But then Verhoeven started the film not knowing of the book, and only read a few chapters before getting depressed and bored.
That speaks ill of Verhoeven, not the book...
I got depressed while reading Starship Troopers. Mostly because it made me feel that I’d never done enough for my country. It also reminded me of a lot of many former Marines I knew when I was in law enforcement. They were all fans of the novel . . . so I couldn’t say if Heinlein had really captured the spirit of it had really influenced them. Of course most of the book I found to be fantastic. Especially Dubois’ explanation of the economics of market value and how it was all really personal value. I did, however, take issue with the notion that rights were granted to the individual by the state, even if there is no compulsion to take part in the state other than to obey the laws that protected the privileges and property of other individuals (as it was in the novel) this theory smacks to much of statism to me. At the time though I just chalked that notion up to Heinlein still transitioning out of his socialist stage and still did not fully appreciate that the state is not needed to compel the individual to the right course of action.