All 17 Paul Verhoeven Movies, Ranked

Paul Verhoeven, without a doubt, is one of cinema’s very best auteurs. He’s been active as a feature film director for more than half a century now, and has done a bit of everything as far as genres go. Also, he’s found immense success directing in different countries/languages, with his early films being directed in his native Netherlands (the 1970s and some of the 1980s), followed by a successful stint in America (from the mid-1980s until the early 2000s), and then a return to European movies shortly after the 21st century began.

Just like how the genres vary, when looking at Verhoeven’s films, so too does the quality. He has made some misfires alongside some truly great all-time classics. But, with Verhoeven, his brazen style, sometimes alarming content, and general uncompromising attitude work in tandem to ensure even his lesser films are always interesting. There are few dull moments to be found here, with every feature film the director has made to date (so excluding short films and TV movies) ranked below.

17 ‘Hollow Man’ (2000)

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin

Taking the sort of premise found in the old Invisible Man series and updating it with a certain level of technological proficiency and a good helping of smut for good measure, Hollow Man is flawed and probably Verhoeven’s worst… but it’s not without its moments. Some of what it’s going for on a special effects front can be appreciated for the time it was made, though those effects haven’t always aged the best when watched today.

Hollow Man follows Kevin Bacon’s character as he becomes a willing test subject in a risky experiment involving invisibility. When he becomes invisible, it changes his mind, turning him into a dangerous individual who misuses his newfound powers. It’s too long, too claustrophobic, and a bit too one-note, but there are some compellingly pulpy moments here, and the update it provides on “invisible people” movies is sporadically interesting.

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16 ‘Spetters’ (1980)

Starring: Hans van Tongeren, Renée Soutendijk, Toon Agterberg

Spetters is a bit of an oddity among Paul Verhoeven movies, but given how eclectic his filmography is, you can call a good many of his movies oddities in their own, well, odd ways. This one in particular stands out for just how graphic and full-on it gets, even compared to the other violent and/or hypersexualized movies the director’s made, and for how aimless and narrative-free much of it is.

It’s sort of like a feel-bad coming-of-age movie, following a group of far-from-likable characters as they make enemies, antagonize each other, and have their lives ruined in a myriad of ways. The level of despair being sustained for so long is almost admirable, but the approach also renders Spetters extremely repetitive and one-note. You get a bit numb to the shock of it all, and it’s not entirely clear whether that was the intended emotional response.

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15 ‘Business Is Business’ (1971)

Starring: Ronnie Bierman, Sylvia de Leur, Piet Römer

Not quite up there among the greatest directorial debuts by well-known directors, by any means, but also not near the worst, Business Is Business is a brisk, strange, and small-scale early effort by Paul Verhoeven. It can feel episodic, in a way, given that the premise here centers on two sex workers operating in Amsterdam’s Red-Light district, depicting various encounters they have as part of their work.

There is something here regarding the bond between two women, and the way their friendship helps them get through the challenges of their everyday lives, but Business Is Business can also be super raunchy, silly, and intentionally chaotic. Those entering into it should anticipate something of a mess, but within that messiness, there are certain things that shine and can ultimately make it worth watching for particularly curious fans of Verhoeven who might’ve previously been unaware of the film’s existence.

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14 ‘Tricked’ (2012)

Starring: Peter Blok, Gaite Jansen, Robert de Hoog

There was an interesting story behind the creation of Tricked, which is a very short feature-length film that came about because of a competition of sorts; one seemingly intended to have more direct collaborators than what ended up happening. It ultimately stands as Verhoeven’s film, and one that’s stripped back from some of his usual excesses. There’s no violence here, and sexual content that, at most, could be described as moderate.

Narratively, though, Tricked has some more predictable territory it explores, with sex playing a part in the story in a big way (even if it’s not often shown), with infidelity, wealth, and cutthroat business practices all propelling the story forward. It’s slight, visually a bit bland, and kind of comes and goes, but it’s more than watchable, considering the fact it’s short and decently entertaining, so really not that bad a film, for what it is.

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13 ‘Showgirls’ (1995)

Starring: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon

Criticized by some as an excessive and trashy erotic drama, while lauded by others as a subversively funny and misunderstood masterpiece, a more reasonable assessment of the quality of Showgirls might be somewhere between those extremes. It has some clear issues as far as tone, dialogue, and acting go, being inconsistent at best in those departments, but it’s easy to forgive some of that with the idea that the film is supposed to be more a work of satire than a straightforward drama.

It’s ranked low here, but everyone feels a different way about Showgirls, so, sorry if it’s not in last place if you think it should be there, and sorry if it’s not in the top 5 if you’re someone who thinks it should be there. Showgirls is Showgirls, and sometimes, it feels easier to sit on the fence than get too caught up with an extreme… which is funny to say, really, given how extreme Showgirls is.

