The incredible character of Robin Hood has suffered much in the past several decades. The cosmically terrible shitpile that is ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES showed us that Hollywood, can not only ruin a freebie of a sure-shot figure like Robin Hood, but also that they have no regard for the fact that the guy was British! The Costner/accent issue is an old and obvious one, so I won't go into it here, but it clearly spells out Hollywood's disregard for the details that add the backbone to a story. Fortunately Brian Blessed got a big paycheck, at least. There have been others, but Costner's crap and the 2006 BBC ONE abomination(chock-a-block packed with whinging, pretty lady-men and a Robin Hood that carries a sword and bow but refuses to kill his enemies...jeez), are complete proof of the fact that Robin of Locksley has no friends in the modern video set. I'll refrain from mentioning the 2010 version(or maybe I will) because I don't want to discuss Cate Blanchette's super-ninja maid Marion, described in the wiki article as "the strong-willed, intelligent widow". Apparently that Lady Marion ain't no damned Maid...she's a 'Lady' (not virginal, but an experienced vixen), and what's more, if you can't tell from her bearing, apparently someone feels it important to mention that she's also strong willed, and as good as any man...oy). It's basically crap like this that leaves me nonplussed when I hear about a new version, in spite of my love for the character. Ahem.
Enter THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD, the six-part BBC serial from 1975! It stars Martin Potter as Robin Hood, and yes, he is a British guy! Rome buffs(or Fellini buffs) will know him from Fellini's surreal fantasy SATYRICON, based on the existing fragment's of Petronius's text. He wasn't the big draw for me, honestly; the first mention of Paul Darrow as the Sheriff of Nottingham(!) made me grab it right up! For them that don't know, Darrow played the wickedly intense character Avon from the great UK science Fiction series BLAKE'S SEVEN. Darrow has a dry focus that really draws the attention, and as a bad/good guy, his multi-layered approach to interaction makes for a great character. I was thrilled to see him as the Sheriff!
Fortunately, THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD lived up to expectation. It has all those great stagey qualities that made the 70's and 80's so great in UK telly, and the story is simple and tight, giving you exactly what one comes to Robin Hood for; sword fights, dastardly villains, and brave heroes, all against that distilled medieval background that we love so much. Such a wonderful discovery. Things like this are dying, and are sadly being replaced by sexed-up crap with no idea what made these characters great.
Fortunately, THE LEGEND OF ROBIN HOOD lived up to expectation. It has all those great stagey qualities that made the 70's and 80's so great in UK telly, and the story is simple and tight, giving you exactly what one comes to Robin Hood for; sword fights, dastardly villains, and brave heroes, all against that distilled medieval background that we love so much. Such a wonderful discovery. Things like this are dying, and are sadly being replaced by sexed-up crap with no idea what made these characters great.