This movie was reviewed only once before, and it obviously has been reviewed by someone who doesn't care about the original soap drama at all. 'Goede tijden, slechte tijden: De Reünie' (In English 'Good times, bad times: The Reunion') is a one time only TV-movie/Christmas-special around the Alberts-family (One of the main families in the series) having a calm and quiet Christmas.
After Robert and Laura argued about a little sculpture their long-lost son Arnie has made as a kid, having the idea of putting it on top of the Christmas-tree, Laura decides to go to bed. Then she suddenly is awakened by loud noises. She goes downstairs and notices that there are people working for 'the big Christmas-party' at the Alberts' residence. Laura is confused but slowly more and more guests (Some who had left years before or even guests who had died in the soap opera, like Sylvia Merkx, Frits van Houten and even Laura's deceased baby-daughter, Lotje) arrive at the party.
In the meanwhile, Roos and Stan are waiting for Arnie to arrive at the airport. The same airport where he left on a flight to Venezuela years before, but never arrived (Arnie was missing ever since). Stan and Roos were waiting for Arnie and Laura was completely overwhelmed of the fact she would see her son again... Although the party almost got out of hand when the departed villains Frits van Houten and Martine Hafkamp arrived, and when Laura's longtime rival Linda accidentally broke Arnie's little sculpture.
Laura was still waiting for her son to arrive and when Stan and Roos were standing at the door, they had bad news for Laura... Arnie had missed his flight, so he wouldn't make it to the party. The morning after, Laura woke up, thinking it was all a dream. But it was then that she found Arnie's sculpture, glued together, as it had fallen apart in her dream the other night. But how it actually broke, that will stay a Christmas-mystery.
This TV-movie is one of the most cute TV-specials I've ever seen, at least for a soap opera. The Reunion was a little nod to the fans who were eager to see the most legendary characters from the old days together again for one more time. It's not really as exciting nor as action-filled as the normal series is/was in that days, but it made up with the nostalgic-feeling that went over it. And yes, it was a really unbelievable story, but at least it was done right. The acting was alright, they won't win an Oscar for it, but at least it wasn't as bad as reading from an autocue. There's only one minor point to it: Legendary characters, such as Peter Kelder, Daniel and mister Harmsen were missing in it, although 2 of 3 were missing with a genuine reason: Wim Zomer had just left the series and wasn't going back immediately to be in the reunion, as he had left on bad conditions after 8 years of playing Daniel (From the start), while Wik Jongsma (The actor who played Govert Harmsen) was very ill during the taping of the special.
The music for this TV-movie was done brilliantly by Ronald Schilperoort (Who also composed for the regular episodes of the show until 2011/2012), with touching themes and tunes and last but not least, a wonderful Christmas-theme of the original opening theme. The best part is that this TV-movie was recorded in the final Christmas having the old Alberts' residence, the set that was used from the beginning of the soap in 1990 (Although with a few little changes, throughout the years); Less than a year after airing this TV-movie, the set of the Alberts' residence was completely overhauled, which, in my eyes, didn't look as great as the original set.
This TV-movie/Christmas-special won't stand up to 'normal' movies nor will it stand up to the original series, and it's indeed something more for the fans, but when you know the series, you'll like this special very much. It's nostalgic and sweet. The TV-movie hasn't been released on DVD yet, hopefully that will happen at one point in the future.
After Robert and Laura argued about a little sculpture their long-lost son Arnie has made as a kid, having the idea of putting it on top of the Christmas-tree, Laura decides to go to bed. Then she suddenly is awakened by loud noises. She goes downstairs and notices that there are people working for 'the big Christmas-party' at the Alberts' residence. Laura is confused but slowly more and more guests (Some who had left years before or even guests who had died in the soap opera, like Sylvia Merkx, Frits van Houten and even Laura's deceased baby-daughter, Lotje) arrive at the party.
In the meanwhile, Roos and Stan are waiting for Arnie to arrive at the airport. The same airport where he left on a flight to Venezuela years before, but never arrived (Arnie was missing ever since). Stan and Roos were waiting for Arnie and Laura was completely overwhelmed of the fact she would see her son again... Although the party almost got out of hand when the departed villains Frits van Houten and Martine Hafkamp arrived, and when Laura's longtime rival Linda accidentally broke Arnie's little sculpture.
Laura was still waiting for her son to arrive and when Stan and Roos were standing at the door, they had bad news for Laura... Arnie had missed his flight, so he wouldn't make it to the party. The morning after, Laura woke up, thinking it was all a dream. But it was then that she found Arnie's sculpture, glued together, as it had fallen apart in her dream the other night. But how it actually broke, that will stay a Christmas-mystery.
This TV-movie is one of the most cute TV-specials I've ever seen, at least for a soap opera. The Reunion was a little nod to the fans who were eager to see the most legendary characters from the old days together again for one more time. It's not really as exciting nor as action-filled as the normal series is/was in that days, but it made up with the nostalgic-feeling that went over it. And yes, it was a really unbelievable story, but at least it was done right. The acting was alright, they won't win an Oscar for it, but at least it wasn't as bad as reading from an autocue. There's only one minor point to it: Legendary characters, such as Peter Kelder, Daniel and mister Harmsen were missing in it, although 2 of 3 were missing with a genuine reason: Wim Zomer had just left the series and wasn't going back immediately to be in the reunion, as he had left on bad conditions after 8 years of playing Daniel (From the start), while Wik Jongsma (The actor who played Govert Harmsen) was very ill during the taping of the special.
The music for this TV-movie was done brilliantly by Ronald Schilperoort (Who also composed for the regular episodes of the show until 2011/2012), with touching themes and tunes and last but not least, a wonderful Christmas-theme of the original opening theme. The best part is that this TV-movie was recorded in the final Christmas having the old Alberts' residence, the set that was used from the beginning of the soap in 1990 (Although with a few little changes, throughout the years); Less than a year after airing this TV-movie, the set of the Alberts' residence was completely overhauled, which, in my eyes, didn't look as great as the original set.
This TV-movie/Christmas-special won't stand up to 'normal' movies nor will it stand up to the original series, and it's indeed something more for the fans, but when you know the series, you'll like this special very much. It's nostalgic and sweet. The TV-movie hasn't been released on DVD yet, hopefully that will happen at one point in the future.
