Rating: 
Summary: Verhoeven's Best / Outstanding
Review: I first saw Soldier of Orange when I was a kid and had cable... I loved it then and love it now. Its a great story and a great movie. It takes place in Holland just before the Nazis invade and take over and it about a group of friends and the paths they take. Most work for the Dutch resistance, one goes to the Nazis and becomes an SS officer. The hero / main character Eric Lanshoff ( Rutger Hauer in a breakthrough performance ) goes through an extraordinary transformation from frat boy pledge to resistance fighter, to RAF bomber pilot to spy to bodyguard of the Queen of the Dutch House of Orange ( thus the title ). A great story / epic. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good Stuff
Review: I'm a big fan of Paul Verhoeven's American movies. Once I moved to Holland, I thought I'd check out his older Dutch movies. I found an English-subtitled version through Amazon.com and I wasn't dissappointed. It is one hell of a war movie. One of the best I've seen. It was pretty cool to see Rutger Hauer acting in his native Dutch language before he went off to Hollywood as well. Another recognizeable actor, Jeroen Krabbe, is in this too.I didn't even mind reading subtitles through almost the whole movie(some parts of it are in English). If you like war movies, check this out. If you like Paul Verhoeven's weird sense of humor, check it out too.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, but unrealistic
Review: If one simply accepts this story in its limited context, it is a good film. However, it doesn't properly reflect the fact that the Dutch were, to a shocking extent, antisemitic and pro-Nazi. To leave that out is like portraying the U.S. civil war without mentioning slavery.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Foreign WWII movie
Review: One of the best WWII movies I have ever seen, and the only one I recall from Holland. The first time I saw this I was amazed by the fact this was one of the best foreign films I had seen up to the mid 80s. I had seen Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner a few years before I caught this movie and I thought he was great. After I saw this I knew it. This is by far one of his best dramatic roles, if not his best. Anyone that enjoys war movies will probably like it. If you enjoy the dramatic ones like "Schindler's List" and "Das Boot" you will definitely enjoy it. Although it is a bit long it did not seem long to me since the pace was good. Keep an open mind about when it was made when you see the special effects and you will find it both compelling and a movie of craftmanship. I have ordered this on DVD because it is difficult to find anyone renting this any longer. Unfortunately it is not a minstream war movie so most the local rental stores don't carry it. I highly recommend you see it and any fan of war movies will probably want it for their collection.
Rating:
Summary: Soldier of Orange - DVD with commentary by Verhoeven
Review: Soldier of Orange with commentary by Director Paul Verhoeven is a must-see for all history buffs, WWII historians and lovers of war movies. Based on the life of Erik Haselhoff Roelfzema, it chronicles his life in the resistance and that of a small group of law students in Leiden, The Netherlands. Verhoeven's commentary is worth the price of the DVD as he explains scene by scene what he tried to portray, while asking some very thought provoking questions. Verhoeven and I are the same age, and both of us lived in Holland during the occupation. His view of the conditions in Holland and the responses of the Dutch under occupation are very different. I also think his references to Das England Spiel are inaccurate. Having said all that, I still consider the DVD one of my most favorite productions, including the film itself. Soldaat van Oranje is my choice for best ever Dutch film. Those interested in learning more about the real Eric Hazelhoff Roelfzema should read "Soldaat van Oranje Omnibus" which includes "De Verre Tamboer (The Distant Drummer)" and "Op Jacht naar het Leven (In pursuit of Life)" all by Eric Hazelhoff Roelfzema.
Rating:
Summary: Soldier of Orange - DVD with commentary by Verhoeven
Review: Soldier of Orange with commentary by Director Paul Verhoeven is a must-see for all history buffs, WWII historians and lovers of war movies. Based on the life of Erik Haselhoff Roelfzema, it chronicles his life in the resistance and that of a small group of law students in Leiden, The Netherlands. Verhoeven's commentary is worth the price of the DVD as he explains scene by scene what he tried to portray, while asking some very thought provoking questions. Verhoeven and I are the same age, and both of us lived in Holland during the occupation. His view of the conditions in Holland and the responses of the Dutch under occupation are very different. I also think his references to Das England Spiel are inaccurate. Having said all that, I still consider the DVD one of my most favorite productions, including the film itself. Soldaat van Oranje is my choice for best ever Dutch film. Those interested in learning more about the real Eric Hazelhoff Roelfzema should read "Soldaat van Oranje Omnibus" which includes "De Verre Tamboer (The Distant Drummer)" and "Op Jacht naar het Leven (In pursuit of Life)" all by Eric Hazelhoff Roelfzema.
