Starship Troopers is a 1997 science fiction film directed by Paul Verhoeven and based on Robert Heinlein's 1959 novel. It follows teenagers fighting an interstellar war against the Arachnids, giant insect-like aliens. Critics at release read it as endorsing fascism and mocked its violence and acting. It grossed $121 million against a budget of $100 to 110 million, and about half of that budget went to computer effects and practical creatures. Since then it has been re-evaluated as a cult classic and a satire of militarism and propaganda. It spawned four sequels, an animated series, and video games.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.