Hardcore Never Dies

The name really doesn't cover the load of this movie. Yes, the Dutch gabber scene acts as a glue for the story but the movie is more a coming of age and family drama.

I wasn't familiar with the actors but they did an excellent job. Especially Jim Deddes as Danny (reference to Vinyard from American History X?). He really did remind me of my brother back in the days, and as in American History X his little brother in this movie looks up to his brother while he actually shouldn't, albeit for different reasons.

The only thing that bothered me were the insanely stupid choices the Danny character made.

For international audiences, skinheads in this movie are not like American ones, it was style of the subculture like the Nikes and Australian tracksuits.

In that regard the director also did an amazing job portraying Netherlands of the 90s. So well I felt nostalgia for most of the film.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a good family drama, but especially to Dutch people or the ones that liked or still like the rave scene.

With music you transcend your life. In classical music & hardcore. Do you choose the energetic music with edges or the music that we think is a bit more well-behaved. In this movie they seem to reinforce each other. Can you handle the temptations that the life with edges has got and can you maintain yourself on the edges of the volcano or are you slowly slipping away? Do you choose a hardcore life because of resistance to normal life and when you enter it, are you pushed away from normal life? Do people actually choose for living with the protagonist or do they end up with him because they can no longer live elsewhere? These are dilemmas that the film presents to you.

Already mentioned in previous reviews, the title of the movie suggested a close view of the Hardcore scene in the 90's. I suppose it triggered a lot of old school hardcore fans like me to see the movie. Instead, it was more of a family drama and a nice Dutch version of "Narcos from the Polder", shot in the background of the 90's Hardcore Scene. Pleasant to watch and well acting skill from the young actors who probably where not even born yet to have experienced that time. Nevertheless, musically speaking we were treated on some nice hardcore classics but I still missed some classics from famous DJ's from that time like DJ Paul and DJ Rob for instant. I do hope we will see a real movie from the Hardcore scene someday. Perhaps shot trough the eyes of a DJ from that era..

The title and marketing would make it seem like this is a movie about hardcore gabber, but that is only partially the case. Despite that, if you lived through the 90s and went to gabber raves in Rotterdam like me, I think there is still enough to like.

Let's start with my gripes. I did not find the "troubled brother" very convincing as a real Rotterdam gabber. The main protogonist seemed inexplicably way more upper middle class than his parents. His affliction with gabber also seemed a bit superficial. If your first experience of raving in the early 90s as a teen was a gabber rave in the Energiehal with proper chemical stimulation, let me tell you: it would be extremely unusual for this not to be the beginning of an intense obsession. The ending also is a bit abrupt and superficial: after a little foray into the evil and criminal world of hardcore gabber, our young protogonist can put this all behind him to proceed with a serious life as a classical pianist? His hardcore seemed to have died quite quickly then.

On the up side, I liked most of the supporting cast, including the "villains". Though the story wasn't incredibly original (in fact almost cliche), there was still enough depth for me not to be bored. Though not everything about the raves was "period correct", much of it was done well enough to give me some goosebumpish flashbacks. You do get a sense of the intense energy of the music, the crowd, and the drugs. As a Rotterdam native it was fun to recognize locations.

In summary, I was plenty entertained despite the flaws and false advertizing.

As i said in the title, don't watch it for the story...that's really not that interesting and extremely predictable.

If you however either grew up in, or are interested int the hardcore/gabber culture in mid/late 90's Netherlands...man is it all just so recognizable.

The attention to detail is great, from the clothing to the music...even the hairgel in the main character's bedroom gave me those nostalgic feelings.

Overall it's played well, it looks and feels great, at times it's hilarious and for a particular group of people extremely nostalgic...just don't expect a great story because you will be disappointed.