Hauer exuded unbelievable charisma with a dose of mischief, like a favourite but petulant child who knew he could get away with anything. There was more than a trace of Paul Newman in his face – a fact not lost on casting agents – but with much more character and danger.
But between 1982 and 1995, Rutger was the king of entertaining B movies. Mind you, he did it as a non-native speaker of English – a few could match that, ever. He was terrific in Peckinpah's last, not entirely disappointing film, The Osterman Weekend, an eerily prophetic tale about CIA's black ops and surveillance; he played a disturbed recluse veteran in the underrated early eco-warrior saga, A Breed Apart, and looked great in tights in both, Ladyhawke and Flesh and Blood.
I still believe The Hitcher was the pinnacle of his craft: he brought so much empathy to the character of the villain that, by the end, you were rooting for him to succeed against the good guy's blandness. On paper John Ryder, the killer, must have seem like a cartoon. But Hauer made him breathe fire with his eyes, etching a disturbing backstory on his face with the slightest of touches. It is a masterclass in acting: turning an enigma into a terrifyingly compelling being.
Naturally, Blade Runner's Roy Batty was the absolute highlight of Hauer's career – the heart and soul of the film. It's easy to say it was all downhill from there, but, really, how do you top that magnificence?
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