One of my favourite war movies

Flame and Citron, also a favorite of mine, takes place in Sweden, not the Netherlands.

I recall seeing "Soldier of Orange" at the Seattle International Film Festival in 1978 or 1979...this was the U.S. premiere. I was totally impressed! Gritty, real, authentic locations, costumes, etc. (although I learned from Verhoeven's DVD commentary years later about the stuff they had to fake due to budget constraints!).

Still, in my mind, this was a way better WWII film than anything Hollywood had produced. Back in the days before VCR's and DVD's, I would go see this film again and again, anytime it was being screened. I probably saw it over a dozen times in local theaters. This led me to see every Dutch film I could....all of Verhoeven's early films and later, another Dutch favorite "The Vanishing". Rutger Hauer came to Seattle in the late 80's when the Seattle International Film Festival screened the movie again.

In the mid-80's, when VCR's came out, Soldier of Orange was the first VHS tape I ever purchased (about $80! from Media Home Entertainment, 1985), and I didn't even have a VCR yet! I even found a copy of Roelfzema's autbiography. Now I own several versions of "Soldier if Orange", including the English-dubbed, White Knight Video "Survival Run" on VHS tape, the 2001 Anchor Bay DVD and the Anchor Bay Verhoeven box set. All of these are now hard to find and crazy expensive!