Buy This DVD Box Set Now By Clicking On The Icon Below!
Buy This DVD Box Set Now By Clicking On
The Icon Below!
Title:
Robin Hood: Season One: 5 – Disc Set
Region:
One
Genre:
Action Adventure Series
Episodes
Disc One: “Will You Tolerate This?”, “Sheriff Got Your Tongue”, “Who
Shot The Sheriff”
Episodes
Disc Two: “Parent Hood”, “Turk Flu”
Episodes
Disc Three: “The Taxman Cometh”, “Brothers In Arms”, “Tattoo? What
Tattoo?”
Episodes
Disc Four: “Peace? Off?”, “Dead Man Walking”, “The Return Of The
King”, “A Clue: No”
Stars:
Jonas Armstrong, Lucy Griffiths, Richard Armitage, Keith Allen, Sam Troughton,
Gordon Kennedy, Harry Lloyd, Joe Armstrong, Anjiali Jay, Michael Elwyn, and
William Beck
Writers:
Dominic Minghella, Paul Cornell, Mark Wadlow, Debbie Oates, Richard Kurti, Bev
Doyle, Joe Turner, and Simon J. Ashford,
Directors:
John McKay, Richard Standeven, and Declan O’Dwyer
Producer:
Richard Burrell
Executive
Producers: Foz Allen and Dominic Minghella
Feature
length: 578 minutes
Extras:
Hood Academy Featurette, Dressing The Hood Featurette, Designing
The Hood Featurette, Robin Hood – The Making Of Featurette,
Character Profiles, Audio Commentary
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound
Subtitles:
English Subtitles For The Deaf And Hearing Impaired
Packaging:
Five-Disc Digipack Gatefold Within A Clear Plastic Slip
Chapter
Stops: 12 Per Episode
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Stereo Sound
Year
of DVD Release: 2007
Home
Video Distributor: BBC Video
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Every
generation has it’s own version of Robin Hood just as every generation
seems to have it’s own version of the Camelot legend. For the record nothing
will ever replace Errol Flynn in The Adventures Of Robin Hood regardless
of how dated and historically inaccurate the film may be perceived. Some films
are timeless regardless of when one sees them and that version just simply
resonates with each group of kids that sees it in my opinion. However when I was
a boy it seemed as though The Adventures Of Robin Hood was on every other
month usually on a Sunday morning or afternoon so I grew up on it like
generations before me did. To this
day I think it is the benchmark from which all cinematic dramatizations of the
classic legendary hero’s adventures are both measured and inspired by. Each
version of Robin Hood is also very much a product of it’s time with the
series producers comparing how the Errol Flynn version captures the spirit of
America becoming a world power and the impending entry into World War II, but I
also would like to add that The Adventures Of Robin Hood also very much
fits into the escapist fantasy of depression era America where people were
rendered penniless and forced into slave wage like situations while others
profited from exploiting them. Imagine 1930s era New York with people living in
shantytowns in Central Park while enormous skyscrapers were being built around
them. The idea of Robin of Locksley, a man who gives up his lands and title to
steal from the rich and give to the poor with a band of followers in the forest
would be as appealing as Santa Claus is to children.
This
new TV series incarnation of Robin Hood reflects the antiwar sentiment in
the Middle East with Robin Hood (Jonas
Armstrong) and his loyal servant and companion Much (Sam Troughton, Grandson of
The Second Doctor Patrick Troughton) discovering the real evil to be fought is
in his own England. Robin carries a heavy feeling of resentment and humility
after serving in The Holy Land and learning much from the Muslim and Jewish
pilgrims that live there. His anger is not at the king so much as it is with the
Roman Catholic Church, but with Richard still fighting in the Crusades, Robin is
faced to deal with the evil Sheriff of Nottingham (played with zest by Keith
Allan) and his enforcer Sir Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage), who have taken a
rule through fear approach over the shire and purposely keep the people weak
through taxation to better control them. Even Marian (Lucy Griffiths), who in
this version is the daughter of the former Sheriff of Nottingham, is not too
thrilled with Robin’s return since she does not yet know how the war has
changed him. From here on within the first two episodes the basic paradigm most
should be familiar with is set, but lengthened a bit with character storylines,
some sword and archery action, and a bit of humor as well as a cast where the
majority of the lead actors are in their twenties to appeal to younger viewers.
