Martin (Rutger Hauer) is a mercenary who helps a crooked nobleman, Arnolfin win a battle. During the celebration, the mercenaries are betrayed. Disarmed and with their payment confiscated, they are driven away. A religious member of the mercenaries, named “the Cardinal” proclaims signs from God that lead them to believe that Matin will be successful once again. Vowing revenge, they proceed to ambush Arnolfin, wounding him and kidnapping a noble woman (Agnes) promised to Arnolfin’s son, Steven. The crew captures a castle and begins to live opulently. Agnes declares her love for Martin, seeming to forget Steven. The movie toys with the mystery: Are her affections genuine or a survival strategy? Unfortunately, the character does not come across as that deep. Agnes acts like a short-sighted thinker who follows the path of least resistance. The whole time, the specter of the black plague hangs over the whole proceeding.

In typical Paul Verhoeven style, the movie does not shy away from sex or violence. There is an odd scene of Steven and Agnes bonding, developing feelings for each other under the bodies of hanged men. There is also a rape scene where the entire mercenary troop holds the girl in the air and moves her body while Martin stands still. Just over two-hours in length, the movie crams in plenty of nudity and battle. Verhoeven matter-of-factly shows shots of men being stabbed, slashed, or impaled. The picture quality was inconsistent. Sometimes it was crisp and clear but other times very grainy. I’m specifically thinking of a scene lit with dim fire light.

The director’s commentary track has Verhoeven explaining a lot of the little choices that went into developing the characters, revealing him as a very detail focused filmmaker. Sadly, it seems that his love of nuanced characters gets lost in the spectacle of his gratuitous sex and violence.

The disc includes two interviews. The 22-minute Interview with Paul Verhoeven gives good insight into a classic sci-fi director (Robocop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers). He says the original idea of the movie was two men fighting alongside each other and respect each other but are put on opposite sides of a fight due to betrayal, exploring how friendship turns to hatred. An American studio came on board to save the movie and convinced Verhoeven that the focus of the film should be the love triangle. Verhoeven spends a lot of the interview espousing a strong dislike of religion. He called Rutger Hauer “my favorite actor”.

There is an 18-minute Interview with the screenwriter Gerard Soeteman. It covered a lot of the same information as the Verhoeven interview but went into more detail on the inspirations for the story. Many of the ideas were taken from Spanish soldier’s memoirs. Another bit of inspiration was some stories of Roman Centurions. The only other included special feature was a trailer.

The release is an interesting watch with plenty of information on the inner workings of the director’s mind. The movie is a fascinating look into a different genre than the director’s most famous works. It is a period piece that is very grounded in reality, preventing me from labeling it as “fantasy”. The story is good with morally complex characters that make it hard to cheer for any one specific person. It is a recommend in general, but an absolute must-see for fans of Verhoeven.