Robin Hood

fatchowmein

Feels very long. Drags in parts. Throw your expections out the window, not that I mind, but a more precise title would be "Robin Hood Begins". The different sets were good but no major seige weapon attacks, not that you would expect such a thing from Robin Hood but you'll get my drift when you see the movie. Acting was okay.

Overall, an okay movie that left a huge opening for part 2. I say wait for it on video or catch it at a matinee 3 weeks from now.

fatchowmein

xcapri79 wrote: »

How would you rate Russell Crowe's performance relative to his other movies?

Expect Maximus. No one will be whispering "Oscar" this time around.

Edit: Actually, I think Maximus was a bit more charismatic.

kuntasensei

When I saw the trailer for this, my first thought was, "Okay, so... it's Robin Hood... minus everything that makes him Robin Hood." I was instantly disinterested, so I'll probably wait for video.

But then, I fall into the "Kevin Costner's Robin Hood wasn't as bad as people say" camp, so go figure.

Ron-P

I'm going to this before I see anything else that's already out, it looks fantastic and the longer the better. Scott films are top notch and very tough to beat.

TECHNOKID

xcapri79 wrote: »

Interesting, when I watched Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves", I thought that Russell Crowe would be perfect for the role but feared that Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise would actually get it first. Well things worked out and I'm looking forward to when it's out on blu-ray.

Now that you've mentioned it, I didn't feel that Russell Crowe was the best candidate for Robin Hood charactor wise and I think Brad Pitt or Kevin Costner would have looked more realistic. Anyway, thanks for sharing your experience with us FChowmein as I was thinking of going for it. As you pointed out, I might simply wait for DVD rental!?!

Cheers!
TK

fatchowmein

If this is all we get to see, it's a disappointment because the story isn't finished. I expect to see Robin Hood 2. At the speed they're going, there might be a RH 3. If done right, the entire 2 or 3 part saga would be interesting.

kuntasensei

A friend who saw it tells me that I should skip it altogether and instead find the 13-part Robin Hood series that the BBC did. Has anyone else seen that?

Kex

kuntasensei wrote: »

When I saw the trailer for this, my first thought was, "Okay, so... it's Robin Hood... minus everything that makes him Robin Hood." I was instantly disinterested, so I'll probably wait for video.

But then, I fall into the "Kevin Costner's Robin Hood wasn't as bad as people say" camp, so go figure.

I liked the Kevin Costner Robin Hood too. True, there was a bit of "poetic license" with the script and story, but I still thought it was worth watching.

xcapri79 wrote: »

Interesting, when I watched Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves", I thought that Russell Crowe would be perfect for the role but feared that Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise would actually get it first. Well things worked out and I'm looking forward to when it's out on blu-ray.

I would have hated to see Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise in this role, especially T.C. Kevin Costner seems like much better casting for the role to me, but it seems as though the movie is getting a fairly tepid reception so far.

Kex

I thought he had turned over a new leaf, and I enjoyed some of his recent role portrayals (A Good Year, and State of Play), but it seems he's determined to be a d!ckhead for a while longer yet:

Russell Crowe Storms Out Of Interview Over 'Robin Hood' Accent Questions

Moviegoers who think they detect a hint of an Irish accent in Russell Crowe 's " Robin Hood " might want to think twice before telling that to the Australian actor - his reaction might not be so merry.

On Wednesday, Russell walked out of an interview with BBC Radio's Mark Lawson at the Cannes Film Festival when he was questioned if there was a hint of an Irish accent in his latest big screen character.

"You've got dead ears, mate. You've seriously got dead ears if you think that's an Irish accent," Russell said, followed by a British slang expletive.

The 46-year-old actor continued with the interview and then paused to go back to the accent question, saying, "I'm a little dumbfounded you could possibly find any Irish in that character. That's kind of ridiculous, but it's your show."

The interviewer then asked, "You were going for Northern English?"

"No I was going for an Italian, yeah. Missed it?" Russell said laughing.

Russell is then asked about a report that while filming 2000's "Gladiator" that he didn't want to say the movie's famous line, "I'll take my revenge in this life or the next," which promptly ended the interview.

"I don't get the Irish thing, by the way. I don't get it at all," Russell can be heard saying, while heading to the door.

I didn't listen to the BBC Radio interview (there's a link in the story) but it's usually as excellent as journalism ever gets IMO. Oh well!