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12 ‘Katie Tippel’ (1975)

Starring: Monique van de Ven, Rutger Hauer, Andrea Domburg

A film that saw Paul Verhoeven trying his hand at a drama set long ago, and finding a moderate amount of success in such an endeavor, Katie Tippel might not sound hugely exciting on paper, but it is pretty decent overall. The story here plays out during the late 1800s, with it centering on the titular Katie Tippel as she navigates the complexities of life for a young woman back then.

It takes place in the past, sure, but much of what it has to say about gender, identity, social status, and wealth still holds up surprisingly well. Katie Tippel is well-made, for the most part, and though it can also be a little slow-going at some point, there is still enough forward momentum to keep it generally interesting. It also reunites the two stars of Verhoeven’s previous film, Monique van de Ven and Rutger Hauer, though it’s very different from that 1973 release in many other ways (more on that one a bit later).

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11 ‘Flesh + Blood’ (1985)

Starring: Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tom Burlinson

Sometimes, noteworthy director and actor collaborators have a falling out of some kind after a certain number of successful movies made together. It happened with Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, for example, following Red Beard, and it seemed to have also happened with Paul Verhoeven and Rutger Hauer following the strange and perhaps overly ambitious Flesh + Blood, which separated the seemingly (near) inseparable duo.

Pre-dating Verhoeven’s successful English language films by a few years, Flesh + Blood sees the director making a bloody, downbeat, and super racy historical drama about rebellion, passion, and plagues. It’s got some thrilling moments, and the scale of the production feels impressive at times, but it’s also a little overlong and perhaps even underbaked, which feels strange to say, given how the movie is sort of maximalist. Maybe it’s just best to call it interesting but super uneven and leave it at that.

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10 ‘Basic Instinct’ (1992)

Starring: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza

A seminal sicko movie that also found a fair amount of success, and lives on through pop culture as one of Paul Verhoeven’s most famous movies, Basic Instinct is a no-nonsense erotic thriller, epitomizing the particular strain of that genre popular during the 1980s/1990s. It’s also something of a neo-noir, playing out a bit like a classic film noir movie, albeit in color and with nothing implied, because it’s all in your face instead.

It works as a thriller, but even if it’s more iconic than some other Verhoeven classics for generally understandable reasons, it’s not quite one of the filmmaker’s very best efforts. Narratively, it can sometimes leave a little to be desired, and it might also be an instance of style over substance, to some effect. But, when it’s working, the relative lack of substance doesn’t always feel like a hugely pressing issue.

9 ‘Elle’ (2016)

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Laurent Lafitte, Anne Consigny

Elle is a challenging movie, by design, and one that doesn’t offer any easy answers, which can make it a truly disquieting watch. It revolves around a wronged woman and her unconventional quest for vengeance; one that really doesn’t play out how you’d expect it to, with uneasy questions of morality raised, and an increasing sense of uncertainty about the protagonist’s character as things go along.

It’s a film that has clicked with some people, and is considered one of Verhoeven’s best, but it’s also possible to watch this and feel frustrated with what it could be suggesting, regarding some extreme subject matter. Whether a film can and/or should provide uncertainty around such things is up to the viewer (keeping things vague, both because of spoilers and because descriptions would have to be graphic), but yes… tread carefully with this one, and approach with the most open of minds if you want to have a shot at liking it.

8 ‘Benedetta’ (2021)

Starring: Virginie Efira, Daphné Patakia, Charlotte Rampling

Surprisingly, Benedetta functions as something of a biographical film, being based on some real historical events while also taking certain liberties and not lacking some more surreal/out-there moments. It takes place during the 1600s, and takes a look at what was then taboo sexuality occurring among highly religious characters, with the principal ones here struggling with what they feel and what their faith dictates they do.

It’s one of the more noteworthy sexually charged historical/period movies released as of late, and while not a full-on return to form for Verhoeven (so not one of his greatest), it’s still quite good. For someone in their 80s to put out a film this gonzo and boundary-pushing is impressive, and it shows that Verhoeven still has it, to some extent, placing him above some other contemporaries who have slipped up to greater extents during the final stages of their respective directorial careers.

7 ‘Soldier of Orange’ (1977)

Starring: Rutger Hauer, Jeroen Krabbé, Lex van Delden

Soldier of Orange might well be the most underrated movie Paul Verhoeven has directed, and is up there as one of his genuine best as far as his earliest efforts go. It plays out over an almost epic runtime of just under two and a half hours, following the experiences of a group of friends who all decide to get involved with fighting in World War II after it breaks out in the Netherlands, owing to the German army invading.

Of all Verhoeven’s pre-American films, Soldier of Orange is probably the biggest in scale, and thereby the most demonstrative of the director’s capacity to direct something big and considerably action-packed. Soldier of Orange shocks with its violence in a way you might expect from Verhoeven, and though it’s a little slow at times, other parts are rather intense, and the film as a whole certainly hits emotionally when it needs to.

