Paul Verhoeven’s misunderstood sci-fi masterpiece Starship Troopers is still as sharp as ever

When Starship Troopers arrived in theaters 29 years ago, a lot of people didn’t get it. While the original 1959 novel by Robert A. Heinlein had a militaristic right-wing viewpoint, director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriter Edward Neumeier sought to lampoon those themes when they adapted it for the screen in 1997. Unfortunately, a number of critics mistook the movie’s satire for sincerity. The Washington Post, for example, called Starship Troopers “Nazi to the core.”