Paul Verhoeven

[Nasir007]

What an incredibly odd statement to make.

It is just a personal preference. I rarely watch tv shows. Nothing more to it.

It's a limited series with a single director and a single writer. Sounds a lot more like a multi-part film than a tv show.

It is just my personal hangup but I find tv diffuse in general and as such I enjoy it less. I would have doubts that there's 8 hrs worth of story in the novel but that's an entirely different concern. On the other hand, there's a chance of getting 4 movies worth of film-making.

Again, just a personal preference, it is purely an academic concern. Apologies if it was controversial or anything.

[knives]

It's not controversial. Your argument just isn't communicated clearly. How will this be any more diffuse then if the same project was theatrical?

[therewillbeblus]

Verhoeven's next project will be female-led political thriller set in D.C. titled Young Sinner

[beamish14]

Verhoeven's next project will be female-led political thriller set in D.C. titled Young Sinner

As much as I adore his two previous collaborations with Ed Neumeier, I really wish that he could finally get his Louis Couperus adaptation The Hidden Force off the ground. I'd love to see him do an epic on Dutch colonialism.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Is Turkish Delight announced on blu-ray somewhere ? perhaps in NL ?
I have just seen a WEB 1080 transfer which looks damned good.

So far I only had the DVD-5 (single layer) US release (was it Anchor Bay?) which I still have, no blu-ray around; whereas, more than "Spetters", like the almost Fassbinderian's Katie Tippel, or Soldier Of Orange this movie is still unreleased. This is my favorite Verhoeven's movie with "Showgirls" (love the open-matte release in France, although in scope it looks better)
And Turkish Delight is perhaps one of Paul Verhoeven's greatest movie.
I was wondering, now that a WEB 1080 transfer is "around" of a blu-ray is announced.
A box set with Katie Tippel, Solder Of Orange, etc... would be awesome.

[beamish14]

Is Turkish Delight announced on blu-ray somewhere ? perhaps in NL ?
I have just seen a WEB 1080 transfer which looks damned good.

So far I only had the DVD-5 (single layer) US release (was it Anchor Bay?) which I still have, no blu-ray around; whereas, more than "Spetters", like the almost Fassbinderian's Katie Tippel, or Soldier Of Orange this movie is still unreleased. This is my favorite Verhoeven's movie with "Showgirls" (love the open-matte release in France, although in scope it looks better)
And Turkish Delight is perhaps one of Paul Verhoeven's greatest movie.
I was wondering, now that a WEB 1080 transfer is "around" of a blu-ray is announced.
A box set with Katie Tippel, Solder Of Orange, etc... would be awesome.

All of Verhoeven’s pre-1985 features are unfortunately controlled by producer Rob Houwer, save for Spetters, and he is being extremely unreasonable about re-licensing them. I am not aware of a Blu of Turks Fruit in the Nederlands, but I’d love to see restorations of his work.

[ballmouse]

Never felt compelled to watch Showgirls based on the premise and the poor critical reception. But after watching Starship Troopers for the first time and not hating it, I thought it would be a change of pace from my usual fare to watch another Verhoeven. Enter Showgirls.

After watching it, I can't help but laugh because the poor reception actually implies viewers expected some sort of straight drama with Verhoeven, the guy who directed Robocop, Total Recall, and subsequently Starship Troopers, and that Verhoeven actually gave his audience too much credit, which makes it even funnier to watch knowing the subsequent reception of the film. The film is hilarious, precisely because it's satirical. The extravagant nudity and dancing, the sexy dumb blonde, the tough, sleezy strip club boss, the even tougher Vegas show boss, and the incessant non-verbal communication via body contact. I struggle to see how any critic could have taken Showgirls or Starship Troopers at face value. Hell, I tip my cap to Verhoeven because he actually added just enough credibility to the production that the film isn't unintentionally good because it's bad. It's actually intentionally good because it is good at being bad. And on the contrary, Berkley put up a fantastic acting job. She is the paragon of a number of women I have met who have looks, ambition, and naivete in a world where that sort of combination can easily be taken advantage of, which is exactly the premise here. I'm surprised Kyle MacLachlan wasn't proud of his acting job; he played the part of corporate sleezeball masquerading as handsome good guy as good on screen as what I see from the guys in real life.

