New Version of Robin Hood Comes to DVD

The adventure story of Robin Hood has been told and retold in quite a few Hollywood movies over the last 80 years. There have been over 30 Hollywood variations of his tale, including some comedic ones. The most recent big-budget take, Kevin Reynolds' horrific blockbuster Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (with a miscast Kevin Costner) was released 19 years ago. In the summer of 2010, Russell Crowe and the director from his Gladiator movie, Ridley Scott, presented a 2010 version of Robin Hood. Are we not entertained? Any resemblance to the Oscar-winning Gladiator is purely not coincidental. Scott and Crowe, who also worked jointly on American Gangster, Body of Lies and A Good Year, are determined on setting their origin story in the context of history. Not the simplest task, taking into consideration the stories of Robin Hood are mainly fictional than fact.

However, in avoiding gimmickry, Scott and company have overlooked the greater gimmick at the core of this folktale: the ease and humor that's as vital a part of Robin's fight against the crown as his arrows. Robin was a primitive superhero. This film sprawls its non-stop action for 140 minutes, playing up the battles, the flaming arrows, the clashing swords, the battering rams and the burning pitch to the maximus. In that respect, of the new movies out on dvd, this film is worth a watch. You certainly will not experience that in other new movies out on dvd.

Godfrey and Robin eventually become foes and Godfrey's assault against Nottingham, where Robin is convinced to disguised as the returned knight Robert of Loxley to keep the taxman from knocking at the door. Old Sir Walter Loxley (Max Von Sydow, humorous, frail, and moving) thinks this is a wonderful idea, but the actual Robert's widow, Marion (Cate Blanchett), is horrified. But like all prior Robin Hood films, the love between Marion and Robin grows, slowly at first, then hotly.

In addition to Robin and "Maid" Marion, we meet Friar Tuck (Mark Addy), a bee-keeping priest who cares more about equality on Earth than being compensated in the afterlife; Robin's partners-in-arms from King Richard's Crusade, Little John (Kevin Durand) and Will Scarlet (Scott Grimes); and numerous other "Merry Men." The traditional Robin Hood villain, the Sheriff of Nottingham (Matthew Macfadyen), is present, but his part is small and he's presented as silly and ineffectual.

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