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Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

List Price: $19.96
Your Price: $15.97
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Who cares about accuracy? This is great fun!
Review: Where this film succeeds is in the characters. The actors are all well-chosen for the leading and supporting roles. Nick Brimble is a gentle giant Little John, but is less thigh-slapping than earlier versions, and seems at times quite menacing. Micheal McShane is delightful as Friar Tuck and a variety of British and American character actors in lesser roles.

There are a couple of historical errors. The Merry men are seen to use the crossbow, the weapon of the French, whereas the English would have used the longbow. I cannot see why the film-makers could have got this wrong since almost every cinematic and televisual representation of the Outlaws shows longbows being used. The other big clanger is the location shooting, which has Robin and his chum (Morgan Freeman's inscrutable Azeem) walking the length of England in a couple of hours (from the White Cliffs of Dover to Hadrian's Wall). Again, this is baffling, when you see the care put into other areas of the film.

History aside, this is a great adventure, with Kevin Costner applying himself well in a difficult role, and the story of how Robin assembles his band being told with aplomb. There are well-choreographed fight sequences, superb villains in Alan Rickman and Geraldine McEwen, and a climactic ending. Also worth mentioning is the fact that the longest running U.K. Number One single, Everything I Do (I Do It For You) by Bryan Adams is taken from the soundtrack.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Kevin is Awesome
Review: Ok, Kevin did not have an English accent. So what?! The acting and action made the movie a winner. This particular version is very dear to me because the theme song 'Everything I do, I do for you' by Bryan Adams was dedicated to me by my father when I became paralyzed in a pool incident. To this very day, the song inspires me not to give up in life. Plus, I'm waiting for the new dts version that is currently in production. I can't wait!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Mindless and Unmemorable
Review: Where is Errol Flynn when you need him?

Whatever his appeal as a movie star, Kevin Costner lacks both the vitality and virility (not to mention the accent) for Robin Hood, and his performance is just about as laid-back as you can get. This might be overlooked but for the script, which seems determined to explain all the hows and whys of the legend; instead of being titled ROBIN HOOD PRINCE OF THEIVES it would have been more accurate to call it ROBIN HOOD AND A SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION OF HOW HE GOT THAT WAY.

The result is a rather slow and very literal movie that largely strips the story of any sense of adventure and transforms it into a 1990s American love story implausibly plunked down in historical England. Mindless and unmmemorable.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Loses one star for the DVD
Review: and thats because you have to flip to the other side to watch the other half of the film, which is kinda annoying. As far as the movie is concerned, I really enjoy this movie. It captures the essence of adventure and heroics as well as any Ive seen, along with a nice sense of humor. Many didnt like Costner because of his unconvincing accent, but I really didnt care. He did a great job and so did the rest of the cast. Rickman was a scene stealer as the nasty Nottingham, too. The production is great, the music, the direction and a refreshing twist on the Robin Hood mythology. When I saw this at the theater, the crowd was cheering constantly and I still feel the same way watching it. The only drawback is the double sided DVD. Please correct this and also give it the proper aspect ratio of 2.35-1, since that is how it was originally shown. Buy it, sit back and enjoy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Flawed but fun
Review: Robin of Locksley, imprisoned during the Crusades, returns home to find his father murdered, his family home destroyed, and his homeland in the grip of the ambitious and ruthless Sheriff of Nottingham. Teamed with Azeem the Moor, and a rough and tumble band of outcasts, Robin seeks to avenge his father and preserve the land for the return of King Richard.

Critics largely lambasted this film, but it's not bad, once you get past its flaws: Costner's non-existent accent; some historical and cultural inaccuracies; less than kind representations of religious figures; and a certain disregard for both the original legend and the classic Errol Flynn film. One could quibble a bit about those things, but why? The producers of this film wanted to make a rough and rousing adventure, and they succeeded. Directed with verve and gusto by Kevin Reynolds, with solid supporting performances from many of Britain's finest (the always welcome Brian Blessed and Geraldine McEwan, for instance), the film overcomes its drawbacks with great action, a good sense of humor, and fun, old-fashioned romance.

