There’s a strange thing about the tale of Robin Hood. Everyone knows who he was; the fellow with a bow and arrow who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. His story’s just as famous as that of King Arthur, save for one thing: he’s probably most famous as a fox.
Of course, the story of Robin Hood is like that of King Arthur in another sense: there is no such thing as real historical accuracy when telling the stories, because nobody really knows who these figures were. Sure, we like to pretend that they looked like Clive Owen and Russell Crowe, but those gritty and “accurate” films such as 2004’s King Arthur and last year’s Robin Hood are still criticized because, well, a lot of their stuff is made up.
With Acorn Media’s new release of Robin of Sherwood, a 1980s British television series based on the legend of Robin Hood, we can finally get back to enjoying these stories the way they were meant to be told: as myths. In this three-disc set, we reach the happy medium between the chuckling fox pictured above and the grey-toned grimace of Russell Crowe.
The British television version of Robin Hood features plenty of sword fighting and medieval trickery, but also has just enough supernatural elements to make it fantastical. In the first episode, “Robin Hood and the Sorcerer,” Robin fights off Little John, who has been possessed by the titular sorcerer. Then there’s Herme the Hunter, a shamanic type figure who gives Robin his bow and sets him on the path of righteousness. He’s sort of Merlin-like figure who is given subtle magical abilities. Also he wears a deer’s head.
Is the Blu-ray set worth the buy? Well, it contains all thirteen episodes of the show’s first two seasons, including the shocking episode thirteen, a true game changer that doesn’t feel gimmicky in the slightest. The show is a really solid period piece that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the set includes plenty of special features, including most notably a forty-page booklet about the legend of Robin Hood. My only complaint about the set is that, for a Blu-ray, the show itself has a full screen (as opposed to a widescreen) layout. That’s only a small quibble, though, because the show is excellent and the bonus features are as well. Just because he’s not played by a cartoon fox doesn’t mean the show can’t be lots of fun.
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