 List Price: $9.99 
Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-02-12
Fair adaption of the classic story, a little bit too talky perhaps, but it is still outstanding family entertainment.
Yes, Disney did make a Robin Hood film before their 1973 animated classic. But this film is able to stand on its own. I hate to compare movies side-by-side, but this is not "THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD", which is better. However, this one is still quite good, with Richard Todd as Robin Hood, Joan Rice as Maid Marian, and Peter Finch as the Sheriff of Nottingham. As customary with most Disney films, there is not much action. In a movie like "Robin Hood", the action needs to be frequent and very well done. Because of this, the film fails to be nearly as exciting as its 1938 predecessor starring Errol Flynn. The audience will be surprised at how the Sheriff of Nottingham meets his demise, but let me tell you this that Robin is not responsible! Overall, a good film, not great, but alright for Disney fans. If you are searching for something more in action, story, and characters, try to catch "The Adventures of Robin Hood", from 1938, in color, starring Errol Flynn.
Also Recommended: "The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938), "Ivanhoe" (1952), "Ivanhoe" (1982), "Young Ivanhoe" (1995), "Robin Hood" (1973)
THIS REVIEW IS DEDICATED TO ANYONE, LIVING OR DEAD, INVOLVED IN THE MAKING OF "THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD".
Rating:
Date: 2007-03-25
The BEST Version of Robin Hood
Disney delivers another classic, delightful tale! This is another one of Disney's "good oldies." Although those accustomed to today's rate of productions may feign boredom (and I say they probably like it, just won't admit it), this really is a lovely adaptation. What I would give for the producers of today's movies to use the goodness of this version, along with technology and digital affects of today. (Did we really need
some of the twisted sub-characters added in to the more recent versions?)
Each character makes a delightful addition to the cast. Richard Todd as Robin Hood, takes another heroic Disney role. Some lovely little scenes include the introduction to Little John (James Robertson Justice, who
also shares the screen with Todd in Sword and the Rose), Friar Tuck's "courtship" meal, Maid Miriam's interference with bow practice, and the Minstrel's ballads. Although not all may share my taste, this provides some laughs, adventure, and makes for a wonderful family evening. The little ones will adore it, and the older ones will like it in spite of themselves. Rating:
Date: 2007-01-22
Good Clean Fun
My two boys (7 and 10) loved watching this movie. They are really into Robin Hood now so I wanted a movie they could watch that didn't have blood and bare bosom's. This is Robin Hood so arrows do fly but there is no blood seen. It is an old movie as expected and the acting is a little over done but it didn't bother my boys or myself much. The quality is pretty good although it looks a little colorized. I would recommend this if you really want to own it. I bought one for my nephew as a gift. The one we watched we got from our local library. Rating: 
Date: 2003-07-28
The best joust
In this version of Robin Hood the jousting match on the bridge is the best I've ever seen it done. Robin and the stranger get right to the point. They both want to cross the narrow bridge over the deep brook first. They quickly decide to settle it by jousting with staves.
The jousting match is very realistic with, of course, Robin Hood getting tumbled in.
I first saw this movie when I was about 10 years old. I loved the joust so much that a friend and I went to the woods, found a nice deep brook with a bridge and Robin Hood and Little John lived again. I was Robin Hoood, so I took the dunking and loved it. Rating:
Date: 2003-04-18
The best film version of the Robin Hood legend
Many Disney fans born after 1960 aren't aware that Disney wasn't all about cartoons; in the early 1950s his studio released a number of live-action adventure films, which were nowhere near as financially successful as his animated movies. But a few of them were as good as many of his cartoon features, and none was better than "The Story of Robin Hood", which appeared in the summer of 1952. Set in 12th century England at the start of Richard the Lionheart's crusade to the Holy Land, we see England as it was then, rural, mainly poor, solidly Catholic, devoted to the Holy Mother Church, and ruled over by a benevolent king about to set off to holy war while he leaves his evil, scheming younger brother, Prince John, behind to rule in his stead. When the film opens, their mother, Queen Elinor of Aquitaine, is giving her blessing to the enterprise while reminding all within earshot that she needs no looking after ("The woman who bore two sons like you", she informs her oldest son the king, "can take care of herself"). And here is Robin, 18 years old, wishing he could tag along after the king, but without a care in the world except winning the upcoming archery tournament and chasing Maid Marian. But this idyll is about to come crashing down; after winning the tournament and rudely rejecting to serve under the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham, Robin's father is murdered by the sheriff's right-hand man, and is killed by Robin in turn. It's off to Sherwood Forest for life on the run as an outlaw, while Robin gathers around him other outcasts who have been impoverished by the sheriff's rapacious deputies. There's fun galore as we see Robin and his merrie men robbing the rich to aid the poor, rescuing the downtrodden from the sheriff's villainy, kidnapping the sheriff himself and lightening his purse, and helping to pay King Richard's ransom after he is captured in the Crusades by robbing the loot King John and the Sheriff have stolen from the poor. Ken Annakin keeps the film solidly on target in time and place. The movie's score is exceptional; from Allan A'Dale broadcasting the news as a wandering minstrel, to the Gregorian chant sung by the knights as they set off on Richard's crusade, we are transported 800 years back in time. And Annakin reminds us, in a telling scene where Allan A'Dale is snubbed by some villagers, that not everyone in merrie olde England thought Robin and his men were saviors; to most of the upper class, and many of the small but growing middle class, they were a gang of thieves and worse. A great cast helps keep the film rolling. Richard Todd was never better than he was as Robin; bold, generous, not to mention full of himself; merciless to the enemies of the underclass, he's a winning hero. Joan Rice is sweet and sassy as Maid Marian; no simpering damsel is this young lady, she gives as good as she gets. And the minor cast is terrific: James Robertson Justice is just right as Little John; Elton Hayes is excellent as Allan A'Dale; Anthony Forwood is sly and cynical as Will Scarlett, and James Hayter almost walks off with the film with his hilarious performance as Friar Tuck. The movie works both as an action/adventure film and a fascinating romp through medieval England. It's one of Disney's best. |
