Before the newest in the endless stream of Robin Hood tales hits the big screen this summer (the first film featuring the outlaw dates back to 1908… the character is hundreds of years old), I recently revisited the 1991 Kevin Costner version Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Lots of memories dating back to the summer going into my senior year in high school. I of course saw the movie in the theatre. I really liked it but found some bits a little unnerving. Would Maid Marian, a woman of noble blood during the Crusades of King Richard the Lionhearted really hit a man “below the belt?”
I vividly recall the remarkably gifted character actor Alan Rickman in his delightfully delicious turn as the Sheriff of Nottingham. From the original Die Hard to the continuing Harry Potter saga as Prof. Snape, Rickman shines in the most seemingly villainous of roles. Anyone who orders the cancellation of Christmas is pure evil! Was the birth of Christ celebrated in the 12 Century? Who cares anyway? Too much digging into a movie is bad for the enjoyment, in my opinion.
Back to the school year. After the success of the Bryan Adams hit from the soundtrack, the choir sang “(Everything I Do), I Do It For You.” Along with “Unchained Melody” from Ghost, the two songs made for a nice duo of songs from the movies. The score by Michael Kamen is perfect!
The home video version is definitely in need of an upgrade. The sound on the DVD I received from Netflix was not all that great even coming from the Blu-Ray conversion. Maybe it will receive an upgrade prior to the new film. Or I could watch “Robin Hood Daffy.”
Here’s the trailer for the new movie:
I liked that Bryan Adams song when it came out, but not the movie. So many couples made it “their song”; I wonder how many of them still exist? Like many of the songs I liked, I learned to play just the intro on the piano, but not the whole song. I could really use some more piano lessons…
My favorite Robin Hood is the Disney version with the cartoon animals – Robin Hood is a fox!
Oo-de-lally/Golly What A Day. I loved the Disney version, too. And Daffy and Porky as Friar Tuck.
Alan Rickman = Alexander Dane on Galaxy Quest. One of my favorite movies. 🙂
I love how the trailer has 1080p in the title, but the highest resolution provided is 720p. Since youtube does offer 1080p, that means the uploader didn’t upload the 1080p version. Oh, well.
The trailer mentions “the story behind the legend.” I guess this won’t be another classic Robin Hood movie then, probably more like the recent movie I saw (I forget the title) with King Arthur et al set in the end times of the Roman Empire with Merlin a… what were they, the ones who painted themselves blue? Wodians, or was the blue dye Wode, or something like that. Anyway, no magic, just the leader of these people caught between the Saxons vs. Rome.