Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Leofwine_draca SOLDIER OF ORANGE is a nice, rarely known Paul Verhoeven movie, shot in his native Holland and starring his one-time favourite actor, Rutger Hauer. It's a story whose backdrop encompasses the Second World War, and the Nazi invasion of that country. Verhoeven is obviously fascinated by the whole era - he would later return to it with the similar, even better BLACK BOOK - and his fascination is ably transmitted to the viewer.This is an engaging little movie that remains well-shot, well-directed, and well-written. The running time is lengthy and there's not a real deal of action - sometimes the lack of a proper budget is all too apparent - but it's also never boring and instead very watchable. Hauer and Jeroen Krabbe (THE FOURTH MAN) make for an excellent double act as the idealistic students who find themselves drawn into a war of resistance against the Nazis.The sense of place in SOLDIER OF ORANGE is excellent, and the realistic portrayal of events - there's no gung-ho stuff here - makes it feel almost documentary-like at times. It's certainly a great little film, more mature and sensible than Verhoeven's later overblown Hollywood efforts, and is eclipsed only by BLACK BOOK, which was made some thirty years later and is even more thrilling and exciting.

jzappa Paul Verhoeven's signature ironic detachment from the graphic violence in his work has reasonably been attributed to his experiences as a young Dutch child during the Nazi Occupation. What I've always admired about him has been his use of sardonic indifference with films like RoboCop, Starship Troopers and Spetters, but with Soldier of Orange, there doesn't seem to be anything discerning his vision from that of other war film directors who've had less or no eyewitness or everyday experience with war. Though thankfully it is not without unabashed Dutchness---the Queen is anything but strict with her loyal underlings' sense of manners, sex and exhibitionist affection is in no way taboo in any presented dynamic, and Rutger Hauer's response to his sometime lover spitting beer in his face is "I love you"---its framework is, in a sense, American. It is a spy thriller that begins and ends like a coming-of-age film about a circle of aloof, airy friends, some of whom make it to the end and some of whom don't.In some way, upon reflection, I can see how this early effort by Verhoeven, and his two regular pre-U.S. stars Hauer and Jeroen Krabbe, benefits from its incongruous lack of involvement. It is the story of people who don't understand the import of what is truly happening until it literally hits home and find that loyalty grows to be more and more of an illusion. Thus, it seems to aesthetically make a degree of sense for the story to unfold at arm's length, as if we can never quite know who will live, die or turn on us. But still, wouldn't this film be so much better if it did not keep its distance? Isn't it the point for us to feel betrayed and angered by the unraveling of events? In any case, I could still be wrong, as the cliché love triangles, token romantic interests and ignored moral dichotomies of seemingly incidental things certain characters do abound.Perhaps Verhoeven was not yet ready to make the Dutch Resistance film he knew he should make. His filmography can often look like the work of someone who is cynically desensitized to violence and other sorts of cruelty, but it can also often look like the work of someone's defense mechanism against how it has affected him. It wasn't until 2006 when Black Book was released when we saw his true and personal vision of a story set during this time. We have authentic emotional reactions to everything that happens in that tremendous film, which as it turns out is surely Verhoeven's best work, as if his previous films had all been his way of wrestling with the feelings with which he had to come to terms in order to make it, just as the Dutch in this film seem to remain aloof, perhaps in quiet, ambiguous defense of what could happen to them at any moment.

eyeseehot Not a single negative comment yet and this movie deserves worse. The first half has some interest, like the good cop bad cop routine of the Nazis, but scenes and characters are not much developed. Scenes are schematic, simply making plot points and moving on. As the movie goes on it gets worse. What exactly is happening, for example, when they infiltrate Holland? There's no clear idea of the mission, or what's at stake. Motives are standard, acting OK but nothing outstanding. War movie clichés stitched awkwardly together. Toward the end a Nazi--one of the original group of students who went wrong--is walking along a blasted road eating a biscuit and a starving boy asks him for food. Smirking, he throws the biscuit into a pool of black liquid in a ditch and walks on smiling. The boy picks up the biscuit, throws it down, and pulls a grenade from under his coat. Walks behind the outhouse where the Nazi is taking a crap and tosses the grenade in. Boom. If you go for that this is your movie. I call it writing without imagination. The Nazis were monstrous, yes, but for a better movie along these lines see Europa Europa, or Lucie Aubrac. Even better, Forbidden Games.

Exiled_Archangel I just watched Soldaat Van Oranje, and I'm absolutely fascinated. It's a typical war flick in many senses, but it's probably one of the best ever made if not THE ONE. My heartfelt thanks and congratulations go to the entire crew who made this masterpiece. For 156 minutes, I was a young Dutchman wanting my country to be saved from the Nazis! After some point, it was like watching a football game. "Come on boy, you'll score, smash the bloody Nazi b**tard!" sort of thing.. I was inside the scene! The acting, camera work, screenplay, all flawless. Especially Rutger Hauger shines starting with the first breath. Unless he actually experienced all this stuff and reincarnated afterwards to make this movie, his was the BEST ACTING I'VE EVER SEEN!!! The rest of the cast is also fabulous. I usually try to mention the slightest flaw in a movie when I write a comment on here, no matter how much I liked it. But this time, I won't be able to, because this movie simply has no flaw at all. It's perfect, marvellous, stunning, any other adjective that addresses perfection! Anyone with a heart will LOVE this movie! A well-deserved ***** from me.