Tomomichi NishimuraV Theodore C Hendrick Ted Kazuyuki SogabeV Greg Paterson Hirotaka SuzuokiV T Azuma Shuichi IkedaV S Cherenkov Masahiro AnzaiV Clea Saeko ShimazuV Dunn Shingo HiromoriV Isabelle Flores Dizzy Dina Meyer Dina MeyerV Elizabeth DailyV Shujumi Anthony Ruivivar Jean Rasczak Michael Ironside Jamie HanesV Zander Barcalow Patrick Muldoon Nicholas GuestV Breckenridge Eric Bruskotter Birdie Byrd Ungela Brockman Djana D Tami Adrian George Katrina McIntire Blake Lindsley Lei Sahara Colleen Porch V J Dax Richard Burgi Pavlov Dill Lawrence Monoson Dede Rake nee Deladier Brenda Strong Dix Hauser Boris Kodjoe Lola Beck Jolene Blalock Omar Anoke Stephen Hogan Enolo Phid Amanda Donohoe Holly Little Marnette Patterson Bull Brittles Stelio Savante J Kirby Nicole Salandra Slug Skinner Garth Breytenbach A Sunday Tanya van Graan Link Manion Cecile Breccia A Danner Graeme Richards M Hightower Antonio Summerton Elmo Goniff Joe Vaz Tony Daugherty Sam RomanV Ice Blonde Melissa DavisV Tia Durer Trig Emily NevesV Mech Jovan JacksonV Henry Varro Hero David WaldV Otis Hacks Bugspray Andrew LoveV Ratzass Leraldo AnzalduaV Holy Man Kalob MartinezV Francis Brutto David DeLuiseV Richard LaCroix Doc James HoranV Jeff Gossard Goss Bill FagerbakkeV Colonel T Phai Steve StaleyV Marlow Thomas WagnerV Miriam Redwing Irene BedardV Sanchez R Lee ErmeyV Earl Walker Michael HarringtonVReception editCritical and public response edit Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic CinemaScore Starship Troopers 63 63 reviews 14 51 20 reviews 15 C 16 Starship Troopers 2 Hero of the Federation 33 6 reviews 17 Starship Troopers 3 Marauder 50 6 reviews 18 Starship Troopers Invasion 4 reviews 19 Starship Troopers Traitor of Mars 4 reviews 20 References edit Both Neumeier and Verhoeven are involved on the writing of the movie the former received the screenplay credit Four of the five films that form the main continuity of the movie universe including the first movie itself were written by Neumeier a b Gifford James 1996 The Nature of Federal Service in Robert A Heinlein s Starship Troopers PDF Retrieved March 4 2006 Heinlein 2003 pp 468 469 Heinlein 2003 pp 468 469 481 482 a b Samuelson David N 1979 Starship Troopers In Magill Frank N ed Survey of Science Fiction Literature Volume V Englewood Cliffs New Jersey US Salem Press pp 2173 2177 ISBN 0 89356 199 1 a b Biographies of Robert and Virginia Heinlein The Heinlein Society Retrieved March 4 2006 Crim Brian E 2009 A World That Works Fascism and Media Globalization in Starship Troopers Film amp History 39 2 17 29 doi 10 1353 flm 0 0105 S2CID 155012971 Booker amp Thomas 2009 p 215 a b Cass 1999 p 52 Shoales Ian November 13 1997 Ill Humor Salon Archived from the original on May 14 2009 Retrieved March 27 2010 White James December 4 2011 Starship Troopers Remake Planned Empire Retrieved January 27 2012 Starship Troopers Reboot in the Works Exclusive The Hollywood Reporter November 3 2016 Retrieved June 7 2017 Reed Ryan November 16 2016 Original Starship Troopers Director Remake Fits Trump Presidency Rolling Stone Retrieved December 20 2017 Starship Troopers 1979 Starship Troopers 1997 Rotten Tomatoes Fandango Media Retrieved May 4 2020 Starship Troopers 1997 Reviews Metacritic CBS Interactive Retrieved May 4 2020 CinemaScore CinemaScore Archived from the original on April 13 2022 Retrieved April 16 2022 Starship Troopers 2 Hero of the Federation 2004 Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved May 4 2020 Starship Troopers 3 Marauder 2008 Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved May 4 2020 Starship Troopers Invasion 2012 Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved May 4 2020 Starship Troopers Traitor of Mars 2017 Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved May 4 2020 Sources editBooker M Keith Thomas Anne Marie 2009 The Science Fiction Handbook Singapore John Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781405162067 Archived from the original on March 13 2023 Retrieved February 16 2016 Cass Jeffrey April 1999 SS Troopers Cybernostalgia and Paul Verhoeven s Fascist Flirtation Studies in Popular Culture 21 3 51 63 JSTOR 23414533 Heinlein Robert A 2003 Expanded Universe New York City New York US Baen ISBN 0 7434 7159 8 OCLC 223822885 External links editstarshiptroopers com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Starship Troopers franchise amp oldid 1219003084, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
