Spetters (Ws Dir Sub Dol)

Starring:Hans van Tongeren, RenÃ©e Soutendijk, Toon Agterberg, Maarten Spanjer, Marianne Boyer, Peter Tuinman, Saskia Ten Batenburg, Yvonne Valkenburg, Ab Abspoel, Rudi Falkenhagen, Hans Veerman, Ben Aerden, Kitty Courbois, Margot Keune, Jonna Koster, Gees Linnebank, Hugo Metsers, Peter Oosthoek, Jeroen KrabbÃ©, Rutger Hauer
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Paul Verhoeven's story of three dirt bike buddies with motocross dreams in a small Netherlands town is just the kind of working-class soap opera one would expect from the director of Basic Instinct and Showgirls. Conniving fox Renée Soutendijk (The Fourth Man) seduces all three boys in hopes of landing a ride out of her miserable existence selling fried snacks from a gypsy van. At least she's honest about her schemes of escape, and in this predatory world that makes her a prize. Verhoeven's tone is uneven as his melodrama of dirt track glory, casual sex, and small town restlessness bounces into Fassbinder territory with scenes of gay bashing, gang rape, and suicidal despair. Only Verhoeven could pull a happy ending from all of that. Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé make appearances as the dirt bike champion and a self-promoting sportscaster. --Sean Axmaker

Description

From notorious filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Showgirls) and writer GerardSoeteman comes this director's cut of an explosive, fast-paced (Boxoffice) coming-of-age drama. Raw, intense and unabashedly sexual, Spetters is a wild ride that will knock the unsuspecting for a loop (The Hollywood Reporter). Rien, Eef and Hans are three young working-class guys stuck in an industrial town on the outskirts of Rotterdam. They couldn't be more different except for one thing: their shared passion for motorcycle racing, which each sees as his ticket to a better life. But a deeper passion will soon rule each of their lives, when a sexy, ambitiousblonde comes between them and provokes unforeseen events that will rock their worlds.

Customer Reviews:

Who would want to watch this?.......2007-06-19

I could not find anything in this movie that would cause me to recommend it to anyone. Especially offensive to my wife an me are the graphic homoerotic scenes - and I mean graphic. I don't care to see heterosexual sex organs in the act of copulation; even less so in oral homosexual sex. This is not really a movie - it is pornography disguised as a movie. If I could give this movie '0' stars I would.

Verhoeven's supercharged Dutch treat.......2007-05-07

I've been a fan of Paul Verhoeven since Robocop was released. Over the years I've checked out his earlier work he did in Holland, and am convinced he is one of the best directors working today. Many critics have derided him for alleged sleaziness and overwrought sexuality and violence, but these prude police are only looking at the surface. Spetters certainly took a critical drubbing in Holland when it was released in 1980, and many special interest groups took righteous offense to the portrayal of gays, the handicapped and women that were evidenced in the film. They were understandably concerned over the negative impact that could have, but Verhoeven and his scriptwriter Gerard Soeteman were going for an ambitious tapestry that wove all these elements into a modern day coming of age story for three Dutch working class youthes. They have good and bad times, they are good friends who often commit terrible acts, there is nothing perfect about them. When a food truck worker (Renee Soutendijk) comes into their lives and turns their worlds upside down, she isn't an evil woman out to destroy them but one who is trying to make a better life for herself, however ruthless that could be. Verhoeven is a humanist, or at least he understands that humans aren't simple definable creatures. I thoroughly enjoy his vivid dramatic sensibilities and his carnivalesque depictions of the human condition in all its filthy zany madness. To end this ramble, go check out his latest film Zwartboek, or the Black Book. It's his first WWII film since Soldier of Orange, and a real kicker. He's teamed back up with his regular Dutch writing collaborator Gerard Soeteman, someone who understands and relishes complexity. After Black Book, go purchase the Anchor Bay Verhoeven collection which has all his Dutch work (excluding Spetters) before he came to the States. Go Verhoeven!

Homoerotic Art.......2006-08-21

This is what I look in a movie: you get to see naked bodies without being porno. The Homoerotic concept is beautiful. However, the music and the final are too deppresing. Specially the music: I just wanted to use the mute botton several times in order to get rid of it. The other critic is to find out that the person who needed the most to find love and stay with this at the end of the movie, just took the wrong decision (the gay issue) which makes no sense. When are we going to find a good movie where the gays just live together and for ever? Why the prostitute? Anyway, it is worth to see it.

Great Dutch Work.......2005-10-17

Unlike most Hollywood flicks, this one stands out as very real with acting so good you forget you are watching a film... and few films can do that for me. Excellent directing; raw, much nudity, good story line; very likeable characters you care about.... I loved it.

Energizing, erotically charged.......2005-09-12

Great story. Good action. Emotionally captivating, yet strong and explicit. It is great that the directors are not afraid to reveal explicit male sexuality. Men do get sexually assaulted too you know!.

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