Robin Hood (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe have now done four movies together, the most notable of which is undoubtedly Gladiator, a fantastic story, and a brilliantly realised movie in the tradition of Braveheart.

With Robin Hood director and actor face a story and a character, portrayed many times in movies and tv series. Robin Hood has been played by actors as diverse as Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Patrick Bergin and Errol Flynn. Even Mel Brooks did a series Robin Hood Men in tights.

Inevitably, if you are like me, you will make comparisons with your other experiences of Robin Hood. Bravely, it attempts to tell the story in a fresh and invigorating way, exploring the story before the story you already know.

Firstly, in this story Robin Hood is not yet Robin Hood, but Robin Longstride, a man of uncertain origin and we suspect less than noble birth, and we meet him on the battlefields of France, fighting the cause of King Richard. Robin calls out the King's reckless crusade, and Robin and his three friends end up in the stocks, and so the adventure begins.

Eventually, Robin and his men escape, and Robin assumes the identity of a dying nobleman, and agrees to carry out his last wish, which leads him to Lady Marion.

Usually King Richard plays as a heroic character still abroad, and Prince John remains a scheming prince. Here however John becomes the King, and undergoes somewhat of an unlikely transformation from weakling mamas boy Prince to tyrant King.

This presents a dilemma in accepting the story as given.

Apparently, Russell Crowe walked out of a BBC radio interview, when the British presenter, suggested his accent was Irish not English, Russell responding bollocks, and telling 'you got dead ears, mate.' You got to love Russell.

Being Irish myself, I did think there was one scene where he had a slight lilt, other than that I found nothing wrong with the accent. In any event, I don't think Sean Connery has ever done anything other than a Scottish accent, even when he won the Academy Award playing an Irish policeman with a Scottish accent.

If you are like me, some of the action scenes remind you of those two great movies Gladiator and Braveheart
I think most people will enjoy it. If the story elements had been more consistent with other versions I definitely would have enjoyed it more.

What I liked most about this movie was him releasing the arrow in slow motion with drops of water flying off, and I also like the Little John character, who you may recognise as a villain from Lost.

I hope you found this review helpful.

Ridley Scott's 'Robin Hood' debuts on Blu-ray with a stunning, highly-detailed 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode (2.40:1). There are two versions: Theatrical Cut vs Director's Cut (which is 15 minutes longer)

Don't let the title Robin Hood fool you. It should be called Robin Longstride, because the movie tells the story before and how Robin Longstride becomes Robin Hood. It is similar to "The Hobbit", the prequel to the "Lord Of The Rings". At the end of the movie, it is stated "Now The Legend Begins..." Look for the "real" Robin Hood and his Merrymen in a subsequent sequel.

Video: The film's bleached-out colour palette comes across wonderfully. Details are not as punchy as I expected. The video has sharp images. The "arrow" battle scene was not as dramatic as that in the movie "Heroes". (4/5)

Audio: The DTS MA is wonderful with all the surround speakers plus the subwoofers having a great work-out. One can feel the arrow coming at you from front to back. Quite realistic. Dialogue is precise. (5/5)

For those viewers with anamorphic lens, I am glad to inform you that the subtitles are all within the "stretched" picture frame. Thank you Universal for listening to our complaints.

Overall, it was an enjoyable 156 minutes. Recommended.

This new way of looking at the Robin Hood story is amazing...... my husband thought he wouldnt like it beccause he loved the classic with Kevin Costner but he ended up liking this one many times more. The story of a good, faithful, genuine, courageous and strong man, rare values actually.... It is awesome, not a must see, a must buy.