Director: Kevin Reynolds
Script: John Watson & Pen Densham
Cast: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Brian Blessed, Alan Rickman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrentonio, Geraldine McEwan, Michael McShane, Nick Brimble, Christian Slater, Michael Wincott
Running time: 152 minutes
Year: 1991
Certificate: 12
It has to be said, but back in 1991 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was a big movie; BIG. Possibly because of the Bryan Adams’ Grammy-winning hit song ‘(Everything I do) I do for you’ that remained as the number one single in the UK charts for 16 consecutive weeks, which is the longest uninterrupted stint at number one, ever! It helped that the music video used clips from the film, hence when the film came out everyone was eager to see it.
So, is the film any good? I guess that depends on which side of the fence you sit on. For ‘Hood’ purists, the film is just ‘too American’ with too many American accents and actors sloshing around in it, and with too many geographical faux pas – for example, the white cliffs of Dover are nowhere near Hadrian’s Wall, which itself is nowhere near Nottingham; facts which the film happily ignores just to have some great backdrops for the oft-told tale of a vagabond with a heart of gold, who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. Of course being precious about a fictional character is kind of counter-productive; after all they’re not based on real people, they’re made up, and there’s very little evidence that Robin Hood, at least as he’s depicted in story books, ever existed.
However, if you’re like me, who grew up watching old black and white adventure movies full of derring do, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn, and just enjoy watching a story that’s well told, regardless of who’s in it, then Robin Hood: Princes of Thieves is great fun and is a blockbuster to be treasured. And, let’s face it, there’s plenty to love about this film, from the great performances – in particular Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham – through to enjoying some great British vistas, right through to an excellent score composed and conducted by the ever enthusiastic Michael Kamen.
Apologies, dear reader, but I seem to have gotten ahead of myself, and forgotten to share the plot with you prior to me rambling on while critiquing it. So here goes: The film begins with Robin of Loxley (Kevin Costner) escaping from a prison in Jerusalem with a Moor, Azeem, played by the ever reliable Morgan Freeman. They head back to the UK to eventually find that Robin’s dad (Brian Blessed) has been offed by the nasty Sherriff of Nottingham (Rickman) and his equally obnoxious right-hand man Guy of Gisborne (Wincott). And, to further rub salt water into fresh wounds, they’ve also smeared Robin’s father’s name by accusing him of Devil worship, helping to justify them confiscating his lands and titles. Hence, Robin finds himself homeless, titleless and on a wanted list purely by association.
Robin takes to the forest, where he meets up with a merry band of outlaws, and becomes their defacto leader after besting Little John in a stick fight, and then eventually he takes on the corrupt feudal lords who are over-taxing the people to line their own pockets. Oh, and he falls in love, a second time, with the lovely Maid Marian (Mastrentonio), who he eventually has to rescue from the main bad guy, who’s decided he’s going to wed and bed her, whatever the cost.
Yes, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves does nothing new with the legend of the hooded man, apart from introducing the character of Azeem (Freeman), but I still think that it’s a great adaptation of the story. It does have its weaknesses, such as miscasting Christian Slater as Will Scarlett, and pushing the Sherriff’s character a bit too much towards the pantomime end of the villain spectrum, but, overall, I think it hits more than it misses and is a perennial favourite of mine.
The extended cut that I watched for this review looks and sounds amazing (thanks Arrow) and comes packed with a plethora of extras to sink your proverbial arrows into. You can also watch the original theatrical cut, which is shorter, but I wanted to check out the extra scenes with Alan Rickman’s character that had been cut prior to the original release. To be fair, I can see why that was so, they don’t really add too much, apart from one scene, which nicely demonstrates how the Sherriff has manipulated several other lords to helping him eventually take the crown by stealth.
Overall, Arrow has done a fine job with an excellent film, one that still stands up to repeated screenings and scrutiny.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is being distributed by Arrow Video on Blu-ray. There are a number of extras on the disc including:
Audio commentary with Kevin Reynolds, Kevin Costner and John Watson – An interesting and candid chat-track whereby all three often chip in with various anecdotes and bits and pieces of trivia. According to writer Watson it took about three weeks to write the first draft and Kevin liked the script so got on board. Apparently, Morgan Freeman’s character was added to differentiate the film from the two other Robin Hood films that were going into production around the same time and Alan Rickman turned the role down twice before finally signing up after being given more freedom to develop the role.
Audio commentary with Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Pen Densham and John Watson (13 mins) – Again, another solid audio commentary full of film facts and behind-the-scenes reveals. Apparently Kevin loved the costume guy after being told that he wouldn’t be wearing tights and much of the film was shot at Shepperton Studios, in 1:66 ratio.
Here we are kings (67 mins) – A multi-part behind-the-scenes making-of documentary full of great behind-the scenes photography and sound-bite style interviews. Apparently the script was written as a spec script after the writer had been working on FIST with Stallone and the editor was working on set in a caravan so they could see the dailies during the 6 month shoot.
Robin Hood: The Myth, the man, the movie (32 mins) – Narrated and hosted by Pierce Brosnan this documentary from 1991 is a general overview about the Robin Hood legend, his literary origins and cinematic predecessors prior to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It’s fun, throwaway stuff that explains that the first – in-writing mention of ‘the hood’ was in 1262, before becoming part of the May festival in the 15th century. We also learn some facts about the film in question including the fact that Costner did many of his own stunts and the fight in the river with Little John took 10 days to shoot and was very cold.
One on one with cast (19 mins) – A series of short interviews with some of the primary cast including Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrentonio, Christina Slater and Alan Rickman. Costner talks about the additional characters they’ve introduced to the Hood mythos, while Freeman reveals that he hates running (he was in his 50s at the time) and Rickman, more of a stage actor at the time, explains that he learned a lot about screen acting from his fellow actors on the shoot.
Music video – Bryan Adams performs the title track live at Slane Castle in Ireland (4.17 mins)
Theatrical trailer (2 mins) – very action-centric
TV spots (2.18 mins) – shorter trailers
Image gallery – 48 publicity shots and 9 behind-the-scenes shots
