Rating: Summary: Classic with minor flaws Review: The first time I saw this film, I was around 15 and I loved it. Now at 26, I am extremely annoyed to find critics complaining about the authenticity of the film and how unrealistic it was, Kevin Costner's accent and so on. The bottom line is : There probably was no Robin Hood so therefore you can make up any story you want and I, fortunately, am not one of those people who have their eyes stuck to the screen trying to point out every mistake, every pixel that isn't in it's place and every sound that is a little out of tune. I bought Robin Hood, on DVD, about a month ago, and it was definately worth the money I paid for it. In my eyes, at least, Robin Hood will remain a classic.
Rating: Summary: A sadly lacking DVD edition of a pretty good movie. Review: If one were rating the movie itself, this would probably be a "4". It's not a bad retelling of the myth, though it does drive the historian in me insane with its inaccuracies. It has heart and it has cool treehouses and the neatest archery effects this side of "Lord of the Rings" (though impossible ones at times). It starts with Robin in a Jerusalem jail and adds in a black Muslim with a warped sense of humor. It has a blind man in it who has more courage than most sighted folks. It has Maid Marian dressed like a ninja trying to kill Robin (where DOES all that courage and martial skill go when the Sheriff's trying to rape her?). Unfortunately, it has a medieval birthing scene, and I just can't forgive the producer this -- it didn't add anything to the movie, and just squicked me royally. And then there's the acting.. or one actor's acting, anyway. Kevin Costner's worse at showing emotion than Keanu Reeves. Everybody around him is showing sadness, joy, hate, and the best he can come up with is a totally monotonous, non-emotional, deadpan delivery of stilted lines like "Did I offend you in a past life, Will Scarlett? What did I do to inspire such hatred?", in the face of Christian Slater's overwhelming, beautifully portrayed anger and grief. I don't know who convinced Costner that this would be a great way to portray Robin, but whoever did it needs to be reprimanded.It's still a decent movie. But the DVD edition of it is clearly a rushed affair. There are very few goodies on it, and it is two-sided for no particular reason that I could discern. It's widescreen, which is nice, but that two-sided thing is irritating as all get-out. At least on VHS it doesn't make me get up and switch tapes! I can't recommend this DVD edition, pretty much. Maybe they'll come out with a deluxe edition, or tweak it so it's just one sided or something. Till then, I'd hang onto my money.
Rating: Summary: Kevin Costner Rules! Review: I am a huge Kevin Costner fan; I even liked the Postman! This is one of my absolute favorites. It is a great date movie....action for the guys, romance for the girls. Love this movie!
Rating: Summary: I Don't like this movie but accept that other people like it Review: I saw this Robin Hood adaptation and I just didn't like it, it's just another big budget Hollywood movie with a bad script and a lot of overacting. I find it amusing reading the reviews by Kevin Costner fans all hot under the collar because other reviewers said his English accent was horrible or that he didn't even use an English accent but used his American accent and one person was like the Old English language doesn't' sound like modern day English, blah, blah, blah! Yes, that may be the case but I seriously doubt that people in Historical England sounded like Americans and you can bet that Old English sounded closer to Modern English spoken in England today than English spoken with our American accents! The fact remains that some people like this movie for various reasons and some people dislike it for various reasons as well, just accept that not every one is going to like what you like and dislike what you dislike, I dislike this movie but I accept that other people like it, afterall everyone is entitled to their own opinion! Different strokes for different folks!
Rating: Summary: RUSHED TO DVD AND NOT VERY GOOD Review: Unfortunatly, Warner Bros. continues to rush pre-dvd era movies to dvd and they do it very cheaply. I saw this movie at the theatre and later bought the vhs. When I got the dvd, I was upset to learn that warner bros. did the same to this great film as in some others of the pre-dvd era. This dvd comes in a cheap case that is not all that durable and this dvd is two sided meaning the viewing is spoiled because you have to eject the dvd turn it over in the tray to see the second half. The movie is good and would have been 4 or 5 stars easily if not for the way Warner Bros. hurries to release their catalogue on dvd format. Also, by having to play both sides of the dvd you will need to clean your player more and the dvd itself will not last as long. I do not recomend this or any other release that WB. does. Until they get with the program, wait until a special edition of the movie is released.
