Robin Hood Blu Ray Review (Lionsgate)

Robin Hood is a 2018 action film directed by Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders, Criminal Justice, & Hustle). It was produced by Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street, Out of the Furnace, The Ides of March, & Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle) for Appian Way. It was released 110 years after the first Robin Hood film. It was nominated for three Razzies awards. The budget was $84.8 million & it grossed $100 million at the box office worldwide. Lord Robin of Loxley (played by: Taron Egerton from the Kingsmen franchise, Rocketman, Legend, & Billionaire Boys Club) lives in Nottingham, he has a easy life & lives with his girlfriend Marian (played by: Eve Hewson from The Knick, Papillon, Bridge of Spies, & Blood Ties). His life completely changes when he is drafted by the corrupt Sheriff of Nottingham (played by: Ben Mendelsohn from Captain Marvel, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Ready Player One, & The Dark Knight Rises) to fight in the Third Crusade against the Saracens. After 4 years, he becomes disillusioned with the Crusades when he fails to prevent his commander Guy of Gisbourne (played by: Paul Anderson from Peaky Blinders, Hostiles, The Revenant, & 24 Hours to Live) from executing prisoners which includes a young boy.

When he returns to Nottingham, Robin learns from his old friend Friar Tuck (played by: Tim Minchin from Californication, Upright, & Squinters) that the Sheriff had him officially declared dead two years prior in order to seize Robin’s land & wealth to continue funding the war effort at the behest of the corrupt Cardinal (played by: F. Murray Abraham from Homeland, Scarface, Amadeus, & Surviving the Game). His whole community is poor & struggling to survive now. Marian has moved on & she’s with Will (played by: Jamie Dornan from the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, The Fall, A Private War, & Anthropoid) now. He is the voice of their community & the ambitious new leader of the people. Yahya also known as John (played by: Jamie Foxx from Ray, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Django Unchained, & Collateral), the father of the kid Robin tried to save back in the war offers his help so Robin can take back what’s his & save his home from all the corruption plus get some much needed revenge. John trains Robin to improve his archery & combat skills. He is forced to become friends with the Sheriff of Nottingham to learn about his upcoming plans. He is also under disguise & known as “The Hood” where he robs the Sheriff of Nottingham of all the money he’s stealing from his community to give it back to them. Living a double life, Robin tries his best to keep a balance so he can execute his plan. Marian & Will plus the city helps them out to end all this destruction. They fight the battle but Will gets injured & witnesses a kiss between the former lovers which sets off his path to darkness. Who will win this war????

Robin Hood is one of my all time favorite cinematic characters so it’s a real shame that it flopped bad at the box office because I was looking forward to the sequel that they set up from this one. It kinda moved a little away from the classic tale & they tried to deliver a more modern version for this generation. It felt more like a superhero movie to me. I actually thought this film was very fun & entertaining, it still had plenty of original source material incorporated into it also. I really enjoyed that they explored the origin story more in this. It was loaded with action & everything I expected from it was here. Taron Egerton, Ben Mendelsohn, Paul Anderson, F. Murray Abraham, & Jamie Foxx turned in quality performances plus it had a solid supporting cast. I didn’t expect any Oscar nominations for Robin Hood but I was surprised it got nominated for some Razzies because it was better than that. The cinematography was top notch in this, that was the true highlight for this production because it was visually stunning. Was this the best adaptation of Robin Hood ever made? No but it was a nice twist with a modern vibe added to it. I seen it compared to the somewhat recent King Arthur: Legend of the Sword by a decent amount & I thought it was a huge improvement over that movie. It’s worth checking out, give it a shot. RECOMMENDED!!!!

Let’s talk about the high definition presentation from Lionsgate! This 1080p (2.40:1) transfer looks fantastic on blu ray! One thing that no one can take away from this production is the visual style & cinematography, it’s probably the best looking Robin Hood adaptation ever made. It has 3 different audio options which include  English: Dolby Atmos, English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1, & Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 on the release. It’s like seeing it in theaters. It has a nice boost to it & all the action scenes are elevated here. The dialogue is crystal clear & the music sounds great on it. It also features English SDH & Spanish subtitles.

Let’s discuss the special features from Lionsgate on the blu ray! “Outlaws and Auteurs: Reshaping Robin Hood” is a little over an hour & this documentary is broken down into 7 parts. It has interviews with director Otto Bathurst, actors Taron Egerton, Ben Mendelsohn, Jamie Foxx, Jamie Dornan, Eve Hewson, & various members of the production. It goes into great detail & covers most of the production. They chat about what made them want to make another Robin Hood film. They talk about the characters & the actors who played them in Robin Hood. They bring up the great chemistry between the leads. They mention it’s a more modern version of the classic tale.  They chat about the locations, production design, & music for the feature. They chat about the old story still being relevant to today & how it easily fit. Almost 5 minutes of “Outtakes”. 6 “Deleted Scenes” that ends up a little over 8 minutes. It also includes a slipcover, a digital code, & a DVD copy of the release. It’s available everywhere right now, CHECK IT OUT!!!!