Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves (1991)
Directed by: Kevin Reynolds
Written by: John Waters, Pen Densham
Starring: Alan Rickman, Kevin Costner, Mary Elisabeth Mastrantonio, Morgan Freeman
USA
AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY, DVD and DIGITAL
RUNNING TIME: 143 minutes / 155 minutes
REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera
After being captured by Turks throughout the Crusades, Robin of Locksley and a Moor, Azeem, escape again to England, the place Azeem vows to stay till he repays Robin for saving his life. In the meantime, Robin’s father, a nobleman loyal to King Richard the Lionheart, has been murdered by the Sheriff of Nottingham, who helped set up Richard’s treacherous brother, Prince John, as King whereas Richard was abroad combating the Crusades. Robin vows to avenge his father’s demise and restore Richard to the throne. Though Maid Marian, his childhood good friend, can not assist him, he escapes to the Forest of Sherwood the place he joins a band of exiled villagers and turns into their chief….
No, I didn’t get despatched a freebie of this to evaluation, however shopping for Arrow Movies’ new set of Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves has led to me reviewing the movie anyway. I bear in mind properly how large it was in the summertime of 1991, a time when actually standard movies could possibly be in cinema screens for a lot of months till you grew to become sick of them; I definitely grew to become sick of listening to that Bryan Adams music “Every thing I Do, I Do It For You”, which remained primary for what was then a document 14 weeks within the USA and 16 within the UK. There are definitely some issues to snicker at on this film, notably Kevin Costner often making an attempt an English accent however principally not bothering, however then there are such a lot of anachronisms [not to mention continuity errors] that after a when you simply must go together with it and settle for this stuff as a part of the enjoyable, that means that by the point the outlaws’ hideout in Sherwood Forest is taken without warning by giant catapults regardless of the density of the forest, it received’t look like an enormous deal. It’s clearly not meant as a critical movie for a lot of the time, although its villains are actually nasty and it’s fairly brutal for a movie aimed toward household audiences and which was a ‘PG’ [though with cuts] within the UK; after all the violence was one motive why youngsters liked it however did we want some rape as properly? The movie is as far and wide as its number of accents, but I often watch it, it’s nonetheless terrific enjoyable with one thing for nearly anybody, and when it soars it actually soars, actually capturing that rousing swashbuckling spirit of olde. Alan Rickman, who chews the surroundings like a mad canine, could also be as memorable as most individuals are likely to say, however the entire forged appear to present it their all apart from a tired-looking Costner; nevertheless he can’t actually be blamed for that and was most likely doing his greatest. He’d simply accomplished Dances With Wolves and went straight onto this with no correct break.
Pen Densham wished a Robin Hood movie which had Robin being a egocentric, privileged man who modifications right into a socially aware fighter for justice, and a Christian being pals with a Muslim [though this was also in the Robin Of Sherwood TV series]. No studio was considering Densham and his writing and producing associate John Watson’s therapy, however they wrote a script anyway, and showing because it did throughout a author’s strike, studios bid over it, Morgan Creek successful. Two different Robin Hood movies had been being deliberate by Warner Bros and Fox, and Costner was thought-about for them, however he selected the Densham/Watson script. Manufacturing was arrange in England earlier than the undertaking was even greenlit. Robin Hood starring Patrick Bergen was hurried into cinemas in some nations. I recall strolling by a cinema and seeing an indication that mentioned “That is NOT the Kevin Costner Robin Hood movie”. Mary Elisabeth Mastrantonio solely got here on board 4 days earlier than filming as a result of Robin Wright received pregnant. Taking pictures passed off at Shepperton Studios, Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire changing into the principle location, plus Wardour Fortress in Wiltshire, Hulne Priory and Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, Aysgarth Falls in North Yorkshire and the seashore at Seven Sisters, Sussex. The shoot was rushed with script modifications often being made: Rickman received Ruby Wax and Peter Barnes to punch up his dialogue and improvised some strains. Nevertheless, Morgan Creek and Costner worrying that Rickman’s Sheriff was too dominant resulted in editor Peter Boyle locked out of the modifying and director Kevin Reynolds strolling out of post-production, amid plenty of re-editing to make Costner extra distinguished. The UK cinema launch minimize the primary a part of the opening jail scene and Christian Slater’s improvised F phrase; the video eliminated an extra minute of violent and bloody pictures, and the movie wasn’t seen uncut over right here till 2001.
The opening titles happen over medieval tapestries and by god is the musical theme nonetheless rousing, completely making ready the viewer for what’s to come back, although the primary scene may be very gritty and intense, set in a Center Japanese jail with a dark look, screaming prisoners and a man having his hand minimize off, maybe a wierd starting, however good for warning viewers that this model might be powerful in locations. Robin and Azeem are each prisoners there; Robin does what is perhaps his first completely unselfish act, taking the place of one other man who’s about to be dismembered. An escape ensures, although one man is killed; Robin guarantees to take care of his sister Marian. Again in Britain, Robin’s father [an impressively restrained Brian Blessed] is killed by the Sheriff’s males, clad in white robes. Now comes an actual goof which I’m amazed received by seeing because the movie was shot is England. Robin and Azeem land by the white cliffs of Dover, and Robin says “By dusk we’ll have fun with my father” but they haven’t even received a horse and Nottingham is 170 miles from Dover. Subsequent factor is that they’re climbing over a wall, which is Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland., some 120 miles north of Nottingham. Robin has a battle with a few of the sheriff’s males, sees them off and says to Azeem “It’s 5 miles from right here”. Huh? Some journey they took. Robin and Azeem bicker and bond, although Azeem may be very picky concerning the time he’ll repay his debt of saving his life to Robin, preferring to present recommendation like “Rise up transfer sooner” then to present actual help. After all Azeem wasn’t within the unique legends, and you would say that the script does push a PC agenda with its displaying of Azeem being superior in so some ways to those uncultured Brits, and earlier than the times when this ideology started to take over Hollywood, however on the time it was uncommon to have a Muslim character to be portrayed so positively, and a few of his quips [“How did your uneducated kind ever take Jerusalem”?] are nice.
