Tag: rutger hauer

We miss you, Rutger Hauer

Cool. Clever. Cunning. These are the words that come to mind when I think of the legendary Rutger Hauer. We lost this awesome dude a few years back and his passing reminded me of some of his most memorable roles: Nighthawks, Blade Runner, LadyHawke, Flesh & Blood, The Hitcher, and The Blood of Heroes. He could play a stalwart hero and a charming villain.

While Blade Runner’s Roy Batty is my all-time favorite Hauer role, he made quite an impression on 12-year-old me when he was the bad guy in Nighthawks. He was a suave terrorist opposite Sly Stallone’s hardboiled cop in a cat-and-mouse story playing out in the urban jungle of NYC. Nighthawks resonates in my memory for two reasons: it was the first time I ever saw Rutger Hauer and it was the first time I watched an R-rated movie without adult supervision.

It was 1981 and my family had just subscribed to HBO. We had that box on the TV where you switched the switch to get to the good stuff. We’d been watching a movie, probably something with George Segal, and then my folks when to bed, leaving my sister and I alone as the opening credits of Nighthawks unfurled. They didn’t seem too concerned. The movie starred Rocky, Lando Calrissian and the Bionic Woman. How bad could it be?

I was a pre-teen indulging in some late night R-rated movie magic, but there was another reason I was cultivated by this flick. Here was this charismatic international dude, who I’d never seen before, and he was both cool and scary. He and his girlfriend, the bald chick from the first Star Trek movie (now not bald), were doing their best to turn the Big Apple into fruit salad. Most of the movie villains I’d encountered then were of the animated variety so Hauer’s darkly charismatic Wulfgar was a revelation. I was going to keep an eye on this guy.

Over the years, Hauer’s temperature in Hollywood fluctuated like a kid with the flu. Late night HBO became his stomping grounds and then the video store. He didn’t get top billing in too many big name movies after the ’80’s, but you always knew when he was onscreen. Plus, the guy will forever be known as the hunky killer robot who broke Harrison Ford’s fingers and delivered one of the best movie monologues ever. He was that cool.

And that’s why he deserves a better epitaph than Split Second. I caught this C-List thriller on a streamer recently and I gave it a shot because of Hauer’s starring role. It’s a messy amalgam of Blade Runner, Seven, and 48 Hours. A very messy amalgam. While it’s not Hauer’s final film, it’s the last movie I saw with him in so it plays like his swan song in my addled brain.

It’s obviously just a gig for him because he seems only mildly interested. The movie is set in the near future of 2008 (it was made in 1992). London has succumbed to flooding in the wake of intense rains caused by global warming. But you only know that because the crew hosed down the streets before shooting. This movie wants to serve up a creepy dystopian vibe, but someone should have told them you need more than bad lighting to create atmosphere.

The future noir setting is mainly an excuse to make everything look dingy. And the only nod to the future seems to be the opening coda and all the really big guns on display. Oh, and all those sloshy streets. Hauer plays Harley Stone, an edgy cop chasing a serial killer who offed his partner. The bad guy shows up once a month to disembowel his prey and leave cryptic messages for our hero.

Here’s the biggest problem with this movie. The villain defies explanation. He’s grounded in reality at points and supernatural at others. It’s like the screenwriters spun a wheel before scripting every scene. Hauer’s character development is limited to his costume choices: trenchcoat, dark glasses, big guns. Split Second is not a good movie. You feel bad for everyone in it, but you weep for Hauer. Not just because he’s gone, but because he deserves better than this tepid schizoid little flick. Split Second is not a proper tribute.

I’m going to go watch Blade Runner again.