I
did not expect to like Robin Hood: Season One or “Series One” as it
would be called in England, but somehow I got won over in part to the amiable
persona of Jonas Armstrong, the refreshingly out of the ordinary beauty of Lucy
Griffiths, who is more earthy and natural than other actresses I’ve seen play
Marian, the interesting manner of Richard Armitage as Sir Guy of Gisborne, who
while a villain, does not sneer for the camera. On the contrary, all of the
sneering goes to Keith Allan, who brings multiple levels of humor, camp, and
evil to his personification of the Sheriff of Nottingham. The scene-stealer in
the series is Sam Troughton as Much, who had a small role in Alien Vs.
Predator and in some ways reminds me of a cross between Paul Bettany and
Matthew Lillard, minus the annoying weirdness Lillard sometimes brings to his
characters. I think Much was the character that got me to give the series more
than a passing glance, but as a whole, this is a better Robin Hood than I
expected. It is not the best Robin Hood, but it is more entertaining than
I expected and I look forward to seeing series two whenever it is released on
DVD. The second season has not yet aired on BBC One. The series also features
what looked to me like some classic Sam Raimi style kinetic camera work to
enhance the action.
Robin
Hood
is a co-production between Tiger Aspect Productions, BBC and BBC America. The
show is shot in high definition and airs on both BBC One and BBC HD while only
the standard definition version is broadcast on BBC America and BBC America On
Demand. Hopefully this will change in the future and American viewers can enjoy
the show in high definition too, if not on BBC America, then maybe PBS Thirteen
HD. It’s odd in a way to watch a TV show shot on high definition video, then
down converted for DVD, and then upconverting it again using the Toshiba HD DVD
HD-XA1. Too bad it just wasn’t released straight to HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.
As expected, the 16 by 9 enhanced aspect ratio presentation looks stunning and
the English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is quite enveloping too. An
English Stereo Soundtrack and English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing
Impaired are encoded for all 13 season one episodes on DVD too.
For
whatever the reason, there is no booklet within the five-disc Digipack gatefold
detailing exactly who is speaking in the audio commentaries recorded for various
episodes and not even the packaging makes note of who the speakers are. This
makes commenting and the commentary a little harder too since at times the
accents make it a little difficult to understand what the actors and producers
are saying and distinguishing between some of them too. So generally there are
four episode length audio commentaries in all for the installments entitled
“Sheriff Got Your Tongue?”, “Parent Hood”, “Tattoo? What Tattoo?”
and “A Clue: No.” The rest of the extra value material is spread across the
five discs and can be viewed with either a “Play All” feature or
individually. These features include the featurettes Robin Hood – The
Making Of (29:15), Dressing The Hood (16:03), Designing The Hood
(11:02), Hood Academy (15:42) and the actors giving profiles for their
respective characters of Robin Hood (7:54), Marian (5:32), Roy (4:06), Sir Guy
Of Gisborne (5:07), The Sheriff Of Nottingham (4:46), Djaq (4:20), Will Scarlet
(4:33) and Much (1:04).
The
interactive menus feature animated transitions with full motion scene selections
and are all easy to navigate. There are previews for various BBC Video titles on
the discs that include Planet Earth and Doctor Who. Robin Hood:
Season One: 5 – Disc Set is available on DVD now at retailers on and
offline courtesy of BBC Video.
©
Copyright 2007 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Buy This DVD Box Set Now By Clicking On
The Icon Below!