The Adventures of Robin Hood [HD DVD]

Dashing Errol Flynn is the definitive Robin Hood in the most gloriously swashbuckling version of the legendary story. Warner Brothers reunited Michael Curtiz, their top-action director, with the winning team of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) and perennial villain Basil Rathbone as the aristocratic Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and pulled out all stops for the production. It became their costliest film to date, a grandly handsome, glowing Technicolor adventure set to a stirring, Oscar-winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The decadent Prince John (a smoothly conniving Claude Rains) takes advantage of King Richard's absence to tax the country into poverty but meets his match in the medieval guerrilla rebel Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, who rise up and, to quote a cliché coined by the film, "steal from the rich and give to the poor." Stocky Alan Hale Sr. plays Robin's loyal friend Little John (a part he played in Douglas Fairbanks's silent version), Eugene Palette the portly Friar Tuck, and Melville Cooper the bumbling Sheriff of Nottingham. Flynn's confidence and cocky charm makes for a perfect Robin Hood, and his easygoing manner is a marvelous counterpoint to Rathbone's regal bearing and courtly diction. The film climaxes in their rousing battle-to-the-finish sword fight, a magnificently choreographed scene highlighted by Curtiz's inventive use of shadows cast upon the castle walls. --Sean Axmaker

Never has Warner Bros.'s Technicolor classic looked as vibrant and lush as it does on this DVD. The restoration alone is worth the DVD's weight in stolen booty. But adding to its wealth are the pertinent extras that support the film's story, its historical background, its technical achievements, and the Robin Hood legend as a whole. Notable extras include Rudy Behlmer's commentary, which will tell you more than you ever thought you needed to know about the film. The "Welcome to Sherwood" documentary nicely balances the historical state of Warner Bros. studio in the late 1930s, the decision to make the film, its production, and its continuing success. There's even an hourlong documentary on the history of Technicolor, which is interesting and surprisingly scandalous. In closing, (and maybe the best of the extras!) are two classic "Looney Tunes" cartoons based on the merry prankster from Sherwood Forest. Simply stated: a great package for a perfect film. --Rob Bracco