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Robin Of Sherwood - Complete
RRP: £99.99
Our Price: £33.00 (subject to change)
The classic and possibly definitive Robin Hood
Review date: 2007-05-07 Rating: 10 out of 10
I took a bit of a risk with this boxset, as I'd only heard of Robin of Sherwood in relation to the new Robin Hood series. For the record, in regards to the current series - I liked the theme music but wasn't completely impressed with the execution. Even the heroes are a little too brattish, selfish and self-absorbed for my taste. So I started watching this old series with a sense of trepidation.
About five minutes into the premiere episode (Robin and the Sorceror) my doubts were completely blown away. The direction and camerawork in those opening scenes are big-budget film-quality, and it continues in that vein for the rest of the series. The casting is just perfect. Michael Sheard was a major surprise as Robin Hood. Despite his pretty-boy matinee-idol looks, he portrays a remarkably strong and charsimatic leader. Jason Connery's new Robin was a major wrench. He has none of the gravitas of Sheard, but compensates for that with great physicality. Clive Mantle adds a surpisingly gentle and sensitive side to Little John. Ray Winstone portrays the roughest toughest character ever to hit a Television screen - Will Scarlett. And Phil Pope is perfectly cast (literally) as Friar Tuck - I'm pretty sure he's not wearing a fat suit! Judi Trott's Marian can be a delicate filower, but there's also a hint of steel and strength in her portrayal. Nikolas Grace is right up there with Basil Rathbone as the best Sheriff ever. A simultaneously likeable and charsimatic, but also downright evil character that you really don't want to cross. And Addie as Guy of Gisbourne is a simultaneously sympathetic and reviled character.
'Kip' Carpenter also made some risky and controversial changes to the legend. The biggest was the addition of mysticism, which took quite a bit of getting used to. But it also allows more diverse stories to be told, and adds a mythological element to Robin Hood's origins that was never there before. The other change was making Maid Marian a full-blooded member of the Merry Men. This change is cleverly explored in 'The Witch of Eilsdon', wherein Kip convinces the audience that Marian is a worth member of the team. The other big change is choosing Clannad to write and perform the soundtrack. It's a daring creative choice which pays off in spades. To my contemporary ears, the theme sounds dated, but the rest of the themes are timeless.
The Boxsets have plenty of goodies on offer. Such as a 5-part documentary, with interviews from all the surviving cast members. There's also a great cast commentary from Mark Ayres (Nasir), Jason Connery (Robin) and Clive Mantle (Little John). The cast commentary is a revelation, as I had no idea that the cast had remained good friends long after the show had ended. That is extremely rare in the entertainment industry - a perfect example of art imitating life.
Ironically enough, both Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes series (my favourite of all Holmes rendition) and Robin of Sherwood started at the same time. Amazingly enough, the show still stands the test of time. The casting is perfect and the performances are strong, and the storylines are thoughtful and intelligent, but also entertaining and fun to watch. I strongly recommend this Complete Collection to all discerning TV viewers.
--
David Lim
"A person who lives only in the present and has not a full consciousness of what lies behind his back is not fully human."
--Tulia Zevi, President of the Italian Jewish Community
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Reviews
magical, mystical series
Review date: 2007-03-16 Rating: 10 out of 10
I had to get commercial DVD of this series - my old tapes are badly degraded.
I watched it on cable in mid-80's. Had the pleasure of meeting several of the cast member at various Conventions -- Praed was a wonderful person, absolute gentlemen and guest with no airs whatsoever. I was at his very first Con, Scorpio in 1988. Several of us stayed up with him to wee hours calming his Con jitters. He was so nervous that he'd "fail"!
The guy playing Will Scarlett really was Will Scarlett! He was a rascal and a ruffian.
The series itself was like a dream. I even enjoyed Connery's series. Especially appreciated were the mystical links to the Horned God, druidism, etc. This gave it an emotional power and a cinematic beauty that was riviting.
Excellent Series - shame about the transfer.
Review date: 2005-12-05 Rating: 6 out of 10
There is little extra to be said regarding how wonderful this series is, or indeed how well it has stood up to the passage of time. However, the digital transfer is terrible. I am not refering to problems with the quality of the original video tape - we all accept noise in the original as a something unavoidable - instead I refer to the poor quality of the encoding. A great deal of video bandwidth has been used but with some terrible quantisation artifacts. It is obvious the encoding company did a single pass straight from video to target size rather than a high quality (and extremely large file size) and then use multiple passes to get the best possible quality at the target size. Shame on you 'Network' - employ people who know how to encode DVD or get out of the business. 'Network' are relying on us thinking 'It's better than nothing.' 'Network' have bodged a number of classic releases now - it would be better if they were nothing. I can, and do, better with my home encoding from B-CAM tapes.
The best Robin ever - new one next year?
Review date: 2005-10-15 Rating: 10 out of 10
I remember watching this on a Saturday afternoon when I was younger and still enjoy it now - some great actors and brilliant casting - from praed, winstone, connery and many others - they were spot on. It has a realism that a lot of american series don't have - there is actually mud and dirt and all the good guys don't know advanced karate...like buffy, hercules etc
the stories are well done, don't always suspend belief like the old flynn movies (see me take on 40 guards and escape...), although their are a few dodgy epsiodes towards the end of season 3 where richard o'brian lends a hand and they go a bit too mystical and odd but every series has few oddities. The extras and interviews are good and insightful, the gag reels are very funny and for the amount of hours you get for less than £40 you can't really grumble
It is nice that some of the peripheral charcters have stories and personalities of their own and aren't trophy helpers, you can believe they could have existed and are individual with their own hopes, dreams and opinions. There is humour, action and sadness, and the saracen character missing from legend was so liked on first view they kept him in - do you reckon the costner junk copied (badly)?
Good series, but the BBC are considering making a new series of robin hood for next year - if they can match or better this fantasic - but this is arguably the best translation of the legend so far only disappointing because they ran out of money at the end of the third season when their was so much more they could have done...The sky series doesn't even bear noting, damn I did, please ignore that bit and the series!
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Michael Praed
Nickolas Grace
Judi Trott
Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626235840
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 8
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2005-08-31
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Language: English (Original Language)