Starship Troopers 3: Marauder is a 2008 American science fiction film written and directed by Edward Neumeier and starring Casper Van Dien, who returned as Johnny Rico from the original film, along with Jolene Blalock and Boris Kodjoe. It is a sequel to Starship Troopers (1997) and Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (2004) (which were both written by Neumeier) and the third installment of the Starship Troopers film series. The film was released directly to video in the U.S. on August 5, 2008. It received generally negative reviews.
Plot
In the eleven years of "The Second Bug War", the Mobile Infantry has improved their weapons and tactics, while the Bugs have countered by developing many new Arachnid variants. The United Citizen Federation now finds itself engaged in prolonged trench warfare. The Federation puts out a positive spin through the media, while using its judicial and military authority to suppress peace protesters and religious fanatics as seditionists.
Colonel Johnny Rico is stationed on the agricultural planet Roku San, where the popular Sky Marshal Omar Anoke pays a visit. Rico's old friend, General Dix Hauser, gets into a bar fight with a group of anti-war farmers. When Rico stops Dix from shooting a farmer, Dix orders his arrest, but the base defenses suddenly fail due to a Bug attack. Rico knocks down Dix and leaves to help fight the Arachnids. When Roku San falls, the Federal Media blames Rico, who is condemned to execution for insubordination.
Captain Lola Beck is piloting Anoke to Sanctuary, the Fleet's secret HQ, when they are marooned on the classified planet OM-1. Admiral Enolo Phid suppresses this information so as not to lower public morale and support for the war effort, but Dix learns of the situation and has Rico's execution faked, wanting him to rescue Anoke and Beck, the latter being one of the few Federation pilots who knows the location of Sanctuary, which would cripple the military if the Arachnids discovered it. On OM-1, an apparent earthquake causes Dr. Wiggs to fall into a crevasse, where Anoke sees a giant eye staring at him from below. Cynical cook Jingo Ryan perishes next after he takes shelter within a cluster of rock outcroppings, which are actually Arachnid limbs which pull him below. Engineer Bull Brittles asks the deeply religious Holly Little to marry him, but dies shortly after.
On Earth, Hauser confronts Phid about why she is abandoning the Sky Marshal, only to be arrested. Phid reveals that Anoke is responsible for the downfall of Roku San, having telepathically communicated with the "Brain of Brains", also known as "Behemecoatyl", through a previously captured Brain Bug. Delusionally thinking that he could save humanity if he could make peace with them, Anoke adopted the Bugs’ religion and turned off the electric barrier surrounding the base on Roku San to demonstrate his willingness for peace between the two species. The Federation now believes the original Brain Bug allowed itself to be captured in order to pass on intelligence from inside the Federation. When the Federation decides to kill and dissect their Brain Bug, it somehow discerns their plot and unleashes a telepathic scream, slaughtering a few soldiers before Hauser kills it. It is revealed that Phid ignored the distress calls from OM-1 so she could become the new Sky Marshal; however, she failed to consider that the highly skilled Beck would be with Anoke.
On OM-1, the stranded make contact with Behemecoatyl, who communicates with them through the corpses of their fallen comrades and soon kills Anoke to absorb his knowledge; Beck and Holly, the last survivors, begin praying for salvation. Rico leads the Marauders, an elite team of troopers composed of his command staff from Roku San, on a rescue mission, using the Federation's new battle-suits. They defeat the Arachnid warriors on OM-1, suffer no casualties, and rescue Beck and Holly. OM-1 is revealed to be the home of the Bug Hive, the Arachnids' ruling body, and Fleet destroys it from orbit with a "Q Bomb".