Flesh + Blood (1985)

Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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Title: Flesh + Blood (1985)

Tagline: Betrayed by power. Corrupted by love. Bound by honor.

Genre: Adventure, Drama

Director: Paul Verhoeven

Cast: Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Burlinson, Jack Thompson, Susan Tyrrell, Ronald Lacey, Brion James, John Dennis Johnston, Bruno Kirby, Fernando Hilbeck, Marina Saura, Kitty Courbois, Simón Andreu, Jake Wood, Hans Veerman, Héctor Alterio, Blanca Marsillach, Nancy Cartwright, Jorge Bosso, Mario De Barros, Ida Bons, Jaime Segura, Bettina Brenner, Siobhan Hayes, Susan Beresford, Mònica Lucchetti, Anne Lockhart

Release: 1985-08-30

Runtime: 126

Plot: 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.

 
Siliconemelons

Siliconemelons

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I have mentioned this movie a few times, so I figured as we are posting some older movies to retro-view, why not. Here it is...

It is many things in one, its dark and uncensored (except one scene) in the brutality and harshness of medieval times - the setting is technically /just/ after medieval and /just/ before the renaissance. There is some dynamic of /the old/ and /the coming new/ with a few things in it.

A "newer" version of the latter half of this film would be Ironclad in the 2000's - another enjoyable movie with some surprise performances.

edit: sprelling is hurd 4 me
 
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Szlia

Szlia

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Saw it a while back when going through all of Verhoeven's films. I think I liked it but I must say it did not leave a very lasting impression on me. My memory might trick me AND I might be wrong, but I associate the film with a representation of the middle ages that was pretty innovative for a film from Hollywood : very raw in its depiction of violence and sex and with settings and costumes that look lived-in so to speak, as in no place that look freshly built out of cardboard and no clothes that just got out of the dry cleaner. A kind of break from a tradition inherited from theater. Again I might be totaly off base here, but that's what I associate the movie with.

While we are at it, the early Verhoeven film that I enjoyed the most was Soldier of Orange. It was made in 1977, still in the Netherlands but already with Rutger Hauer (I guess they packed for Hollywood together). It's a long but engrossing WWII movie about dutch resistance.

Also, unless I am not aware of the meme : medieval.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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paul verhoven best colab is with basil poledouris, whom has created music for
conan
robocop
starship troopers

so i'll give this a try, just for basil
 
Phazael

Phazael

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Pretty descent nihilistic medieval period movie. Hour is at his best here and Jennifer Jason Leigh gets all kind of naked in this. Low budget character driven sci-fi fantasy movies like this just plain do not get made anymore. I personally might have been influenced by all the sex and violence, but I remember liking this slightly less than Conan and 13th Warrior back in the day, as fantasy movies go. Its a solid watch.
 
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Rezz

Rezz

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Conan and 13th warrior are like, a solid decade apart haha. Very different times!
This looks like a movie I have seen parts of multiple times, but never the whole thing. Similar to the Sword and the Sorcerer. There's like 10 scenes I can remember from that because I am pretty sure they showed up on Cinemax/Up All Night multiple times and I only got involved with them then. But it looks pretty good in a B-movie fantasy type way. May check it out over the weekend just because Rutger Hauer is one of my favorite B-movie actors.
 
Locnar

Locnar

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Thanks for the suggestion, I see its supposedly playing on Pluto TV for free, i'll watch it soon. For who mentioned the Sword and the Sorcerer, its a great movie and a must see. The near opening scene where they resurrect Richard Moll from Nightcourt is awesome.

edit: I'll add my own suggestion for adventure movies from this era:

The Blood of Heros (1989), staring the lead android from Blade Runner! Free on Tubi
 
Locnar

Locnar

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So, I watched this and really enjoyed it. It was a good period piece from the late middle ages for sure. Did not realize it when I made the previous post, but the SAME blade runner replicant dude (Rutger Hauer) that is the lead in the movie I mentioned above is the lead in this one too, AND "Leon" his buddy repicant from Blade Runner is his co star in Flesh and Blood.

I've noticed that a lot with these older movies, the cast seems to go from movie to movie together as like a package deal. Interesting.
 
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Sterling

Sterling

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I mean if you're a casting director and you see that certain people already have good chemistry plus if they're on the same projects they'll have similar schedules so it's not really that huge of a surprise that things line up that way.
 
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