Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
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| Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves | |
|---|---|
 original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Kevin Reynolds |
| Produced by | Pen Densham Richard Barton Lewis John Watson |
| Written by | Pen Densham John Watson |
| Starring | Kevin Costner Morgan Freeman Christian Slater Alan Rickman Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio |
| Music by | Michael Kamen Bryan Adams (theme song) |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | June 14, 1991 (USA) |
| Running time | 143 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $48,000,000 |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a 1991 adventure film directed by Kevin Reynolds. The original music score was composed by Michael Kamen. The film was marketed with the tagline "For the good of all men, and the love of one woman, he fought to uphold justice by breaking the law."
Kevin Costner heads the cast list as Robin Hood. The film also stars Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Maid Marian, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Christian Slater as Will Scarlet and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
Robin of Locksley (Kevin Costner), an English nobleman, joins King Richard the Lionheart and other Christians in the Third Crusade. During the crusade, Robin is captured and jailed in a dungeon. With his execution inevitable, Robin engineers an escape and saves the life of a Moor, Azeem (Morgan Freeman). Robin makes the long journey back to England with Azeem, who claims he must accompany Robin until the debt of saving his life is repaid.
In England, the pair find Robin’s formerly luxurious abode of Locksley Castle destroyed and his father dead. The father’s servant, Duncan, has survived, though his eyes were removed in torture. Duncan tells Robin that “Nottingham and his Witch” appeared with soldiers at the castle, claiming Robin’s father was a devil worshipper before killing him.
With King Richard gone, the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) rules over the land with fear, aided by his brute cousin, Guy of Gisbourne (Michael Wincott) along with a precognitive evil Witch and the corrupt priest in town.
With his lands either gone or forfeit, Robin seeks out his childhood friend, Maid Marian (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) – the cousin of the king. The two are immediately attracted to one another, which poses a problem because Nottingham also has his sights set on her. Robin visits the priest (who he does not know is corrupt), and the priest claims that Robin’s father did indeed worship dark powers. Robin refuses to believe this and has a brief violent encounter with Nottingham before escaping. In order to create a negative public opinion of Robin, Nottingham conjures up the name “Robin of the Hood” (later shortened to Robin Hood) and offers a large reward for his death or capture.
Robin, Azeem and Duncan seek shelter in the Forest of Sherwood, where they come across a large group of outlaw woodsmen and their families – including Little John. Robin is eventually accepted into their group and begins to train the men on defending themselves and building weapons with which to fight Nottingham and his men. Robin and his men enlist the help of Friar Tuck during this time. Robin and his now-trained cohorts begin to systematically rob English soldiers and convoys as they pass through the forest, then distributing said stolen wealth among the poor. Marian makes contact with Robin several times, and the two fall in love.
Robin’s successes infuriate Nottingham, who, in turn, maltreats his people, only causing more respect for Robin Hood. Nearly driven mad by failure, Nottingham kills Guy of Gisbourne for being inefficient before turning to the Witch for the guidance. The Witch suggests that he bribe savage Celt warriors into finding and attacking Robin’s woodland hideout. The plan works, as the Celtic warrior attack destroys the village and kills many Sherwood Forest men, though most of the principal characters - Azeem, Friar Tuck, Little John and Will Scarlett - all survive the onslaught.
With Robin Hood presumably dead following the devastating attack, Nottingham proposes to Maid Marian, saying that, if she accepts, he will spare the lives of the children captured in the Sherwood Forest attack. With no choice, she accepts. Meanwhile, Robin, who is not dead, helps the surviving merry men regroup and plan an attack on the wedding to save Maid Marian as well as the captured woodsmen who will be hung.
On the wedding day, Robin and the others begin their coordinated attack. The assault is successful and the woodsmen are saved. Robin enters the castle in his pursuit of Nottingham, who is hastily trying to marry and impregnate Marian while the corrupt priest nervously performs the ceremony. Robin finds Nottingham, who brandishes Robin’s dead father’s sword, and the duo begin their fight. Elsewhere in the castle, Friar Tuck and Azeem enter to help Robin. Tuck finds the corrupt priest and compares him to the apostle Judas before defenestrating him. Robin eventually wins the swordfight and kills Nottingham. With his guard down, Robin is not prepared for a surprise attack from the Witch, who charges with a knife. Just then, Azeem breaks down the door and slays the witch: a death she had foreseen earlier in the film. With his “vow” now complete, Azeem can also be at peace.
Robin and Marian marry in the forest amongst many supporters. Their matrimony is interrupted by the return of the noble King Richard (Sean Connery), who blesses the marriage and wishes them well.
[edit] Reception
Earning $165 million in the United States and $225 million abroad, it was second only to Terminator 2: Judgment Day in worldwide 1991 ticket sales. The movie received a mostly positive response, but critics complained about Costner's on-again, off-again English accent. Rickman's darkly humorous performance as the Sheriff garnered wide praise.
The film is remembered for Bryan Adams' ballad "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (included on his Waking Up the Neighbours album and the motion picture's soundtrack) which broke pop chart records in the United Kingdom, where it remained Number 1 for a record 16 weeks. It was also a #1 hit in Canada and the United States.
[edit] Inspiration
The screenplay for this film drew almost exclusively on the British TV series Robin of Sherwood. Morgan Freeman was originally to play a character named "Nasir", until stuntman Terry Walsh (who worked on both projects) pointed out to director Kevin Reynolds that Nasir was created specifically for Robin of Sherwood and does not appear in any other telling of the Robin Hood legend. As such, the character was copyrighted to the Robin of Sherwood creator Richard Carpenter. To avoid risk of a lawsuit, Reynolds changed the name of Nasir to Azeem.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- Much of the film was spoofed in Mel Brooks's film Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Costner's inability to play the role with an English accent and wear tights probably served as much of the initial inspiration for parody.
- Mel Gibson was offered the role of Robin Hood at one point, but turned it down, saying that after making Hamlet he wasn't in the mood to make another period film.
- The role of the Sheriff was originally to have been played by Richard E. Grant; however, when shooting on the film Hudson Hawk overran, he was indisposed and replaced by Rickman.
- Robin Wright Penn was the original choice to play Maid Marian, but she declined because she was pregnant at the time.
- The movie spawned a licensed game for the NES. The game had sold fairly well, but was not released until 1992, several months after the debut of the film. The delay was due to a long debugging period.
- The Sheriff's name is mentioned to be 'George' when he is married to Maid Marian.
- Sir Sean Connery makes an uncredited cameo appearance at the end of the film playing King Richard the Lionheart which is ironic, as he is Scottish playing an English King who was actually French.
- At the end of the film, Robin points a bent sword at a housekeeper and demands he tell him where Marion is at. This was done in homage to the earlier The Adventures of Robin Hood, in which Errol Flynn, playing Robin, orders a soldier to free Marion at the pointed end of a bent sword.
[edit] External links
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at the Internet Movie Database
- Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at All Movie Guide
- "The Battle of Sherwood Forest", a 1991 Entertainment Weekly cover story about the film's tumultuous production.
