30th Anniversary Salute: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Back on June 14, 1991, Warner Bros. and Morgan Creek Productions released the box office movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in theatres, starring then very hot commodity Kevin Costner [who was just coming off Dances with Wolves and would soon be heading into the filming of JFK] in the lead role of Robin of Locksley (aka Robin Hood).

The film was directed by Kevin Reynolds [who went on to direct The Count of Monte Cristo and the History mini-series Hatfields & McCoy], naturally, told the story of the English folk tale that originated in the 12th century about the legendary man who robbed from the rich to give to the poor, battling the evil Sheriff of Nottingham (the late, great Alan Rickman) and hoping to rescue his love the Maid Marian (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). The all-star cast includes Morgan Freeman as Azeem, a Moor warrior, who stood side-by-side with Robin and Christian Slater as Will Scarlett, the younger, half-brother of the titular character.

While the film went on to earn over $390 million worldwide at the box office; it was both praised for great performances by Freeman and Rickman, the latter who went on to win a BAFTA for his performance but also maligned due to Costner’s lack of an accent. It has been reported that Costner wanted an accent but Reynolds thought it would be too distracting and that indecision was clearly on apparent throughout the film. In fact, Costner won a Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor that year and Slater was nominated for Worst Supporting Actor. The critical reviews were also hot and cold; but the film, over time, became a bit of a classic film. It should also be noted that the film’s theme song “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” by Bryan Adams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

RELATED: A Knight’s Tale Anniversary

The film, celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year, also starred Michael McShane as Friar Tuck; Brian Blessed as Robin’s father, Lord Locksley; Michael Wincott as the Sheriff’s cousin Guy of Gisborne; Nick Brimble as Little John; Walter Sparrow as Duncan and the one and only, the late, great Sean Connery as King Richard.

You can watch a trailer for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves:

You can also pay a nominal fee to watch the movie via Amazon and you can check out this Den of Geek article that highlights the big competition at the time between three different Robin Hood projects and much more about the movie.