Big Picture Big Sound

The Series

Is there anyone in the Western world who doesn't know the myth of Robin Hood? Ask any child or adult, for that matter, about Robin Hood and they will tell you he robbed from the rich to give to the poor. Now the BBC has revived this legend into a big budget television drama series custom-tailored for U.S. audiences (it's actually a BBC America production). Gone are the pointy hats and tights of Errol Flynn and any hints of campiness and in their stead are a modern edge and political overtones appropriate to our era.

Robin of Locksley (Jonas Armstrong) returns from years at war in the Crusades with his loyal manservant Much (Sam Troughton) only to find that Nottingham is not what it used to be. The new Sheriff of Nottingham (Keith Allen) and his sycophantic and sinister henchman, Sir Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage), have oppressed the population through unreasonable taxes and capital punishment.  Weary of killing from his years spent in the Crusades and bothered my his moral compass and conscience over the Sheriff's interpretation of "the King's law," Robin rebels against the Sheriff, freeing several young men sentenced to hang for nothing more than petty crimes like stealing flour, thus forfeiting his land and title of Earl and dooming himself to a life of poverty as an outlaw hiding out in Sherwood Forest.

When Robin Hood is doing what it does best, it's pushing the action -- not quite swashbuckling, but glitzy and fun. It slumps when it is trying to emphasize the "drama" over the "action" and exposes the limitations of actors Jonas Armstrong (whose Robin is one-dimensional) and Keith Allen whose Sheriff of Nottingham comes across more "clueless eccentric" than maniacal bad guy. All of that is forgotten when the arrows are flying, the swords clanking, and the horses galloping as Robin and his band of dysfunctional outlaws are breaking into (or out of) Nottingham Castle. This 13-episode retelling of Robin Hood is one of the better re-imaginations out there for its unforgiving "Playstation generation" action as executive producer Foz Allen put it. It certainly comes off better than the last one I saw that springs to mind, Kevin Kostner's abomination of the Robin Hood legend, Prince of Thieves.

Fan reception has been a mixed bag, with people seizing on everything from the new costumes and anachronistic dramatic devices used to modernize the tale, to the modern-woman approach taken with the character of Lady Marian (Lucy Griffiths). The series doesn't quite follow a single story as many episodes are tidily wrapped up at the end of their 45-minutes, but there is a subplot involving the Lady Marian that is carried throughout which leads to a dramatic ending in the season finale. A lot of people will either hate or love this new take on Robin Hood. I fall into the rare category of finding it acceptable, but not great. It makes decent entertainment to pass some time, but I doubt it will gain any sort of cult status as a classic BBC series.

The Picture

With its 1080i AVC/MPEG-4 video averaging around 20Mbps in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Robin Hood comes to Blu-ray with an inconsistent and underwhelming transfer. Sometimes clear and sharp, other times soft and overrun with video noise, it is a difficult transfer to judge definitively simply because of that inconsistency. Its strengths are that it shows good color saturation -- flesh tones are natural and the greens of Sherwood Forest are vivid -- and in many of its brightly lit outdoor scenes there is good clarity. Things begin to break down in darker scenes, where video noise and crush become issues and there are also occasions where even in the brighter scenes the picture turns soft in its background details almost looking DVD-like. This release is only barely of average picture quality, but not bad enough to ruin viewing enjoyment.

The Sound

Despite its mislabeled packaging, Robin Hood indeed comes with both 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital English soundtracks. Like its picture quality, there is nothing spectacular about the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on this release. The surround channels are filled with the various "natural" sounds of Sherwood Forest, which sometimes become annoying (how many cackling birds can one stand?) and mild ambience, but it is mostly a dry sounding, closed-in mix. The dialogue is kept in the center channel and sounds thin. Andy Price's rousing score is ear-piercingly shrill and the delineation of the instrumentation is squeezed for a less-than-open soundstage. The LFE is only used mildly, especially when there are horses galloping or in the series' many action scenes. It's a boring mix, but it still could have benefited from the clarity of a lossless treatment.