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6 ‘Turkish Delight’ (1973)

Starring: Monique van de Ven, Rutger Hauer, Tonny Huurdeman

Not quite Paul Verhoeven’s first movie, but an early work by the director (and one that got him significant attention in the Netherlands), Turkish Delight is a raunchy, sometimes fun, but ultimately quite depressing romantic drama. It follows a womanizer played by Rutger Hauer who drifts through life and uses members of the opposite sex for, well, sex… but then finds things change when he forms a true connection with someone.

Things don’t get sappy from there, by any means, because their relationship – and eventual marriage – is plagued by some serious ups and downs, and more of the latter, as the film enters its final act. Turkish Delight, even though it’s not plot-heavy, still proves able to hold one’s interest quite effectively throughout. It’s well-shot, scenes never drag on too long, and the large number of emotions explored ensures it never gets too bogged down or samey, which helps immensely.

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5 ‘The 4th Man’ (1983)

Starring: Jeroen Krabbé, Renée Soutendijk, Thom Hoffman

For a while, The 4th Man stood as Paul Verhoeven’s final non-English language movie, given Flesh + Blood, released two years later, saw him transition to making English-language releases for a while. As a curtain call to that first phase of Verhoeven’s directorial career, The 4th Man is pretty great, standing as the best thing he directed within the first 15 years of making feature films quite comfortably.

It’s a film firmly in twist-heavy psychological thriller territory, following a man with a somewhat shaky grip on reality as he begins to fear a woman he’s seeing might be a murderer, and he, thereby, a potential victim. It feels like a gutsier, bloodier, and raunchier Alfred Hitchcock-type thriller, in some ways, and proves both shocking and entertaining in equal measure. While not flawless, it’s certainly one of the better films Verhoeven has made to date.

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4 ‘Starship Troopers’ (1997)

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards

Released two years on from Showgirls, Starship Troopers has seen a similar amount of reevaluation in the years since its release, but it was better received at first than Showgirls was, and it’s just better overall, making the re-evaluation easier to understand. On the surface, Starship Troopers is about a bunch of young soldiers fighting giant space bugs, and on that pure gut level, it’s a fun blockbuster.

But then there are also the satirical elements which, while not there 100% of the time, do play a part in making Starship Troopers more than just gory, sexy, pulpy, excessive spectacle. Cakes can be had and eaten as well, if Starship Troopers is any indication… it’s just that, sometimes, you have to wait a little while before you can have that cake. Or eat that cake. That saying is stupid. The important thing is that Starship Troopers was considered decent, and now it’s considered pretty great, and that makes sense.

3 ‘Black Book’ (2006)

Starring: Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch, Thom Hoffman

Taking some serious time off after Hollow Man, Paul Verhoeven took six years to release his follow-up to that one, and the wait was worth it. Black Book saw Verhoeven step away from Hollywood, and back to making films in Europe, with the primary language of this well-crafted war movie being Dutch, and the film overall being a co-production between Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and the UK.

Black Book is an effectively thrilling war drama, mostly set during World War II and following a Jewish singer who works for the Dutch resistance, and undergoes a dangerous mission involving the infiltration of a Gestapo headquarters. Nail-biting across most of its lengthy runtime, Black Book also impresses in scope, looking visually grand while having a great central performance by Carice van Houten. Overall, it’s very strong stuff, and a great comeback within the context of Verhoeven’s filmography.

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2 ‘Total Recall’ (1990)

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rachel Ticotin, Sharon Stone

A better universe would have more movies directed by Paul Verhoeven that also star Arnold Schwarzenegger, but at least this universe has one. It’s better than nothing, and goes down a little smoother on account of it being one particularly great movie: Total Recall. This is a twist-heavy blend of science fiction and pulpy action, being a wild ride of a film that’s too much fun to spoil, even with its age.

Unpredictability is the name of the game here, with Total Recall involving life on Mars and a blending of dreams and reality. If you can’t work out which is which, it almost doesn’t matter, because Total Recall is fun, thrilling, and bombastic enough that it can be purely enjoyed for the immense vibes alone, though the implications of the story are also intriguing, if you do wish to dig a little deeper.

1 ‘RoboCop’ (1987)

Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Kurtwood Smith

Just ignore the sequels, imitators, and that weird remake that was totally pointless. 1987’s RoboCop is where it’s at, standing as an all-time great work of science fiction and, debatably, something of an ultraviolent superhero movie. Like with Starship Troopers 10 years later, the core premise of RoboCop is thunderously simple: a police officer is gunned down horrifically by criminals, but gets reborn as a robotic police officer, with only traces of his humanity left behind.

The satire here is obvious, but that’s okay, because so much of what RoboCop has to say about consumerism, aggressive policing, and politics still holds up immensely well. It’s a movie that’s both fun and thought-provoking, blending pulpy thrills with weightier thematic content in a way that feels shockingly seamless. It is a highlight of the entire 1980s, and can also be labeled as Paul Verhoeven’s very best movie.

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