The lead performances are all solid. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's Marian is shrewd, tough, and vulnerable; a good heroine for the film, although her character becomes a bit too whiny during the climactic segments. Morgan Freeman is a real asset to the film, perfectly cast as Azeem, the Moor; he commands every scene he's in. There's also have a wild, wickedly funny performance by Alan Rickman as the Sheriff, who, when angered, demands that there be no more "merciful beheadings" and to "call off Christmas!" (Rumor has it that it was this performance that got him cast as Snape in the Harry Potter movie.) Costner's performance isn't going to win any awards, but he's good enough, giving the character of Robin both a certain cockiness and winsome vulnerability.

There's humor to spare; some of the funniest moments come from Azeem's droll observations of English life and customs; at other times it's people's reactions to him. Reynolds isn't the world's greatest director, but he knows action, has a good sense of timing, and makes fine use of the scenic beauty of the English countryside. If--and this may be a big if for some--you can look past the film's flaws, it's a fun and entertaining two and a half hours. One gripe about the DVD, though--why two sides for the film?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good movie, poor edition
Review: I mean... huh? Who comes up with the idea of splitting the movie on a DVD. I mean it's not a Laser Disc, where you couldn't get more than 60 minutes per side. I love this movie ever since I first saw it, but I think this lousy edition won't really let me enjoy it whenever I want it. Yeah, it's got trailers and it is a widescreen version but the movie's running time is less than 150 minutes... so I don't get the reason to divide it, if you get Magnolia, The Green Mile, The Abyss, ID4, Armageddon, Aliens, Heat or Braveheart in a single sided disc, all of them over 160 minutes long.

Whatever happened to animated menus, director's commentary, bloopers, outtakes, deleted scenes, music video, screen tests, some kind of documentary about the legendary prince of thieves and stuff like that? I think there's a new edition coming on mid-2002. I hope so. (...)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Enjoyable, but DVD has annoying flaw...
Review: I've never seen a DVD split the movie between two discs or two sides of one disc, but that is what was done with the DVD edition of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I don't particularly enjoy having to get up and flip the disc over halfway through to watch the second part of the movie. Other than that, I find this movie quite entertaining.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Laughably pompous and pretentious
Review: I have seen this movie in theatres as a teen when it first came out, and even then I found it contrived and silly. A miscast lead in Costner aside, the movie's glaring use of political correctness and blatant over-dramatization of its plot and characters in order to harp on the sentiments of the audience made me feel queasy. Add to this a plethora of historical inaccuracies, and you have a movie that can't even be saved by its well-staged action scenes. This film is for audience willing to suspend the use of their brains for a while and immerse themselves in sticky Hollywood bonanza, but not much beyond. The movie spawned a parody, "Men in Tights", and it richly deserved it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Robin Hood
Review: I absolutely LOVED this movie! It's the best! I did not notice Costner's lack of accent, though I did notice that he spoke real haltingly. The movie took a while to get rolling, but once it did, it was really great. I never thought it was uninteresting. Marion was convincing for the most part, though I don't know anybody that would just stand there and watch Robin and the sheriff fight instead of chucking things at the sheriff's head, but whatever. And yes, it was preety bloody and gory. Kevin Costner's wild hair always made him look slightly dazed (or slightly wild, it's your opinion, after all) and there was some unexplainable stuff (like WHERE did they get all that gunpowder? Azhim wasn't just carrying it around! And where was Prince John during all this?) but overall, it was very entertaining, with a convincing plot and complex situations. Thumb's Up!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Didn't Like This Movie!
Review: This movie was horrible! It's just an overrated, overhyped movie and some of the acting was not up to scratch! Watch The Mel Brooks spoof Robin Hood Men in Tights instead, it's a lot better!


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