27 years after its release, a real cult film is celebrating its comeback. The shooter Helldivers 2, which is clearly based on the film model, is to blame for this.
What film is it about? Helldivers 2 is one of the most popular games right now and is struggling to cope with the onslaught of players. In terms of its presentation and content, it is clearly reminiscent of the film Starship Troopers. The science fiction film dates back to 1997, so it’s already a few years old.
Starship Troopers was directed by Paul Verhoeven, the Dutch director otherwise known for films like Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct and Showgirls.
When it was released, the film caused quite a stir and was even put on the index in Germany. The reason for this was the depiction of violence. Over the years, Starship Troopers has become a cult film. Now it is making a comeback and is being viewed by more people again. Helldivers 2 is probably responsible for this.
STARSHIP TROOPERS [1997]– Official trailer
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In the fight for freedom and democracy
What are the parallels? Starship Troopers is about humanity’s fight against alien insect creatures, so-called “bugs”. Their planet is to be attacked as part of a large-scale offensive.
This premise alone is likely to be reminiscent of Helldivers 2, where players also take on giant insects. The basic tone is pathetic, it goes into the fight against the aliens in order to save the day in the end and at the same time, democracy.
The exaggerated tone that particularly characterizes Starship Troopers is evident here. At first glance, the film seems as if it wants to glorify the military, war and violence. But all the elements in it are so exaggerated that upon closer inspection it becomes clear that this is a satire.
The soldiers’ armor alone looks ridiculous against the bugs. The enthusiasm with which the soldiers run blindly into battle also shows that not everything is to be taken completely seriously. On the contrary, the soldiers even seem ridiculous with their hurray patriotism.
But not everyone in the audience understood that when the film was released. The film was poorly received. As already mentioned, it was indexed in Germany. The fact that the excessive violence is also part of the satire probably played a minor role for the Federal Testing Agency at the time. The indexing was only lifted in 2017 (via schnittbericht.com). Until then, the film could only be seen in a very shortened version.
Anyone who is currently playing Helldivers 2 will be reminded of the game almost constantly when watching Starship Troopers. The humor is similar, and is also based on D&D. Nevertheless, the game has enough of its own ideas. The film’s viewership has definitely increased recently, as this post on X makes clear:
Starship Troopers is now celebrating a return to the screens. In this country, the film can be seen on Disney Plus.
It may be due to director Paul Verhoeven’s style that some of his films flopped when they were released, but later developed into cult films. For example, Showgirls from 1995. Or his films are so brutal that they were indexed in this country. In addition to Starship Troopers, this also happened to 1987’s Robocop. There is a current game for this that is recommended by MeinMMO author Niko Hernes.