"Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent."
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) 104 min
According to the tagline "The legend had it coming"...that may be true, but Mel Brooks could have done better. Having seen a good number of Robin Hood films, cartoons, etc. I can see the humor in this film (and tolerate it) but it isn't GREAT...it could be good...i'm not sure yet
Piggy-backing the film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (which is tolerable b/c it has Christian Slater...sigh...anyway) Brooks attacks the former along with other Robin Hood films (such as the 1938 Errol Flynn film "The Adventures of Robin Hood"). The film opens with Robin Hood (Elwes) in jail during the Crusades. He manages to escape (and helps the rest of the prisoners escape as well) with the help of a man named Ahsneeze (Isaac Hayes). Ahsneeze's son is an exchange student in England, so he asks Robin Hood to keep him out of trouble. Robin Hood swims home to England (don't ask) and immediately meets Ahchoo (Chappelle..who is brilliant) the son of Ahsneeze. Together they fight off the bad guys and seek Robin's home. They arrive in time to watch his families castle being towed away b/c they haven't paid their taxes.
Thankfully the families blind servant Blinkin (Blankfield) is in the basement of the castle (which is not towed away) so he is able to aid Robin who learns that everything/one he had is gone: father dead, mother died of pneumonia, brothers killed by the plague, dog run over, fish eaten by the cat, cat choked on the fish. The three men come to a bridge, but to cross they must pay a toll (so the people can eat rolls...yes its corny). Even though they could just jump the little creek (which Ahchoo points out) Robin agrees to fight the man guarding the bridge. Predictably Robin wins and asks the guard, Little John ("I'm really big") and his friend Will Scarlet ("Scarlet's my middle name. My last name's O'Hara, we're from Georgia") to join their group. Together these five men wear tights and agree to take on the tyrannous rein of Prince John (Lewis), the brother of the real king. The first confrontation between Robin and Prince John looks exactly like "The Adventures of Robin Hood", which makes it funnier than it should be: it is a banquet. At the banquet Robin meets his arch foe the Sheriff of Rotingham (Rees...the funniest character in the film) and the woman of his dreams Maid Marian (Yasbeck...she is horrible!!) who has a secret (a chastity belt). The only other characters worth mentioning are Latrine (Ullman): Prince John's witch who has the hots for the Sheriff, and Rabbi Tuckman (Brooks): the Jewish Rabbi who gives them sacramental wine and offers to give them circumcisions (with a mini-guillotine).
Overall this film is bad...it's not as funny as it's predecessors (other films by Brooks), but there are funny moments in the film (if you can stomach the corny-ness and Yasbeck's performance). The worst portions of the film are the things Brooks added which have nothing to do with the story (Dom DeLuise is Don Giovanni...trying to channel Marlon Brandon's Godfather character...along with his two worthless cronies)
Wait till it comes to TV: even though I own it, it's not really worth paying to see
--: The quotes are funny...and some of the deliveries are funny (a lot of it is off-color, but there are some genuninely funny moments...)
Piggy-backing the film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (which is tolerable b/c it has Christian Slater...sigh...anyway) Brooks attacks the former along with other Robin Hood films (such as the 1938 Errol Flynn film "The Adventures of Robin Hood"). The film opens with Robin Hood (Elwes) in jail during the Crusades. He manages to escape (and helps the rest of the prisoners escape as well) with the help of a man named Ahsneeze (Isaac Hayes). Ahsneeze's son is an exchange student in England, so he asks Robin Hood to keep him out of trouble. Robin Hood swims home to England (don't ask) and immediately meets Ahchoo (Chappelle..who is brilliant) the son of Ahsneeze. Together they fight off the bad guys and seek Robin's home. They arrive in time to watch his families castle being towed away b/c they haven't paid their taxes.
Thankfully the families blind servant Blinkin (Blankfield) is in the basement of the castle (which is not towed away) so he is able to aid Robin who learns that everything/one he had is gone: father dead, mother died of pneumonia, brothers killed by the plague, dog run over, fish eaten by the cat, cat choked on the fish. The three men come to a bridge, but to cross they must pay a toll (so the people can eat rolls...yes its corny). Even though they could just jump the little creek (which Ahchoo points out) Robin agrees to fight the man guarding the bridge. Predictably Robin wins and asks the guard, Little John ("I'm really big") and his friend Will Scarlet ("Scarlet's my middle name. My last name's O'Hara, we're from Georgia") to join their group. Together these five men wear tights and agree to take on the tyrannous rein of Prince John (Lewis), the brother of the real king. The first confrontation between Robin and Prince John looks exactly like "The Adventures of Robin Hood", which makes it funnier than it should be: it is a banquet. At the banquet Robin meets his arch foe the Sheriff of Rotingham (Rees...the funniest character in the film) and the woman of his dreams Maid Marian (Yasbeck...she is horrible!!) who has a secret (a chastity belt). The only other characters worth mentioning are Latrine (Ullman): Prince John's witch who has the hots for the Sheriff, and Rabbi Tuckman (Brooks): the Jewish Rabbi who gives them sacramental wine and offers to give them circumcisions (with a mini-guillotine).
Overall this film is bad...it's not as funny as it's predecessors (other films by Brooks), but there are funny moments in the film (if you can stomach the corny-ness and Yasbeck's performance). The worst portions of the film are the things Brooks added which have nothing to do with the story (Dom DeLuise is Don Giovanni...trying to channel Marlon Brandon's Godfather character...along with his two worthless cronies)
Wait till it comes to TV: even though I own it, it's not really worth paying to see
--: The quotes are funny...and some of the deliveries are funny (a lot of it is off-color, but there are some genuninely funny moments...)
Rating: PG-13 for off-color humor
Director: Mel Brooks
Starring: Cary Elwes as Robin Hood
Richard Lewis as Prince John
Roger Rees as the Sheriff of Rotingham
Mark Blankfield as Blinkin
Amy Yasbeck as Maid Marian
Dave Chappelle as Ahchoo
Matthew Porretta as Will Scarlet (O'Hara)
Eric Allan Kramer as Little John
Tracey Ullman as Latrine
Mel Brooks as Rabbi Tuckman
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