Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
The English tale of Robin Hood is probably one of the most popular and recycled heroes of all time, rivaling the likes of King Arthur, Batman or Zorro. We’ve had a million different stage and film adaptations of the mythological figure ranging from Errol Flynn to Mel Brooks parodying this particular film to death. And while Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is nowhere near my favorite film regarding the brigand who steals from the rich to give to the poor, but it is a fun bit of 1990s adventure that dates itself rather heavily.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves may not be the best adaptation, but it certainly was a blockbuster hit back in 1991. Kevin Costner was on top of the world as a leading man, we got a younger Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman chewing up the scenery like he is Peter Stormare, and even a cameo by Sean Connery himself as King Richard. Raking in $391 million off of a $48 million budget, this was 91’s massive hit for the year. It had everything. Beautiful maids, Costner swinging from the treetops like Tarzan while shooting arrows, and of course Alan Rickman’s over the top performance as the Sheriff of Nottingham. It was what the people wanted. Big budget action fun with enough heart to charming, enough action to satisfy, and an ensemble cast that somehow made the weirdly disjointed film work.

I’m going to admit that I wasn’t that big of a fan of Prince of Thieves when I first saw it in the late 90s. Costner was woefully miscast as Robin Hood (his accent is so bad that Carey Elwes joke about it in Men in Tights is hilarious as a result), and Alan Rickman’s portrayal of the Sheriff was downright comical in nature, standing out from the more serious tonal nature of the rest of the movie. But over the years it has grown on me, acting as an anchor point for early 90s action period piece films, with all of the excesses and over the top performances that the 80s and VERY early 90s were known for. But lets face it, Prince of Thieves is a middling movie from a technical stand point.

The story is as old as time (now I have Mrs. Potts voice in my head), with Robin of Locksley (Kevin Costner) breaking out of a Moorish prison with the help of a rogue Moor by the name of Azeem (Morgan Freeman). Making their way back to England, the pair find that Robin’s family has been murdered, with the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman) laying claim to his family fortune and home based upon trumped up charges. Barely escaping with his life, Robin and Azeem take up refuge in Sherwood forest, where not even the Sheriff’s men dare enter. Using the guerrilla nature of the peasants who have already taken up residence there, Robin and his merry men wage war upon the corrupt Sheriff, attempting to thwart his plans of stealing King Richard’s throne while the aforementioned noble is out at war in the Crusades, and hopefully returning the land back to the people once again.

As I mentioned above, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a tonally weird film that is all over the place tonally. Kevin Costner was a mega star, but he’s so bad at Robin himself that I actually wince at times. He plays his Dances with Wolves persona out and dances it all over the place, only occasionally even attempting to try a British accent. Not to mention Alan Rickman who plays the role of the Sheriff so maniacally that he comes across as a bit TOO comedic. The attempt assault on Marian at the end should be horrifying and creepy, but it comes across like an SNL skit complete with gags, jokes and physical slapstick humor instead of the gravitas it should have had. The amazing Michael Wincott (The Crow) is fantastic as Guy of Gisborne, but I genuinely think he would have played a darker and more sinister Sheriff of Nottingham than Rickman did (may he RIP).

That being said, the big budget 90s fun machine that it was sort of wins over the crowd more often than not. Michael Kamen’s rousing score helps uplift the action scenes, and amazingly enough, Christian Slater steals the show as Will Scarlett. Plus, Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman, and can basically do no wrong in the 90s. I don’t know why, but I absolutely have a ball with this film no matter how crummy the actual application of the story is. There’s so much 90s updated cheese that it weirdly WORKS for some reason. There’s babes, swords, Morgan Freeman making jokes. And hey, who doesn’t want to see Robin Hood marry Maid Marian after outwitting the Sheriff of Nottingham (who doesn’t have Prince John this go around). But I will admit that. After watching Prince of Thieves for the first time in probably a decade, I have to give props to Mel Brooks for creating one of the most impeccable parodies of Prince of Thieves ever created. I’ve seen Robin Hood: Men in Tights so many times that I can pretty much quote it word for word, and I’m absolutely amazed at just how razor sharp Brooks wit was, and how impeccably he spoofed ever character in the movie to perfection. Ironcially, even though it was a slapstick comedy, Men in Tights is actually a better movie simply based upon its own merits.




Rating:

Rated PG-13 by the MPAA





4K Video: Video:

Due to the U.S. rights being a bit wonky for this film compared to international rights, this is actually 2 years, or so, late in the making as Arrow released this whole package in the UK a couple of years ago. So we’re just not getting it. According to the paperwork Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was remastered by going back to the 35mm OCN and restoring it at Illuminate Labs in Hollywood. Then graded in HDR10 and Dolby Vision over at Silver Salt Restoration in Long. Results? Not bad. It’s not the best of the 4K masters that Arrow has ever done, but it looks faithful to my memory of how the film looked back in the day. The image is a little rougher than expected, with a heavy layer of grain throughout the product and a slightly soft appearance. The upgrades over the aging 1080p Warner disc is certainly massive, though, as that disc was notoriously “meh” even for Blu-ray standards. There’s a decent uptick in fine details throughout, as well as richer and more impressive colors. The film isn’t exactly a primary color shade powerhouse, but the fire arrows during the fight with the Celts, or the blast of green foliage really pop off the screen. Skin tones are rich and ruddy (which is typical of the 90s), but cleanly balanced with good contrast and solid black levels. Again, the heavy grain can sometimes obscure details in the darker castle shots, but it’s a more natural look than artificially altered.









Audio:

I’m not sure, but I THINK that this is a new audio MIX and not just a simple re-encode of the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track found on the Warner Blu-ray from back in the day. It’s not massively different, but the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track found on Arrow’s 4K UHD feels a bit richer, with more robust LFE in spots. The dialog is crisp and cleanly located in the center of the room as expected, and the surrounds are rather rambunctious in the final battle between the merry men and the Sheriff’s goons. I did find the LFE to be moderate at best, but still responsive and punchy for the explosions, slamming doors, and the occasional thud of horses hooves. Simply put, it’s a very satisfactory track, but not one that rocks the doors off, and that’s very much in line with the last several home video releases, including Warner’s aging Blu-ray.













Extras:

• PREVIOUSLY RESTORED IN 4K BY ARROW FILMS
• 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 multi-part documentary featuring 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
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Paul Shipper
• Collectors' perfect-bound booklet featuring 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 postcard-sized art cards

Final Score: ​

Featuring both the theatrical cut and the extended cut (the extended cut is not my favorite as it simply adds a bunch of scenes with Alan Rickman hamming it up, which adds to the already overly comedic element of his character), this 4K UHD disc is a nice upgrade over our old Warner Blu-ray. It may not be the best Robin Hood adaptation ever (I’m really looking forward to the Hugh Jackman version this year), but it is a blast of a film with all of the excesses of the 80s and early 90s that we all love and adore. The extras are absolutely killer, and the upgrade audio/video is a nice tough for home theater nerds everywhere. I know I shouldn’t, but I really do recommend this one as a fun watch.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Alan Rickman
Directed by: Kevin Reynolds
Written by: Pen Densham, John Watson
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Arrow Video
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 155 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: May 26th, 2026

Recommendation: Awesomely Fun Watch