Regardless of this and a variety of different revisionism the primary half of the movie does incorporate a few of the iconic conditions, reminiscent of Marian in disguise combating Robin [it’s funny when Marian’s somewhat less pretty maid pretends to be Marian and Robin, who hasn’t seen her in many years, remarks “The years have been….kind“], and Robin, fleeing with Azeem from troopers, first encountering the outlaws in Sherwood Forest and battling Little John for passage throughout a river. The outlaws are a disorganised group who aren’t very constructive till Robin stands on a tree and delivers a rousing speech, even critisising the Crusades. “One free man defending his house is extra highly effective than ten employed troopers. Crusades talked me that”. Seeing as he used to set her hair on hearth as a baby, Marian isn’t notably happy to see him the primary time round, however when Robin sneaks right into a church to see her with the Sheriff very close by her manner is slightly completely different. The Sheriff desires each her land and her, however she’s holding agency. The outlaws quickly make a reputation for themselves stealing from the wealthy and giving to the poor, however the Sheriff s getting more and more annoyed, and simply can’t perceive why the poor love him regardless of the Sheriff’s vicious reprisals focused primarily at them. Finally Marian results in the forest and on the outlaw’s base which is quite just like the village of the Ewoks, and the quick “a burst of pleasure each ten minutes” pacing slows to we will spend some good time with these folks, and see a rising liking between Robin and Marian in scenes which have a wistful high quality to them. When Marian leaves at nightfall because the solar rises by a foggy river, the music swells and the blind Squire says to her “I believe he fancies you”, we’re getting old-style Hollywood romance which makes you are feeling all soppy inside at its greatest, and it’s such a disgrace this we not often get this form of factor at this time. In a while we get a second of pretty corn at its greatest as, thought useless, Robin seems over the horizon because the solar rises [again], with a halo spherical his head.
Motion tends to be fast however frequent as Robin retains on assembly the Sheriff’s males, and ultimately we get two sizeable set items set within the forest and within the Sheriff’s fort. There’s a wierd combination of conventional talent and athleticism with maybe extra reasonable clumsiness and brutality, rope swinging and funky arrow gags shaking fingers with bloodied faces and other people together with a younger boy nearly being strangled by nooses. Bizarrely it really works, even when the compulsory duel between hero and villain is a little bit of a let down; absolutely we count on extra sword play than issues being thrown and kicked? And did we want the Sheriff to utter a comical remark whereas he’s making an attempt to rape Marian, replete with a shot [unseen in the UK video] of him forcing her legs aside? The Sheriff character is an odd combine if you concentrate on it. He prances about, pulls faces and utters a lot of the funniest strains, reminiscent of “Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no extra merciful beheadings, and name off Christmas”. But he’s additionally a psychopath who tortures enemies, mutilates servants, kills his cousin and has a witch dwelling in his fort. The Prolonged Model, restoring 12 minutes, has one further motion beat however is in any other case all Sheriff materials. We be taught that the witch killed the true George Nottingham as a child and changed him together with her personal toddler son, revealing that she’s the Sheriff’s mom, whereas one other scene particulars the conspirators’ plot to steal the throne. Nevertheless, there’s additionally a significant cock-up when a scribe is proven having had his tongue minimize out in a brand new scene, but afterward he speaks. Whereas Rickman stays magnificent, those that shortened the movie really made the fitting alternative in focusing extra on our hero. That is a kind of uncommon events the place I desire the Theatrical Reduce, which appears loads tighter regardless that it’s not for much longer.
The satanist factor is half-arsed and the marriage on the finish appears to be pagan. The hurried manufacturing is revealed in plenty of continuity errors, although then once more this can be a movie the place we have now a refracting telescope regardless that such issues weren’t invented till the seventeenth century, gunpowder which wasn’t invented till the thirteenth century, and a military of Celts from an amazing many centuries earlier than. Such silliness, which works alongside a lot meant humour anyway, doesn’t a lot intrude on the darker and gritty elements as stability them out; it’s a perhaps bizarre combine however Reynolds, by some bizarre alchemy, pulls it off. Costner most likely insisted on having so many hero pictures however he stays massively likeable; like Errol Flynn, he’s a frontrunner you’d observe, and when he’s about to be catapulted into the Sheriff’s fort, Costner makes us consider that he’s now completely reworked into any individual who will die for what he believes in. Morgan Freeman is in high-quality combating form at age 57 whereas the incarnations of Little John [Nick Bramble] and Friar Tuck [Michael McShane] are among the many most memorable. As Will Scarlet, right here given a brand new subplot to offer one other impediment for our hero, Christian Slater brings angst. Michael Kamen’s music rating is excellent from starting to finish, a symphony of propulsion displaying Kamen’s knack for creating motion music which is cohesive but completely matching what’s going down on display screen, with some lyrical breaks the place even the melody of that music is a pleasure to listen to. Regardless of – or quite perhaps due to its maybe disparate parts, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves is fabulously entertaining but additionally has true coronary heart and sincerity. It’s a kind of movies that, as the tip credit roll on, might actually make you consider that honour, justice and simply plain goodness can prevail on this world, even when only for a couple of minutes.
Score: 
