Stars: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Wincott, Michael Wincott

Director: Kevin Reynolds

Summary: A reworking of the legend of Robin Hood (Kevin Costner) telling of his adventures following his escape and return to England from the Crusades. With an indebted Moor (Morgan Freeman) by his side, Robin sets out to avenge his father's death and to save the peasants in the Shire of Nottingham from their crafty, cunning sheriff. Full of action, romance, intrigue, laughs and medieval childbirth, this film hit the bullseye at the box-office and features the record-breaking hit song '(Everything I Do) I Do It for You' performed by Bryan Adams and a stand-out pantomime performance by Alan Rickman as the evil Sheriff of Nottingham who wants to Cancel Christmas.

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Robin Hood: Prince of Thievesreinvented the legend for contemporary cinema audiences, and in doing so far outstripped at the box office even Kevin Costner's own infinitely superior Dances with Wolvesto become the biggest hit of 1991. It's an entertaining enough family adventure film, but plays like a big-budget TV movie with no distinctive flair for action or romance. (Director Kevin Reynolds would reunite with Costner four years later for the equally stodgy Waterworld). If the accents are all over the place, at least Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio makes a Maid Marion of ravishing Pre-Raphaelite beauty. Morgan Freeman is fine as Robin's Moorish sidekick, though, other than to expand the demographic, his character has no business being in the story. Realising that the whole enterprise has the credibility of a pantomime, Alan Rickman outrageously camps up his Sheriff of Nottingham, stealing the film in the process. Costner makes an acceptable hero, though he will never replace Errol Flynn in the definitive The Adventures of Robin Hood.

If you can accept explosives in 13th-century England, that the approach to Sherwood Forest is a modern conifer plantation and that the 170 miles from Dover to Nottingham is a matter of a few hours ride via Northumberland, then you may find much to enjoy here. Otherwise an already overlong film has been extended to an excessive 148 minutes in this special edition, making far too much of a not very good thing.

On the DVD:Robin Hood: Prince of Thievesis presented as a two-disc set, with a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer that is generally good looking but with an occasionally soft picture and some evidence of dirt and minor print damage. The Dolby Digital 5.1 remix of the original stereo soundtrack is atmospheric and powerful and shows off Michael Kamen's score to its best. Though presented with 12 minutes of footage not seen in the cinema version, the film still suffers most of the cuts (amounting to 28 seconds) imposed by the BBFC over the years.

The main extras are a pair of commentaries: Costner and Reynolds discuss the film in frank and enthusiastic detail, while on a second track Freeman, Slater, writer/producer Pen Densham and cowriter/producer John Watson offer a great deal of insight plus a fair bit of stating the obvious, backslapping and critic bashing. Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie(31 mins) is a cut version of a 45-minute TV special originally broadcast in America the night before the premiere, and offers an interesting if brief look at the Robin Hood story plus some routine making-of material. Finally, there is a video of Bryan Adams performing "Everything I Do, I Do It for You" live at Slane Castle and 18 minutes worth of bland electronic presskit-style archive interviews with Costner, Freeman, Mastrantonio, Slater and Alan Rickman, plus the original American trailer, a stills gallery and cast and crew list. --Gary S Dalkin

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interactive Menu, Scene Access
Subtitles:	Arabic, Bulgarian, English, Romanian
Year:	1991
Release Date:	May 1, 2001
Runtime:	136 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	D 014000
Keywords:	Action, Robin, Hood, General, Wide, Screen, Prince, Thieves, Adventure, Technical, Recalled, Issues
Genre:	Action/Adventure