"Saw Robin Hood (spoiler if this turkey can be spoiled)" Topic

Some swash, some buckles, lots and lots of stupid.

My boys(19 & 24) and I saw it yesterday and while they are not gamers and did not fuss about gamer level minutiae, they still found it appallingly dumb. The LS(K)'s have been addressed but with more exposure beyond the trailer, they just get dumber. The French choosing to invade right in front of the Dover Cliffs was dumb. Robin riding by the Chalk horse and then popping over the hill suddenly right at Dover was dumber. Max vonSydow as the whatever (earl, count, bossman) of Locksley was an inspired casting to capture the classic mitteldeutsch accent of Nottingham as was (contrary to his offense at the BBC) Russell Crowe's psuedo Irish brogue but best of all was essentially pitching that Robin's long lost but really executed by Max, father, was actually the author of a Magna Carta (or remarkably similar document).

What? No insinuations that Robin Hood is actually the biological father of Henry III?

Damon.

I agree that it was major stupid in many parts. But I think there is more than one White Horse, yes? And Maid Marian's father-in-law didn't execute Robins's Dad. Not that I remember.

If those are the worst flaws, I'll be happy.

Quickly addressing Crowes accent, he is from the north an as he is a yeoman with a Longbow, he's likely a Welshman or from somewhere near Wales. I don't really have a problem with this.

Liked: The story up to the big War Council in the northern city of "I couldn't hear the name".

I thought the acting (even King John) was pretty good.

I thought the early fighting was well done.

Some poignant scenes early on were well done.

Didn't like: The Landing Craft and the whole D-Day imagery.

The Rohan Rider Imagery. BTW, That white horse on the hill, is that REAL or was it chalked up for the movie?

Shooting from the top of Dover Cliffs. That would have been a hell of a shot even for Robin!

Kicking the gates open with a horse. Weak gates in England eh?

I stopped caring after the "war council". I was wishing the movie would be over at that point.

Recommendations: Wait for DVD. Watch it to the War Council and then turn it off. Assume they win. You won't miss anything. I give it 2/3 of a thumbs up since the writer gave us 2/3 of a story.

John

I haven't seen it yet, but it seems it's not a bad film, just too many people chimed in with "wouldn't it be cool if … ?" suggestions.

But I think there is more than one White Horse, yes?

We've got 9 in Wiltshire alone (I can see one from my kitchen window) but we're a long way from Dover……

Doug

"That white horse on the hill, is that REAL or was it chalked up for the movie? "

Well, there is a White Horse Hill near Dover and plenty of pubs called 'The White Horse'. I can't remember if there is an actual white horse near there though, there are loads all over the country. Given the star, I'm surprised it wasn't the 'well endowed' chalk giant instad….

There are a couple of horses at the bottom of the page here:

link

maybe it was one of those.

maybe it was one of those.

Similar if not the same as the Wesbury Horse.

This is my local White Horse of Choice:

panoramio.com/photo/23964578

Pete

This quibble is just a variation of the old one locals always mention: when a film is made in your neighborhood all of the impossible "entered here, existed there" shots are pointed out as stoopid. Nobody else in the outside world CARES but you local yocals….

Hi

Happens to us in the rural west all the time and you brits never notice!

One of my favorites in a movie had the heros fleeing a villan into a canyon in southern Utah and walking out the other side 250 miles away. You know, sort of like walking out of your hobby shop in London and looking up at the Eiffel tower!

And again, No one THEN sounded like the british NOW. In fact if they had used period language, there might be a dozen scholars in the world that would understand the speech in any form, let alone the accent.

Just as artificial for him to sound vaguely welsh as if he sounded vaguely hindi!

Rocky

But do people get shot with arrows and stabbed with swords in an exciting way? That's the important stuff. I couldn't care less about the history since Robin is mythical anyway.

"Nobody else in the outside world CARES but you local yocals…."

Normally I agree but there are a few notable exceptions…

1) X-Files. You can NOT have a car chase from Dallas to Amarillo AND I have no idea where the mountains come from.

2) Transformers 2. Jordan army and the Great Pyrimads of Giza. I couldn't help but ask "why, why, why…" the whole time.

3) Star Trek. It takes more than a second to get to Vulcan. The insta warp ruins the whole feel of the show. And don't ask me how one sits on a planet and watches another planet get sucked into a black hole.

…

4) I mentioned this already: Sherlock Holmes, where they exit Parliament and appear on Tower Bridge. When the objects involved are famous iconic places that sort of nonsense is inexcusable….

You mean movie Robin hood did not address the relationship from the movie excalibar to this robin hood. cant not believe they would leave out that detail.

Right on Hexxenhammer, right on.
I am seeing it tomorrow.

"But do people get shot with arrows and stabbed with swords in an exciting way? "

Yes, they do. And there is ribaldry and wenching aplenty.

I'm in.

Is the movie really that bad? There's a well liked local singer here who is buddies with Russell Crowe and played Alan a dale int he movie so everyone here is flocking to see it…
--
Tim

Kingdom of Heaven was better, and Gladiator was better still. The Great Big Sea guy played his role well, I thought (well everybody did really) – whoever wrote the story/screenplay should be shot, however.

