Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Directed by	Kevin Reynolds
Written by	Pen Densham John Watson
Produced by	Pen Densham Richard Barton Lewis John Watson
Starring	Kevin Costner Morgan Freeman Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Alan Rickman
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Running time	143 min.
Budget	$48,000,000

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was a 1991 film directed by Kevin Reynolds.

Kevin Costner heads the cast list as Robin Hood. The film also starred Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Maid Marian, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Christian Slater as Will Scarlett and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The film is remembered by Bryan Adams' ballad (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (available on his Waking Up the Neighbours album and the motion picture's soundtrack) which broke pop chart records in the United Kingdom. It remained Number 1 for a recorded 16 weeks. It was also a #1 hit in Canada and the United States.

The film was well-received at the box office, though critics complained about Costner's on-again, off-again British accent. Rickman's comedic performance as the Sheriff garnered wide praise, however.

Criticism

This movie is sometimes accused of being overly politically correct, to the point where it interferes with the story. For example, when Maid Marian is introduced, she fights Robin while wearing a skintight "ninja" outfit but is a helpless damsel in distress at the end of the movie. Azeem, a Saracen in England, becomes the main supporting character, sapping the classical Robin Hood characters such as Little John and Friar Tuck of all their vigor.

The movie also leaves out many of the traditional elements associated with Robin Hood such as the archery contest.

Inspiration

The screenplay for this film drew almost exclusively on the British TV series Robin of Sherwood. Morgan Freeman was originally to play a character named Nasir, until stuntman Terry Walsh (who worked on both projects) pointed out to director Kevin Reynolds that Nasir was created specifically for Robin of Sherwood and does not appear in any other telling of the Robin Hood legend. As such, the character is the property of Robin of Sherwood creator Richard Carpenter. To avoid a lawsuit, Reynolds changed the name of Nasir to Azeem.

This caused a rift between Walsh and Carpenter, as the latter was aware his character was being used without permission and had planned to wait until the movie was released before suing the studio and director. Carpenter planned on using the money to fund a revival of his TV series.

Trivia

• This was Sean Connery's (who plays King Richard) second Robin Hood film. He played Robin Hood in the movie, Robin and Marian.

External links

• Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves at IMDb