Rutger Hauer passed away age 75

Hello all,

So it has just been published that Dutch actor Rutger Hauer passed away, aged 75.

Which news make me quite sad, as he was an actor I greatly appreciated.

And with the movie Flesh+Blood being a known influence on Miura in creating Berserk, with Gambino looking a lot like him and the look of Guts supposedly based on him, I considered it proper to note his passing on this forum and give him my respects in such a way.

Curiously enough, his most famous role is probably Roy Batty in Blade Runner, which was set in 2019. And this character does not survive the movie. So both Rutger Hauer and his most famous role ended up passing away in the same year. Interesting little coincidence!
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
So sad, but he had an amazing career and left his mark on film. He had a real presence on screen that few could match. Nobody sneers like Rutger Hauer.

As a Berserk fan, it's really hard for me to separate Gambino from Hauer, and speaking as a big Gambino fan, it's extra sad for me.

with Gambino looking a lot like him and the look of Guts supposedly based on him

Gambino certainly, but for Guts, it's mostly his personality in the early years that resembles Hauer's character in Flesh+Blood, though later Guts is kinda like Hauer's character in Blood of Heroes (not to mention the helmet he wore being Guts' from the Golden Age).
 

Rhombaad

Video Game Time Traveler
Yeah, I was pretty bummed when I saw the news earlier today. He was one of my favorite actors. My wife and I plan on watching Blade Runner for the umpteenth time this weekend in tribute to him.
 
Gambino certainly, but for Guts, it's mostly his personality in the early years that resembles Hauer's character in Flesh+Blood, though later Guts is kinda like Hauer's character in Blood of Heroes (not to mention the helmet he wore being Guts' from the Golden Age).

Yeah, I don’t really see the similarities between Guts and Rutger Hauer / Martin. Yesterday I read on the Wikipedia page of Flesh+Blood that Miura supposedly said in an 2003 interview that “he specially based the design of Guts on the character Martin as portrayed by actor Rutger Hauer”, which I saw also mentioned on some 15 year old posts on this forum.. But I wonder if he really said that, as there are little similarities in looks.

No offense intended, but to be honest I also see few similarities between the personality of Martin and Guts. The personality of Martin also seems to match more closely with that of Gambino; that of the haughty, extraverted and amoral mercenary captain, while Golden Age Guts was an introverted loner. Or in what way do you find that Guts personality resembles Hauer’s character?

Rather than an influence on Guts design, it seems to me Flesh+Blood was an influence on Miura in creating a realistic and brutal medieval world. A sentiment that seems to be echoed in the recent interview with Miura that TheWillOfT linked to in the “Status of Berserk Pre-publication thread.” Though I can’t read Japanese and Google translate leads to wonky results. Though obviously Gambino resembles Martin as well, and is like a homage to this movie.

In the beginning of Flesh+Blood there is a scene where they bury a baby in a beer keg in the mud, which somehow reminds me of the scene of Guts’ birth, in that they seem to drive down a similar thematic point; life in these worlds is exceedingly harsh.

I’d also like to add I think I might be reading a bit too much in things; it’s clear and has been said by Miura that Flesh+Blood was an influence on him, and it might be a bit to excessive to try and pinpoint every little bit that might have been influenced, and how.

Also; I didn’t know about this movie Blood of Heroes before, so thanks for pointing that out! The influence in this helmet seems clear. Now I will have to watch this movie, both in tribute to Rutger Hauer, and to learn more about how it might have influenced Miura J
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah, I don’t really see the similarities between Guts and Rutger Hauer / Martin. Yesterday I read on the Wikipedia page of Flesh+Blood that Miura supposedly said in an 2003 interview that “he specially based the design of Guts on the character Martin as portrayed by actor Rutger Hauer”, which I saw also mentioned on some 15 year old posts on this forum.. But I wonder if he really said that, as there are little similarities in looks.

He did not.

Here is the excerpt of the interview people are misquoting/misremembering:

Miura said:
I wasn't really thinking of anybody at the time I created Guts. But if you're only talking about his looks and not about his personality then I guess Rutger Hauer was the model. I saw him playing a mercenary in a medieval movie, "Flesh & Blood" and I really liked him in that movie. He also played the lead in "Salute of the Jugger." It was an Sci Fi movie, but I thought the character he played was similar to Guts. And the main character from "Highlander" kind of reminds me of Guts. I think it had a lot to do with those cool collected type heroes I admired when I was in college.

People have always read too much into it, especially when it comes to dismissing the first and last lines (that I've bolded). Miura's point is that Guts didn't come from any particular source but that his general style was inspired by the works he liked at the time (which include movies like Excalibur or Conan the Barbarian). He's addressed that question many times over the years and this specific interview is the only one in which he singles out Rutger Hauer. It might even be worth it to check out the original Japanese just to make sure his meaning was properly conveyed.
 

Grail

Feel the funk blast
My first on-screen encounter with Rutger Hauer was when he played King Vortigern in that wacky Merlin miniseries from the '90s. Even though it was a relatively minor role, I was thinking, "who is this guy?" He really elevated everything he was in, and having watched Flesh + Blood this past year, I have a new appreciation for him as a Berserk fan.

And same, Walter - he'll always be Gambino to me, too! :serpico:
 
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