Showgirls (1995) - Verhoeven's outrageous, ridiculous, hilarious Hollywood anomaly

♥♥♥♥

 

A nubile, long-legged blond figure adorns this dark poster for Paul Verhoeven's Showgirls

Nomi arrives in Las Vegas without her suitcase but with her head full of dreams. And luckily she soon befriends Molly, a seamstress who introduces her to the town's adult dance scene.

 

Showgirls is written by Joe Eszterhas (Flashdance (1983)) and directed by Dutch master filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Wat Zien Ik (1971)), whose 11th feature it is. 

It is an anomaly in Hollywood history: The first and only wide release NC-17 rated movie, Showgirls is likely the big studio pic with most bare breasts, a giant budget and no major stars. It is a lustful, young-boyishly-enthused, strange work that could only come from Verhoeven.

Elizabeth Berkley (Meet Market (2004)) is wild and electric as Nomi, (and writhes almost convulsively in her sex scenes), but in the context of the fever dream-like film her ridiculed performance actually could hardly have been better. Gina Gershon (P.S. I Love You (2007)) camps it up as the show's star Cristal. Robert Davi (The Hot Chick (2002)) is ideal as a creep, and Kyle MacLachlan (Free Jimmy (2006)) is funny (and shows off his great ass) as a rich playboy.

The melodrama gets another gear here. The photography (by Jost Vacano (Supermarket (1974))) and execution is highly competent and vivid, and the result is an outrageous, ridiculous, hilarious bucket of juicy, rich entertainment, a good/bad reflection on the American performance culture. The dance acts are phenomenal, and once the news sensation of the nudity evaporates, Showgirls still has more and more laughable developments to offer. It may be exploitation, (as Quentin Tarantino has called it), but in any case Showgirls is delivered with a major twinkle in the eye. 

Related posts:

Paul Verhoeven: Hollow Man (2000) - Superb effects in Verhoeven's miss 

Top 10: Best cop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
Basic Instinct (1992) or, Irresistable Desire!  

Top 10: Best erotic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

The Fourth Man/De Vierde Man (1983) - Verhoeven's amazing Dutch sex thriller nightmare

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 45 mil. $

Box office: 37.7 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.83 times its cost)

[Showgirls premiered 21 September (California) and runs 131 minutes. Eszterhas became the highest-paid screenwriter in movie history for Showgirls: He was reportedly given a 2 mil. $ advance based on an idea scribbled on a napkin at a meeting with Verhoeven, and then another 1.7 mil. $ once the film began production. Verhoeven was paid 2 mil. $ for directing; and Berkley was paid 100k $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from August - December 1994 in Los Angeles, California and in Nevada, including in Las Vegas. Distributor United Artists reportedly dispatched hundreds of employees to cinemas in the US to make sure no patrons snuck into showings and that the 17 age requirement was upheld. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Seven, to an 8.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 20.3 mil. $ (53.8 % of the total gross). The film was banned in Ireland for blasphemy. Berkley was dropped by her agent following the film's release and was ignored by other agents. Although theatrically a huge flop, the film since became a cult favorite, accruing a reported 100 mil. $ through its video release. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Verhoeven returned with Starship Troopers (1997). Berkley returned in White Wolves II: Legend of the Wild (1996). Showgirls is rotten at 23 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Showgirls?

The Boat/Das Boot (1981) - Petersen's awe-inspiring WWII epic

♥♥♥♥♥

The formidable German poster for Wolfgang Petersen's The Boat, using a newspaper-like graphic that seems to set the high-seas drama of the film in poignant relief. The tagline means, 'A voyage to the end of sanity'

In 1942 World War II is in full swing, and German u-boat U-96 heads out to fight in the Battle of the Atlantic.

 

The Boat is written and directed by German master filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen (Ich Werde Dich Töten, Wolf (1971)), whose 4th feature it is. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1973 autobiographical novel by Lothar-Günther Buchheim (Die Festung (1995)). The original title translates to, 'the boat'.

The Boat is a really suspenseful, West German U-boat WWII epic from the now retired, German filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen (In the Line of Fire (1993)), who specialized in grand tales of men facing incredible elements or enemies. He also directed films like The NeverEnding Story (1984), Outbreak (1995), Air Force One (1997), The Perfect Storm (2000), Troy (2004) and Poseidon (2006).
The Boat is genuine, claustrophobic submarine terror. There are a number of versions available, including a mini-series version and an 'Original Uncut Version' of nearly 300 (!) minutes, but this review is based on the most commonly seen 150 minute version. The Boat is and was at its inception a giant movie, the most expensive German production ever since Fritz Lang's sci-fi masterpiece, Metropolis (1927). It is a spectacle to behold, and cannot and should not be removed from this part of its attraction.
For a suspense film, it is impressive that The Boat 'only' really peaks twice within its 2½ hours, - and still remains 100 % unnerving. This is perhaps due to its ambitious and formidable shoot, which was chronological and ran for a year (!), keeping the cast living almost as real submariners for that period.
The film is impressive and educative for anyone interested in knowing how a German U-boat functioned during WWII. The history is already known, so to speak, when it comes to the German side Nazi depiction of the war, (it's a misguided tragedy in other words), SPOILER and this is one of the rare war epics, where you will follow what for all intents and purposes seem like 'heroes' for a long playing time, - and still not weep a tear, when they are all blown to bits in the end. (At least I didn't.)
One thing that annoyed me was the fact that the large boat crew was made sympathetic in such a degree that it only contained one real Nazi member. I wonder how we would have seen and experienced The Boat, had the soldiers in fact been Nazis. Reading about the point online I gather that it is unclear at best, if naval soldiers were less Nazified than the rest of the German army and people were at the time depicted, and so this critique seem to stand and be justified.
Still, The Boat is one of the great war films of the 20th century, and perhaps one of the greatest German films period. Especially for the war and/or historically interested, this is a must watch.

 

Related post:

 

Wolfgang Petersen: Top 10: Best epic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Approximately 18.5 mil. $
Box office: 84.9 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.58 times its cost)

[The Boat was released 17 September (West Germany) and runs 149 minutes - with longer versions also available. The majority of the budget was reportedly spent on constructing the u-boats. Shooting took place in France and Germany from 1979-81, with most of the filming completed in one year, in which the actors were strictly kept out of sunlight to make them pale. The film was afforded the widest release to its day in West Germany, where it reportedly grossed 5.1 mil. $ within its first 2 weeks of release. It made 10.9 mil. $ (12.8 % of the total gross) in North America, most from the original German, subtitled version, although an English dub version was also released. The film was nominated for 6 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Cinematography (Jost Vacano (Spetters (1980))) to Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor for Gandhi, Director to Richard Attenborough for Gandhi, Sound Effects Editing to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Editing to Gandhi, Adapted Screenplay to Costa-Gavras and Donald E. Stewart for Missing and Sound also to E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. It was also nominated for a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and won a National Board of Review award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. The Boat is currently voted in as #79 on IMDb's user-generated Top 250, sitting between Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Petersen returned with The NeverEnding Story (1984). Jürgen Prochnow (Hitman: Agent 47 (2015)) returned in War and Peace/Krieg und Frieden (1982). The Boat is certified fresh at 98 % with a 9.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Boat?