Director: Kevin Reynolds
Screenplay: Pen Densham and John Watson
Starring: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman, Geraldine McEwan, Michael McShane (as Micheal McShane), Brian Blessed, Michael Wincott, Nick Brimble, Harold Innocent, Walter Sparrow, Daniel Newman, Daniel Peacock, Jack Wild, Soo Drouet, Liam Halligan, Michael Goldie, Marc Zuber
Year: 1991
Country: United States
Running time: 143 min (theatrical cut), 155 min (extended cut)
Legendary outlaw Robin Hood has long been the focus of feature films, not to mention other formats like theatre and television. The English folklore hero is thought to date back to the 13th century and tales of him and his band of merrymen robbing from the rich to give to the poor have been passed down from generation to generation.
More than 20 feature films have been made about the mythical figure, not to mention countless more television movies or shows, with notable ones including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland and Basil Rathbone; Robin Hood (1973), the animated version by Walt Disney Productions; Hammer versions and Robin and Marian (1976), starring Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn.
In the early 1990s, three new versions of the tale adorned cinema screens – 1993’s Mel Brooks spoof Robin Hood: Men in Tights and two earlier adaptations in 1991: Robin Hood, which starred Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman, and, the focus of this review, the box office success Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
I must admit that I have a real soft spot for Prince of Thieves. It was one of the earliest VHS that I owned as a young film fan. I watched the video endlessly, enjoying the action and spectacle and wanting to be Robin Hood. The film was not only a hit with audiences – it took $390 million worldwide at the box office and was second that year only to Terminator 2: Judgment Day – but also proved a merchandising juggernaut from a highly collectible set of action figures by Kenner to books, video games and a smash hit music single.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves takes us back to the 12th century and follows nobleman Robin of Loxley (Kevin Costner), whom we first meet imprisoned in Jerusalem after following King Richard the Lionheart there during the Third Crusade. Robin and his fellow inmate, Peter (Liam Halligan), escape along with Azeem (Morgan Freeman). Sadly, Peter is mortally wounded during the daring escape and dies, but not before asking Robin to protect his sister Lady Marian, whom we know from the folktale as Maid Marian (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).
Robin returns to England with Azeem, who vows to be at Robin’s side until he has paid his debt for his life being saved, where they discover that the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) is trying to take the throne of England for himself in the absence of King Richard, who is still on his Crusade.
Robin discovers that his father has been murdered by the Sheriff for being loyal to the King and the family servant Duncan (Walter Sparrow) has been blinded, but when Robin finds Marian, she won’t listen to him. The Sheriff consults his advisor, the witch Mortianna (Geraldine McEwan), who foretells the return of King Richard and that Robin and Azeem will kill her and the Sheriff.
A price is put on our heroes’ heads and they flee into Sherwood Forest, where they meet those we’ll know as Robin’s Band of Merry Men, including Little John (Nick Brimble), Will Scarlett (Christian Slater) and, later, Friar Tuck (Michael McShane, credited as Micheal McShane). A ripping yarn of good versus evil, Robin Hood and his comrades against the Sheriff of Nottingham and his army, plays out.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is an excellent action adventure, full of daring, great stunts and marvellous production design. There are some fantastic set pieces throughout, including a fight with staffs in a river between Robin and Little John, some of Robin’s gang’s exploits to steal from the rich, an assault by the Sheriff of Nottingham on our heroes’ forest hideout, and the final battle. There is also memorable imagery throughout, like where we follow the path of Robin’s arrow after he’s fired it, and Robin and Maid Marian in silhouette. The stunts, fight choreography and swordplay are all brilliant. It’s a surprisingly violent and ratings-pushing film – looking back now, I’m surprised it got a PG certificate on its original release.
The production design – by John Graysmark – and costume design – by John Bloomfield – is first class and very iconic, helping to create a richly atmospheric world. This is helped no end by on-location filming in various parts of England, including the no longer with us iconic Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian’s Wall, Wardour Castle in Wiltshire, Hulne Priory in Northumberland, Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire and the chalk cliffs at Seven Sisters in East Sussex.