Here's the link: http://movies.yahoo.com/news/usmovies.accesshollywood.com/russell-crowe-storms-out-interview-over-robin-hood-accent-questions

hearingimpared

fatchowmein wrote: »

Feels very long. Drags in parts. Throw your expections out the window, not that I mind, but a more precise title would be "Robin Hood Begins". The different sets were good but no major seige weapon attacks, not that you would expect such a thing from Robin Hood but you'll get my drift when you see the movie. Acting was okay.

Overall, an okay movie that left a huge opening for part 2. I say wait for it on video or catch it at a matinee 3 weeks from now.

I saw a two hour special on the History Channel about this movie. The special was boring as hell and they kept going on and on and on about how the "Robin Hood" character evolved over many years. They showed many clips of the film with interviews with Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

The clips shown with Crowe reminded me of an over acted Maximus.

Usually I love these type of shows and can't get enough of them, this one I had to delete before I ever got to the end.

I hope it doesn't reflect on the movie. I'm glad my expectations are low now because I might enjoy the movie when it comes out on DVD.

hearingimpared

kuntasensei wrote: »

A friend who saw it tells me that I should skip it altogether and instead find the 13-part Robin Hood series that the BBC did. Has anyone else seen that?

Are you talking about the Robin Hood TV show from back in the '60s/'70s?

hearingimpared

The original with Errol Flynn was always my favorite. I liked Costner's too.

I actually was talking about the Robin Hood TV series with Richard Greene.

Polkie2009

All the others can't compare to Errol Flynn's Robin Hood character. He was a hell of a swashbuckler.

Ron-P

kuntasensei wrote: »

A friend who saw it tells me that I should skip it altogether and instead find the 13-part Robin Hood series that the BBC did. Has anyone else seen that?

I watched season 1, it was difficult to watch, too cheesy, campy and boring.

Erik Tracy

Ron-P wrote: »

I watched season 1, it was difficult to watch, too cheesy, campy and boring.

Which one, though?

There was a BBC series called "Robin of Sherwood"
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000L21290

Season 2 of this starred Jason Connery (Sean's son).
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000L21290

These were actually good, imo - watched them on the local PBS station when they aired in the 90s.

Theme music was by Clannad (Enya) - kinda cool.

Kex

Erik Tracy wrote: »

... Theme music was by Clannad (Enya) - kinda cool.

Yeah, Clannad as a group was well known in the 80's. Enya went off on her own later, to have much greater success globally AFIK. It all started in a wee village in Co. Donegal, Ireland, called Gweedore (Gaoth Dobhair in Irish, and they actually speak Irish there too, and yes: I've actually visited!).

They have terrific traditional pub music in the area (for free mostly, you just pay for your drinks, and the prices are the same as on any other night, when there's no band playing). The scenery can be stunning, but it rains frequently, even in the Summer ... sometimes only for five minutes, but frequently nonetheless. You can definitely see the influence of traditional Irish music in their work IMO, and Enya.

Erik Tracy

Kex wrote: »

Yeah, Clannad as a group was well known in the 80's. Enya went off on her own later, to have much greater success globally AFIK. It all started in a wee village in Co. Donegal, Ireland, called Gweedore (Gaoth Dobhair in Irish, and they actually speak Irish there too, and yes: I've actually visited!).

They have terrific traditional pub music in the area (for free mostly, you just pay for your drinks, and the prices are the same as on any other night, when there's no band playing). The scenery can be stunning, but it rains frequently, even in the Summer ... sometimes only for five minutes, but frequently nonetheless. You can definitely see the influence of traditional Irish music in their work IMO, and Enya.

More trivia...remember that haunting music in the 90's to the VW car commercials??? Clannad

Definitely evokes a certain spirit/calling....must be the wild Pict in me

Kex

Erik Tracy wrote: »

More trivia...remember that haunting music in the 90's to the VW car commercials??? Clannad

Definitely evokes a certain spirit/calling....must be the wild Pict in me

OK, wild man! You need to keep out of the San Diego sun more, methinks! Actually, I've always thought that Clannad or Enya should have done the Titanic music, not Celine Dion, with the romantic Irish theme that seem to run through it.

Kex

xcapri79 wrote: »

I love Ireland (it is the friendliest place I've ever been to, Saskatchewan is second), my beautiful wife is from Ireland, ...

Well well well! You DO have redeeming qualities after all .

hearingimpared

xcapri79 wrote: »

The following link goes through a very detailed history of Robin Hood.
It is called Robin Hood: Through The Ages.
There were many more characters than I thought.

http://www.earthsmightiest.com/fansites/movies/news/?a=6834

The internet is a wonderful thing. There is a new Robin Hood character that I got a laugh about, but it could be considered political to post here and we don't want that, right!

