Seems like we're getting back on an even keel with the rating viewings now. Quite liking the new pag...
Seems like we're getting back on an even keel with the rating viewings now. Quite liking the new pages in a way. Thanks for all your rates.
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Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is the 1991 take on the legend of Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. This film was hailed as one of the biggest films of the 1990s, especially by women (!) and features an all star cast and a soundtrack including Bryan Adams' 'Everything I do' which spent about a million weeks at number 1 in the charts. Director Kevin Reynolds gives us a rollicking feature length display of sword fighting, comedy, action and romance, and the cast do as is required and give us a damn good film.
Robin of Locksley (Kevin Costner) has been away fighting in the Crusades. Escaping with a Moor named Azeem (Morgan Freeman) he heads back to his native England after many years to see his father and live out the rest of his life in peace. Not so much luck! In the King's absence, his evil brother John has taken the throne and rules with a selfish and hard code, and the Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) seems to be calling the shots. The death of his father and a threat to kill him on sight leads Robin to flee, ending up in the woods and joining a band of exiled men including Will Scarlett (Christian Slater) and John Little (Nick Brimble). With his love for the Maid Marian strong since they were kids, Robin proceeds to risk everything for his love and soon becomes a beacon for the people, stealing from the rich to feed the poor and starting a popularity contest between himself and the evil Sheriff.
The film combines a wonderful blend of romance, comedy and action. The acting, it must be said, is full of cheese, smelly cheese, and the soundtrack goes with it perfectly. If you are looking for a film to potentially vomit to, this is it. Yet this is not a bad thing. The cheese evokes feelings in the audience, and each time I watch it I really get involved, and am constantly glued to the screen from start to finish. The good blend of movie disciplines does this, in particular the comedy from Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham. The actor has rarely done a finer performance in my view.
KC is marvellous as Robin Hood, with his American accent you could just see him coming from Nottingham! But seriously, this aside, it's a very well acted part that Costner has taken with both hands and really remained in our minds. When people talk to me about Robin Hood, his is the face that pops into my mind.
The remainder of the cast does very well. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is sensual yet strong as Marian, and Slater does well as Will Scarlett. There are some good roles for Michael McShane and Brian Blessed, and Morgan Freeman's turn as a scimitar wielding Moor is done with taste and give some pleasant subplot routes for a one way film.
In terms of direction, this is good work. There are some glaring errors, such as Robin landing in Dover and reaching Nottingham by foot that same day (could give Usain Bolt a run for his money I think!) and the accents, but ultimately there's no accounting for artistic licence, and all viewers should look beyond this and enjoy what is a very good action film. The fight choreography is very good, and the romance side of it is key to the whole plot, and is probably the overpowering genre at work here.
The scenery is stunning, and at times you wish you were actually there. Then you realise they have no heating, clean water, TV, radio, toothpaste and flushing toilets, and change your mind. Ultimately, this film is magical, and the closest thing I can think it relates to in more recent times is last year's Stardust, which was magical too, in more ways than one. This is a rollicking film, moreso than Stardust, but in terms of sheer pleasure to watch, it eclipses most films of the past couple of decades.
Overall, a wonderful film very well made, yes with a few errors, (but hey what film doesn't have errors, even the perfectionist Kubrick messed up a few times) and ultimately a damn good story with good comedy (thanks Alan Rickman). Big thumbs up from me. Gonna go watch it again now!
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Production Year: 1995 - Action/Adventure - Director: Tom Clegg - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley, Allie Byrne, Oliver Cotton, Emily Mortimer, Michael Cochrane
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Morgan Freeman and Brian Blessed makes it one for me.
supercityfan 05.11.2008 13:27
No mention of any extras ets which I would have expected to see in a DVD review
sandemp 05.11.2008 11:28
Sorry, but you've left the format reviewed as DVD, so I would have expected to read at least something of your opinion on the actual DVD, audio/video quality and special features (if any).
Kevin Costner's lousy English accent is a small obstacle in this often exciting version of ... more
the Robin Hood fable. That aside, it's refreshing to have a preface to the old story in which we meet the robber hero of Sherwood Forest as a soldier in King Ric...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Kevin Costner's lousy English accent is a small obstacle in this often exciting version of ... more
the Robin Hood fable. That aside, it's refreshing to have a preface to the old story in which we meet the robber hero of Sherwood Forest as a soldier in King Ric...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
It was a time of tyrants: the only way to uphold the truth was to break the law. He fought ... more
for the good of all men and for the love of just one woman. Kevin Costner brings the epic hero Robin Hood to life in a film filled with pageantry intrigue act...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: fantastic action scenes, Alan Rickman is outstanding as the Sheriff of Nottingham Disadvantages: the historical detail is a bit far-fetched
![Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves [1991] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78540130.jpg "Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves [1991] [DVD]")
Nov 4th, 2008
(Nov 5th, 2008)
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