Rating: Summary: Doesn't include the Bryan Adams music video... Review: Considering that I've actually seen DVDs selling for a ridiculous [amount] here, the price of this one is quite reasonable for DVDs sold in North America (you can get top quality DVDs in China for [money]). However, the ones who put this DVD together didn't do everything for you. For such an excellent movie, you don't get much on the DVD. You have to flip it over, because half the movie is on one side and half on the other. And, unlike the VHS, this one doesn't include the Bryan Adams music video of "Everything I Do", one of the Top 5 selling singles of English Pop Music in the 1990s. The resolution, though pretty good, is sub-standard for DVD and the sound gets distorted if you turn up the volume. An excellent movie but a bad DVD release.
Rating: Summary: Entertaining Review: First off, I wanna address this whole thing about Kevin Costner's accent. What difference does it make at all??? If you think it makes the movie more historically accurate, well, I hate to break it to you but, you're wrong. English people in 1194 weren't speaking in modern British accents, they were speaking in Old English, which is basically a dialect of German. So, with that thought, the British actors were as from the historical truth as Costner with their accents. Costner I think plays a very realistic Robin Hood, who is a lot more human than the other Robin Hoods. He shows emotion, and in the beginning, really plays well his role of a spoiled, rich boy. A lot of people commend Allan Rickman on his performance here, but I think he was one of the worst characters. When talking about him, people spoke so frightenedly about him, but in every single one of his on screen moments, he was acting like a goofy weirdo. I couldn't ever tell if what he was saying was supposed to be serious or a joke. I think his character took away from the more serious, adventurous tone of the rest of the movie, and made Prince of Thieves seem like a parody in itself. Not to say that he was a bad actor, I think that s a fault of the writers. There were a few inaccuracies, like the way that the Scots dressed. My exact first thoughts of that scene are expressed by other reviewers. They looked more like people who would have been ravaging the Roman establishments in Britain in the 4th and 5th centuries, not like Scots of the 12th. A lot of people have complained about the witch, and although I m not sure what her purpose was in the movie, she was entertaining, and kind of scary at the same time. On the whole, this was a good movie that s entertaining to watch, not too far away from Braveheart. (Although Robin's rhetoric skills are definitely much worse than William Wallace's. I could not comprehend at all what he is trying to say while he s lecturing the people from the fallen tree. He started off with something about being freedmen, and then ended with making weapons from the forest, I don't understand that connection. If they are free men then while in the hell are they living in the forest? I think that if you re free you can live wherever you want, not be forced into a "haunted" forest in the middle of nowhere. And if they were already free, they wouldn't need to fight back.)
Rating: Summary: A Pitiful DVD for a Great Movie Review: Having loved the Robin Hood movie when it came out, and been one of the first to buy it on VHS, I was looking forward to the DVD quality. Alas, this DVD is poorly-done in almost every way. The movie is split halfway through--you literally have to flip the DVD over to see the second part of the movie, although nothing tells you so or prompts you for it--the Supplemental Features are disappointing (and frequently error-laden), and there's truthfully no reason to buy this DVD if you have the VHS already (or a poorly-recorded copy from off the air). The studio really dropped the ball on this one; they need to re-master the DVD. Don't waste your money.
Rating: Summary: Beware! Odd Editions In Existence. . . . Review: I don't have a great deal to say that hasn't been said dozens of times already. My main point of this review is to warn about the DVD itself. The version that I purchased is extremely odd in the fact that the entire film ISN'T on one side of the DVD. Halfway through the movie you are forced to turn the disc over to see the rest of the film. I'm not sure why this was done, the movie isn't THAT long, and I would think that the entire thing should have fit on one side. Of course, the problem could just be that perhaps the copy that I received just happened to be an old one that was created in the early days of DVD. In any case, just be careful when purchasing this one.
Rating: Summary: Party in Sherwood Forest Review: This is truly one of my all time favorites. Kevin Costner did a fantastic job playing Sherwood Forest's favorite thief, even if he did not have the greatest English accent and the movies was not historically correct. Do not miss out on the performances of Morgan Freeman and Alan Rickman. Freeman plays Robin's dedicated Moor friend he met while captive in the crusades. Together the two return home to face the evil Sheriff of Nottingham played by Rickman. He plays a deviously mean part sparked by flashy showmanship that will leave you in stitches. Truly a winner to any DVD library.
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