My son went to see it last night. It seems if you approach it with no sense of history whatsoever it is a lot better.

Is the movie really that bad?

Like I said, there is definitely some good things about the movie. The story just fell apart in the last 3rd of the movie. Probably worth a rental. BTW, I really liked the Alan a Dale character as well as the others (Little John, Will Scarlett).

I agree with Altefritz, Kingdom of Heaven and Gladiator were better/more plausible.

the only gripe I have herd in person was that they have some 14th cen. helms and armor show up a lot. (Aaa so what)

but I say that you make the movie with that you have and can get and try to make it fun. people will find holes and gripe about them no matter what.

– whoever wrote the story/screenplay should be shot, however.

TMP's own "Mad Guru" co-authored the ORIGINAL screen play: but that was to have the sheriff as the protagonist and played by Crowe. Ridley Scott messed with the script enormously, evidently. So he's the one who should be shot?…

We've got a babysitter and this is now our date night movie.

All I ask is that it's better than Costner's version. It doesn't need to be as good as the Disney animated version or anything.

That's a fascinating article on chalk. I had no idea it was fossilized plankton or that lime was heated chalk.

What's the story on those images on the hillsides? Are they ancient, modern or photoshopped?

I'll see the movie, because I always like to see someone else's version of a popular story. I don't want it to be a shot-by-shot remake, like Psycho was a few years ago.

Let me see someone else's vision, give me something new to think about. I can always shrug my shoulders later and disagree with the way they put it together. They can't all win an Oscar or be all things to all people.

JW

Scott wasn't the scriptwriter. Nor is he credited with the screenplay.

I really liked the Patrick Bergen Robin Hood (with Uma Thurman), and the opening scene in Costner's version was good.

This version is way better than Costner's version. I think I spotted a continuity error as well, with a visor being open before we actually see it opened. Have to wait for the DVD to confirm, however.

Hi

OK, saw it and liked it!

I realized however that it could be hated if your presumption is yet another telling of the victorian romance version of "maid marion", tuck and robin at the log with quarterstaffs, the archery contest, and so on.

I mean this stuff is the basic for the silent version and all the subsequent ones. None of this happens in the movie!

And the history is a little crocked in forshadowing the unintended consequences from the future Magna Carta.

IF you just see it as fun period piece adventure, however, it is quite a lot of fun. I think it has more to do with the origins of "robin" as in the Walter Scott novel rather than the canon of the hollywood movies we have all seen.

It did make me wonder about what Scott's original script was like.

Rocky

You mean "Mad Guru and friend's" original script….

This movie had such great potential. Every time, something happened that made it look like it was going to be a classic, it would be followed by something so incredibly ludicrous that I gave up all hope.

It's almost like it's really a tribute to Mel Brooks than a stand-alone movie of its own.

I did like the twist as to how Robin of Loxley came to be and I liked the arrow shot shown in the trailer when he pops out of the water. I also liked the portrayal of King John.

RC's accents were a little distracting, but I think that's only because it made "news" and I was already aware. The English of today is not what it was then, so I understand they're not trying to make a foreign-language film.

All in all, it's a mixed bag. I'll come up short of recommending it, because the negatives outweigh the positives, at least in my mind.

JW

I just got back from it, and I thought it was great. Yeah, the Magna Carta thing was kinda silly, but I've never even heard of a Robin Hood story that integrated it even though it's the major thing that King John did.

Action was good. Liked seeing the power of the bow, and all the flaming arrows made sense in context.

Hexxenhammer

That reminds me of the siege at the beginning.

It makes sense to approach breeching the doors the way they did, but it's not the way I've seen it done in a thousand other movies of this type.

What was in the Glad Bags?

JW

It was OK – though as noted if fell away towards the end. I've a funny feeling it's a bit like Kingdom of Heaven in as much as it would be better in the extended version.

One small point – Alan a Dale is told the 'middle English' have been doing a good job keeping his people down. Actually at the time (or just a bit before), Gwynedd was playing merry hell up and down the border….

And the allegedly Irish accent is nothing like Welsh… Oddly Cates attempt was better.

I did actually feel sorry for John right until the end, and he seemed like someone doing the best he could with the awful situation his brother had dropped him in. Which is historically accurate – we hate him since he invented organised taxation, which is never a vote winner.

But, it passed a couple of hours in an entertaining fashion, I had fun, had good company and got an ice cream. I didn't feel cheated, jsut thought somehow it was a little flat.

What was in the Glad Bags?

Tar or pitch or something like that I would guess.

Hi

The defenders were pouring hot oil on the attackers, and oil burns. I guessed they were treating it this way.

See, my buddy Stu and I agree again!

Rocky

The Medieval Higgin's boats at Dover made me laugh out loud. Of course I got rude stares from everyone around me, but I just couldn't help myself as it was so silly. I agree with Stu it was okay.

Maybe I should have watched Iron Man 2. Oh well Salut y'all!

Bruce the Texas Grognard