Background
Jan de Bont was born on 22 October 1943 in Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.
Jan de Bont was born on 22 October 1943 in Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.
He won his chance as a director by being an expert director of photography on action films, in Holland and Los Angeles: Turkish Delight (73, Paul Verhoeven); Cathy Tippel (75, Verhoeven); Max Havelaar (76. Fons Rademakers); Soldier of Orange (79, Verhoeven); Private Lessons (81, Alan Myerson); I'm Dancing As Last As I Can (82, Jack Hofsiss); the mad-dog Ctijo (83, Lewis Teague); All the Light Moves (83, Michael Chapman); the eroticism of The Fourth Man (83, Verhoeven); The Jewel of the Nile (85, Teague); Flesh
Blood (85, Verhoeven); Ruthless People (86, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker); Die Hard (88, John McTiernan); Black Rain (89, Ridley Scott); The Hunt for Red October (90, McTiernan); Flatliners (90, Joel Schumacher); Shining Through (92, David Seltzer); Basic Instinct (92, Verhoeven); Lethal Weapon 3 (92, Richard Donner).
To say that de Bout’s four directing jobs have shown a steady decline in interest is to be generous to Speed, which was riveting, and absolutely of its time, but proof, too, that excruciating tension could be a test of patience. De Bont is likely to get several more effects shows vet, for two out of four have been hits, and he has an eye for sensation as well as enthusiasm for that mad hurry that threatens to take over modem films. Also, in his odd way, he prefers “real” marvels to the entirely fabricated—it may be all that is left of his Dutch tradition.