Anyway, enough rambling. I'm excited to read up on everything about it now that I've got my own opinion of the film. My local library has a copy of You don't Nomi so I'll be checking that out as well as anything else I can get my hands on.

[tolbs1010]

Thanks to Tubi, I watched Soldier Of Orange for the first time after hearing good things and wanting to see it for many years. Surprised to be so disappointed after watching it. For a movie centered around resistance to the Nazi occupation of Holland, there is almost zero tension or weight to any of it. You never FEEL the stakes of the actions involved because the tone of the whole movie is more like a buddy action picture. Sort of like a Dutch Great Escape minus interesting characters, good dialogue, and measured pacing. The narrative is very disjointed and unbalanced. The early scenes which establish the central group of friends are too long and didn't do much to make me give a shit about any of them. The rest of the movie feels like a sprint through war espionage scenarios that should have more room to breathe to be more impactful. It has a one-thing-after-another progression but the connective threads seem to be missing. It's lively and tedious at the same time. This true story likely would have benefited from a longer series format, but even then I'm not sure Verhoeven's style is right for this kind of straightforward wartime heroism. He needs material with some inherent kink or an easy target to satirize for his sensationalist approach to connect.

[adamfeldman]

Thanks to Tubi, I watched Soldier Of Orange for the first time after hearing good things and wanting to see it for many years. Surprised to be so disappointed after watching it. For a movie centered around resistance to the Nazi occupation of Holland, there is almost zero tension or weight to any of it. You never FEEL the stakes of the actions involved because the tone of the whole movie is more like a buddy action picture.

Yeah, I watched most of the Dutch Verhoevens this year and I'd put Soldier of Orange near the bottom. It's fun enough but as you say it's kind of like a light romp without much substance, treating the war as kind of an adventure. I believe Verhoeven and Gerald Soeteman said the more morally complex aspects of the Dutch Resistance were still viewed as taboo in 1979 and they shied away from including them — only decades later, with Black Book, did they feel the time was right to go there.

I viewed Spetters as the best of the early Dutch Verhoevens, followed by the 4th Man and Turkish Delight.

[beamish14]

Thanks to Tubi, I watched Soldier Of Orange for the first time after hearing good things and wanting to see it for many years. Surprised to be so disappointed after watching it. For a movie centered around resistance to the Nazi occupation of Holland, there is almost zero tension or weight to any of it. You never FEEL the stakes of the actions involved because the tone of the whole movie is more like a buddy action picture. Sort of like a Dutch Great Escape minus interesting characters, good dialogue, and measured pacing. The narrative is very disjointed and unbalanced. The early scenes which establish the central group of friends are too long and didn't do much to make me give a shit about any of them. The rest of the movie feels like a sprint through war espionage scenarios that should have more room to breathe to be more impactful. It has a one-thing-after-another progression but the connective threads seem to be missing. It's lively and tedious at the same time. This true story likely would have benefited from a longer series format, but even then I'm not sure Verhoeven's style is right for this kind of straightforward wartime heroism. He needs material with some inherent kink or an easy target to satirize for his sensationalist approach to connect.

The final shot of it hits me so hard. I remember tearing up when I first saw it.

[tolbs1010]

The final shot of it hits me so hard. I remember tearing up when I first saw it.

SpoilerShow

The final freeze frame shot of Hauer in profile made you tear up? How so? His character went through a lot, I guess. I felt nothing but relief that the film was over. Verhoeven constantly bypasses, or maybe fumbles, opportunities to engage the audience emotionally. For example, the scene where Hauer's character returns to Holland as a spy, and takes a chance by going to see Esther. It could have been a tender scene, instead Verhoeven gives us a mid range two shot and holds it just long enough for Hauer to take down her top and give us a gratuitous boob shot. Cut. I lol'd when watching it. It was such a Verhoeven thing to do. Then when Hauer comes back to see Esther again after the war and she reveals her shaved head from being in one of the camps, there is no emotion in the reveal or the dialogue that follows. Just a cursory wrapping up of that story thread.