Saturday Morning Cinema – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

About a 6-minute read

We need to talk about Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves(with immediate bonus points awarded if you already have the soundtrack running through your head). Why do we need to talk about this 1991 Kevin Costner epic? Because it’s weird. I remember seeing the movie in the theater with my parents. I remember there was a lot that little old me found exhilarating, dangerous, and rife with adventure. As I watched again for the first time in decades, I quickly discovered there were massive segments of the movie I did not remember. Additionally, I don’t recall finding the performances to be, well, bad. I don’t mean that the actors universally did poorly, but several of the key characters lack the expected gravitas to carry their scenes. For a movie my nostalgia labeled as an epic, I found myself not being able to take Prince of Thieves (PoT) seriously (and there’s already a tightly crafted Robin Hood movie to tickle the lighter side). But, let’s look at the film’s merits and demerits to allow a fair assessment.

First, Prince of Thieves is Kevin Costner at the height of his powers. This film is post-Dances with Wolves and pre-The Postman and Waterworld (which is actually a movie I like), which means KC had the Oscar golden ticket to put out whatever kind of project he wanted, and yeah, PoT was a box office big deal. Costner’s involvement alone in the early 90’s would put butts in seats, and when you throw in other star power, a catchy soundtrack, and probably one of the most recognizable soundtrack songs of the 90’s, you are going to get the second highest grossing film of 1991 that raked in nearly $400 million worldwide and easily recouped its $48 million budget in domestic earnings of $165 million (Credit: Box Office Mojo). Terminator 2: Judgment Day, however, proved too powerful for the hooded crusader, and one could argue the comparison in quality and cultural impact is no contest given the general consensus of T2’s lasting recognition as one of cinema’s greatest achievements, where PoT feels as though it has languished as filmic bloat owing its success to Costner’s popularity while not having the quality of other Robin Hood productions. It is a movie that attracted fans, left critics unimpressed, and suffered a harsher judgment from time.

I mentioned PoT’s great star power provided by Costner, Morgan Freeman (before being Shawshanked), Christian Slater, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Alan Rickman. Those are huge names for one cast, and Rickman masterfully projects as an unhinged, syrupy version of the Sheriff of Nottingham. These are actors you want to see on screen to leave you happily munching on popcorn while they munch through scenes. The problem is, the characters are silly, and most of the performances are distracting.

To start, Costner is not a good Robin Hood. He’s not English, nor is he brooding enough to buy into the premise he would go through the effort of leading a band of forest-folk in a roundabout revenge plot. Frankly, there is no way Costner’s Hood could inspire anyone, let alone a large group, to follow and elevate him to the mythic peaks that Robin Hood lore inhabits. Then, there is Morgan Freeman portraying a Moor owing a life debt to Robin Hood. I don’t know that there’s anything inherently wrong with Freeman’s role, other than his accent feels like it’s not something an actor could get away with in 2026. Overall, Freeman’s Azeem is a flat, mostly expressionless character. Christian Slater really isn’t on screen enough for viewers to connect with his character and ultimately care why he is so moody. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is a fine Maid Marian who is rebellious and stalwart until she inexplicably falls in love with Robin for seemingly no reason other than he was a childhood crush come home. Truthfully, Marian is probably one of the most normal characters in the movie because of the consistency and grounded portrayal.

The best character in PoT, and the most outlandish, is Rickman’s Sheriff; it’s unlike any other portrayal I can think of and feels completely symbiotic with Rickman’s performance. His deranged Sheriff, with aspirations for the crown, grew out of a tragic childhood where he believed he was orphaned by his parents’ death and mercifully raised by a witch who taught him the ways of dark magic and the occult. The Sheriff comes to lean on the portents of dark magic to guide his actions despite the deleterious effects to his psyche. Rickman perfectly captures the Sheriff’s growing instability as he flows across the sets donning perturbed expressions and releasing dialogue dripping in repressed cruelty that eventually culminates in violent expressions. The Sheriff of Nottingham represents PoT’s maximum degree of eccentricity. In a film of flat and strange character portrayals, Rickman leans into the oddity with a masterful delivery.

Inconsistent performances and a wandering yet simplistic story, sitting atop a strong base of gritty medieval set pieces, create a cinematic hot dish that risks disappointing its consumers until the pièce de résistance comes along: the soundtrack. Maybe it’s just me, but this soundtrack has an iconic sound that’s stuck with me since my first listen. Michael Kamen’s iconic melodies and instrumentation crescendo into charging themes that emphasize the regality of medieval England while underscoring the inherent turmoil of the period and the film’s characters’ experiences. I remember playing this suite in school band – don’t think I’ve ever been so into playing a bass drum as I was for that. As the mallet forced thunderous tones across an undulating soundscape of rising horns and agile woodwinds, visions of arrows flying across the sky and clashing swords filled my imagination. If you have read any of my other pieces, you know how I love a good soundtrack and what it can do to transform a film, and so it goes for Prince of Thieves.

Kamen’s score, however, is not even the film’s musical superstar. That title goes to none other than Bryan Adams and his infectious (Everything I Do) I Do It for You. The song that served as the theme for Hood and Marian’s romance, as well as the full credit accompaniment, hit number one on the Billboard charts and stayed there for seven weeks. Even today, it is as recognizable a 90’s song as any. It is built for the slow dance and helping Cupid’s arrow find a bullseye.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is undeniably flawed. While there is plenty to criticize, there is also much to appreciate. Costner does not carry this film, but Rickman dazzles. The set pieces are beautiful enough to transport viewers to Sherwood Forest and Nottingham Castle. Then, the soundtrack, from composition to pop ballad mastery, wraps the production in sonic magic. I will not say PoT is a good movie, but I still appreciate the world it takes me to.