We need your help against the bug infestation, so get ready recruits, we're heading back to Paul Verhoeven’s 1997 sci-fi satire Starship Troopers, which has found itself a brand-new streaming home — and this one is free! The movie has landed at Fawesome, which means you can check it out again and again without paying a single solitary cent. Adapted from Robert A. Heinlein’s acclaimed 1959 novel, Starship Troopers is set in a militaristic future where humanity is locked in a war against a race of deadly alien insects known as the Arachnids.
The movie is dripping with political satire, and very sharp satire at that, and it explores the horrors of war and the dangers of fascism. The hero of our story is a fella by the name of Johnny Rico (Casper Van Dien), a young recruit who enlists in the military to stay close to his girlfriend, Carmen Ibanez (Denise Richards), and grows from being utterly useless as an infantryman into a celebrated war hero while humanity goes to war across the stars with these disgusting insects. The rest of the cast included the likes of Dina Meyer, Clancy Brown, Michael Ironside, Neil Patrick Harris, Jake Busey, Patrick Muldoon, and Seth Gilliam.
Is 'Starship Troopers' Any Good?
While Starship Troopers was met with a lukewarm reception from critics upon its release, over time it quickly became appreciated by audiences because of the well written characters and the hilariously subversive writing, deservedly earning it the status of a cult classic and one of the best films of the 1990s that hasn't been seen by enough people. Many critics missed the point of the movie, and its satirical edge, dismissing it as a shallow action film, but there were plenty of 180s from critics when they re-evaluated the film in the years following its release.
The special effects were also extraordinary for their time, with industry legend Phil Tippett at the helm. The Arachnids were brought to life with a mix of practical and CGI effects that were jaw-dropping at the time and still hold up today. The visual effects were so good, in fact, that it earned Starship Troopers an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects, though it ultimately lost to the plucky underdog Titanic.
Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on all your favorite movies and television series. Starship Troopers can now be streamed free of charge on Fawesome.
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Starship Troopers
Humans in a fascist, militaristic future wage war with giant alien bugs.
Release Date November 7, 1997
Director Paul Verhoeven
Runtime 129 minuntes
Main Genre Sci-Fi
Writers Edward Neumeier
English (US) ·