-
Johnny Rico: I wanna join up. I think I got what it takes to be a Citizen.
Jean Rasczak: Good for you! Go find out...
Johnny Rico: Well... my parents are against it... and I know it's my choice. I was wondering. What would you do if you were me?
Jean Rasczak: Figuring things out for yourself is the only freedom anyone really has. Use that freedom. Make up your own mind, Rico.
-
Jean Rasczak: I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!
-
Johnny Rico: I'm from Buenos Aires, and I say kill 'em all!
-
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]
Jean Rasczak: You.
Carmen: They wouldn't say anything. Hiroshima was destroyed.
Jean Rasczak: Correct. Naked force has resolved more conflicts throughout history than any other factor. The contrary opinion, that violence doesn't solve anything, is wishful thinking at its worst. People who forget that always die.
-
Ace Levy: Shoot a nuke down a bug hole, you got a lot of dead bugs.
-
Newsreel announcer: Join the Mobile Infantry and save the Galaxy. Service guarantees citizenship. Would you like to know more?
-
[first lines]
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 dressed up as a soldier: I'm doing my part too.
[Soldiers laugh]
Newsreel announcer: They're doing their part. Are you? Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world. Service guarantees citizenship.
-
[last lines]
Newsreel announcer: We have the ships. We have the weapons. We need soldiers. Soldiers like Lieutenant Stack Lumbreiser...
Lt. Lumbreiser: Over the target area now, Captain.
Newsreel announcer: ...and Captain Carmen Ibanez.
Carmen: This is the captain speaking. All personnel prepare for drop.
Newsreel announcer: Soldiers like Private Ace Levy and Lieutenant John Rico.
Johnny Rico: Come on you apes, you wanna live forever?
Newsreel announcer: We need you all. Service guarantees citizenship.
-
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.
-
Sky Marshal Dienes: We must meet this threat with our courage, our valor, indeed with our very lives to ensure that human civilization, not insect, dominates this galaxy *now and always*!
-
Carl: We thought there might be a Brain Bug on 'P'.
Carmen: You knew and still you sent them?
Carl: We couldn't afford to launch an operation if there wasn't one.
[both Carmen and Johnny look at Carl with contempt]
Carl: You disapprove? Well, too bad! We're in this war for the species, boys and girls. It's simple numbers. They have more. And every day I have to make decisions that send hundreds of people like you to their deaths.
Johnny Rico: Didn't they tell you, Colonel? That's what the Mobile Infantry is good for.
-
Johnny Rico: You're some sort of big, fat, smart-bug, aren't you?
-
Dizzy: Rico, I'm dying.
Johnny Rico: No Diz, you'll be fine.
Dizzy: But it's OK, because I got to have you.
-
Zander: One day someone like me is gonna kill you and your whole fucking race!
-
Johnny: M.I. does the dying. Fleet just does the flying.
-
[after Rico gets a Dear John from Carmen]
Ace Levy: Funny how they always want to be friends after they rip your guts out.
-
Jean Rasczak: Come on you apes! You want to live forever?
-
Newsreel announcer: Young people all over the globe are joining up to save the future.
-
Newsreel announcer: Everyone is doing their part. Are you?
-
[Carl psychically probes the captured alien]
Carl: It's afraid. It's afraid.
[everyone cheers]
-
Johnny Rico: This is Roughneck Two-Zero-One. We are under heavy attack!
Radio operator: [voice] But we have Planet P as secure.
Johnny Rico: This place crawls, sir! I request retrieval, now!
Radio operator: [voice] What is your location?
Johnny Rico: Come down on this transmission.
Radio operator: [voice] On the outpost? That's crazy!
Johnny Rico: Well, I hope you have a crazy pilot. Out.
-
closing caption: They'll keep fighting... and they'll WIN.
-
Lieutenant Willy: Remember your training, and you will make it out alive!
-
Jean Rasczak: They sucked his brains out.
-
Jean Rasczak: This is for all you new people. I have only one rule. Everybody fights, no one quits. If you don't do your job, I'll kill you myself! Welcome to the Roughnecks!
-
Johnny Rico: These are the rules. Everybody fights, nobody quits. If you don't do your job I'll kill you myself. Welcome to the Roughnecks!
Private Sugar Watkins: Rico's Roughnecks!
-
Jean Rasczak: [to Rico] I need a corporal. You're it, until you're dead or I find someone better.
-
Johnny Rico: Who are these kids?
Ace Levy: We got reinforced. Most of them are fresh out of boot.
Johnny Rico: We're the old men, Ace.
-
Jean Rasczak: Warm it up, everything you've got. C'mon you apes, you wanna live forever?
-
Career Sergeant Zim: Anytime you think I'm being too rough, anytime you think I'm being too tough, anytime you miss-your-mommy, QUIT! You sign your 1240-A, you get your gear, and you take a stroll down washout lane. Do you get me?
