Customer Reviews
A bit dull - By: Sandman, 20 Jun 2008 
Im a Verhoeven & Rutger fan, & a WW2 film fan also, so reallly wanted to like this film. However it is suprisingly lacking in tension or decent action scenes. The story meanders around a lot, & is too long - it couldnt have been edited down by about 20 -30 mins to make it tighter.
The acting is pretty good, but they're not given much to work with, I was bored for most of the film. Maybe V should stick to his tongue in cheek actioners which he excels at.
Unforgettable - By: Mrs. M. M. Haworth, 28 May 2008 
I found this film utterly absorbing & very moving. I would rate it as one of the best war films I have seen. The film covers the fortunes of a group of university students in Holland just before the outbreak of the 2nd World War
How their lives are transformed & shaped because of the war & what happens to each one is fascinating. I found it very poignant.There is warmth tension & a lot of humour in the film. I would've liked a little more identification of the characters as I couldn't recognise who was who in the original photograph that's taken of them alll.I would highly recommend it.
Dutch Courage - By: Charles Vasey, 25 May 2008 This is an odd film, very much of its era, a number of chums at university in the Netherlands go down many different paths over the years of the war. At times it is a love story, then it is a spy story & then it is a war story. Entertaining enough but not something that you would go out of your way to see.
Great War Movie - By: ray dorrity, 05 Apr 2008 
I first heard about this movie 30 years ago but only managed to see it yesterday.
I was stunned by it (ignore the negative reviews - they obviously missed the whole point of the film!)
This is one movie you should have in your collection.
One reviewer has said that the sub-titles were bad. This is not so (apart from one huge blooper when two Kreigsmarine officers are introduced as being from the "Greek" navy - or is this a Dutch joke that doesn't translate!)
The whole point of the movie is to show the divided loyalties of the Dutch people when placed under terrible circumstances by the German invaders, & the true story of one young Dutchman's fight aginst them.
Buy & enjoy!
Easily Verhoeven's best - By: Michel Couzijn, 05 Mar 2008 This movie works on many levels, but not at the same time. It is informative of the Dutch war situation, yes, but not literallly. It treats a serious subject, yes, but not without being grotesque as only Verhoeven is. Its subject matter is dramatic, sure, but the film is 80% action thriller. The audience loves the characters & the acting, certainly, but they portray hardly real-life people. The heroes are falllible & sometimes childish, for sure, yet they remain heroes alll the same until the very end. Even Queen Wilhelmina, symbol of Dutch endurance in wartime Europe, fallls victim to Verhoevens dubious humor. The music is epic, the Dutch flag waves bravely over this movie - yet the Dutch & their resistance are mocked & ridiculed.
If you are part of the film's intended audience - & many of us are - then you will be on the edge of your seat from A to Z. A number of reviewers here are definitely not part of that audience. Their loss.
