The Bottom Line: The new double disk DVD edition makes The Adventures of Robin Hood an even more endearing classic. One of the greatest adventure films of all time!
George_Chabot's Full Review: Adventures of Robin Hood
Errol Flynn IS Robin Hood, as Johnny Weissmueller IS Tarzan, as Sean Connery IS Bond, James Bond. Once these people played the roles, they were theirs forever. As long as there is celluloid, VHS, DVD, or other media, there will be a Robin Hood, and it WILL BE Errol Flynn.
The plot centers around the abuse of the native English Saxons by their recent conquerors, the Normans, and the imprisonment of good Norman King Richard the Lionhearted, somewhere in Austria, while John the Usurper reigns in his stead. Robin of Locksley is one Saxon noble who won't take this abuse lying down. He sets about fighting for the rights of the down trodden Saxons by robbing the rich Normans to raise the ransom for Richard, something that King John Landless has no intention of allowing.
The conflict between Robin and John provide the grist for the rest of the story, with plenty of action, sword fights, battles, chases, and general derring-do. There are magnificent ladies in distress, villains, and men-at-arms enough to please the most demanding moviegoer.
The acting is uniformly top notch, with Claude Raines, Basil Rathbone, Alan Hale, and Olivia DeHavilland supplying brilliant support to Errol Flynn's Robin. An early Technicolor film, the colors are glorious and unearthly and will make an impression on young and old alike. The music score is by acknowledged master Erich Wolfgang Korngold, one of the great film composers, with passages suitably keyed to each sequence, whether action, romantic or comic.
The Adventures of Robin Hood will be enjoyed by young and old alike, male or female, whoever likes a rollicking good story, magnificent lighting and shot selection, and Technicolor like it was meant to be used.
The new double disk DVD edition makes the film an even more endearing classic with features such as behind the scenes at the making of Robin Hood, the history of Technicolor, interviews with some of the participants and much, much more.
Other adventure movies I recommend are: Captain Blood, The Sea Hawks, The Vikings, The Long Ships, They Died with their Boots On, The Alamo, Khartoum, El Cid, and The Sand Pebbles.
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