Any great swashbuckling film such as this needs a good score, and composer Michael Kamen certainly provided that. From the opening chords, Kamen created a rousing score that gets the blood pumping immediately and doesn’t let up, setting the right tone throughout from action sequences to romance. Of course, this is supplemented by the hit song, that some love and some loathe, by Bryan Adams (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, which spent a record-breaking 16 weeks at Number One in the UK Singles Chart.
Yet what of the cast? Well, if you’ve seen the film before you’ll know this is the late, great Alan Rickman’s film. He steals every scene he’s in with a perfectly nasty, vile and vicious portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham that’s no pantomime villain, but instead is one of the great movie villains of modern cinema. Rickman’s performance is worth the price of admission alone.
Rickman isn’t the headline act, though; as one would expect, it should be Robin Hood. That headline role of an English folk hero was controversially portrayed by an American, Kevin Costner. His performance, as a result, gets mixed reviews. I personally don’t have a problem with it. Costner looks like a hero in his costume and portrays Robin just fine, though without the necessary English accent. He’s overshadowed by Rickman and isn’t the best portrayal of Robin Hood – but then, my favourite is the animated version from Walt Disney! – but does just fine.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio gives a warm, strong and likeable portrayal of Marian, and Geraldine McEwan is superbly creepy as Mortianna.
Upon first watching, I immediately warmed to Morgan Freeman as an actor with his portrayal of Azeem and I very much continue to like his performance.
Christian Slater’s performance is another of my favourites. He portrays Will Scarlett with various shades of grey and it’s not until the third act approaches that we know his true intentions. He also gets a great chance to show his range in a confrontation with Robin Hood, in which those intentions are made clear. Special mention too for Merry Men actors Michael McShane as Friar Tuck and Nick Brimble as Little John, who give great value for money throughout.
Finally, a note on the two cuts. The extended cut, which is 12 minutes longer, is a curio, from my perspective, and I much prefer the theatrical cut. The extended cut provides more Sheriff of Nottingham, with some very dark sequences that are great but are easy to see why they weren’t included in the theatrical release of what was essentially a family film. They’re the highlights of the extended cut and very much worth watching. Elsewhere, I feel that the changes hamper the pacing,. So, I’ll usually watch the theatrical cut, revisiting the additional scenes of the Sheriff separately.
In closing, I have had a soft spot for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves since first seeing it at the cinema as a child, and then endlessly on home video. I’ve owned the film on pretty much every format since, and continue to have a great time with it. It’s a flawed but deeply entertaining blockbuster version of the Robin Hood folktale, which features some great set pieces, a wonderful atmosphere thanks to costume and production design and on location filming, plenty of humour and one of the best portrayals of a villain in cinema history in the great Alan Rickman’s take on the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Film: 
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is available now on a limited edition region free 4K UHD in the United States from Arrow. The release brings to the States the same package that came out in the UK in separate limited-edition Blu-ray and 4K UHD editions in 2022 and which are now out of print. This means that if you are able to play 4K discs and missed out on the limited edition, this is an opportunity to get that release.
The 4K restoration is fantastic with the film looking the best I’ve ever seen it. Detail is rich and fine throughout – just look at the depth of detail that can be seen in the costumes, for example – and the colours are natural and striking, with the forest sequences looking particularly strong. The audio is also first class, the rousing score coming across strong through the speakers, with dialogue crystal clear, and sound effects also sounding great. All in all, I’m very pleased with the audio-visual presentation, with this being the first time I’ve seen the film in 4K, having picked up the limited edition UK Blu-ray release from Arrow previously.
