Review of Robin and Marian (1976) by Michael Y — 16 Nov 2010

Legendary stars Sean Connery and Audrey Hepburn make a fantastic duo as the legends Robin Hood and Maid Marian. If you love these stars you'll love this movie. If you love the Robin Hood lore and the many adventure films, then you might not like this movie.

It's been 20 long years in the Holy Crusades since Robin Hood had been in England, and after his (quite literally) drunk with power King Richard dies, the old Robin returns home to find the land conquered by another ruthless king, and Maid Marian is a nun. Now, I'm not a fan of the Robin Hood stories, but I liked this movie, mostly because it's completely different from every other Robin Hood movie. This is not the exciting, adventurous, somewhat comedic tale that Robin Hood is known for. This movie follows an old and tired Robin who has lost his flawless charm. This is a very dirty, violent and depressing tale of a fading legend and the regret of missed oppertunities and regaining pride despite old age. These are all incredable elements to make a great movie, but this movie is all just good ideas without that epic of a story inbetween. The movie tends to be slow at times, and it completely messes up the Robin Hood legend with melodrama and less action/adventureness. But it's not a bad thing.

This movie portrays it's bleak story with a just as bleak production. This is a dark and dirty representation of England that is not seen at all in previous Robin Hood movie. There is action, but instead of it being fun and exciting, it's actually quite brutal and bloody. The production budget seems to be pretty low too, seemingly being of less quality than Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Not that the low budget is bad, but it's just so uncommon. Though I might add that costumes are pretty well made and authentic.

This movie is a great example of star appeal. With wonderful preformances by it's star cast of Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn and Nicol Williamson, this movie is hard to resist seeing. And the story does have some interesting twists and ONE HELL OF A CLIMAX, but this is not the epic that Robin Hood represents. But then again, I don't care much for the genre of Robin Hood movies, and this movie is a refreshingly original and violently realistic take on the legend.