Rating:
Summary: Soldaat van Oranje
Review: This film is an absolute Dutch classic! It is about a group of Dutch students who meet at their fraternity initiation in 1938 in Leiden. We follow them from the tense pre-war days to the end of WWII. They take a photo of their group just before the war starts. From there they drift in different directions. Erik Lanshof gets involved in the resistance, while Alex decides to join the Waffen SS. It tells the universal story of courage and betrayal. One of the most dramatic moments for me was at the end of the movie when they show the pre-war photo of all friends, knowing what had happened to all of them. Every time it leaves me with a feeling of great sadness about the suffering that the war has brought. Arguably the best scene is where Erik enters occupied Holland and ends up in the middle of a German drinking party. To his surprise he finds Alex there and they dance a most remarkable Tango. My grandmothers both experienced life in occupied Holland and I heard from them first hand stories about betrayal and abuse of power. I can only imagine by watching this movie what it must have been like. I have seen this film many times over and, a sign of a true classic film, it only gets better.
Rating:
Summary: Soldaat van Oranje / Soldier of Orange
Review: This is *the* movie for all to see. A fairly factual story of student resistance in the second world war. The DVD has a few extra's a commentary of paul verhoeven is the most interesting feature. For all you Dutch buyers : YES it's in dutch with english subtitles. A must have for every Leiden student !
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Movie From Verhoeven
Review: This is a first-rate movie of WWII and, in my view, the best movie Paul Verhoeven has made to date. The Germans invade The Netherlands and a group of six university friends are caught up in the events that follow. Some join the Resistance and remain in the country, one tries to ignore what's happening, two escape to England to be trained for a dangerous mission, one joins the SS. The lead character is played by Rutger Hauer. It is he and his friend, played by Jeroen Krabbe, who make their way across the Channel. The movie is long but moves briskly and is full of incidents that are gripping and cinematic. The mission that sends Hauer and Krabbe back to their country goes very wrong, and people die as a result. The Hauer character, who was based on a real person, survives the war. Most of his friends don't. One who does, managed to survive by having to make a terrible choice. In fact, all the choices this group of friends make are simply shown with the consequences. There are no false heroics or tin nobility. Perhaps because of this, the movie was not especially well-received when it first opened in The Netherlands.
If any of Verhoeven's movies are watched forty years from now, I suspect this will be the one. Starship Troopers and RoboCop are a lot of fun, but they're essentially comic book movies before comic book movies became Hollywood's latest fashion. Total Recall and Basic Instinct are, to me, efficient but little more. Soldier of Orange is the work of a guy who understands a character-driven story and who has the skills to turn it into a dramatic but still character-driven movie.
Hauer and Krabbe are both excellent. Krabbe continues to work at being an excellent actor. He takes the money for some foolish stuff, but also selects many interesting films to appear in. But what happened to Hauer? He took on so many fifth-rate starring roles it was almost as if he were challenging someone to dare try to talk to him about his choices. I don't know if it was pig-headed self-destruction, but I find it hard to look at Hauer's career without shaking my head. And he is so good in this movie.
If you like RoboCop and Starship Troopers -- and I do -- (or Fatal Instinct or Total Recall), do yourself a favor and check out Soldier of Orange. I doubt you'll regret it.
The DVD transfer is excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Why the Soldier was Orange!
Review: This is the only film that captures that thin line between heroism and betrayal in the Dutch experience from the innocence of that autumn of 1939 until the early days of Liberation in 1945. The uniqueness of this film lies in the character of the author/main character, Erik (played by Rutger Hauer) and his friend who both were "one of the few who stood up to be counted" joining a fledgling resistance in the early part of the war and lived to tell the tale. The director, Paul Verhoeven retains a Dutch matter-of-factness, which combined with the superb soundtrack by Rogier van Otterloo infuses the film with a sense of anticipation never before or since achieved in a Dutch film. It is no coincidence that the tale starts at pre-war Leiden University, which was founded as a direct result of the First Dutch War of Independence in 1575 and was closed in 1941 because its staff and students protested and went on strike against discrimination of its Jewish Professors. A poignant final scene in Wassenaar brings home that also in peace the innocent can still be a victim. The portrayal of the indomitable Dutch Queen Wilhelmina (played by Andrea Domburg) and her special relationship with her "Engelandvaarders"("The England Bound") shows why the Orange factor acted as the focal point for maintaining Dutch national integrity. The film allows a unique two and a half-hour window on what the Dutch faced in those five years.(This reveiew refers to the 1995 Dutch edition)
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