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray limited edition contents:
4K restorations of both the theatrical and extended cuts from the original negative by Arrow Films
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation of both cuts in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original uncompressed stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Audio commentary with director Kevin Reynolds and actor Kevin Costner
Audio commentary with actors Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater and writers/producers Pen Densham and John Watson
Here We Are Kings: Making Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, a multi-part documentary featuring interviews with Densham, Watson, director of photography Douglas Milsome, editor Peter Boyle, costume designer John Bloomfield and many more members of the creative team
Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie, an archival 1991 documentary hosted by Pierce Brosnan
One-on-One with the Cast, archival 1991 interviews with Costner, Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Slater and Rickman
Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” performance at Slane Castle, Ireland
Music soundtrack cues
Theatrical trailer
TV spots
Image gallery
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
Collectors’ perfect-bound booklet featuring writing on the film by Jackson Cooper and Mark Cunliffe
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by José Saccone
Six postcard-sized artcards
Director Kevin Reynolds and actor Kevin Costner give good gusto and are on fine form in their audio commentary, where they share lots of fond memories of the film, particularly paying praise to some of those who worked on the film. It’s scene-specific, sharing background to many scenes, but not afraid to take detours to give more rich background. I enjoyed this a lot.
Equally enjoyable is the second audio commentary with actors Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater and writers/producers Pen Densham and John Watson. We get a good background to the script and Densham and Watson’s take on the folk tale of Robin Hood, including the audacious opening. There is also some background to additional footage that was shot but which didn’t make it into the final cut. I also enjoyed an anecdote about the length of the film – nearly two hours for the theatrical cut, but the hope had been it would come in at under two hours to allow more screenings.
Here We Are Kings: Making Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a fascinating making-of documentary made specifically for the Arrow release in 2022. It runs for 67 minutes and features interviews with a number of the creative crew. It’s fantastic and provides a wealth of background to the movie across six chapters, which can be played individually or as one. There’s plenty to glean from this one, with some great information about the production. It’s my favourite extra on the release alongside the commentaries.
Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie is an archival 1991 documentary hosted by Pierce Brosnan which is pretty entertaining. I recall seeing it at the time of the film’s release and it would certainly have made we want to see it. It features some on-set interviews to promote the film but also gives a little bit of background to the folk story of Robin Hood, which is the best part of the piece. Brosnan is a good host, too. As archival promotional documentaries go, this is a good one.
One-on-One with the Cast, features archival 1991 interviews with Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater and Alan Rickman which can be played individually or as a 19-minute piece. They’re typical interviews which tell a bit about the film and the characters the actors play, with little insight but are a welcome inclusion.
Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” is a live performance at Slane Castle, Ireland, with an appreciative audience who sway along to the love song. It’s a neat inclusion.
The music soundtrack section features eight cues, running for 50 minutes over still images. It’s nice to have what’s essentially an isolated score of some of the most memorable music from a brilliant score by Michael Kamen.
The two-minute theatrical trailer immediately took me back to being a child and seeing it in the cinema and no doubt urging my parents to let me see the film as soon as it was released. It does a good job of selling the film, with a strong voiceover.
Three TV spots are included, which can be played individually or in one go, running just over two minutes. They do well to sell the film despite their brief running time.
Two image galleries are included. The first features almost 50 publicity stills, black and white and colour. The second features almost 10 behind the scenes stills.
The 60-page booklet is typically well appointed and adorned with historic style pencil drawings of characters from the film. Two essays are included, both of which are well worth a read. The first by Mark Cunliffe is a deeply personal piece from a childhood fan of the film who shares his memories, whilst also providing a good run through the movie, with comparisons to other versions of the story. The second essay sees Jackson Cooper providing a look at actor Kevin Costner before looking at the script, and elements that meant it pushed the PG rating it got at the time. The booklet concludes with more than 30 pages of production stills and behind the scenes images, giving a chance to have those featured on the disc in physical form.
Rounding out the package is a hardcover box with beautiful artwork, a reversible sleeve which includes the iconic original poster for the film, a double-sided poster featuring that artwork and the new artwork, and six postcards featuring some memorable scenes from the film.
In conclusion, Arrow have provided a first-class audio-visual presentation and limited-edition 4K UHD release for one of my childhood favourites, box office smash Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which gives those who missed out on the same release in the UK another chance to own it. In addition to the cracking presentation of the film, Arrow provide two worthy commentaries, a fantastic making-of documentary, a very good archival documentary, and an informative booklet, all housed in a gorgeous package.
Disc/package: