Diagonaldi Very well executed

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

punishmentpark Paul Verhoeven's Hollywood debut (as I thought at times when watching this)? No, but it's all in English. Not English English, but with the (attempted?) American accent, and a lot of corny lines which do make it sound so. But there's way too much swearing and nudity for Hollywood here, anyway. Especially the young Jennifer Jason Leigh made an indelible impression on me when I watched this at a relatively early age, and she alone makes this new viewing worth my while.The story has loads of interesting elements and themes going on (connecting the setting of his very early work 'Floris' with themes of his more recent 'Zwartboek'), but it hardly ever comes together - if at all. The trivia here on IMDb offer some insight into why things (also) went wrong, but ultimately, there is no true excuse for delivering such a poor piece of writing for the screen.If there had been plenty of enjoyable action scenes to help forget some of those flaws, I'd be able to give out some extra points, but in that area as well, things hardly ever get impressive.The almost constantly screaming and misbehaving characters (and overacting actors) are pretty annoying on top of all that, so that only leaves lots of interesting basic ideas, some pretty steamy soft porn with beautiful Jennifer, some very nice scenery shots scenes and... the end.3 out of 10.

Maziun "Flesh and blood" is realistic portrayal of life in middle ages compared to other knight-type movies. It correctly portrays the common folks and noblemen. The only difference is the effects of the plague , but I believe it was done intentionally – from people's points of view in 1501. Don't expect romantic stuff like in other Hollywood movies about that time. Noble king, brave knight , decent citizens , saint princess ? You won't find anything like that in here.That's also the biggest problem with the movie . None of the characters is really likable . Everyone of them is evil one way or another . You could say that they all are anti-heroes . It makes an interesting watch, but it was impossible for me to identify with any of the sides of conflict. The young prince Steven (Tom Burlinson) is probably the closest person to be hero, while Martin (Rutger Hauer) seems to be the villain. Princess Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh) isn't a typical love interest , because she is an opportunist . Verhoeven portrays humanity in very negative light . I can agree with him that religion was often used as a tool of propaganda and that kings and aristocrats were rarely as noble as they should be. It doesn't mean that they weren't people who REALLY believed in God and who tried to be decent.The movie is full of violence and shocking images - lovers kissing beneath the hanging corpses is the most symbolic one. It was either done for shock value or maybe the director wants us not to judge people from the past by today standards. By the way – Verhoeven doesn't necessary handle well the action scenes.By the end of movie there is no message really . "Flesh and blood" drowns in a sea of nihilism . The whole movie doesn't really have any resolution. Almost everything in the end is just like in the beginning of the movie. Maybe that's the message from Verhoeven's point of view ? That everyone there (and maybe now) is bastard who cares only about himself? Interesting movie to watch , but doesn't really stays with you since it's empty at heart and doesn't really go anywhere. I give it 6/10.

Charles Herold (cherold) I watched this movie because it stars two brilliant actors, Hauer and Leigh, but I only made it a third of the way through before I gave up on the endeavor.I see a lot of people here are saying, sure, it's unpleasant, but that's realistic for the middle ages. But if there's one thing I wouldn't accuse this movie of, it's realism. It's a pretty cheesy blood and guts war tale that isn't that different from ones they were making in the 1950s except it's nastier. As for life being more unpleasant in the middle ages, well, certainly life was hard, there were less creature comforts, people died younger, but still, people are people, and this movie chooses to portray really unpleasant ones, and I suspect if were were able to visit the middle ages we would find that, just like now, there were a mix of pleasant and unpleasant folk.The movie is also rather dull. The script is poorly written, the characters are cardboard.Terrible, terrible movie.

Samiam3 Out of the middle ages and onto the big screen....then hopefully into the trash. Flesh and Blood is yet another film so bad that I didn't finish it and therefore should probably not be reviewing, but I must. Everybody, stay away.Set in Feudal Holland, A sleazy lord, promises his mercenaries treasure and festivity if they help him retake the castle he lost. After the brutal battle, they have victory, but the lord then denies his promise, forces his men to drop their arms, and abandon the premises. Rutger Hauer, Plays Martin, your basic hansom young warrior, who with the help of some of his fellow mercenaries, including a cardinal, decide it's payback time. His plans starts with abducting of The fiancée of the evil dukes young son. She is taken before she and her company reach the castle, In order to avoid gang rape, she pledges her alliance to Martin that night. that is as far as I got.There are two reasons why I could not continue. While the setting looks very medieval, dirty and crummy, not glamorous and luxurious, not for a moment does this feel like the feudal middle ages. The dialog is poorly scripted and some of it is just too contemporary, especially Hauer's. In a closely related matter, my second problem with Flesh and Blood is terrible acting. No body is believable, a couple of character come close but their roles are secondary, it is really the two leads who spoil the picture, Hauer and Leigh go together like peanut butter and mustard. You do not need to make it any further than I did to know that Flesh and Blood is a turkey, There is no History, no Drama, No emotion, and despite a couple of disguise attempts there is no originality either. I conclude with this hypothetical question, What does it take to make a decent, realistic Medieval movie?