Over the decades, many films have been made about the legendary Robin Hood, who stole from the rich to give to the poor. One of the most successful of these was completed in 1991 and starred Kevin Costner, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Robin of Locksley (Kevin Costner) returns from the Crusades to find out his father was murdered and vows revenge. With his Moorish companion Azeem (Morgan Freeman), he joins a band of rebels hiding out in the forest to do battle against the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) and win the heart of the fair Maid Marian (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), cousin of the absent King of England.
Historically inaccurate in so many ways and odd things like Robin Hood washing up at the white cliffs of Dover and managing to walk back to Nottingham, this is still a very entertaining and rousing piece of entertainment which is helped by a great cast.
Costner’s English accent is all over the place as is Christian Slater’s as Will Scarlett, but the film moves at a brisk pace even in the more extended director’s cut and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham steals the show with a hilarious over the top and very funny performance.
It’s not a subtle film, there are shifts in tone from violent set pieces to laugh-out-loud comedy but if you sit back and go with the flow, you will get a very enjoyable action adventure and you can see why it did so well at the box office.
This is a new release from Arrow taken from a new 4K remaster and it looks excellent. It is a big improvement on the previous release, Blacks are still slightly dull but the colours are much more pronounced and the disc is definitely worth the upgrade. It includes both the extended and theatrical cuts of the film.
Sound gives you a great DTS HD MA 5.1 bombastic surround mix and the extra features are plentiful.
Limited Edition packaging with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
• 60-page perfect-bound illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jackson Cooper and Mark Cunliffe
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by José Saccone
• Six double-sided, postcard-sized artcards
• Original uncompressed stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director Kevin Reynolds and actor Kevin Costner
• Audio commentary with actors Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater and writers/producers Pen Densham and John Watson
• Here We Are Kings: Making Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – a brand new, multi-part documentary featuring brand new interviews with Densham, Watson, director of photography Douglas Milsome, editor Peter Boyle, costume designer John Bloomfield and many more members of the creative team
• Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie – an archival 1991 documentary hosted by Pierce Brosnan
• One-on-One with the Cast – archival 1991 interviews with Costner, Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Slater and Alan Rickman
• Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” performance at Slane Castle, Ireland
• Music soundtrack cues
• Theatrical trailer
• TV spots
• Image gallery
A great package with some excellent extras (Also available on a 4K UHD set HERE) –
FILM – 8 PICTURE – 8 AUDIO – 9 EXTRAS – 9
