16 interesting facts about the movie "Starship Troopers" (13 photos)

The science-fiction film “Starship Troopers” by Paul Verhoeven, released in 1997, did not become a hit in its homeland in the USA, but in our country it became a cult. And today I would like to tell you some interesting facts about this picture.





1. The film "Starship Troopers" is based on the work of the same name by Robert Heinlein, which was released back in 1959. True, only the characters and the main concept were transferred to the film. In all other respects, the film is very different from the original source.



2. Initially, Paul Verhoeven wanted to cast young but popular actors in his film. But then he realized that popular actors were already at least 30 years old, so he began to look for young serial actors.

3. Casper Van Dien, who played Jonny Rico, trained for the role for 8 months and ended up gaining 2.5 kg of muscle mass and losing 9 centimeters from his waist.





4. In the scene when Johnny Rico throws a grenade into a huge bug and flies back, actor Casper Van Dien broke a rib.



5. Actress Dina Mayer played Dizzy Flores in the film, although she could easily have gotten the role of Carmen (Rico's lover). But she herself preferred the role of Dizzy, since this role was much closer to her.



6. All main and supporting actors underwent a separate 12-day training in a special camp. The training included daily 5-kilometer runs and intense physical activity with little access to oxygen (at an altitude of 1.8 km above sea level).



7. During filming, several actors suffered heatstroke every day due to the fact that filming took place during 40-45 degree heat. Among them was actor Jeff Busey (son of Gary Busey), who played Rico's friend.



8. Since the arachnids were created entirely using computer graphics, the actors had to interact with the void. To give the actors something to concentrate on, tennis balls, flags and even brooms were used.



9. To film a shower scene where men and women showered, Paul Verhoeven ordered the entire crew to leave. Only he and the cameraman remained from the film crew. To feel less awkward, the actors suggested that the director himself undress, and judging by various interviews, Verhoeven agreed to this. Thus, Verhoeven wanted to show that people's libido was suppressed in favor of faism and war.



10. Verhoeven wrote a separate nude scene for actress Denise Richards, but she refused it, saying that it had nothing to do with her character and she would not take her clothes off. True, after some time she starred in the film “Wildness” with very explicit scenes, and also undressed for Playboy magazine. True, by then her career had already begun to decline.



11. Much in the film is taken from fascism. You may notice that the uniform of the pilots, officers and intelligence officers is very reminiscent of the uniform of the Nazis. The creators explained this by saying that the Germans simply made beautiful things.



There is even an assumption that the arachnids did not initially attack the Earth, but the earthlings themselves began to invade alien worlds, which is why the alien creatures began to defend themselves.

In addition, the film shows abundant militaristic propaganda, and in this film it is rather ridiculed.

And the director himself stated that the film takes place in an alternative world where the Nazis won the Second World War. Because of this, there is so much resemblance to the Third Reich. Also, Verhoeven said that he showed exactly the ideal fascist world with spaceships and a shining sun. But he also added that such a world is suitable for only one thing - killing alien cockroaches. In essence, he was trolling fascism, but his mockery was not understood by critics, and the majority of spectators, in principle, did not pay attention to it.

12. About 300 designers and artists worked on creating the graphics in the film. Computer effects ended up making up almost half of the film's budget.

13. The base where the pilot academy is located is called “Tereshkova” in honor of the first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova.

14. During filming, about 300 thousand blank cartridges were used, which was a record at that time.



15. Macaulay Culkin, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Oliver Stone, Martin Scosese and other famous personalities named the film "Starship Troopers" as one of their favorite films.

16. Alien insects are called arachnids. There's just one caveat. Arachnids are spiders that are not insects at all.