A classic

I have to admit that I wasn’t really eager to watch yet another version of this timeless tale but since this movie is considered as the best version ever made, I had to watch it at some point. To be honest, I was at first actually worried during the first scenes. Indeed, the whole thing looked way too cheesy for me, especially Errol Flynn with his tights, pointy hat and haircut which all looked quite ridiculous. However, from the moment Robin Hood went to Nottingham Castle on his own with just a bow and some arrows to provoke his enemies right on the spot, I was actually sold. Indeed, not only the action scene that followed was quite thrilling, but the boldness and recklessness of the character was just neat. Eventually, while watching this movie, it became pretty obvious that the main issue with the more recent versions is that they usually chose a grim and serious approach but it is completely misunderstanding the material. Indeed, the story is actually fairly ridiculous and, in this case, they turned it into a fun and light entertaining tale which was a perfect fit. In fact, I was also surprised by how much Disney’s animated version turned out to be pretty much a copycat of this movie. Seriously, they basically turned the characters into some animals and added a few songs but the mood and the plot were otherwise pretty much identical. This movie was also the obvious precursor of all the super-heroes movies which would rule the box-office more than 80 years later and it is rather surprising that it took the movie studios so long to figure out the commercial potential of the genre. Anyway, to conclude, this movie really deserves its solid reputation and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.