By 1991 Kevin Costner was the most bankable of film actors. A succession of hit films that had started with 1987’s The Untouchables was followed by No Way Out, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams all box office hits that gave him the clout to direct his first feature film Dances with Wolves in 1990. It won him a Best Director Oscar (over Scorsese for Goodfellas!). Before James Cameron awarded himself the title, Kevin Costner was the King of the World and studios were keen to cast him in their projects and the star was already mulling over a number of scripts all about the same topic namely Robin Hood and the version he chose to star in was that co-written by pen Densham & John Watson. Densham especially had grown tired of seeing Arab characters portrayed as terrorists and his spin on the Robin Hood legend was to have a Christian man-in-green teamed up with a Muslim and it would be Morgan freeman who would play Azeem in a story where Robin of Locksley (Costner) returns from the Crusades to find his father dead and vows revenge. With his Moorish companion Azeem (Freeman), he joins a band of peasant rebels to do battle against the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham and win the hand of the fair Maid Marian, cousin of the absent King of England.
It would be a star studded cast that included Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Maid Marion, Christian Slater as Will Scarlett and best of all Alan Rickman as a barnstorming Sheriff of Nottingham stealing every moment he graced the screen ad-libbing lines (his, ‘….and cancel Christmas!’ was one of many) and was in stark contrast to his role in the moving tear jerking drama ‘Truly, Madly, Deeply’. But the studio became concerned that Rickman’s powerhouse pantomime performance was overshadowing their star and several of his scenes were cut to limit this but it made little difference as Rickman still remains the standout performer in the film despite a last minute cameo with a huge star who had been available for one day’s filming and his arrival and identity is made clear by his off screen shout of, ‘SCHHHHTOP!’
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, as it would eventually be titled, would be a summer blockbuster but was rushed into production with one of the shortest pre-productions that many of the experienced crew had known as is laid out in a new documentary, ‘Here We Are Kings’ on this new limited edition release and it was not without its issues notably with Nottingham based drama that included UK locations as far afield as Burham Beeches, Hadrian’s wall, Dover and even a castle that was actually in France. Helming this would be Kevin Reynolds a friend of Costner’s who had directed films with a similar theme previously. Though the shoot went well it was in the editing that problems allegedly occurred resulting in Reynolds being locked out of the editing suite whilst Costner oversaw the cut and the film was a huge success earning a huge $390m off a $48m budget.
This new Limited Edition Robin Hood Prince of Thieves limited edition blu-ray has a huge array of bonus features that includes…….
- Brand new 4K restorations of both the theatrical and extended cuts from the original negative by Arrow Films
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of both cuts
• Limited Edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
• 60-page perfect-bound illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jackson Cooper and Mark Cunliffe
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by José Saccone
• Six double-sided, postcard-sized artcards
• Original uncompressed stereo and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director Kevin Reynolds and actor Kevin Costner
• Audio commentary with actors Morgan Freeman and Christian Slater and writers/producers Pen Densham and John Watson
• Here We Are Kings: Making Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves – a brand new, multi-part documentary featuring brand new interviews with Densham, Watson, director of photography Douglas Milsome, editor Peter Boyle, costume designer John Bloomfield and many more members of the creative team
• Robin Hood: The Myth, the Man, the Movie – an archival 1991 documentary hosted by Pierce Brosnan
• One-on-One with the Cast – archival 1991 interviews with Costner, Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Slater and Alan Rickman
• Bryan Adams “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” performance at Slane Castle, Ireland
• Music soundtrack cues
• Theatrical trailer
• TV spots
• Image gallery
For many the film is indelibly tied to memories of Bryan Adams warbling ‘Everything I do (I do it for you) a song that hit the number one spot in the UK and stayed there for an insane 15 weeks and it’s a wonder that it didn’t act like some sort of twisted aversion therapy. That aside Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is still an enjoyable romp and a reminder that at his peak Costner was a star who would continue his A list status with JFK, The Bodyguard and yes, even Waterworld.
Audience goes wild when this happnes at the Universal studios Waterworld show
Here’s the Robin Hood Prince of Thieves trailer….
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves is on Limited Edition Blu-ray from 28th November
