Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation is the 2004
direct-to-video sequel to the 1997
feature film Starship Troopers. It had a $7 million budget as opposed to the $105 million of the original. Even though the film was released direct to video in the United States, it had a theatrical release in
Japan and
Spain. It has almost no relationship to the novel
Starship Troopers by
Robert A. Heinlein; even less than the first
Starship Troopers film, which was based on an original screenplay that was revised to co-opt character names and story elements of the Heinlein book. None of the characters from the original film appear in this sequel (except for in recycled footage), although the actress
Brenda Strong appears in both films as different characters. The film was directed by
Phil Tippett, who is also the founder of
Tippett Studio, the
visual effects company that created the creature and miniature effects for the original film. Further sequels,
Starship Troopers 3: Marauder and
Starship Troopers: Invasion, have since been released.