Let's explore, shall we?
Robin is (as best we can tell) based on a real live person, but over the centuries, the details have been lost/forgotten/changed. He appears in popular writings from as early as the late 13th century. He actually is referenced in a court document in the 1400s, so there must be some basis for his notoriety.
Since that time, he has appeared in literally countless pieces of literature. His first appearance in "modern" literature is in Ivanhoe
, published in 1819, but he appears in many novels and children's stories over the next century and a half.Not so surprisingly, he has also appeared in many, many films and television shows. IMDb list 112 characterizations of Robin Hood dating back as far as 1912. I will now compare and contrast them all in great detail.
Cha. And monkeys might fly out of my butt.
I will actually compare and contrast the three most recent, mainstream versions of the character; Russell Crowe in Robin Hood, Carey Elwes in Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Kevin Costner in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. Before you start, I know Errol Flynn is considered by many to be the epitome of Robin Hood, but I haven't seen that film, so I cannot speak to it.
First, let's look at awards. Costner won 5 awards for his performance in this film. 3 of them had to do with his hotness and 1 was a Razzie... so. 1 award.
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Crowe's version just barely came out this year, and it has yet to be nominated for any awards. Although, by all accounts, he won't get any.
When we look at "reviews" you have to consider a critic's point of view, surely, but you also must realize that real people are not critics. I do not have a degree in Outstanding Film Execution from Uptight University, so I have slightly different standards than, say, Roger Ebert. Which is why I love RottenTomatoes.com. Only 45% of the critics on Rotten Tomatoes liked Men in Tights, but 70% of real people liked it. Those are my kind of people.
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On Rotten Tomatoes, Prince of Thieves has a 56% rating from the critics and 72% from the real people. The biggest thorn in Prince of Thieves's side, I think, was the Siskel and Ebert crew (whoever was doing it then) who complained that the kids wouldn't have a good time in this "violent and depressing" movie. Um, hello, PG-13 rating? It's not for the kids. Although he has a point. It was violent. If only he knew had bad it could be...
Speaking of unnecessary violence. Crowe's version of Robin Hood was so violent at first that it received an "R" rating. They, of course, cut it down so they could get a PG-13 rating and entertain all those kiddies. Joking. Please don't show your kids this movie. This one has done even worse on Rotten Tomatoes: 42% and 60% for critics and real people.
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Prince of Thieves made back all of it's budget and then some. The movie cost around $50M to make and made over $150M in the US box office. Robin Hood has been a total bomb; the $200M budget has yet to be made back, and it has all but left the dingiest of dollar theaters. In a summer with really only two over-hyped films, that's bad. Men in Tights did also recoup its admittedly more modest budget; but really, this is about the profit margin more than anything.
OK, so, Kevin Costner gets an extra point for this:
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I know, now it doesn't look so impressive, but it's been 17 years. When this was first released, this was COOL. There's a reason they put it on the posters. And the DVD case.
He gets another point simply for going toe to toe with Alan Rickman.
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Carey Elwes gets another point just because he does. He gets another shot. ::muttering:: He does, he does.
Now, we come to the British Accent. Elwes has to win this, hands down, because he's BRITISH. Side note: a girl on the IMDb forums complained that Crowe should have been allowed to use his native accent. When I pointed out that he is from Australia, she saw nothing wrong with this. I don't know what she learned in history and geography classes (if anything) but it sure wasn't the same stuff I learned.
Robin Hood is generally surrounded by his Merry Men. I *think* Elwes wins the category for leading the merriest of men:
At this point, Elwes and Costner are actually tied. I fished around for a tie-breaker, and decided to use IMDb's user ratings. Russell Crowe's version gets a 6.7 out of 10, Kevin Costner gets a 6.9 and Carey Elwes gets a 8.0. So, I guess Carey Elwes wins. Now, I will admit that the Rotten Tomatoes rating and IMDb rating are probably very nearly the same thing. If you can come up with a different tie breaker, even if it swings the vote in a different direction, let me know.
Also, if you can think of anything redeeming about Russell Crowe's Robin Hood, let me know that too.
