Starship Troopers (film) Quotations

Starship Troopers (film) is a 1997 film that tells the story of an interplanetary war between Earth and colonies of large insect-like aliens known as Bugs in the twenty-third century. It focuses on the experiences of Juan "Johnny" Rico, one of four friends who sign up to the military one year before Earth declares war on the aliens.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Written by Edward Neumeierr. Based on the original novel by Robert A. Heinlein.

A new kind of enemy. A new kind of war.(taglines)

Johnny Rico

Someone asked me once if I knew the difference between a civilian and a citizen. I know now. A citizen has the courage to make the safety of the human race their personal responsibility. Dizzy was my friend. She was a soldier. But most important, she was a citizen of the Federation.

Lieutenant Jean Rasczak

I need a corporal. You're it until you're dead or I find someone better.

This is for all you new people: I only have one rule. Everyone fights. No one quits. You don't do your job, I'll shoot you myself. You get me?

I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order.

Figuring things out for yourself is practically the only freedom anyone really has nowadays. Use that freedom.

Others

Sky Marshall Diennes: We must meet this threat with our valor, our blood, indeed with our very lives to ensure that human civilization, not insect, dominates this galaxy now and always!

Dialogue

Newsreel announcer: Every day, Federal scientists are looking for new ways to kill bugs.

Colonel Carl Jenkins: Your basic Arachnid warrior isn't too smart, but you can blow off a limb... [shoots an Arachnid warrior's limb off] and it's still 86 percent combat effective. Here's a tip: Aim for the nerve stem, and put it down for good.

Newsreel announcer: Young people from all over the globe are joining up to fight for the future.

Soldier #1: I'm doing my part.

Soldier #2: I'm doing my part.

Soldier #3: I'm doing my part.

Young kid: I'm doing my part too.

Newsreel announcer: They're doing their part. Are you? Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world. Service guarantees citizenship.

Dizzy: My mother always told me that violence doesn't solve anything.

Jean Rasczak: Really? I wonder what the city founders of Hiroshima would have to say about that. [to Carmen] You.

Carmen: They wouldn't say anything. Hiroshima was destroyed.

Jean Rasczak: Correct. Violence has resolved more conflicts than anything else. The contrary opinion that violence doesn't solve anything is merely wishful thinking at its worst.

Ace Levy: Sir, I don't understand. What good's a knife in a nuke fight? All you have to do is press a button, sir.

Career Sergeant Zim: Put your hand on that wall, trooper. [Ace hesitates] PUT YOUR HAND ON THAT WALL! [Zim throws a knife and hits Ace's hand, pinning it to the wall] The enemy cannot press a button... if you have disabled his hand. Medic!

Jean Rasczak: All right, let's sum up. This year in history, we talked about the failure of democracy, how the social scientists of the 21st Century brought our world to the brink of chaos. We talked about the veterans, how they took control and imposed the stability that has lasted for generations since. We talked about the rights and privileges between those who served in the armed forces and those who haven't, therefore called citizens and civilians. [to a student] You. Why are only citizens allowed to vote?

Student: It's a reward. Something the federation gives you for doing federal service.

Jean Rasczak: No. Something given has no basis in value. When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authorities are derived.

Taglines

Genocide doesn't compare to this.
Prepare for Battle
The paratroopers of the future are here... and their enemies aren't HUMAN
When you battle 6 trillion enemies that will eat you alive, there are only two rules... EVERYONE FIGHTS. NO ONE QUITS.
The only good bug is a dead bug
Mankind just became an endangered species
Forget the insecticide, bring on the nukes!
You can't step on these ones
In Every age there is a cause worth fighting for, but in the future the greatest threat to our survival will not be man at all. Now the youth of tomorrow must travel across the stars to face an enemy more devastating then any ever imagined.
They Came to Our Planet, They destroyed our cities, But on November 7th, They'll learn, They messed, With the wrong species.
This Fall, Tristar Pictures takes you to the front lines of the next frontier.

Cast

Casper Van Dien — Johnny Rico
Dina Meyer — Dizzy Flores
Denise Richards — Carmen Ibanez
Jake Busey — Private Ace Levy
Neil Patrick Harris — Colonel Carl Jenkins
Clancy Brown — Career Sergeant Zim
Seth Gilliam — Private Sugar Watkins
Patrick Muldoon — Zander Barcalow
Michael Ironside — Lieutenant Jean Rasczak
Marshall Bell — General Owen
Lenore Kasdorf — Mrs. Rico