Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Suman Roberson It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

leplatypus It's a remarkable movie about Middle Ages because around a witty script, we have a condensed mix of the autumn of this period: violence between men (battle) and women (rape), poor health (black plague, births mortality) and a clash between old faith & new scientific experimentation.. The cast is really good with another solid, physical performance from Haueur and a pragmatic and strong willed young Jennifer who shows tons of wisdom to stay alive… The locations, the costumes are beautiful and as often with Verhoeven, we see everything, either beautiful or disgusting… At the end, the movie is much better than medieval ones inspired (like Willow for example for the castle assault) and this director is really among my favorites! In addition the french edition got a interview with him in which he really exposes what he wanted to do… It was an essential bonus for me all the more than with all this violence and nudity, I wondered why he wanted to do a Jesus movie: he answers my question: because he is fond of history and because the gospels are the biggest historical lie ever (his opinion).

videorama-759-859391 This is just what cinema needed in 1985. Flesh And Blood is certainly different and thankfully so. For me, the movie's a guilty pleasure that I like, especially seeing as Rutger Hauer's one of more favorite actors (charming devil). It has a great cast, who deliver wonderful performances, plus two Australian imports, one who's future became pretty bleak afterwards, where I really wouldn't say his performance here, was impressive. Set back in 1506, Western Europe if I'm correct, in medieval time, a bunch of thieves led by Hauer, lower class sorts, have had the dirty done on em' where they're forced to hand over their loot by the very noble men, who pay em' for their takings. So begins a tale of revenge by these thieves, where a young girl, Agnes (the versatile Jennifer Jason Leigh) has been promised as a wife for a young inventor, Steven (Burlinson) is snatched where she must play revenge driven Hauer to survive (that spa scene in the castle, I'll never forget) Of course being a Verhoeven film, this tale seems to be one to show sleaze and shock, and it does with some moments, some nudity bits I highly approve of. Remember it's Verhoeven, where he's brought a masterful cinematic experience to the screen which is richly rewarding, and entertainingly captivating. It has a great turning point where the thieving peasants, contract the plague, thanks to a dead dog, that ended up in a well, prior to them drinking water from it. The film is periodically shot with excellence, as to the sets whatever, we really feel we're there in medieval times. It's great when these period films or are pumped up with sex and violence, and sleaze, where I can't fault director Paul here, as being a big fan of his. The last frame is memorable with a wandering, vanquished, and undead Hauer. Well done Paul, well done.

Charles Herold (cherold) I watched this movie because it stars two brilliant actors, Hauer and Leigh, but I only made it a third of the way through before I gave up on the endeavor.I see a lot of people here are saying, sure, it's unpleasant, but that's realistic for the middle ages. But if there's one thing I wouldn't accuse this movie of, it's realism. It's a pretty cheesy blood and guts war tale that isn't that different from ones they were making in the 1950s except it's nastier. As for life being more unpleasant in the middle ages, well, certainly life was hard, there were less creature comforts, people died younger, but still, people are people, and this movie chooses to portray really unpleasant ones, and I suspect if were were able to visit the middle ages we would find that, just like now, there were a mix of pleasant and unpleasant folk.The movie is also rather dull. The script is poorly written, the characters are cardboard.Terrible, terrible movie.

FlashCallahan A band of medieval mercenaries take revenge on a noble lord who decides not to pay them by kidnapping the betrothed of the noble's son.As the plague and warfare cut a swathe of destruction throughout the land, the mercenaries hole up in a castle and await their fate...The film can be very confusing and downright odd at times. One moment it's serious and quite depressing, the next, Hauer has you laughing out loud from his facial gestures and one liners.But Verhoevens first American movie is just what you would expect from the auteur. We have violence aplenty, nudity for no good reason, and as much of Jennifer Jason Leighs bare body anyone could care for.And she really steals the film, playing a very nasty and downright near schizophrenic character who may or may not care for either of the men her life.But it wouldn't be a hard decision to make though thanks to the portrayals. In one instance, Hauer comes across as the caring one of the two men, full of warmth and loyalty to his friends and to her.And we have the other guy, who looks like a young Simon Le Bon, and spends the majority of the film whining about this and that, and this becomes very difficult for the viewer as we are supposed to empathise for this spoilt waste of space.There are many references to religion, and even in one scene, we see Hauer and a halo around his head, something that crops up in a lot of the directors movies.There are a few standout scenes, and the film has a very cold and murky feel to it, but it's a great Hollywood debut and a great performance from Hauer who is as iconic as ever, and a lovely sinister performance from Leigh.