Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Flesh + Blood Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 18, 2013

Dutch director Paul Verhoeven's "Flesh+Blood" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German label Koch Media. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers; collection of posters, advertising materials, lobby cards, and production stills; and audio commentary with director Paul Verhoeven. In English, with optional English and German subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"It is the plague..."

Europe, 1510. Ruthless warrior Martin (Rutger Hauer, Turkish Delight, Split Second) and his band of mercenaries reclaim the castle of an ousted lord. When they begin looting the place, the despot who hired them, another lord named Arnolfini (Fernando Hilbeck, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie), orders his commander, Hawkwood (Jack Thompson, The Sum of Us, Original Sin), to disarm and force them out of the castle without paying them. At the castle's main gate, Martin vows to punish Arnolfini.

Soon after, Martin and his warriors attack a few of Arnolfini's wagons and kidnap the beautiful princess Agnes (Jennifer Jason Leigh, Single White Female, Rush), who has agreed to marry Arnolfini's fearless son, Steven (Tom Burlinson, The Man From Snowy River). After he rapes Agnes, Martin decides to keep her for himself.

Meanwhile, Arnolfini's outraged son and some of Hawkwood's best men begin looking for Martin and his band. Before they discover them in a castle whose former inhabitants have been executed, Hawkwood is infected with the "Black Death" plague.

Dutch director Paul Verhoeven's first English-language film Flesh+Blood is a dark and unusually explicit period tale with two different identities. The censored U.S. version of the film misses plenty from the graphic sex scenes (including key footage from the prolonged rape scene). The uncensored version, which is the one included on this release, retains all of the footage that was initially shot by the Dutch director. On paper the cuts appear rather small, but their omission dramatically alters Verhoeven's vision.

The uncensored film is about a time of despair -- sex, murder, and religion are used to manipulate and control, to gain power and rule the naive. In this dangerous time, however, Verhoeven also looks for beauty without trying to mask the ugly. The result is a very polarizing film, parts of which frequently look as if they might have been extracted from an unknown Fellini project.

The main protagonists are virtually impossible to like. Throughout the film, Verhoeven intentionally compromises them in ways that force the viewer to focus on the bigger picture rather than on the different conflicts between them. The approach makes it very easy to expose the hypocrisy in what other similarly-themed films typically glorify. (With the cuts introduced in the U.S. version, Flesh+Blood is essentially downgraded to being precisely that kind of film).

The international cast is very good. Hauer is terrific as the cold-hearted warrior. He frequently smiles and looks straight into the camera, but it is never easy to tell what his intentions are. Leigh also leaves a lasting impression as the equally unpredictable princes. The late Brion James and Susan Tyrrell also could not have been any more convincing.

Veroheven and cinematographer Jan de Bont (Die Hard, Speed) shot Flesh+Blood on location in Spain. The working conditions, however, were not the best and many of the actors complained. Hauer, in particular, frequently confronted Verhoeven before the entire cast. Since Flesh+Blood, the two have not worked together.

*In 1985, Flesh+Blood won Best Film and Best Director of a Feature Film Awards at the Nederlands Film Festival.

Flesh + Blood Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Paul Verhoeven's Flesh+Blood arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German label Koch Media.

The high-definition transfer has been struck from a dated source with various limitations. There are obvious inherited traces of mild to moderate sharpening corrections that give the film a rather harsh look (see screencapture #14). During select nighttime sequences, noise also becomes prominent and often affects image depth and clarity. Color reproduction is also far from impressive. Saturation, in particular, can be a lot better. Unsurprisingly, large portions of the film can look quite anemic. Generally speaking, image stability is very good. A few tiny flecks pop up here and there, but there are no large cuts, damage marks, warps, or stains to report in this review. All in all, in terms of definition and clarity there are indeed visible improvements over the R1 DVD release, but the film does not have the pleasing and consistent organic look I expected it to have. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Flesh + Blood Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Koch Media have provided optional English and German subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The film is complimented by a very good period soundtrack courtesy of Basil Poledouris that benefits greatly from the lossless treatment. During the battle scenes, depth and clarity are also excellent. In fact, dynamic intensity is frequently surprisingly good. The dialog is pleasingly crisp, stable, free of problematic background hiss, and easy to follow. Also, there are no audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review.

Flesh + Blood Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers -
  
  1. Original Orion Pictures Corporation English-language trailer. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).
  2. German-language trailer. In German, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Bildergalerie - a collection of posters, advertising materials, lobby cards, and production stills. With music.

• Commentary - audio commentary by director Paul Verhoeven. This is the same audio commentary that appears on the R1 DVD release of Flesh+Blood. In English.

Flesh + Blood Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Paul Verhoeven's first English-language film, Flesh+Blood, needs the same type of treatment his cult classic Total Recall received. It must be properly redone in 2K or 4K, under the Dutch director's supervision, and then reissued on Blu-ray. This German release, courtesy of Koch Media, offers some improvements over previous DVD releases, but there is no doubt in my mind that Flesh+Blood can look a lot more convincing. Consider adding the Blu-ray release to your collections only if you can find it on sale.