Rating: 
Summary: The Greatest American Film
Review: Like any great work of art, this movie transcends the passage of time -- a storybook come to life, as one critic put it. Beautifully designed and photographed, perfectly acted, and magnificently scored, it's got everything a movie should have. A few years ago, I saw it in a revival theater and they read a letter from Olivia de Havilland in Paris, who said it had a special place in her heart for reasons that are obvious. Amen.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Movie Ever Made
Review: Apologies for the repost - but a movie of this calibre deserves more than one review! All too often today is the epithet "classic" applied to simply a popular film. More often than not such "classics" are unable to bear the weight of such esteemed company and lapse into obscurity. Not so The Adventures of Robin Hood (TAORH) which, despite being over sixty years old, remains a triumph of the Film-Makers craft, and should rightly be considered the yardstick by which all other classics are measured. The reason for such a claim is simple; everything is perfect. The score won an Oscar and drives the film along with vigour: The direction, although interrupted during production, is faultless and the colour, glorious Technicolour, is so rich that it makes even current day productions seem lacklustre: The script is witty and concise with innumerable quotes and the plot simple, convincing and urgent. But the real success of the film is the casting. From the dashing Robin (Errol Flynn), through the beautiful and demure Marion (Olivia de Havilland) , the comical High Sheriff (Melville Cooper), the dastardly Sir Guy (Basil Rathbone) and sly Prince John (Claude Rains), not to mention the minor leads and supporting players, the cast acquit themselves of their acting requirements in style. It is only when you stop to consider the original choices for some of the leads (e.g James Cagney for Robin) that you appreciate quite how bad the film could have been, but also how great it is. The characters ARE characatures, that much cannot be denied, the "baddies" having few redeeming features, the "goodies" hero's in every sense. But they are characatures carved with such skill and thought by actors who knew their business so well, that we find ourselves drawn into the film, doublet and all. For Romantics, of course, but I challenge any open-minded individual to watch TAORH and not come away entranced by it. It is for these reasons that I nominate TAORH as the best film ever made. The choice is simple really; if you're looking for a complicated pot-boiler of a film that will be good to while away a couple of hours and is "of-the-moment" then look again. But if you're looking for an experience that will linger on after the final credits have rolled, an amalgam of everything good about film-making, and want, just once, to see what perfection looks like, The Adventures Of Robin Hood is for you.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Robin Hood
Review: If you like swashbuckling adventure and unbelievable scenery and action then this is the Robin Hood film for you. No one does it better then Errol Flynn and De Havilland...not to mention Basil Rathbone as the evil Sheriff of Nottingham....also look for Alan Hale, father of the skipper from Gilligan's island, as Little John. I only wish it was available in DVD...a true classic..
Rating:
Summary: The Complete Classic
Review: It was my Mom who introduced me to this film (and to Mr Flynn) when I was a child of around five, and -- after I must have seen it thirty times in the last thirty years! -- I'm ordering it for my partner ... can't think of a better gift. Very few films can be viewed dozens of times and still delight. This is one of them: the evergreen, classic Robin Hood that preserves all the high points of the legend, and adds more than a dash of Hollywood. Newer films may be more graphic (read: bloodthirsty), but none are as sumptuous as this one. For adventure, action and sheer beauty, you won't beat this version: try to pick out the layers of design detail ... and pick up the vivacious soundtrack music. The cast was stellar in its day, and if Errol Flynn became a legend, then the legend could be said to begin right here. In Technicolor. Five thumbs-up.
Rating:
Summary: it's the goods
Review: This is a wonderful family movie. Kids love it, and if you saw it as a kid you will be carried on a wave of nostalgia. England never looked better than when it was set in California. This is the sort of movie to show your kids if you want them to love movies, and to remind yourself why you do.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful spectacle
Review: I can't add anything to the other excellent review of this fabulous film. I just wanted to say I laugh at some of the scenes for the wrong reasons and I blame Daffy Duck! Cartoons DO have a bad influence. A buck and a quarter staff hahaha
Rating:
Summary: High Adventure
Review: Robin Hood is one of the great action films of all time. It's hard to know where to begin. As directed, the film is full of energy and humour, with the action scenes choreographed brilliantly. Just watch the legendary sword fight between Flynn and Rathbone, as well as the capture of Rathbone and his party in Sherwood Forest. The musical score is rousing, and the technicolor brings it to life vividly. Of course, it's hard to imagine anyone else as Robin Hood than Errol Flynn. He plays the role with just the right combination of heroics and athleticism. As usual, he and Olivia deHavilland sparkle opposite each other, and a familiar and welcome cast of character actors only add to the magic. In particular, Claude Rains seems to have a lot of fun in his role as the villain. Robin Hood is a film that both young and old can enjoy with each repeated viewing.
Rating:
Summary: TAILOR MADE FOR FLYNN IN 1938.
Review: A true classic Technicolor flick from 1938. No part was better suited to Errol Flynn than that of Robin Hood. The picture is full of movement, some of it dashing in the fine romantic costume style, some of simply sprightly. The excitement comes from fast action--galloping steeds, men swinging Tarzan-like down from trees, hurling tables and chairs, rapid running sword-play, the sudden whiz of Robin's arrows coming from nowhere to startle his enemies, etc. Everyone is matchless in their roles: Olivia de Havilland is the perfect Maid Marian sweetly innocent and fair-minded. Rathbone is at his ruthless and cultered best as Sir Guy and Claude Rains is the insidious, scheming Prince John (he and Montague Love look as if they stepped out of a history book!). Alan Hale makes a boisterous Little John (he actually looks at home in the woods) and Una O'Conner is Marian's scatterbrained maid. The others live up to the picture-book quality of the film, which is the supreme virtue of this classic and except for some tedious and modernish love-making, it keeps moving along at a beautiful pace. There is some charming colour in the movie, and quite a lot of brilliant dazzle. Director Keighley originally took the crew to Bidwell Park in Chico, California for the Sherwood Forest scenes; but co-director Curtiz thought the scenery lacked majesty and took the crew to the area around Lake Sherwood(!) west of the San Fernando Valley. The film cost an enormous (for 1938) 2 million dollars and the result is one of the most popular films of all time.
Rating:
Summary: The definitive film treatment to a centuries-old legend.
Review: The definitive interpretation! Nine years ago, I defended and supported this film version while the rest of my siblings took after the recent Kevin Costner adaptation. Years passed, the ballyhoo of which-movie-was-better died down, and the Costner flick is pretty good in its own way. However, that doesn't mean 1991's ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES holds a candle to 1938's THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. After sixty years, the Errol Flynn version still holds up. It's difficult to pinpoint the movie's greatness, maybe because everything about it is memorable: There's the performances, with Flynn, Olivia DaHavilland, Claude Rains, Basil Rathbone, Ian Hunter, and others giving the definite characterization to the centuries-old personalities. Also, there is the witty dialogue ('I'd condemn anything that left the task of holding England for Richard to outlaws like me!'), the gorgeous rainbow of costumes and production (brought vibrantly by the film's early use of 3-strip Technicolor), the great cinematography, the tight editing, and last but not least, the glorious award-winning score of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (the most memorable music pieces directed to Robin, Marian, and Richard the Lion-hearted). A classic of the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Rating: 
Summary: Korngold sets the proper mood for Robin Hood
Review: The soundtrack for 'The Adventures of Robin Hood' is outstanding. You can almost see in your mind what action is taking place. Korngold did numerous scores for various movies, but none as great as the ones starring Errol Flynn.
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