The Adventures Of Robin Hood HD DVD Review

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Title: The Adventures Of Robin Hood:

Media: HD DVD

Genre: Swashbuckling Action Adventure

Stars: Errol Flynn, Olivia deHavilland, Basil Rathbone. Claude Rains, Alan Hale, and Eugene Pallette

Writers: Norman Reilly Raine and Seton L. Miller

Based On Ancient Robin Hood Legends

Directors: Michael Curtiz and William Keighley

Feature length: 102 minutes

Extras: Documentaries, Audio Commentary, Outtakes, Music Only Audio Track, Leonard Maltin Hosts Night At the Movies 1938, With Trailer, Newsreel, Musical Short, And Cartoon, Robin Hood Through The Ages Featurette, Home Movies, More Vintage Cartoons, Short Subjects, Studio Blooper Reel, Galleries, Trailers, Audio Only Radio Show, and Korngold Scoring Session

Languages: English, French, and Spanish Language Dolby Digital 1.0 Plus Surround Sound

Subtitles: English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired and English, French and Spanish Language Subtitles

Packaging: Elite Red HD Case

Chapter Stops: 29

Sound: Dolby Digital 1.0 Plus Surround Sound

Year of Theatrical Release: 1938/HD DVD Release: 2006

Theatrical Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Warner Home Video

MPAA Rating: PG

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

When I was a boy it seemed like they used to show “The Adventures Of Robin Hood” every other Sunday on TV and I have never grown tired of watching it. In every sense of the word I consider this a classic. Yes it might seem quaint by contemporary standards and yes the dark ages were never so colorful as portrayed in “The Adventures Of Robin Hood,” but the film is very much like a fairy tale and Errol Flynn’s charisma as “Robin Hood” is nothing short of spectacular. One cannot help but love the character. There are also the memorable performances by Claude Rains as “Prince John” and Basil Rathbone as “Sir Guy.” Rathbone was a stoic actor in appearance and his villainous turns in “The Adventures Of Robin Hood,” “Captain Blood,” and “The Mark Of Zorro” is simply excellent. He is the villain you love to hate, but at the same time enjoy his wickedness onscreen. Olivia deHavilland is a heavenly “Maid Marian” and Alan Hale and Eugene Pallette are memorable as “Little John” and “Friar Tuck” respectively.

While King Richard is away on one of his crusades to the Holy Land, Prince John (Rains) conspires to make himself King when he discovers his brother is being held for ransom by Leopold of Austria and subsequently enforces harsh taxes and totalitarian terrors upon the Saxons. These funds are not to free his brother, but rather to buy his way to the throne. Saxon Noble Robin of Loxley (Flynn) leads a rebellion against Prince John’s regime to restore King Richard to the throne and bring equality to all English citizens.

To commemorate the 65^th anniversary of “The Adventures Of Robin Hood,” Warner Home Video had implemented their “Ultra-Resolution” process, which they had previously used on “Singin’ In The Rain,” to create a transfer that reveals sharper detail than in conventional Technicolor release prints. The process involves scanning the original Technicolor 3-strip black and white ‘records’ at extremely high (2k) resolution. The black and white records are then combined electronically to create color images, which are also electronically re-registered, steadied and cleaned before the final DVD was produced for the 2003 release. The results are a stunning high quality picture that still looks outstanding three years later.

It’s pretty much a given from my point of view that 9 times out off ten, Warner Brothers’ optical disc products will always deliver superior picture and sound, but I have to admit that the prospect of seeing “The Adventures Of Robin Hood” on HD DVD was exciting because in my mind I thought to myself, The DVD set was so good, how much better could the HD DVD version be? Well the answer is a lot! It’s amazing. The picture and sound quality are magnificent. The colors have never looked richer and deeper on home video with amazing detail down to the very texture of the clothing as well as the little details I have noticed before such as the ornaments on Robin’s shirt before he openly declares himself an outlaw and begins his rebellion against Prince John. Elements shine about and one can appreciate even the dents and scratches on the battle torn armor at the end of the film. This VC1 encoded transfer using an English Dolby Digital 1.0 Plus Surround Soundtrack that outclasses the 2003 DVD release is simply fantastic. “The Adventures Of Robin Hood” is more than just a fantastic demo disc; it is perhaps the best high definition release of a genuine Hollywood classic to be released on either HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc yet at the time of this writing. Warner Home Video deserves a special award for this one and has set the bar higher once again for everyone to aspire to.

