Rent The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Down with the Norman oppressors! Robin Hood - English outlaw superhero - The Adventures of Robin Hood review by HW

If somebody asked ‘what’s a classic adventure movie from the first half of the 20th century’, this is it. As expected, the goodies and baddies are very clear cut. You’ve got handsome Errol Flynn as the Robin Hood who can do no wrong. He somehow manages to pull off being a dashing and romantically charming action hero despite wearing that ridiculous green costume. Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone are classic smarmy evil villains.

What makes this swashbuckler stand out from the pack is its gloriously dazzling technicolour, which makes it feel like a 1950s film. There’s also very impressive sets and armies of extras, and Sherwood Forest is depicted here as an English Eden. The speeded-up sword fighting and stunts remain thrilling. What I didn’t expect was Robin being portrayed as a freedom fighter, leading the poor Saxons against their decadent, oppressive Norman overlords (although historically speaking, I’m not sure if Saxons and Normans were even relevant terms by Robin Hood’s supposed era. The costumes certainly don’t look 11th century). There’s also some references to rather gruesome violence of ear lopping and blinding that somehow got past the Hollywood code and Olivia de Havilland is quite a fiery and certainly not useless damsel. Personally, I liked how the movie paid close tribute to the original Robin stories with its slightly episodic narrative. 

Overall, if you don’t mind old-fashioned movies, this is still a thoroughly enjoyable romp, whose influence I now see on many movies that came after, like ‘Princess Bride’. 

Classic Romantic Adventure - The Adventures of Robin Hood review by GI

British history, even when it's the legendary bits, has been richly mined by cinema not least Hollywood. This is the quintessential historical romantic adventure film that follows the children's Robin Hood stories. It's a rousing swashbuckler full of sword fights, archery battles and a classic tale of good versus evil. All the famous scenes are here, including the archery contest, Robin's rescue from the gallows and the return of Richard The Lionheart (Ian Hunter). Beautifully filmed in rich technicolour it stars the inimitable Errol Flynn, whose best films involved swordplay, the classic cinematic hero. As Robin Hood he dons green tights to fight the dastardly Guy of Gisborne (Basil Rathbone) and the treasonous Prince John (Claude Rains) to literally rob the rich to give to the poor and all for the love of King and Country....oh and the Lady Marian (Olivia de Havilland). This is a wonderful film, one you probably saw as a child and were captivated by the spectacle and action which is fast and fun. There's a famous score by composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold and it's a fine example of the use of leitmotifs. Arguably this is the greatest Robin Hood film, this is cinema at its purest, a wonderful film, and one to enjoy time and time again.