Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Let's be realistic.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A quick note.There are two scenes well worth waiting for in this lesser work of Mel Brooks.One is Dom DeLuise' Marlon Brando. The guy is perfect. He mumbles away and finally removes cotton from his mouth, having just come from the dentist. Most of his impressions are from "The Godfather" but others from Brando's ouevre insinuate themselves into his performance. Brooks wisely gives DeLuise his head.The other scene is Cary Elwes as Robin of Locksley singing "The Night Is Young And You're So Beautiful." The number is staged as comic, with an audience watching the silhouettes of Robin and Marian projected on a sheet and Robin's sword thrust out aggressively from his hips. The song itself is an oldie, lushly orchestrated, but it's sung in a gut-busting tenor by Arthur Rubin, who was one of the men auditioning for the part of Hitler in "The Producers." His impossible high notes will stand your hair on end.The rest of the movie has its moments. Maid Marian's last name turns out to be Ba-GEL, and Brooks' Rabbi Tuckman, remarks, "Locksley and BaGEL? How can it go wrong?" Much of it seems a little tired and suffering from a case of pattern exhaustion but it's redeemed by a few genuinely funny scenes.

Robin Hood is a classic tale and needs no introduction, however I feel that Mel Brooks truly made something here that will be remembered above and beyond all others.Comedy is often subjective but this movie includes every kind of comedy imaginable and I have yet to see an individual watch this movie and not laugh several times.Carry is masterful as Robin Hood and like any good comedy, scenes and supporting actors bolster the humor brilliantly.Comedy is often let down by poor props, cheesy plot or lack of artistic polish. This movie delivers on all fronts and won't leave you asking, why couldn't they? Something for everyone, there's laughs, romance, action, plot twists, excellent acting, drama and .... won't spoil the surprises! See it, see again, see a third time, see it regularly, I put this in my top 5 all time greatest movies ever made.

Watched Robin Hood Men In Tights With Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) as Robin Hood/Of Loxley , also Starring Dave Chapelle(Con Air) as Achoo, Richard Lewis(Daddy Dearest) as Prince John ,Roger Rees(Cheers ) as The Sheriff Of Rottingham , Amy Yasbeck(Dracula:Dead and Loving it) as Maid Marian Of Bagel, Mark Blankfield(The Jerk,too) as Blinkin, Tracey Ullman(Three Of A Kind) as Latrine The Witch , Dom DeLuise(An American Tail:Fevel Goes West) as Don Giovanni, Matthew Porretta(South Beach) as Will Scarlett'O Hara and Sir Patrick Stewart(Star Trek Generations) as King Richard The Lionhearted. The Film Is Hilarious From The Opening Scene to Closing Credits also Loved How Mel Brooks Played On Elwes talent as A Cliché Robin Hood also really enjoyed how They Purposely has Anachronisms and They Broke the fourth wall multiple times also really enjoyed how they parodied the legendary Archer also the Sheriff Of Rottingham was hilarious whenever he tried to make an insult it was backwards or mixed up , Amazing Costumes Design By Dodie Shepard(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:The Secret Of Ooze ), Cinematography By Michael D. O'Shea(Doogie Houser, M.D.),Musical Score By Hummie Man (The Addams Family) and Direction By Mel Brooks (Fired Up) A Fun Parody on The Legendary Archer and Mel Brooks Best 9/10

'We're men...we're men in tights...YES! we roam around the forest looking for fights!'A strange choice for Brooks I think, he seemed to move into historical legends in the 90's along with his take on Dracula. The tag for the film is accurate I guess, this legend did have it coming for sure with so many variations out there at the time...most notably and laughably the Kevin Costner debacle. Also not forgetting the Patrick Bergin Robin Hood flick that was emulating Costner's version!Of course being a Brooks film the cast is made up of all his regulars...and I'm sure if his older regulars weren't dead he'd have used them too. Amy Yasbeck begins her brief Brooks career here as Marian before rejoining Brooks for Dracula. Dick Van Pattern is back after working with Brooks in 'High Anxiety' and 'Spaceballs', Megan Cavanagh and Matt Porretta both went on to Dracula along with Yasbeck and finally the magnificent pair of Dom Deluise and Robert Ridgely are both Brooks film veterans.Naturally there has been many liberties taken with the plot...well actually its based around other Robin Hood movies really, nothing to do with the actual fable at all. Its clear to see the classic Errol Flynn version and the classic animated Disney version are the two main influences here. Brooks pretty much follows both of these films scene for scene whilst adding his own unique brand of spoofery. This whole approach does actually work well in all honesty because you can enjoy the cartoonish tomfoolery and it also kinda harks back to a different age of cinema. Whether this was intentional or not I'm not sure, it probably just happened because they were spoofing two classic films but the quaint visuals, simple effects and colourful characters are very appealing.There is a thin line between the silly childish humour and the slightly more risky adult humour which I think is handled well. I say adult humour but its not really that bad, just a touch of toilet humour. Whilst most of the laughs fall flat I can't deny there are some nice chuckles to be had and some clever imaginative send-ups. The usual blend of visual slapstick and cheesy dialog is to be expected but much of it is all in the delivery and luckily this movie does have some noteworthy comedic performances.Its quite a surprise that Elwes does actually put in a solid funny performance as Robin Hood, what's even more surprising is the fact he does have a slightly similar resemblance to Flynn...a blonde Flynn. His little tufts of facial hair, the fact he's British, that wry smug smile of his when he fights and all tied together in the classic green and brown attire. At the same time Richard Lewis is also a great Prince John! I loved how his mole kept moving across his face in each scene and his 80's mullet hairdo, plus this guy can deliver a funny line. He has this great whiny nervous tone to his voice which really comes to life when he panics and cries 'hurt them! hurt them!!'.I also must confess to enjoying Brooks small cameo as a Rabbi, could of gone another way but the old ones are the best ones I guess. Eric Kramer is also surprisingly amusing as the towering Little John, not so much to say but he is good with the visual comedy side of things as was Blankfield as the blind 'Blinkin'...sounds utterly cringeworthy I know but it does work. It was only Rees as the Sheriff of Rottingham (*groan*) that seemed to swing and miss for me, clearly trying way too hard to hammer those funny lines in. Same could be said for Tracy Ullman as the witch who didn't even really need to be there.As I'm sure everybody knows by now a film like this is all about the delivery, the comedic performances of the actors, if that aspect is nailed then the film is reasonably secured. Its not about the effects or sets or costumes...although its nice if they look good but end of the day its whether you can laugh with the film and not at it for being crap. Personally I think this movie just about makes the grade, its earned somewhat of a cult status over time and I can see why. There is a lot of embarrassing crud in here this is true (Dave Chappelle), some visual gags are terribly simple bordering on downright infantile whilst some of the visuals are very basic. But (and its a biggish but) there is also just enough solid cheeky clever lampoonery and dialog along with performances to make you smile. Although it doesn't have the overall sheen of Brooks follow up vampire flick.6.5/10