The Extras

The extras for Robin Hood: Season One are spread across all four discs. Although there is a healthy amount of extras available, none of them are very compelling and most feel like filler.  The audio commentaries are all over-populated and, though they provide many interesting anecdotes offered up by the actors, are difficult to listen to because of so many people talking over one another.

The extras available on this release are:

Disc 1:

• "Sheriff Got Your Tongue?"  Audio Commentary -- An audio commentary with executive producer Foz Allen, co-creator Dominic Minghella, composer Andy Price, actor Gordon Kennedy, and actress Lucy Griffiths.
• "Parent Hood" Audio Commentary -- with executive producer Foz Allen, co-creator Dominic Minghella, actor Richard Armitage, and actress Lucy Griffiths.

Disc 2:

• Hood Academy (1.78:1/standard definition)   -- This is one of those fluff, behind-the-scenes featurettes that takes itself too seriously. It shows the cast going through pre-production training to learn how to ride their horses, wield their swords and shoot their bows and arrows all in an effort to make them look more believable on camera.                                                                                                            

Disc 3:

• "Tattoo? What tattoo?" Audio Commentary -- With actors Jonas Armstrong, Richard Armitage, Sam Troughton, Anjali Jay and composer Andy Price.
• Character profiles: Disc three also contains a series of individual character profiles (1.78:1/standard definition) wherein each actor and the producers discuss the character and what they feel to be the driving issues behind each characters psyche. This seems to be a new trend in supplemental materials on BD and DVD releases, but in my opinion, they always feel quite pointless.  The profiles are:
  • Profile: Will Scarlet
  • Profile: Little John
  • Profile: Much
  • Profile: Djaq
  • Profile: Robin Hood
  • Profile: Marian
  • Profile: Roy
  • Profile: Guy of Gisborne
  • Profile: Sheriff of Nottingham

Disc 4:

• "A Clue: No: Audio Commentary -- With executive producer Foz Allen, actors Jonas Armstrong, Sam Troughton, Anjali Jay and composer Andy Price.
• Robin Hood -- The Making of  (1.78:1/standard definition)-- This is your typical, "feel good", behind-the-scenes featurette full of cast and crew interviews extolling the wonders of working on the series, how much of a joy it is to work with one another, and how special this particular series is. The problem with these featurettes is that they are supposed to give you an in depth look at the making of the production, but they rarely ever succeed in doing so.
• Dressing Hood -- Costume designer Frances Tempest discusses the philosophy she used behind the designing of the Robin Hood series costumes in her attempt to meld a medieval look with something more contemporary in order to appeal to a younger audience.
• Designing the Hood (1.78:1/standard definition) -- This featurette interviews production designer Mike Gunn and he speaks about -- what else? -- designing the series' set, which was on location in Budapest and consisted of actual full structures that were remodeled to suit their needs.

Final Thoughts

Robin Hood: Season One is a decent but stilted re-imagining of the Robin Hood legend that sometimes tries a bit too hard to be different and meaningful, but when it loses its self-consciousness and allows the action to flow, it can be quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, neither the picture nor sound quality on this release is going to give you that "wow" factor. If you're planning on checking out this new Robin Hood, perhaps a rent-first approach may be for the best.


Where to Buy

• Robin Hood: Season One on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Jonas Armstrong, Keith Allen, Richard Armitage, Lucy Griffiths, Sam Troughton
• Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Widescreen
• Audio/Language: English Dolby Digital 5.1 & 2.0
• Region: ABC (All Regions)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating: Not Rated
• Studio: BBC WARNER
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: August 5, 2008
• Run Time: 585 minutes
• List Price: $99.98
• Extras:
  • Hood Academy Featurette
  • Dressing the Hood Featurette
  • Designing the Hood Featurette
  • Robin Hood -- The Making Of Featurette
  • Character Profiles
  • Audio Commentary