-
Ace Levy: Everybody needs a friend like me.
-
[Ace is having difficulty with throwing knives]
Ace Levy: Sir, I don't understand. Who needs a knife in a nuke fight anyway? All you gotta do is push a button, sir.
Career Sergeant Zim: Cease fire. Put your hand on that wall trooper. PUT YOUR HAND ON THAT WALL!
[Zim throws a knife and hits Ace's hand pinning it to the wall]
Career Sergeant Zim: The enemy can not push a button... if you disable his hand. Medic!
-
Ace Levy: Don't worry, you still got me to kick around.
-
Zander: Don't exceed port speed.
Carmen: Or what?
Zander: Or they revoke your flight status... and mine.
Carmen: [Smiles] Your career is in my hands.
-
Jean Rasczak: All right, let's sum up. This year we explored the failure of democracy. How our social scientists brought our world to the brink of chaos. We talked about the veterans, how they took control and established the stability that has lasted for generations since. You know these facts, but have I taught you anything of value this year?
[to a student]
Jean Rasczak: 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 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.
-
Private Sugar Watkins: Gimme the nuke
Johnny Rico: You trying to be a hero, Watkins?
Private Sugar Watkins: Just trying to kill some bugs, sir.
-
Johnny Rico: I hear you got a bug problem ma'am?
Corporal Birdie: Ah, stuff it, Rico!
-
[reporting on the failed invasion of Klendathu]
Newsreel announcer: Crisis for humankind. Fleet officials admit they underestimated the Arachnids' defensive capability.
[switch over to the Federal council]
Newsreel announcer: Accepting responsibility for Klendathu, Sky Marshal Dienes resigns. His successor, Sky Marshal Tehat Maru, outlines her new strategy.
Sky Marshal Tehat Meru: To fight the bug, we must understand the bug. We can ill afford another Klendathu.
Newsreel announcer: Would you like to know more?
-
[arriving at the Fleet Space Station, Carmen and Zander see the devastation of the failed Klendathu invasion fleet]
Zander: [shocked] My God. How could this happen?
Carmen: We thought we were smarter than the Bugs.
-
[Inside an Arachnid study laboratory]
Newsreel announcer: Every day, Federal scientists are looking for new ways to kill bugs.
Carl: Your basic Arachnid warrior isn't too smart, but you can blow off a limb,
[shoots an Arachnid warrior's limb off]
Carl: and it's still 86 percent combat effective. Here's a tip: Aim for the nerve stem, and put it down for good.
[demonstrates]
-
Jean Rasczak: You got 10 minutes to get ready and go.
Johnny Rico: Yes sir.
Jean Rasczak: [notices someone's hiding] Whos's in there with you?
Dizzy: [shows up, slightly embarrassed] Flores, sir.
Jean Rasczak: [smiles] Make it 20.
Johnny Rico: We can do it.
-
Lieutenant Willy: We're going in with first wave. Means more bugs fer us to kill!
-
General Owen: I had to evade capture. The lives of the Federation were at stake.
Ace Levy: [background] Fire in the Hole!
[explosion]
General Owen: [startled by the explosion] I have operational knowledge of what were up to out here.
Jean Rasczak: [to Diz] Dizzi, give me a status report.
Johnny Rico: [softly] She's working on it.
General Owen: [points to a dead soldier with his head hollowed out] Here, they did it to Farley, they got into his mind. They made Farley call Headquarters.
Johnny Rico: The distress call was a trap.
General Owen: They're just like us. They wanna know what makes us tick. They wanna know us, so they can KILL us!
Jean Rasczak: [into his radio] This is Rasczak, prepare for attack. I repeat, prepare for attack!
-
Jean Rasczak: [Arriving on Planet P after its been bombed] All right. SPREAD OUT! Fire Teams, you see a bug hole, NUKE IT!
-
Net Correspondent: It's an ugly planet. A BUG planet! A planet hostile to life-
[Reporter is attacked and maimed by an arachnid]
-
Carmen: Incoming plasma energy bolts from the planet's surface, ma'am.
Captain Deladier: Bug batteries. According to Military Intelligence, it will be random and light. Drop status?
Zander: Troop drop status is 35% complete, ma'am.
[from the bridge more and more bug plasma energy bolts are seen zoom by, two coming dangerously close to the ship. Carman looks back at Captain Deladier with concern]
Captain Deladier: Steady as she goes, Number Two. Prepare for warp.
-
Jean Rasczak: [after Rico denies Dizzy's request to dance] Rico - you once asked me for advice, want some now?
Johnny Rico: Yes, sir!
Jean Rasczak: Never pass up a good thing.