Several variations are easily found using Goggle. Good for a laugh.

You want to find out about the history of Robin Hood switch you TV to the History channel. They are repeating the show I spoke of earlier.

hearingimpared

Polkie2009 wrote: »

All the others can't compare to Errol Flynn's Robin Hood character. He was a hell of a swashbuckler.

He was my idol during my youth.

Kex

hearingimpared wrote: »

He was my idol during my youth.

Please tell me that you don't still dress like him (even if you have to lie to do so)!

Ron-P

Erik Tracy wrote: »

Which one, though?

There was a BBC series called "Robin of Sherwood"
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000L21290

Season 2 of this starred Jason Connery (Sean's son).
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000L21290

These were actually good, imo - watched them on the local PBS station when they aired in the 90s.

Theme music was by Clannad (Enya) - kinda cool.

I watched the BBC's, this one...http://www.amazon.com/Robin-Hood-Season-Jonas-Armstrong/dp/B000NQQ4DI/ref=pd_bxgy_d_img_c

hearingimpared

Kex wrote: »

Please tell me that you don't still dress like him (even if you have to lie to do so)!

Nah, my belly got tooooooo big!:eek:

kuntasensei

Ron-P wrote: »

I watched the BBC's, this one...http://www.amazon.com/Robin-Hood-Season-Jonas-Armstrong/dp/B000NQQ4DI/ref=pd_bxgy_d_img_c

Yeah, that's the one that I've heard about. I need to see if Netflix has it. Either way, I won't be going to see this Robin Hood in the theater based on what I've heard about it.

On3s&Z3r0s

Speaking of Irish tunes and Russell Crowe... anyone who hasn't heard the song The Night I Punched Russell Crowe by Gaelic Storm needs to take a listen... I get a good belly laugh out of it every time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xtVipOjTEE

Whole album's pretty good too:

http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Rumpus-Gaelic-Storm/dp/B0019K06T0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1274208848&sr=8-1

Ron-P

Now I can understand why so many did not like this film, they went in expecting a Kevin Costner style version. This film far exceeds any "Robin Hood" film in every way, absolutely amazing. One I will be adding to the collection.

LeftCoast

Errol Flynn - A different era and a different feel. If you want that type of swashbuckling Robin then you hire Robert Downey Jr.

Costner? Dreadful. His accent was worse than Russell Crowe's. But more about that in a moment.

Cruise or Brad Pitt? uh...No!

Russell Crowe: When I first saw the trailers, I thought it was a slam dunk. It looked good. It looked like they were trying for a more "realistic" gritty historical drama approach rather than a swashbuckling Hollywood type of movie.

Okay...Masculine, down-to-earth Robin...I'm in!

But then the results? Yeeesh...What a disappointment. I'm not even sure why. But Russell Crowe's inconsistent accent didn't help. Maybe it needed a bit more Hollywood energy to it. It was emotionally lacking. I can't imagine that they'd make a sequel except that it is Hollywood, and they probably were already committed to a second movie before the first one was even released. Maybe Russell Crowe can redeem himself.

As I said before: If you want a swashbuckling Hollywood Robin, look no further then Robert Downey, Jr.

For what these film makers were trying to achieve, I have (in hindsight to be sure) a much better candidate who I feel would have made this work:

CLIVE OWEN.

ryanjoachim

I would definitely have liked to see Robert Downy, Jr or Clive Owen, but I think Crowe did a very good job of portraying this version of Robin Hood. He wasn't a "good guy" to start with (he was fine with robbing the dead knights and using them to escape), but I think he fell into the "help me and get the sword!" bit too easily.

Ron-P

Owen, maybe, Downey Jr., no way! It would have been a Sherlock Holmes set in the forest. I thought Crowe fit the role perfectly.

LeftCoast

ryanjoachim wrote: »

I would definitely have liked to see Robert Downy, Jr or Clive Owen, but I think Crowe did a very good job of portraying this version of Robin Hood. He wasn't a "good guy" to start with (he was fine with robbing the dead knights and using them to escape), but I think he fell into the "help me and get the sword!" bit too easily.

Yeah! Maybe that was the problem...Or maybe he doesn't at all and you make the character more of an anti-hero and doesn't become truly heroic until the sequel (if that is what they are aiming for)