![]() ![]() ![]() But sadly, this quintessentially 80s thriller – a remake of the Steve McQueen TV series of the same name – failed to gain the attention it deserved. If there were any justice at the box-office, Wanted: Dead Or Alive should have been the movie that broke Rutger Hauer into the Hollywood mainstream as a leading man of action. And while it’s fair to say it’s not a perfect film, The Hitcher certainly deserves the cult status it has since acquired – if nothing else, because Rutger Hauer makes John Ryder’s every terrible move so darn interesting. The film’s grim tone and violence may explain why its contemporary reviews were decidedly mixed. Even as it stands, The Hitcher is almost the equal of David Fincher’s Seven for macabre deaths – just look at the dreadful fate that befalls poor waitress Nash (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Legend has it that screenwriter Eric Red’s original script originally weighed in at around 200 pages long (which would have resulted in a movie of more than three hours in length) and was unspeakably violent. Hauer brings all his frosty charisma to the role, turning what could have been a fairly generic (albeit incredibly vicious) slasher killer into a truly memorable screen character. ![]() And try though Jim might, he just can’t get away from this knife-wielding killer, who murders numerous innocent people, blows up a petrol station, and leaves a severed finger in Jim’s chips. Apparently polite and affable when young driver Jim (C Thomas Howell) finds him hitching a lift by a quiet road one night, Hauer’s John Ryder gradually reveals himself to be a complete and utter maniac. In Robert Harmon’s 1986 thriller, Rutger Hauer may well have created one of the most disturbing antagonists of that decade. Ultimately, the bewigged Stallone wins the battle (largely because Wulfgar brought a knife to a gunfight), but thanks to his sterling performance, Hauer won the war – Nighthawks wasn’t a big hit, and it hasn’t exactly aged well, as its repeat showings on UK TV stations will prove, but Hauer’s performance is, as ever, never less than brilliant. Hauer’s towering villainy is such that Stallone’s character has to stoop to some rather embarrassing tactics to defeat him in a tense conclusion, Stallone’s character disguises himself as his wife (complete with blonde wig) in order to lure Wulfgar into his house. Given that so many of Hauer’s later appearances would be in movies of an action, sci-fi or fantasy persuasion, it’s worth revisiting this early entry in his acting history, in a straight dramatic role where villainy or outright heroism are absent. It was the most expensive film in Dutch history at the time, and it shows – Soldier Of Orange’s depiction of a country in the midst of war is depicted with convincing detail and the same gripping pace Verhoeven would later bring to his output in Hollywood. Excellently shot by Verhoeven’s frequent collaborator Jost Vacano, Soldier Of Orange is the perfect showcase for Verhoeven as a dramatic filmmaker, and Hauer’s talents as an actor. Hauer played Erik, one of four students whose paths diverge as the war rages on – while his friends’ fates vary, Erik embarks on various affairs and fights on the side of the Resistance. Their best collaboration, though, had to be the 1977 war movie Soldier Of Orange, about the German invasion of the Netherlands in the Second World War. Before director Paul Verhoeven and Rutger Hauer embarked on successful filmmaking careers in the US, the pair made a number of Dutch movies together, including Turkish Delight and Spetters. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |