It's not the three musketeers and I'm not even sure what this is based on. Though I reckon a bit of research here, will bring up a lot of that stuff, so I won't have to bore you with that. I was a bit surprised to see this coming from Holland. On the other hand, they are a bit more free when it comes to nudity (just in case you are prude or have a general issue with that, a heads up).

The general swords play and the effects are pretty good. Unfortunately the German disc only had the dubbed version on it, so I couldn't enjoy the real actors voice and environment noise of the production. But it's still made an impression on me and the movie is really rock solid (for some maybe even more than that). The set design, the ships, everything screams a bigger budget than they actually had. Not to mention some very serious acting talent at hand ...

Movie dedicated to the life and times of Michiel de Ruyter, an admiral who is to the Dutch what Nelson is to the English. The Dutch see him as one of the architects of their survival, independence and prosperity - try and get more heroic than that.

First the good : the movie is a feast for the eyes. The very best visual and special effects are used to recreate seventeenth-century vessels and naval battles. These splendid ships, multiplied beyond counting, are so achingly beautiful that they seem to belong in a painter's dream of heaven. The locations, the props, the costumes : they're all superbly convincing and delightful to look at. Watching the movie means traveling back to the seventeenth century, as in a time machine.

So the movie works, as a window on another time. It also works as a history lesson : even people unfamiliar with the birth pangs of the modern Netherlands will grasp the stakes of the various wars and civic disorders going on.

But that's about it. There are failures of the imagination, probably at the level of directing and writing. The movie describes ferociously exciting events, but it isn't all that exciting itself ; it gives us an engaging portrayal of an important man, but it fails to dig deep into his soul ; it deals with subjects such as conspiracy, torture and political assassination, but it struggles to grasp or convey the nature of human evil. The movie also makes some inexplicable choices : for instance, Rutger Hauer (a fine artist and a member of Dutch acting royalty) shows up at the beginning, only in order to die nobly a few minutes later. Spellbinding it is not.

Last but not least there is the music. I really really did not like it - it was bombastic and it ruined pretty much every moment which could or should have been heartrending, such as the lynching of the de Witt brothers or the funeral of the great admiral himself.

In the Netherlands, this film is simply called "Michiel de Ruyter", but in English-speaking countries it's called "The Admiral". If you grew up in the Netherlands, you'd know the name Michiel de Ruyter just like the British revere Horatio Nelson and Americans know of John Paul Jones. (Jones probably is one of those figures who ends up in his own colored box in American high school history text books.) Three statues plus a marble tomb exist in the Netherlands honoring Michiel de Ruyter which is a large number considering the size of the country. He is probably the most famous naval admiral in the history of the Netherlands, and probably ranks among the top half dozen in the history of Europe and America. A pretty good case could be made he was the greatest prior to the 20th century. He is a figure Americans could admire particularly because he was not of noble birth and seemed to have decided lack of selfishness, uncommon in a period where advancement through connections and not always achievement was the rule and not the exception.

The film begins with the death of Martaan Tromp during the Battle of Scheveningen, known by the British as the Battle of Texel. (Despite popular rumor, I don't think Martaan Tromp is an ancestor of Donald Trump, considering the latter's name probably comes from Germany, not the Netherlands, spelled Drumpf, and the family respelled their name to "Trump" when they came to America in the 19th century.) De Ruyter (Frank Lammers in an outstanding performance) is given an offer from the current grand pensionary (sort of like a prime minister) of the Netherlands, Johan de Witt (Barry Atsma),to become the new admiral of the Dutch fleet. De Ruyter declines citing his unfitness for the task. However, when it appears the English will attack again, de Witt asks de Ruyter to reconsider, persuading him by inviting him and his wife to dinner.

During the film, other events are taking place in politics aside from the naval battles. This was both the film's strength and weakness. Particularly for Americans, this history is unfamiliar. The Netherlands was a young republic in the wake of having pushed Catholic-Spanish rule out of Spain by 1648. The seven provinces were supposed to be ruled by an elected stadtholder (a governor or prince); some of the provinces who were ruled by princes who inherited their positions rather than being elected. William of Orange (Egbert-Jan Weber) ruled as stadholder over five of the seven provinces. These statholders then met in the Hague with other members of their parliament to decide matters of state. Two opposing factions emerged vying for control of the government: Republicans (desiring non-noble house or non-monarchical rule) and Orangists, those who favored rule by monarchy, which also implied non-elected leaders like a king. The latter faction desired William of Orange (who would later become King William of the William and Mary co-monarchy of England) to become King of the Netherlands.

While Michiel de Ruyter is trying to defend his nation from the English navy which had been attacking Dutch merchant vessels since circa 1650, the country was in a lot of political turmoil. The film juxtaposes two pieces of history: the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the mid-17th century and the political turmoil within the Netherlands. The only issue is that for those unfamiliar with the history this could get confusing. The Netherlands was attacked by ground forces from Germany which the Netherlands was unprepared to defend against. Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis de Witt were scape-goated for the attacks and also blamed for a possibly secret plot to assassinate William of Orange.

Still, this is a fantastic film about a period of European history which doesn't get a lot of cinematic treatment outside of the Netherlands. All the acting is superb. The portrayal of King Charles II of England is a bit over-the-top, but if there has to be a major baddie of the film, he's it. The other character, William of Orange, is shown to grow from a rather snooty young nobleman into a concerned statesman. He is at first worried about his own reputation as he feels there are unfair rumors about him. Towards the end we see him rise above his own political well-being and become more centered on the fate of his nation. He will eventually become King William III of England, a co-monarch with his wife Queen Mary II, the only co-monarchy in the history of England/Britain, and regarded as one of the finest reigns in the history of Europe.