Search - Spetters on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Profanity Movie Release: 1980 DVD Release: 11/05/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: Dutch Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 2 hrs 3 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 7 Genres: Drama, Teen Movie, Biker Film

Spetters further elaborates on the themes of sexual obsession previously probed in director Paul Verhoeven's Turkish Delight (1973). Hans Van Tongeren, Toon Agterberg and Maarten Spanjer play, respectively, Reen, Eve and Hans, a closely-knit group of teenage motorcycle lovers who idolize local cycling champion Witkamp (played by Rutger Hauer, the star of Delight). Unfortunately, the adolescents' attempts to rebel take a dark and brutal turn when Van Tongeren is permanently injured in a road accident and Agterberg is gang raped by a group of homosexuals. While the other two young men lust after Fientje (Renee Soutendjik), a promiscuous hashhouse waitress, Agterberg responds to the rape by coming out and taking Fientje's gay brother as a lover. Verhoeven is artistically and sexually graphic in juxtaposing "cycle love" with the friends' carnal interrelations. The title of Spetters is an indigenous triple-entendre -- it refers to the Dutch vernacular for "grease spatterings" (both the oily renderings left behind by the motorcycles commandeered by the film's central characters and the grease slung by Soutendjik), is a slang term for male ejaculate, and was frequently used in the seventies and eighties to refer to people who are sexually appealing ("That girl is a spetter.")

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Hans Van Tongeren - Reen
Renée Soutendijk - Fientje
Toon Agterberg - Eve
Maarten Spanjer - Hans
Marianne Boyer - Maya
Rutger Hauer - Witkamp

Paul Verhoeven's coming-of-age drama Spetters comes to DVD with a widescreen anamorphic transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The Dutch soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Mono. English, French, and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include a commentary track recorded by Verhoeven, and the original theatrical trailer. This is a strong release from MGM/UA who deserve credit for doing a fine job with this little known film. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide