You won't be disappointed!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

I was told by a Dutch priest friend that his country's soldiers responded to the German invasion riding on bicycles. And they were confronted by Panzer divisions. Apart from the films about the Ten Boom family and their heroic exploits in saving Dutch Jews from the death camps (e.g. The Hiding Place), there are few cinematic efforts portraying Dutch resistance against the Nazis. Soldier of Orange was therefore an eye-opener. One would have thought that the Dutch, because of their proximity to Germany, with their cognate languages would have succumbed to Anschluss as did Austria. The stoic courage of Queen Wilhelmina in insisting on staying with her people even after it was clear that Dutch forces had collapsed in the face of the German Blitzkrieg was touching. Only reluctantly did she accept the advice of her ministers that she would be more effective as a symbol of resistance abroad persuaded her to accept the British offer to fly her out of her beloved country.And yet, despite the exciting episodes of Dutch resistance and espionage against the German occupiers, what proved more interesting to me was the depiction of student life at the universities. I was both fascinated and appalled at the extent and brutality of the hazing undergone by the lower classmen which included the character of Rutger Hauer. In my country, the Philippines, such hazing have led to several deaths and although condemned in general, they go on.

When I talked to Erik Hazelhoff (1917) today, he was staying in De Hoefslag, one of the more remarkable dutch hotels. A man who has sucked the marrow out of life; a student writer warrior and bon-vivant who has retired to Maui, Hawaii. He remains today one of a handful of surviving bearers of the Dutch equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor and Victoria Cross, the so-called Military Willemsorde (MWO). With seventy two pathfinder sorties over Europe, multiple warship droppings on the machine gun patrolled dutch beaches, he is a lucky man to have survived the Second World War. The movie is fresh, candid like the man himself. It shows the When I talked to Erik Hazelhoff (1917) today, he was staying in De Hoefslag, one of the more remarkable dutch hotels. A man who has sucked the marrow out of life; a student writer warrior and bon vivant who has retired to Maui, Hawaii. He remains today one of a handful of surviving bearers of the Dutch equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor and Victoria Cross, the so-called Military Willemsorde (MWO). With seventy two pathfinder sorties over Europe, multiple warship droppings on the machine gun patrolled dutch beaches, he is a lucky man to have survived the Second World War. The movie is fresh, candid like the man himself. It shows the naiveté with which the Dutch resistance operated as well as its heroism. It shows Germans sometimes as soldiers, sometimes as murderers. It shows "wrong" Dutch as patriotically volunteering SS-soldiers. The best and the worst and everything in between. Is shows the Second World War as it was for everybody of his generation: the biggest event of their lives. Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema rose to the event and this movie with its captivating theme has enshrined it during his lifetime.

I have enjoyed seeing this movie more than twice because:It's true. It includes humor and absurdity along with fighting the good fight. It doesn't flinch from the ugly. Great music. Fine acting. Well crafted in creating the historic atmosphere. Dense with character. Entertaining pace.The first time I saw it I was a little bothered by the way it seemed to just "walk along" -then he did this then they did that then this happened- like a diary. But I later came to like that style, maybe because war, like life, is "just one damned thing after another".I'd love to read the memoir it's based on, but the last time I looked it hadn't been translated into English.I wonder if Verhoeven ever looks back and wishes he could have/would have made more like this instead of Showgirls, Robocop, and such.

This film hit a grand slam by successfully achieving all of the things I hope for in a movie: it entertained me, it educated me, it charmed me, and it provoked me. I have lived in the Netherlands and love the Dutch people, so I was happy to view this film and see many familiar sites and understand some of the Dutch dialogue. It provided me with a sense of deja vu. I also learned things about the Dutch World War II experience that I previously was unaware of. The vast majority of the world only has one thought when it comes to WWII and the Dutch: Anne Frank. It's heartening to watch a film that explores many other facets of the Dutch experience during occupation, and that doesn't promote an all-rosy view wherein everyone is heroic. It is a realistic film that showed the complications of war and occupation, the desire for self-survival, the limits of patriotism, the fragility of war-time romances, and the bravery and sacrifices that some, but not all, are willing to exhibit. My heart was in my throat many times as I wondered what would happen and, although the movie is almost two and a half hours, I was sorry to see it end.