Product: Robin of Sherwood: The Complete Collection (1983)
Rating: 1.0
One star is hardly deserved
This is the worst retelling of a time-honored legend that I've ever seen. I purchase both books and DVDs frequently from Amazon, and this is the first Amazon purchase that I regret making. I give it one star only because I can't give it a 0. The only resemblance to the Robin Hood legend is in the names of a few characters and places. The one bright spot, as far as casting is concerned is Michael Praed as Robin, and he disappears after a few early episodes. His replacement, for the final 13 episodes, is Jason Connery as someone named Robert of Huntindon, who suddenly appears to take Robin's place, and is even referred to as Robin Hood more often than by his own name! Oh, yes. The original Robin Hood has shoulder length dark hair and sometimes -- mostly in the credits -- is shown wearing a hood. The replacement Robin Hood has shoulder-length blond hair, and sometimes -- mostly in the credits -- is shown wearing a hood.The band of "Merry Men" is a small group of 5 men and a rather unconvincing "Maid Marian," none of whom seem particularly merry. The band lives in the forest, the year around, apparently without any shelter whatsoever. The original 4 are Much, the miller's son, a rather naive young man who's role is to get into trouble so the others can come to his aid; Little John is a likeable but not particularly intelligent "strong man"; a fat Friar Tuck who's character is left rather undeveloped; and a nasty, hot tempered, argumentative troublemaker, "Will Scarlett," who is for some inexplicable reason tolerated by the others. A fifth member, a "Saracen" swordsman, joins them after a few episodes. Then, there is "Maid Marian" who lives in the forest with five men, who seems to be rather half-heartedly in love with both Robins, in turn, and proves to be a skilled archer with a longbow.The Sherrif of Nottinham is a loud mouth "villain" who treats his followers, including Guy Gisbourn his #2 man, with so much contempt and cruelty that it's unbelievable that his own men don't bury him alive. The story lines are developed specifically for this series and have little or no relationship to the familiar legend. The episodes are full of magic and supernatural events, there is a poorly explained "mystery wise-man" character, who seems to be regarded as a "wolf" although he wears a huge elk-like headdress. King Richard appears in a single early episode and turns out to be more of an enemy than ally to Robin.The one unreservedly positive aspect of the DVDs is the musical score by the fine Irish band Clannad. The heavy reliance on the supernatural is, I think overdone. Many of the episodes introduce new characters, who do not reappear in subsequent episodes, and there is relatively little continuity except in a few two-part programs. I don't feel that this set is worth the price, and I'm sorry that I bought it. It won't, however, stop me from shopping at Amazon!!