“The Adventures Of Robin Hood” is presented in an aspect ratio of approximately (1.33:1) that preserves the way the film was exhibited theatrically as close as possible for home video users. In addition to the English Dolby Digital 1.0 Plus Surround Soundtrack, French, and Spanish Language Soundtracks are also provided along with English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and English, French and Spanish Language Subtitles as options. Film Historian Rudy Behlmer provides a feature length audio commentary taken from his observations on “The Adventures Of Robin Hood” from his book “Inside Warner Bros (1935 – 1951)” and there is also a music only audio track showcasing Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s score. While Behlmer reveals an extraordinary amount of information related to the legend of Robin Hood as well as background on the Actors, Director, and other collaborators, he neglects to mention the little intentional and unintentional mistakes such as Claude Raines reaction to his brother’s return exclaiming “King Lion!” or the fact that Errol Flynn’s prop sword is bent when he forces the guard at sword point to release Marian. I’m sure there are others to point out and discover like any film, but those are the two that caught my ear and eye respectively. The pop up menus that can be activated while the movie is in progress have a wood brown and leaf green style to them and all of the extra value features as well as the HD DVD features like zooming and then cursoring around the screen work flawlessly.

Among the extra value materials are “Warner Night At The Movies” (23:17) introduced by Leonard Maltin, which recreates what a theater patron might have seen onscreen in addition to a feature film like “The Adventures Of Robin Hood.” In fact if you let this play through in its entirety the feature starts right afterwards. Included in the opening attractions are trailers for “Dirty Faces,” a vintage newsreel, a vintage Warner Brothers musical short subject film of “Freddie Rich And His Orchestra,” and a vintage Warner Brothers cartoon entitled “Katnip Kollege,” which is presented in glorious 1080p with VC1 high definition encoding in the original (1.33:1) academy aperture aspect ratio. These features help to create a sociological context of what America was like in that era. A trailer gallery (36:30) of Errol Flynn films that include “Captain Blood,” “The Prince And The Pauper,” “The Adventures Of Robin Hood (1938 Original Theatrical Trailer)” and the 1942 reissue trailer, “Dodge City,” “The Private Lives Of Elizabeth And Essex,” “The Sea Hawk”, “The Dive Bomber,” “They Died With Their Boots On,” “Objective Burma!,” “Kim,” and “The Master Ballantrae” are also encoded on to the disc. In fact in addition to the outstanding 1080p high definition picture and lossless sound, the extra value materials that once required two standard definition DVDs to hold it all now fits on to one HD DVD disc nicely.

The balance of the extra value features includes the 1998 Turner Network documentary “Glorious Technicolor” (60:04), which is narrated by Angela Lansbury and through the course of 11 chapter stops discusses the evolution and impact of Technicolor on films. Next is the 2003 documentary that commemorated the film’s 65^th anniversary, “Welcome To Sherwood: The Story Of The Adventures Of Robin Hood” (55:42)), which is divided into 18 chapter stops and chronicles the making of the film featuring interviews with Writers and Historian Rudy Behlmer, Leonard Maltin, Robert Osborne, and Bob Thomas as well as Composer Korngold Expert John Mauceri and Art Director Gene Allen.

Next are two “Robin Hood” themed Warner Brothers “Loony Tunes” that include Bugs Bunny in “Rabbit Hood” (7:58) and Daffy Duck in “Robin Hood Daffy” (6:39), which have also been encoded with VC1 instead of MPEG2 and are presented in fabulous 1080p high definition picture and high resolution sound. There are also two Warner Brothers short subject films included as well. “The Cruise Of The Zaca” (1952) features Errol Flynn (19:56) and then there is the 9 minutes and 24 second short film “Cavalcade Of Archery” (1945). A featurette that focuses on the various filmed adaptations of “Robin Hood” before “The Adventures Of Robin Hood” (6:52) follows along with some home movie behind-the-scenes footage from the film’s production (13:18), a reel of silent “Outtakes” (8:26), and a blooper reel (14:23).

Audio extra value features include the May 11, 1938 National Public Radio Broadcast of “Robin Hood” and 12 selections from Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s piano sessions. Photo galleries wrap up the extra features and they cover “Historical Art”, “Costume Designs”, “Scene Concept Drawings”, Cast & Crew Photos”, and “Publicity & Poster Materials.”.

The disc comes house in the standard plastic Elite Red HD Case, which in itself is an improvement over the cardboard digipack packaging used for the 2003 DVD release. “The Adventures Of Robin Hood:” is a must purchase for HD DVD users everywhere and is available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Warner Home Video.

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