Hardcore Never Dies

My friend and I watched the movie for old times sake and it was pretty damn amazing. They put a lot of detail in the surrounding (entrance/ tunnel Energiehal), clothing (Australian suits and Nikes, even one's we had!) and usage of words and quasi-philosophies (intro of the movie). The story is close to some experiences we had and witnessed ourselves during the days as gabbers in Rotterdam-Delft-Den Haag. So a big compliment for the writers who did a good job in the overall research. Some would say that the story is simple or predictable but life back then was for some just how the movie projects. I think that most of us in the scene knew somebody who lived a life like this. If you want to have a great flashback or want to show your kids how it was back in the '90 gabber scene this movies comes close to a documentary and that's a great achievement! Overall we would thank the makers of this tribute of our scene and life. My friend and I had a good afternoon and a lot to talk about. Hardcore never dies!

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.

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.

Anyone who remembers the "gabber" scene which began in Rotterdam The Netherlands will appreciate the attention to detail in this movie.

I like the fact that the director made an environment where everything was as it was in the mid 90's from the mobile phones that had bad reception most pay as you go, to old cars and even street signs as they were.

Two brothers , one a natural talent for playing the piano , the other a rascal , into partying in the Gabber scene. Gabber is Dutch slang for "mate, buddy" shaved heads and Australian tracksuits, a particular look (shaved heads didn't mean racist, this was not the case with gabbers). It was almost tribal like with the women shaving the lower part of their hair and always a pony tail, this tribe danced all night to very heavy and fast hard bass drum beats and often took speed or other drugs to keep them going.

The gifted pianist brother is working in a mundane job and meets up with his estranged brother and he sees his brothers way of life as an escape from his structured and boring life.

The movie goes on to show how a series of unfortunate events can easily spiral out of control and keeping things together is difficult enough but add to the mix all night raves, drugs and gangsters... well who knows what the outcome will be.

Some similarities from the Dutch 90's techno movie "wasted" and the Danish Pusher trilogy (I like them also) makes this a good movie to watch.

It's true Hardcore never dies.