Future Film just released this interesting Dutch film here. I bought the dvd but havenīt watched it yet.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Total Recall, Basic Instinct etc.) Starring Renée Soutendijk, Hans van Tongeren, Maarten Spanjer and Rutger Hauer.
They say that itīs like Saturday Night Fever with lots of nudity, motocross racing and violence.
Spetters led to many protests across the board about the caricatural manner in which Verhoeven portrayed gays, Christians, the police, and the press. Although Verhoeven made one more film in the Netherlands, the response to Spetters led to his leaving the Netherlands for Hollywood. Despite the large amount of controversy surrounding it the film proved to be a box office hit gaining 1,124,162 admissions in the Netherlands alone. (Wikipedia)
I saw this movie in a theaters when it first came out. I can see how it was fairly shocking for its time.
One of the characters --- a leather-clad biker type --- has a strict religious father. He's the black-haired guy on the upper left-hand corner of the second poster (see above). He goes on to beat up elderly homosexuals, but is later surrounded by a tough gay gang (one of whom is the brother of the protagonist's girlfriend), and is raped by them.
Your comment about how it might compare to Saturday Night Fever is somewhat accurate. The only difference is that there is no disco dancing!
Not sure what the rating is, but I would have to say that it would be an "R".
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Wow, sounds like typical Verhoeven! He just donīt know how to play by the rules Posted by logan5 (Member # 1467) on :
Saw it years ago but can't recall anything! Useless comment.
Let us know what you think.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
I found this to be a very depressing early Verhoeven film. His early stuff like this and "Turkish Delight" has a tendency to rub your nose in its shock-for-shock's-sake squalor. Verhoeven's such a polarizing director, even for me, and I like a lot of his stuff. This is a movie that is one of those that's easier to admire for its craftsmanship than actually enjoy, I think.
Posted by Secret Admirer (Member # 3574) on :
All I remember about this was that it was a serious X-rated feature. So just skip to the good parts, like you do with any *ahem* adult movie.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Finally watched Spetters and yes, itīs another Verhoeven masterpiece. The cast did an amazing job and you really cared about the characters. Itīs a very sad movie but life wonīt always go as planned.
Great theme song (composed by dutch band Kayak) and lots of good tunes, cool motocross scenes and i truly understand why this movie schocked people back in the day.
Thanks for the post on this Atomik. Being a huge Motocross/Supercross fan/former rider this is right up my alley. Could you let me know how much racing is in it. Is it just a few scenes or more than that. Saw some copies on Ebay pretty cheap and may want to purchase it. Thanks for any info. M-I-Z!!
Posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless (Member # 9826) on :
There's a fun clip from a Dutch talkshow where Paul Verhoeven got physically attacked by some gay movement members back in 1980 on live television. I was hoping i could post a link to that material here, but apparently this footage is copyright protected and can't be found on any publicly accessible site.
Some macabre trivia : Lead actor Hans van Tongeren whose character in Spetters committed suicide after being paralyzed, committed suicide for real in 1982. He was only 27 years old.
Posted by Riptide (Member # 457) on :
I got this on DVD about three years ago. Didn't get to watch it all the way through. Will give it another viewing as I was deep in my euro 80's movie search back then.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
quote:Originally posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless:
Some macabre trivia : Lead actor Hans van Tongeren whose character in Spetters committed suicide after being paralyzed, committed suicide for real in 1982. He was only 27 years old.
Quite shocking to hear that. He was great in Spetters. I wonder what made him do that horrible decision...
Posted by Johnny Roarke is reckless (Member # 9826) on :
Rumours always were that he identified himself too much with the characters he played. And he played in several movies in which his character committed suicide. Apparently, prior to his own suicide, he had been in a psychiatric hospital several times. Shortly before he died, he was cast in the Dutch movie Van De Koele Meren Des Doods (1982) in which his character was to commit.. suicide.
Hans van Tongeren can also be seen in the international production Summer Lovers (1982), the Daryl Hannah sun, sand & sex vehicle.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
Itīs a fun movie, i have the VHS tape. Donīt remember his role though so i need to check it out again.
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