-
Net Correspondent: No-one here in the AQZ knows exactly when the invasion of Klendathu will occur. But everyone's talking about it, and the talk says "tomorrow".
[News journalist happily gives away the human battle plans on network television]
-
Johnny Rico: Never surrender. Never retreat. Never give up.
-
Jean Rasczak: Rico. What is the moral difference, if any, between a civilian and a citizen?
Johnny Rico: A citizen accepts personal responsibility for the safety and the body politic defending it with his life. A civilian does not.
Jean Rasczak: The exact words of the textbook. But do you understand it? Do you believe it?
Johnny Rico: I don't know.
Jean Rasczak: No, of course you don't. I doubt anyone here would recognize civic virtue even if it reached up and bit you in the ass!
-
Carmen: Johnny, wait...
Zander: Forget it, Ensign. He's mobile infantry. When you're paid to kill it doesn't pay to be polite.
Johnny Rico: You got something to say about mobile infantry?
Zander: You heard me. You want to make something of it... private?
Johnny Rico: No, sir, not with an officer. The M.I. doesn't mint stupid troopers.
Zander: Then let's disregard rank.
[raising voice to speak to the crowd]
Zander: Everybody hear that? Rank is not an issue here.
Carmen: Zander, please, don't do this.
Zander: Come on, what's he gonna do?
[Zander turns towards Rico, who punches Zander in the jaw]
-
Carmen: Johnny, uh, you remember Zander, don't you?
Zander: From the game today.
[shakes Johnny's hand]
Zander: No hard feelings?
Johnny Rico: None at all. We won.
-
[as the unloading of Mobile Infantry from the starfleet continues, one transport is hit and destroyed by planetary bug plasma energy fire as hundreds of plasma energy bolts are flying all around the starfleet]
Captain Deladier: This isn't random or light. Someone made a mistake.
Zander: That's it. Drop status is 100%. We're empty, ma'am.
[suddenly in front of them, a starship's starboard engines are hit by plasma energy fire. Captain Deladier, Carmen and Zander look in horror as the ship veers off course and crashes into another starship, setting both afire]
Captain Deladier: Someone made a BIG goddamn mistake! Break for high orbit! Evasive action, now!
-
Carl: So you haven't done it yet, have you? Don't lie!
Johnny Rico: I'm not in any hurry.
Carl: [Indicating Dizzy Flores] Others are waiting.
Johnny Rico: [Looking at Dizzy] Did you read her mind?
Carl: Don't have to. It's pretty clear what she wants.
Johnny Rico: Yeah, but I want Carmen.
Carl: Oh, you got it bad!
-
[repeated line]
Career Sergeant Zim: Medic!
-
Alisha's Attic: Intense! When it comes to us we gotta get a Rocket Ship outta here!
-
Student: I want to be a citizen because I want to have a Baby.
-
Net Correspondent: No one here in the AQZ knows exactly when the invasion of klendathu will occur. But everyone's talking about it and the talk says tomorrow. Here's a bunch of M.I. kids that look like they could eat bugs for lunch.
Dizzy Flores: [chuckling] Yum, yum, yum.
Net Correspondent: So trooper, you're not too worried about fighting the Arachnids?
Ace Levy: Hey shoot a nuke down a bug hole, you got a lot of dead bugs am I right?
Kitten Smith: I just hope it's not over before we get some.
Net Correspondent: Some say the bugs were provoked by the intrusion of humans into their natural habitat, that a "Live-and-let-live" policy is preferable to war with the bugs.
Johnny Rico: Let me tell you something. I'm from Buenos Aires, and I say kill them all!
-
Expert: When a colony reaches a certain size, 300 generations or something, it gets smarter.
Expert: Insects with intelligence? Have you ever met one? I can't believe I'm hearing this nonsense. This is the most ridiculous conversation I have ever had.
Expert: Would you just wait a moment
[steps on his shoe to get his attention]
Expert: Maybe, there is some kind of bug that we haven't seen yet, a leadership caste, a hive brain.
Expert: Brain? Bugs? Frankly, I find the idea of a bug that thinks offensive!
-
Fed Net Announcer: Crisis for humankind. Fleet officials admit they underestimated the arachnids defensive capability. Accepting responsibility for Klendathu, Sky Marshal Dienes resigns. His successor Sky Marshal Tahat Meru outlines for new strategy. Would you like to know more? Federal scientists struggle to explain the intelligent military actions of the Arachnids.
-
Fed Net Announcer: Out of the ashes of Buenos Aires comes first sorrow, then anger. In Geneva, the Federal Council convenes. Sky Marshal Dienes announces plans for an offensive against Klendathu, source of the bug meteor that destroyed Buenos Aires. Every day Federal scientists are looking for new ways to kill bugs. Would you like to know more? Everyone's doing their part? Are you? The war effort needs your effort at work, at home, in your community. We now break net and take you live to Fleet Battle Station, Ticonderoga, deep inside the Arachnid Quarantine Zone, where the men and women of The Federal Armed Services prepare to attack.
