Yeah, what was a closer movie to Heinlein's writing was "Puppet Masters."Heinlein was the G.O.A.T. of American mid-20th century literature, along with H. Beam Piper. Absolutely unsurpassed and ALL of our current day space battle and mech robot epics are inspired by ideas adapted from their works. The 1997 movie was fun but that was it. It is a titty riot for teens and should NOT be associated with the novel in any way. There is a Japanese animation company that is trying to adopt the novel into an animated epic, 100% faithful to the book word for word and I really wish them luck and hope to see it when it is completed.
But for "Starship Troopers," I think the actors read the book and got the gist. Specifically applauding Casper Van Diem, Michael Ironside, Clancy Brown, Din Meyer. Denise Richardson, not so much.