Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

[edit] Americola's celebrity biographies are provided by AmericolaWiki, a celebrity wiki. You can help contribute to Americola and edit this article.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Image:Robin hood 1991.jpg original movie poster
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)
Cinematography	Douglas Milsome
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.

Contents 1 Plot synopsis 2 Reception 3 Inspiration 4 Miscellaneous 5 External links

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 the precognitive evil witch Mortianna (Geraldine McEwan) and the corrupt Bishop of Hereford (Harold Innocent).

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 Bishop (who he does not know is corrupt), and the Bishop 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 Mortianna for the guidance. Mortianna 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 Scarlet - 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. (in the special edition DVD with extra added scenes, it is revealed that Nottingham is actually the son of Mortianna. She kidnapped and murdered the real child of the Sheriff of Nottingham and substituted her own offspring in a diabolical plan to put her own seed on the throne of England by marrying him to a royal) 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 hanged.

On the wedding day, Robin and the others begin their coordinated attack. The assault is successful and the woodsmen are saved from their execution. Robin enters the castle in his pursuit of Nottingham, who is hastily trying to marry and impregnate Marian while the Bishop 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 Bishop and compares him to the apostle Judas before defenestrating him. Robin eventually wins the swordfight and kills Nottingham with a dagger through his heart. With his guard down, Robin is not prepared for a surprise attack from Mortianna, who charges with a spear. Just then, Azeem breaks down the door and slays Mortianna: 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.

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.

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.

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.

Wikipedia information about Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.