Flesh and Blood
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DVD details
Actor: Fernando Hilbeck, Jack Thompson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rutger Hauer, Tom BurlinsonBrand: HAUER,RUTGER
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 126 minutes
Published: 2004-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-02-03
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of Flesh and Blood
DVD Review: Historically accurate? No. Entertaining? Yes.
Summary: 4 Stars
As a longtime Rutger Hauer fan, I knew I would get around to watching Paul Verhoeven's medieval epic "Flesh + Blood" sooner or later. Thanks to DVD, it's sooner. True Hauer fans appreciate seeing him in anything, which is saying a lot considering the immense number of low budget schlock films he starred in over the last couple of decades. No matter how many times he plays a cranky cop embittered with the march of technology, or a fugitive on the run from justice, we diehards always refuse to change the channel. One reason I appreciate Hauer is that his performance is never anything less than wonderful even in the worst of films. Take a film like "Arctic Blue," for example. It plods with the speed of a snail caught in molasses, looks like the filmmakers used a chainsaw as an editing tool, and boasts a script riddled with cliches. O.k., it isn't that bad, but you get the idea. The only good thing in the entire film is this actor. That's the only reason to watch the film entitled "Arctic Blue." That's the power of Rutger Hauer--with a wave of his hand or a scowl on his face, he can turn a terrible film into something bearable. It's a gift few possess.
"Flesh + Blood" isn't a terrible film. It isn't, I hate to say, a great one either. Verhoeven's film begins by introducing us to a motley band of mercenaries waging war in the employ of a powerful nobleman. This wealthy figure promises the group, led by the charismatic Martin (Rutger Hauer), that he will allow them to loot the city as a reward for defeating the enemy. Sounds like a good idea, right? Lots of pillage and plunder always does a man's heart good. Martin--with Orbec (Bruno Kirby), Karsthans (Brion James), and several other ruffians--sets out to win the war. With the dubious help of the nobleman's inventor son Steven (Tom Burlinson), the fortified city falls in record time. But as Martin and the others attempt to reap their spoils, the nobleman changes his mind and uses his own soldiers to force the mercenaries out of town with nary a coin in their pockets. Although Steven expresses disbelief and disgust that his father would renege on the agreement, other issues soon arise that put the double cross far from his mind. The father arranges a marriage for his son with the beautiful Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the daughter of another wealthy aristocrat. If at this point you predict that Agnes, Steven, Martin and his band, and the father will have it out in the future, you would be right.
Martin and his band wander through the countryside until they find a statue of a saint buried in the mud. Never one to miss an opportunity to use religion for his own bloodthirsty purposes, Martin convinces the rest of the group that the icon possesses great power to foretell the gang's future. Anytime a compatriot expresses reservations about a proposed action, Martin points to the saint and claims divine sanction for his position as leader. Apparently, the saint approves of the abduction of Agnes and her subsequent defilement because that is exactly what happens. Agnes and Martin end up hitting it off, so much so that she becomes an unofficial member of the mercenary brigade. Steven, unaware that his beloved is in cahoots with a bunch of cutthroats, heads out with his myriad inventions and a force of men to reclaim the young noblewoman. The final segments of "Flesh + Blood" are as ridiculous as they are entertaining, with Steven building a contraption out of wood that can mechanically extend wooden ladders over high walls in order to gain entrance to the fortress where Martin and Agnes are hiding. There is also a rather grotesque scene in which some of Steven's men lob parts of a plague infected dog over the walls of the castle. As we all know, any film about the Middle Ages must involve the plague.
Where to start with this film? I don't know what Verhoeven was thinking when he came up with this offbeat "historical" epic. Should I mention the nun with the head wound who frequently lapses into seizures and gibberish? Or how Steven breaks his chains by channeling lightening? Perhaps I'll mention Agnes's and Steven's most romantic moment, a truly bizarre scene involving professions of love, mandrake roots, and a rotting body hanging from a tree. Of course, nothing stands out more in my mind than the mercenaries traveling around in covered wagons. You'd think they were about to head to Oregon or something. I'm probably being more sarcastic than I intended since I did enjoy the film; it's got plenty of bloody violence to spare, quite explicit situations involving Agnes and Martin, and a truly stirring musical score. "Flesh + Blood" also has an eyeful of Jennifer Jason Leigh, an actress of such talent and charisma that I could spend hours watching her doing laundry while clad in a T-shirt, sweat pants, and flip flops without getting bored. I guess my main problem with the film is that I expected it, for some inexplicable reason, to explore some deep themes. It doesn't. The film is nothing more than an action packed yarn and should be enjoyed as such.
"Flesh + Blood" has quite a reputation with fans who enjoy these types of things. They will probably enjoy the DVD release, which contains a commentary with Paul Verhoeven, a trailer, and a short featurette about creating the music for the film entitled "Composing Flesh + Blood." Verhoeven's little adventure tale is as accurate in its details of sixteenth century Europe as an undergraduate history report, but it is a lot of fun if you just empty your mind and accept it as two hours of pure entertainment.
Description of Flesh and Blood
In the battle between good and evil, only the strong survive! From visionary director Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct) comes this "vivid and muscular" (Variety) epic adventure of medieval bravery and blood lust starring Rutger Hauer and Jennifer Jason Leigh! In the chaotic, morally bankrupt Europe of 1510, a cold-hearted warrior named Martin (Hauer) leads his motley crew of mercenaries into battle to reclaim the castle of an ousted nobleman. But when the despot betrays them, Martin and his band of ruffians strike back by kidnapping the innocent young maiden (Leigh) betrothed to the nobleman's sona fearless Renaissance man who must risk life and limb to rescue the woman he loves!A rarely screened cult favorite from Paul Verhoeven, this story of medieval war and revenge should please action fans and admirers of the director and his semi-regular leading man, Rutger Hauer, but its graphic scenes of sexual violence earmark it for mature viewers only. Hauer stars as a 16th-century mercenary hired by a Western European ruler (Fernando Hilbeck) to assault a neighboring kingdom; when the king reneges on his promises to Hauer and his men, they kidnap his son's fiancee (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and hole up in a nearby castle. Hauer and Leigh are standouts in a strong cast that includes Tom Burlinson, Bruno Kirby, the late Brion James, and Susan Tyrrell; Verhoeven's realistic approach to the down-and-dirty facts of medieval life and the bloody aftermath of warfare offers a refreshing alternative to most Hollywood period films, but a pair of brutal rape scenes may be too much for some audiences. MGM's DVD is widescreen. --Paul Gaita
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