Starship Troopers is a 1997 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier, based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert A. Heinlein. Set in the 23rd century, the story follows teenager Johnny Rico and his friends serving in the military of the United Citizen Federation, an Earth world government engaged in interstellar war with an alien species of Arachnids. The film stars Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Neil Patrick Harris, Patrick Muldoon, and Michael Ironside.

Development of Starship Troopers began in 1991 as a separate project called Bug Hunt at Outpost 7, written by Neumeier. Upon recognizing similarities between Neumeier's script and Heinlein's book, producer Jon Davison urged a rework to align the script more closely with the novel, aiming to garner increased interest from studio executives. Despite these efforts development was slow, with studios hesitant to fund the costly project right up to the commencement of filming. Principal photography took place between April and October 1996 on a $100–110 million budget, nearly half of which was committed to the extensive computer-generated (CGI) and practical effects required to vivify the Arachnid creatures.

Released on November 7, 1997, Starship Troopers faced critical backlash, with reviewers interpreting the film as endorsing fascism. Critics disparaged its violence, performances by the lead actors, and some accused Verhoeven and Neumeier of sympathizing with Nazi ideologies. Despite initial financial success, the film experienced a consistent decline at the box office due to negative reviews and unfavorable word-of-mouth, culminating in a $121 million total gross against its budget, and becoming only the 34th-highest-grossing film of 1997. The poor performance of Starship Troopers was blamed, in part, on competition from a high number of successful or anticipated science fiction and genre films released that year, its satirical and violent content failing to connect with mainstream audiences, and ineffective marketing.

Since its release, Starship Troopers has been critically re-evaluated, and is now considered a cult classic and a prescient satire of fascism and authoritarian governance that has grown in relevancy. The film helped launch a multimedia franchise that includes four sequels—Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004), Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008), Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012), and Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (2017)—as well as an animated television series, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles (1999), video games, comics, and a variety of merchandise.