Product Description

He came to mainstream prominence as a machine more human than his creators in Blade Runner, terrified us as a hitchhiker bent on his own death and the death of anyone who got in his way in The Hitcher, and unforgettably portrayed a lonely king roaming the night as a wolf and pining for the love of a hawk during the day in Ladyhawke.

Rutger Hauer has dazzled audiences for years with his creepy, inspiring, and villainous portrayals of everyone from a cold-blooded terrorist in Nighthawks to a blind martial arts master in Blind Fury, but his movie career was nothing compared to his real-life adventures of riding horses, sword fighting, and leaving home at fifteen to scrub decks on a freighter and explore the world.

From poverty to working with a traveling theater troupe to his breakout European performance in Turkish Delight and working with legendary directors such as Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop and Basic Instinct) and Ridley Scott (Alien and Gladiator), Hauer has collected All Those Moments here.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #318783 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-01
• Released on: 2007-04-24
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

About the Author

Rutger Hauer is an international film star who has made more than a hundred movies, playing everything from romantic leads to action heroes to sinister villains. He makes his home in the Netherlands but spends most of his time traveling the world on film shoots.

Customer Reviews

Some Nice Moments
You're never quite sure what you're going to get when you read a ghostwritten autobiography of an actor. Even though my tendency is to read the actor in as close to his own words as possible and stay away from biographies, there are dangers to getting it from the horse's mouth too. Who knows what the famous ego will want to hide and ignore. Still, I like to give people a chance to speak for themselves first as long as they give me something energetic and readable. Fortunately, that is exactly what Hauer does here.

Admittedly, I am a fan of Mr. Hauer's. During the 1980's I saw most of the movies he made--Blade Runner, Ladyhawke, Flesh + Blood, Blind Fury, Inside the Third Reich--and it was interesting to hear his take on some of these. Any fan would likely find something interesting in Mr. Hauer's insights even if he doesn't dish much gossip. Which doesn't bother me a bit since I'm not really interested in stories of excess and stupidity. In fact, he comes across as a very workmanlike actor who was learning and mostly levelheaded even as he was achieving his greatest successes.

But beyond his stories of the movies, his backstory is interesting too. Born in the waning days of World War II in Holland to actor parents, Hauer survived the "hunger winter" and grew up poor and uninterested in school. Among his early jobs, he got a berth on a ship and sailed around the world in his mid-teens. Finally, he got himself on track in his early twenties and, with hard work and a little luck, developed a great acting career that has spanned decades and continents. And he's managed to stay married to the same woman throughout. Not bad.

It may be that the reason Hauer is able to do such a nice job with this book is that, even though he is still a working actor doing well with smaller parts, he is well past the height of his fame. This likely gives him a better perspective on his past experiences. This may not be the deepest and most insightful look at a life in the movie business that's ever been written but it is a nice read.

Missing The Heroes, Villains, Replicants
If you are reading this review, then chances are you are also a fan of Rutger Hauer. He has appeared in some of the seminal roles of film history...I don't need to mention the obvious ones i.e Roy Batty. There was Soldier Martin in Flesh & Blood and of course the role that broke the mould in Turkish Delight, a film which I thoroughly recommend. The hitcher was chilling. There were also the many many doozies - really bad films that Rutger somehow managed to find himself in. Lets face it he has done may of these, Omega Doom, Cold Blood to name but a few.
The book promises on the surface to reveal something of the man himself. I expected to hear his side of things, why for instance did he make some of these obviously poor choices. Here was an opportunity to open up to the reader. But alas it never quite breaks the surface. Autobiographies usually reveal something of the pscyche within. Rutger chooses not to expose this. When he mentions his parents and their departure when he was still a child, our appetite is whetted. We want to hear more...but then he moves on never quite settling on anything too long. Yes it was interesting to learn that he left with the merchant navy at such a young age (he was 15) but we are never allowed more than a furtive glance into the man's life.
Part of what attracts people to this man has been the mystery that surrounds him and his refusal to fit in with the Hollywood stereotype. This is why I would have liked to hear more from him on a personal level. His need for privacy is legendary and we can well understand this. But when one elects to write a biography, the reader expects a little more insight than has been generally available. This book could have been so much more.
We don't hear much about his wife nor why they decided not have any children. O.K I know this is personal stuff but it would have given us a more complete picture of the man. You get the feeling that in the last few chapters he is scurrying towards the finish...he just wants to get it out of the way.
The last section of the book just regurgitates diary entries which can be read on his website (a good one by the way) but we needed to learn something new.
I think Rutger has been phenomenal in those roles that were made for him but he could have delved a whole lot deeper. Instead I'm left feeling a little cheated by the lack of the juicy bits. 'His craft' is overstated. What prompted him to accept so many bad roles is never quite dealt with. Yes of course Rutger you needed the money but come on there was no artistry here!
You will still want to read this especially as the money goes to his very worthy charity but just don't expect new insights into the actor or the man.

Meandering piffle
Rutger has been in some of my favourite films (Blade Runner,Ladyhawke,Flesh and Blood,the Hitcher to name some)and many that I watch for a laugh (Split second,Bleeders or Hemoglobin to name a few) and countless other films that were pure tosh (Omega Doom,Bone Daddy,Beyond Justice and other such fare....what worries me is that I remember the titles!)
So,I got the book expecting Rutger to open up about his involvement in so much pure Tosh....Instead of a "honing my art" excuse.Honing his wallet more like and good luck to him but I,the reader,wanted to read his thoughts and experiences,(and honing the charity's purse too one must add).
A weak book that gives little insight into the man but maybe Rutger was just "honing" his writing skills.