Why so much hype?

Dreadfully Boring

An absolute waste of money

Blistering performances.

I was looking forward to this film. With roots in the Netherlands, and a fan of historical adventure films, this was to be a fun experience. But the film quickly started to seem suspect. The cinematography was cheep. Lots of low angle shots of people on ships so all you saw was the actor and sky. An old technique used when on a set. Worked 75 years ago but not so much now. And the music...blasting throughout. It became clear someone felt the movie needed lots of loud thunderous music in every second and every frame to cover over an otherwise thin dialogue and stock visuals. Sure it has action. But the production values are just not real or gritty. No comparison to a film like Master and Commander. As though this project was desperately trying to be Hollywood and by the time it got there Hollywood and British production values passed it by a decade before.

I'll be brief. Pros 1.) Great time period costumes,social accords , buildings, etc. Well done. 2.) Some good camera angles, but the CGI was poor. The mass of ship shown for high above all looked neat and orderly. Way Fake (sorry, that was a con. 3.) Interesting look into 1639 politics of the Dutch and how fortunate they were to survive as a nation.CONS; 1. Read Wikipedia and see the ending is absolutely absurd, and never happened that way. Give this great Admiral his due, but a true Hollywood cop-out. 2. The music was way over the top. I mean that the big crescendos, and violins to tell me this is where I should shed a tear, really took away from the movie. It's an OK movie but WAY better ones to waste two hours of your time. David M.

As an American, I'm not intimately familiar with Dutch history. And that's a shame, because our concept of individual freedom is a direct descendant of the Republic's.I had heard of De Ruyter, but this film really opened my eyes. I know it's not strictly historically accurate (no film ever is), but it inspired me to read more on Dutch history, and more about this brilliant tactician in particular.On a different tack, I appreciated this film's superior accuracy in depicting war in the Age of Sail. I've seen too many Hollywood movies with mysterious "exploding solid iron cannonballs." "Admiral" accurately shows that the greatest danger to life & limb came from the huge oak splinters that flew in every direction when a cannonball crashed through a wooden wall.If you enjoy historical films, and nautical adventure in particular, see this one!

This movie is Fabulously awful.The acting is so bad.The storyline lacks any depth and the characters off the historical figures are utterly flat.I am always amazed how it is possible that a director does not see these things.I mean it's a historical drama but the language spoken is utterly 21th century dutch.The main character Frank Lammers's character as Michiel de Ruyter is totally superficial lacking any passion and shows us nothing as to what kind of man the protagonist was.Of course it's a dutch movie so we will be seeing a tit or two flying about for no purpose whatsoever. Do they ever learn in this country?....the slow-mo shots of f.i the sea-wars get so boring becourse they are merely gimmicks to show off what's possible with cinematography nowadays but..a movie like this is fun to watch...you''l roll of y'r couch laughing....maybe that's the power of this monster?