History Film / StarshipTroopers2HeroOfTheFederation

* ShoutOut: Captain Dax, who detests the hypocrisy of a military bureaucracy that wastes its soldiers in fruitless battles, is almost certainly named after the protagonist of ''Film/PathsOfGlory'' who shared similar ideas about his own army.

* ThinkOfTheChildren: Mocked by the cynical, disgraced Captain Dax when one of his superiors berates him for having refused to follow illegal orders. According to him, cowards hide behind one of two things: [[JustFollowingOrders orders]] and children.

* BodyHorror: Sergeant Ari Peck gets this like you wouldn't believe. Because he's been infected by the Control Bug for the longest, his physical condition degrades to the point his skin looks plagued, his eyes turn bloodshot, and his body begins to fall apart. After Griff removes the top of his head, he plucks out a fully matured Control Bug that looks big enough to have outright replaced Peck's skull and spinal column.

* DwindlingParty: Of the entire platoon, roughly a dozen named characters survive the initial third of the film as all the {{Redshirt}}s are killed off, and those remaining troopers end up infected and/or by the Control Bugs as the film goes on. Only Dax and Sahara make it to the end, but Dax opts to stay behind and die via HeroicSacrifice, leaving Sahara as the SoleSurvivor.

* DwindlingParty: There are a number of soldiers waiting for extraction from the outpost. Pretty much all of them are infected and subsequently killed.

* ToneShift: ''Hero Of The Federation'' is a horror film rather than a war film like its predecessor.

-->'''Brick''': Yeah, just like covering your six, huh?

* CoolBisSis: Sahara fills this role to Otter, since he's the youngest, least experienced, and has trouble fending for himself. She consistently looks after him and comforts him when he starts cracking under pressure. She notably fights back tears when she has to kill an infected Otter in self-defense later in the film.

* SlashedThroat: Dill gets offed this way by a bug-controlled soldier.

* BodyHorror: One of the infected starts literally falling apart, and another one rips off his head to reveal a bug inside.

* AnyoneCanDie: At the end, [[spoiler:[[PregnantBadass Sahara]]]] is the only soldier sent on the planet to leave it alive, with others having been killed one way or another and [[spoiler:[[TheHero Dax]]]] opting for a HeroicSacrifice.

* DarkerAndEdgier: This film abandons the BlackComedy of the first film.

* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Bugs see humanity as this, regarding them as a virus.

* FourStarBadass: General Shepherd seems like this at first. He eventually becomes the movie's BigBad after he gets [[PuppeteerParasite infected]], and gives the heroes a pretty nasty HannibalLecture.
* HumanityIsInsane: Because the Arachnids are a HiveMind, humanity's individuality is abhorrent to them. When General Shephard is infected, he makes it clear why the Arachnids are fighting a GuiltFreeExterminationWar.

* CallBack: The recruiter identifies a mother's infant son as "fresh meat for the grinder". Said mother is not amused.

* HiveMind: The General (who's been infected by a mind-control bug) uses this as a justification for exterminating humanity:
--> '''[[GeneralRipper General]] Jack Gordon Shephard:''' "[[HumansThroughAlienEyes Poor creatures]]. Why must we destroy you? I'll tell you why. Order is the tide of creation. But yours is a species that worships... the one over the many. You ''glorify'' your intelligence... because it allows you to believe '''anything'''. That you have a destiny. That you have a right. That you have a cause. That you are [[HumansAreSpecial special]]. That you are [[HumanityIsSuperior great]]. But in truth, you are ''born'' '''[[HumanityIsInsane insane]]'''. And such ''misery''... cannot be allowed... to spread!"
* HumanityIsInsane: The Arachnids (or Bugs) use this as a justification for attacking and taking over humanity. See HiveMind for the full quote.

* KissOfDeath: One of the PuppeteerParasite-like aliens is transferred this way, from a female soldier who was [[FullFrontalAssault walking around stark naked]].

* PhysicalFitnessPunishment: PlayedWith. A group of troopers are cooped up in an abandoned outpost waiting for rescue, and a comely female trooper[[note]]who is possessed by a PuppeteerParasite that she is trying to spread[[/note]] makes a pass at Captain Dax, claiming that she needs to burn off "excess energy." So he decides to help her out by having her do a hundred pushups [[IgnoreTheFanservice as he walks off]].

* TheyWouldCutYouUp: Former {{Jerkass}} Lieutenant Pavlov Dill uses these exact words when he finds that the rest of the soldiers ([[PuppeteerParasite all infected by mind-control Control Bugs]]) have infected Gen. Shepherd with the Arachnids' plan being to send him back to the Federation so he can infect other Federation leaders and take over the world. His threats are cut short when another infected soldier slowly walks behind him and slits his throat, making it RedemptionEqualsDeath:
-->'''Pavlov:''' "You bastards... you are all under arrest for murder, sedition, for treason against the Federation. Oh! You're going to pay... because we're not going to kill you... oh no... you see, we got special places for things like you... where they cut you up, but they keep you alive when they cut you up... so they can see what makes you tick, and then what makes you sick! And I will be there, oh yeah! I'm going to be there when they see--" (threat cut short by infected soldier [[KilledMidSentence cutting his throat]]).

* VasquezAlwaysDies: The only person to get off the planet alive is a pregnant woman. Must be all those maternal instincts keeping the bugs away.

* TheNeidermeyer: Lieutenant Pavlov Dill was one of these, though he's more incompetent than mean.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Pavlov Dill is a self-important jerk who makes a big deal out of his own not-so-extraordinary psychic powers and is dismissive of Sahara for failing her psychic assessment test. However, once Sahara does convince him that she is a psychic, he becomes quite supportive and tries to help her interpret the visions she's been having. He then tries to take action against the PuppeteerParasite bugs but by then, it is too late. At least he was DefiantToTheEnd.

* MythologyGag: The Control Bugs first appeared in WesternAnimation/RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles.

* BottleEpisode: This film stands apart from the other two ''Starship Troopers'' live-action films because the action is confined to a single base for most of the film, along with a ToneShift to sci-fi horror instead of military science fiction.