PHOTO, CAPTION: Verhoeven’s movies seem more popular with the public than critics
There are not many directors out there that have had such a varied career as Paul Verhoeven. The now eighty-three-year-old was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands in 1938. He started out making short films in his home country in the sixties and then moved on to feature-length movies, such as Turkish Delight and Soldier of Orange, that made a big buzz in Europe. Hollywood came calling in the late eighties, and since then the Dutchman has made a plethora of movies of varying genres, refusing as a filmmaker to be pigeon-holed in a certain box.
Verhoeven definitely brings a liberal European element to his many productions, and he and the US-based critics have not always seen eye to eye. A lot of his most memorable movies were actually completely critically panned at the time, only to go on to become stone-cold cult classics.
Here’s a quick rundown of which of his movies you should definitely check out.
Robocop
This is the movie that kickstarted Verhoeven into becoming a Hollywood director. 1987’s Robocop was a monster hit, earning big bucks at the box office. It’s an action movie that has science fiction elements, and even though it can be watched as a dumb thrill-ride with grotesque violence, the film lives on because of its cutting satire.
This is what Verhoeven does best in his work; manages to make movies that work in two ways, firstly as an enjoyable feast for the eyes, and secondly, he manages to make a biting retort on the world around him. Robocop is a perfect send-up of the ‘Reaganomics’ that dominated the eighties and showcases the poison that is corporate greed and corruption, all whilst being packaged in an easily digestible way.
It’s also a movie that had a lot going on behind the scenes, so make sure to check out these ten things you might not know about Robocop.
Showgirls
This movie came incredibly close to sinking Verhoeven’s career and is seen by some as a great strain on the director’s filmography. We’re talking, of course, about 1995’s erotic drama Showgirls, which starred Elizabeth Berkley in her first major film role, after finding fame on the hit tv show Saved By the Bell. Unfortunately, many critics sneered dismissively at her acting chops and felt she was better suited to the small screen.
The plot has Berkley’s character, Nomi Malone, head to the glitzy glamour of the true city of sin, Las Vegas, to try to climb the greasy pole from stripper to successful showgirl. It’s a jaunty journey that she manages to pull off, helped by a gaggle of larger-than-life characters and her street-wise personality. The movie quickly became known simply for its nudity, but it is also a campy and fun look at how people should beware of the pitfalls of excess.
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Starship Troopers
If there’s ever been an award for the most misunderstood movie, then Starship Troopers must be right at the top of that honours list. The sci-fi flick was absolutely trashed by critics when it first came out, back in 1997. It was derided at the time for being nothing more than a brainless, CGI-infested, shlock-fest. However, now twenty-four years on from its release, the movie is finally getting the respect it deserves as an immensely clever takedown of right-wing militarism.
The movie is set in the future, and Earth has started colonizing other planets in the galaxy. They come across a planet of bugs that are clearly just trying to defend themselves from Earth’s takeover, but the military sees this as a clear act of aggression, and wages all-out war on a species that is clearly light-years behind theirs in technological advancement.
Watching it now, it’s pretty flabbergasting that not many people picked up on the satirical nature of the movie at the time, especially when it’s what Verhoeven excels in. Luckily though, there are many articles now highlighting Starship Troopers’ secret meaning and explaining what it was really about.
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