Verhoeven made big-budget cheese his personal trademark, he just wasn't always successful. When it turns out right his oeuvre offers solid entertainment, but too many of his films fall flat on their face. Explore at your own peril.
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Cute, but watching this back, it has become pretty dated. The special effects in particular are a bit too goofy for them to be effective. ED-209 looks downright silly instead of menacing, that's probably not what Verhoeven was gunning for. Other than that though, this is still an enjoyable and entertaining film. The film is infinitely quotable and there's no lack of memorable moments, but the performances aren't that great and some of the scenes look crummy by modern standards. Luckily, there's a healthy streak of dark humor that softens the blow. The action is also pretty gritty and over-the-top, it just wasn't quite enough to safeguard its spot in my list of favorites.Read all
Showy and kitschy showbiz drama that has a little extra because of Verhoeven's over-the-top direction, but fails to excite beyond that. The acting is pretty bland, the story is boring and the film could've been 30 minutes shorter. It's not a terrible film, certainly not as bad as its reputation, but it's not very noteworthy either.
I'm pretty sure I'd seen this film before as a kid, but I didn't remember much of it, apart from the scenes that have become part of our cultural memory. It's a Verhoeven though, so I figured it would be nice to give this one another go and see if it was still worth something. The result was a little disappointing I'm afraid. There's quite a bit of nudity and the murders are pretty direct (for a Hollywood film), but that's about it really. The film itself is a very basic cop thriller, with a rather plain "did she or didn't she" plot that Verhoeven drags out until the very end. I found it hard to care about the final twist, which is never a good sign. Performances are rather weak (Douglas in particular is prone to some serious overacting) and the film has that rather cheap 90s cop thriller look. The soundtrack isn't very helpful either. The pacing is fine though and the film never gets too slow or boring, but in the end there's not all that much appeal left for a 2 hour film.Read all
An old Verhoeven and veritable Dutch classic. It's not difficult to see where this film got its reputation from. The premise is interesting enough and Verhoeven doesn't shy away from the juicier details. The presentation feels a little cheesy though, with the performances in particular being pretty poor. It's a pretty straightforward story, luckily, there's quite a bit of symbolism which adds to the intrigue. The homo-erotic overtones felt a bit out of place, though they don't detract I guess. Better acting and a slicker finale could've given the film a real boost, but at least I didn't feel bored watching it.Read all
A Dutch classic and one of Paul Verhoeven's first feature films. I'd never seen the film before, nor read the book, so I had no idea what to expect. I wasn't all that surprised to get a somewhat raunchier romance, what I didn't expect was the rather crummy and stilted execution of the thing. The performances are horrible, the dialogues are hideous, and almost half of the film is made up of nonsensical interludes. The romantic angle works relatively well regardless, but that too gets stunted in the second half. It's a pretty rough start to Verhoeven's career, but at least the film got his name out.Read all