-
Fed Net Announcer: Citizen rule. People making a better tomorrow. A murderer was captured this morning and tried today. Sentence, death. Execution tonight at 6:00. All net. All channels. Would you like to know more? Federal studies are being conducted in your community. Would you like to know more? Every school kid knows that Arachnids are dangerous. However, Mormon extremists disregarded Federal warnings, and established Fort Joe Smith deep inside the Arachnid Quarantine Zone. Too late, they realized that Dantanna had already been chosen by other colonist, Arachnids. Would you like to know more?
-
Fed Net Announcer: What mysteries will the Brain Bug reveal? Federal scientists are working around the clock to probe its secrets. Once we understand the bug, we will defeat it. We have the ships. We have the weapons. We need soldiers. Soldiers like Lieutenant Stack Lumbreiser. And Captain Carmen Ibanez. Soldiers like Private Ace Levy and Lieutenant John Rico. We need you all. Service guarantees citizenship.
-
Fed Net Announcer: The devastation we are seeing is unparalleled. Judging from early estimates, millions dead, a city in ruins. The meteor was shot out of orbit by bug plasma that derived from Klendathu, the Arachnids' home planet. Nothing lives in what was once called "The Latin Paradise", Buenos Aires has been wiped off the Earth. The Federal Council met moments ago and voted unanimously from mobilisation to destroy the Arachnid threat.
-
Carl Jenkins: Your basic Arachnid warrior isnt to smart but you can blow off a limb
[shoots off warriors appendage]
Carl Jenkins: and it's still 86 percent combat effective. Here's a tip, aim for the nerve stem and put it down for good.
[Kills Arachnid]
-
Fed Net Announcer: Young people from all over the globe are joining up to fight for the future. They're doing their part, are you? Join the Mobile Infantry and save the world. Service guarantees citizenship. The Bug sent another meteor our way, but this time we're ready. Planetary defenses are better than ever. Klendathu, source of the bug meteor attacks, orbits a twin star system whose brutal gravitational forces produce an unlimited supply of bug meteorites in the form of this asteroid belt. To ensure the safety of our solar system, Klendathu must be eliminated. We break Net now and bring you live to Klendathu where the invasion has begun.
-
Net Correspondent: We've just landed here on what cap troopers are calling "Big K" with the 6th Mobile Infantry division. It's an ugly planet, a bug planet! A planet hostile to life as we know it!
-
Mr. Rico: [hands Johnny a enlistment book] This came for you today. I presume at your request?
Johnny Rico: A lot of my friends are doing Federal Service.
Mrs. Rico: Well you're not thinking of applying.
Mr. Rico: Have you lost your mind I rather take and lashes in public square than to see you ruin your life.
Johnny Rico: It's a term of service, it's not a career. I just want to get out on my own, see the galaxy for a couple years.
Mrs. Rico: Johnny, people get killed in the Federal Service
Mr. Rico: Who gave you this idea? Its that teacher isn't it you know the one I'm talking about what's his name?
Johnny Rico: Mr. Rasczak.
Mr. Rico: Rasczak? Silly name. There should be a law against using a school as a recruiting station
Johnny Rico: No Rasczak doesn't do that at all. He sort of discourages you
Mr. Rico: Well that's good. Because you're going to Harvard and that's the end of it.
Johnny Rico: It's my decision, not yours.
Mr. Rico: Oh, is that how it is.
Mrs. Rico: Wait a minute you too Dad and I have a surprise for you that I think should settle this, can you guess what it is?
Johnny Rico: No.
Mr. Rico: You said you wanted to see the Galaxy, how about a trip to the outer rings Zegema Beach, huh?
Johnny Rico: I've... always wanted to go there.
Mrs. Rico: Well good then it's all settled.
-
Mr. Rico: You'll resign and that's all there is to it it may look bad but if that's the worst you suffered then that's fine.
Johnny Rico: I won't quit!
Mr. Rico: I'm telling you you will. You're not going back your going on vacation.
Johnny Rico: I am not going on vacation. I want to be a citizen. it's my decision I made it.
Mr. Rico: You walk out that door and you are cut off young man do you understand
[Johnny walks out]
Mr. Rico: Alright that's it you are cut off!
Mrs. Rico: Johnny why would you change your mind does a citizenship really mean that much to you?
Johnny Rico: Well... Yeah, sure.
Mrs. Rico: I hope so. I hope you don't ruin your life over some silly little girl who wants to look handsome in a uniform.
Johnny Rico: Don't talk about Carmen that way!
[walks off]
Mrs. Rico: Johnny.
Starship Troopers Quotes
Extended Reading
