Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves on DVD

He robs from the rich, gives to the poor, and tries way too hard to be epic.

1991’s second most successful film, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, is a valiant attempt at recreating the classic story for the 90’s. Alas, it comes off as an utter disappointment.

Robin of Locksley (Kevin Costner) returns from the crusades with his friend, Azeem (Morgan Freeman), to find his father killed and the England he knew in ruin. The evil Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) has taken over the country since King Richard left, and he’s ruling with a titanium fist. In fact, the only ones with a good quality of life are the sheriff himself and the king’s cousin, Maid Marian (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).

Robin makes his way into the “haunted” Sherwood Forest and encounters a band of outlaws, including John Little and Will Scarlett, who join Robin in teaching the sheriff a lesson. Romance also ensues, and a couple of well-staged battles take place.

Perhaps if this story weren’t meant to be Robin Hood, it wouldn’t be so hard to swallow. I’m not sure about the rest of us, but I always pictured the tale of Robin Hood to be a lot happier. Yet Prince of Thieves is a dark, depressing tale where women get raped, children get hanged, and even the romance (which is supposed to be a huge part of the story) feels tacked on. I realize they’re going for supposed realism, but wasn’t this marketed as a family film?

Many complained about Costner’s lack of a British accent, which isn’t really a problem. Sure it would be nice, but there are so many other problems with the film that an accent is something we’re not too concerned about. The main flaw with Costner is that he doesn’t have the charisma generally associated with Robin Hood. The supporting cast is much more believable - particularly Rickman, who is wonderfully evil and appears to have had a blast being so. Every time we see him onscreen we smile because we know we’re going to be entertained.

The locations are beautiful (and very believable), and the sets are extraordinary, but the writing just isn’t there to support it. There are plenty of people out there who still regard Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as one of the greatest movies ever made, but I just couldn’t get around the depressing feeling I got from it.

The original bare-bones release of Robin Hood was one of the initial DVDs when the format was introduced. Because of its near two-and-a-half-hour running time, it was split onto both sides of the disc. Now that we have a better understanding of what the format is capable of, we get the movie itself on a single disc, as well as a bunch of extras.

The first point of note is that this new version features 12 minutes of added footage, never-before-seen. Having only seen the movie once myself (many years ago), I was not sure what exactly was added. However, my friend, with whom I watched the movie (and who is a longtime avid fan) pointed out what parts were new, and mentioned how much it added to the film. So much in fact, that I was left wondering why the footage was cut in the first place because other parts don’t make much sense without it. The most obvious example is that the new version features a scene with the Sheriff of Nottingham telling his plan to his “partners,” and introducing the Celts. In the original version (apparently), the Celts just showed up and viewers couldn’t help but wonder where the heck they came from. A total of about 10 of the 12 added minutes feature the Sheriff of Nottingham, which is fine since he’s the best character.

The picture is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, 16x9 TV compatible, and is a major disappointment. It looks as if the only effort that was spent on it was to make it anamorphic. It’s grainy and soft, and a lot of the detail is lost. There isn’t a lot of color in the movie as it is, but the whites sometimes drown out the actors’ faces, and the blacks are too dark to really see very well.

Audio is remixed into 5.1 Dolby Digital and dts and is also somewhat disappointing. There are some excellent instances of surround use, such as arrows zooming through the air or birds flapping away, but a lot of the dialogue is too quiet to hear very well. During the action scenes, sound effects and the score mix very well, but you often have to turn the volume up during the dramatic scenes.

Disc one features two audio commentaries. The first is by Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds, and the second is by Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, and writers/producers Pen Densham and John Watson. The first commentary is very good; it’s fun to hear the two main players reminisce about their experience, and we learn a good deal about the production. However, the two seem to think they’ve made the greatest sweeping epic tale in history, which is good for a laugh. The second commentary is more fun, but doesn’t offer as much info. I’m a fan of Christian Slater’s commentaries; he comes across as intelligent and fun, and he has some very interesting things to say. Freeman and the other two also come across as very intelligent, but their comments are more technical than fun. Both commentaries, however, are well worth a listen for any fan of the film (and even not-quite-fans like myself).

Disc two features plenty of extras, but nothing that really leaps out at you. The documentary “Robin Hood: Myth, Man, Movie” has plenty of potential, but can’t quite cut it (hmm…kinda like the movie). It tries to focus on the making of the film at the same time as telling us the real legend of Robin Hood, but at a little over half an hour, doesn’t spend enough time on either one to actually be informative.

There are also some vintage interviews with Costnega-hit song (Everything I Do) I Do it For You is featured in a live performance (done on acoustic guitar and it doesn’t sound nearly as good), Michael Kamen’s soundtrack is remastered into Dolby Digital 5.1, and there are a few photo galleries and the usual trailers.

The movie itself is not as good as it should be, but neither is the DVD. Fans will probably be very happy, but as a “movie and DVD critic” I have to call them both average. Warner’s other two-disc special editions have been phenomenal, so it makes me feel like this one was a bit rushed.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
155 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital & DTS
Starring Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Produced by John Watson, Pen Densham and Richard B. Lewis
Screenplay by Pen Densham & John Watson, Directed by Kevin Reynolds

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