Robin Hood: Season One
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jonas Armstrong, Keith Allen, Lucy Griffiths, Richard Armitage, Sam TroughtonBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Unknown
Running Time: 585 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-05
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Model: E4002
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- People's hero, war hero, romantic hero and leader of the world's most famous resistance group.Robin Hood is known and loved by millions around the world. His fight against a corrupt government and greedy officials is something we all can connect with. Fun, modern and intelligent, the BBC's Robin Hood is guaranteed to appeal to today's sophisticated viewers and is set to be as popular as the new D
Movie Reviews of Robin Hood: Season One
Movie Review: Great New Twist on Robin Hood
Summary: 5 Stars
This is Robin Hood for a new generation; if you're looking for historical accuracy, or adhesion to the classic story, look elsewhere. That being said, BBC has done an awesome job of reimagining the story, with very modern sensibilities (and a little bit of political commentary, if you squint and are in the mood for such things).
The best thing about this show is the characters; unlike most other incarnations, the spotlight is turned often to relatively minor characters, and the main characters are much more realistic. Robin is hardly the perfect hero he's portrayed as in other versions; he's vain, reckless, and arrogant, and has a tendency to be a little too self-sacrificing (the word `martyr' comes to mind). What's more, he can be more ruthless than his compatriots are necessarily comfortable with one minute, and squeamish when it comes to killing anyone the next. He's liable to start obsessing over something so much that little else matters to him (in one episode he's so fixated on a revelation about Gisborne's role in the injury that sent him back to England in the first place that he refuses to help the gang save Djaq from the Sheriff, and at the prospect of losing Marian to Gisborne, he sits in the forest and sulks while his men help Marian's father try to save the king from one of the Sheriff's plots).
Marian is no damsel in distress (especially when we find out what she does at night) and has her own issues to work out concerning her feelings for Robin and Gisborne and where she really belongs in the world, not to mention her father's mollycoddling. She yearns for independence and escape from both the irritatingly single-minded Gisborne and her overbearing father (in one episode, she remarks to Robin that she is tired of people-"and it is always men!"-telling her what was the wise course of action).
The Sheriff is even more cruel, devious and scathing than ever (comic villainy at it's very best), and is a man of thought, rather than action (in his character bio on BBC's website, his "weapon" is Gisborne). Also, you kind of have to feel sorry for Guy of Gisborne, the Sheriff's menacing (but rather bumbling), power-hungry second-in-command, who is honestly in love with Marian but a little shaky on what to do about it. He's further hindered by a nasty temper, some homicidal tendencies and an almost bipolar personality.
Robin's gang are much more than just his private army, as they have seemed in past incarnations; Much, Robin's former manservant and forever hungry, wisecracking sidekick, acts as his master's conscience and tries his best to keep him in check. Djaq, the Palestinian slave that the gang frees early on, and Will, the talented and wise-beyond-his-years carpenter, act as the voices of reason and group conscience. Little John serves as a pillar of strength and father-figure for the gang, and Allan provides considerable comic relief ("Not bein' funny, but...").
There are times when the acting is shaky, but on the whole most of the stars manage to pull things off wonderfully (particularly Keith Allen, who plays the brilliantly-horrible Sheriff and Harry Lloyd (Will Scarlett) is so expressive without actually using words, he can convey the unspoken mood of the group with a single look.).
This production clearly didn't go for historical accuracy; some of the technology used by the gang and the sheriff are obviously non-medieval, and the costumes are ridiculously non-period (Robin wears a hoodie most of the time, Marian can be seen in everything from seventies-inspired flyaway cardigans to a bustled wedding gown that is nearly Victorian, and apparently the Sheriff's footwear of choice is Birkenstocks.)
However, as bizarre as the costuming can be, it's not usually so distracting that it takes away from the show, and while some of the episodes have a very modern feel (there's an episode that is positively Entrapment-esque), it's still fun and interesting.
Also unlike former Robin Hoods, BBC's Robin actually seems to have taken something back with him from the Holy Land; he wields a scimitar instead of a broadsword, uses a recurve bow and quotes the Koran. And while the storylines rarely incorporate anything directly "Christian", I don't think this is because anyone making the show wants to exclude them, but because of the setting; this is medieval Britain, after all- we all KNOW the majority of the population is probably Christian or at least pseudo-folk-Christian (a classification I totally just made up in reference to Christians still hanging on to Pagan traditions, no offense meant!). Do we really need references to remind us of it? Some complain of a lack of the iconic Friar Tuck (and I admit, it would have been interesting to have both a Christian priest and Djaq in the gang), but I hear season three will finally bring him into the story.
As for the reliance on communicating Islamic and Middle Eastern ideas, I think it's refreshing to watch something that isn't constantly bashing on Islam and rattling on and on about terrorism and patriotism and how we're the best country in the world (i.e. American news). Instead, the subtle political commentary seems to focus on the delicate relationship between Christianity and Islam in a war-torn world, and the importance of finding parallels between very different cultures. Maybe this is common in British television, but I'd like to applaud them anyway... it's about time someone decided to go for a little cultural relativism!
All considered, a great show that has plenty of adventure, action and some romance, interesting and compelling characters, and fun storylines.
Summary of Robin Hood: Season One
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