Robin Hood (1991) John Irvin   This film began life as a proposed big-budget production at 20th century Fox, and was to be directed by John McTiernen (Die Hard). Upon hearing that Warner Bros. had secured Kevin Costner for their Robin Hood movie, Fox shelved their plans for their epic and slashed the budget to make this smaller version (and McTiernen was replaced by British director John Irvin). Hoping to beat the Costner film's release, this version was rushed into production, which meant filming quickly during a rainy English winter. Patrick Bergan (Patriot Games) stars in the title role with Uma Thurman (Kill Bill) as a feisty Marian who spends much of the film disguised as a boy. Bergen fits into the role a little more comfortably than Costner, and Jeroen Krabbé and Jurgen Prochnow effectively counter him with black-hearted villainy. This production also places the Saxon-Norman tensions in the foreground (whereas Prince of Thieves ignored it entirely). Shooting in the winter forced the film to be grey and rainy much of the time. Still, it is better photographed than Prince of Thieves. Like the weather, the style of the film is also rude and gritty. Traditionally, one expects Robin to woo Marian under the trees of Sherwood on a warm sunny day. Here, however, they copulate in a barn after taking shelter from the rain. This approach, if less in keeping with tradition, is admittedly more historically accurate. It is not a bad production overall, but the limited scale and generally shallow treatment give it the feel of a television film. —Paul Andrew MacLean

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