10 Things You Didn't Know About Starship Troopers

7. The Film Lost Out On A "Stinkers Bad Movie Award" To... Batman & Robin

Neil Patrick Harris - Starship Troopers
Warner Bros. Pictures

Starship Troopers is now known as one of the best science fiction films of all time and one of the best movies of the 90s, full stop. It's strange then to look back on the film's original release and see the negative reactions it garnered.

The film was a commercial flop, barely making a return on its $100 million budget, critics hated it, the film's marketing campaign made it look like just another generic sci-fi flick and as a result, the public didn't bother to see it.

The combination of this critical panning and underwhelming box office return led the film to be submitted for the 1997 "Bad Stinkers Movie Award" (a society devoted to honouring the worst films of all time), nominated alongside The Fifth Element (another future cult classic), The Postman (Kevin Costner's death knell), Lost Highway (a David Lynch curio) and Batman & Robin ("Ice to see you!").

Ultimately, Starship Troopers didn't win this auspicious award, losing out to Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin - a ridiculous film featuring Bat nipples, Bat butts and neverending ice-based puns. It lost by quite a margin, but the fact it was even nominated boggles the mind.

Contributor
Contributor

Christopher is a freelance pop culture writer, podcaster and self-confessed nerd from Scotland. He's also the owner, founder and editor at "The Head Scratcher" and a host of "The Scratch Cast" podcast. Visit www.theheadscratcher.com to find out more.