The Adventures of Robin Hood (1 Viewer)

[Gary Cornell]

Why Doesn't Criterion release this title on dvd just like it did previously on laserdisc with lots of extras?

 

[David Lambert]

Probably because they don't own DVD rights to this title!
I wasn't into LD's (still am not), but I am aware that Criterion put out an LD for this first, then MGM went back and put out a BETTER LD (better transfer, anyway) later on.
When the MGM license ran out, the rights reverted back to...WARNER BROS! Yeah, our favorite studio for classic titles!
Keep letting WB know you want classics like this one, and maybe someday they'll deliver it instead of Now Voyager.

------------------
DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

 

[Rachael B]

I've had both the MGM and Criterion LD. The MGM disc SUCKED! The Criterion LD is beautiful!!!! Unless somebody goes to alot of trouble to do it right, any future DVD release might not look as good as Citerion's LD. Oh, I gave the MGM LD away....Best wishes from Laserland!
------------------
Rachael, the big disc cat! "...Mandrake, have you ever seen a commie drink water..."
AFI Film Challenge, hey I've only got 1 to go!

 

[Jeff_HR]

You right the CC edition of this film is a REAL jewel! I simply cannot image WB's topping the CC Laser!!

 

[SteveGon]

I wish they'd at least try! I'd love to have TAoRH in my collection.
------------------

"Death's at the bottom of everything, Martins - leave death to the professionals!"
"Mind if I use that line in my next Western?"

 

[alan halvorson]

Why do I have exactly the opposite opinion of the MGM Adventures of Robin Hood (MGM ML101377) as Rachael? I also own the Criterion and the MGM blows it away! At least for picture. I'm keeping the Criterion for the supplements. Very peculiar. But, maybe my memory is faulty - I'll have to play both this weekend and find out for certain.
------------------
They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!
- Napoleon XIV
[Edited last by alan halvorson on August 30, 2001 at 07:59 AM]

 

[Aaron Reynolds]

I haven't seen the Warner LD of The Adventures of Robin Hood, but I did recently pick up the Criterion CAV LD for next to nothing (sealed, too).
The transfer is excellent, the source material could have been better. The disc appears to have been made from an older duplicate negative, not the Technicolor negs or a Technicolor print. While the colour is quite vibrant, it wanders all over the place and during some sequences the blacks are fairly blue. Also, a few scenes, notably the first appearance of Friar Tuck, seem to be fuzzy, looking as if the three Technicolor negs were not properly aligned when this duplicate colour neg was made. (This is all guesswork on my part; I know nothing at all about how this disc was actually made or what the source materials were).
Despite these complaints, I heartily reccommend this LD. It looks infinitely better than the print that runs occassionally on TVO out here, and is, for the most part, sharp and vibrant. Plus, if you're a fan of Robin Hood in general, the extras are excellent, especially the text-and-pictures still frame tracing of the Robin Hood legend from its earliest incarnations up to modern day.

 

[Rachael B]

Aaron, you must have the CAV edition. I have the CLV one. Alan, the colour is washed out in a major way on the MGM release and there is a place on side one where the film looks spliced back together. Criterion rulesin Sherwood!!!! Best wishes ye merry men!
------------------
Rachael, the big disc cat! "...Mandrake, have you ever seen a commie drink water..."
AFI Film Challenge, hey I've only got 1 to go!

 

[alan halvorson]

Rachael: It's late but your comments prompted me to put on both my MGM and Criterion CAV discs so that I can speak from a fresher point of view.
I scanned through much of both (I will try to watch them this weekend). The result is that I truly cannot understand your point of view. I viewed the MGM first. What a Technicolor explosion! What color! If anything might be said, there's almost too much color, but this is Technicolor and that's the way it's supposed to be. I never came across the splice you refer to, but then this was only a scan.
Watching the Criterion next was quite a chore. To put it bluntly, the only reason to own the Criterion CAV is for the commentary and supplements. I see no reason to own the CLV at all. The description "washed out", in comparison to the MGM, aptly applies to the Criterion. It's dull, dull, dull. Ranking this below the MGM astonishes me no end. At no point do I consider it even in the ballpark.
I recall when the MGM was released. It was universally praised as being considerably superior to any Criterion. Finally, I give you this review, taken from Dvd Laser : Adventures of Robin Hood . I would not have been as charitable to the Criterions.
Have you viewed both recently? If not, I suggest you do. I hope we're talking about the same versions. Other than those mentioned in the review I listed, I'm not aware of any others.
------------------
They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!
- Napoleon XIV
[Edited last by alan halvorson on August 31, 2001 at 03:06 AM]

 

[Rachael B]

Alan, there might be more than one MGM release...? You know how that goes with LD. I gave away a patently inferior MGM LD. If there is another MGM release that's better than the Criterion, I'm intrested. This is one of my favourite films. My player will more fully exploit any version than your LD-S2 to boot. I stille had both LDs last year when I got the LD-S9. I gave one of my nephews the MGM disc. I'll soon have a working HLD-X9 too. The first one arrived broken. I'm awaiting a replacement player.
The Mitsu designed 3-D comb in the S9 and X9 outperforms all U.S. models. It's the same 3-D that's in Mitsu's top sets and the Elite RP's. I know, I've told you this in the past you should see the Japanese players... The colour I see on LDs is 2 or 3 db better than the player, is it stille the LD-S2 (?), you use. I have a CLD-99 and I don't even like it's image. It's clean but the colour is flat. I may sell it...? I'm spoil't! No doubt! The S9 renders the Criterion disc beautifully! There could be some player bias involved here?
If MGM remixed ROBIN better than the POS I had, I want it! I'll ask my nephew what the catalog # was for the MGM I gave him. There may be more releases than we realize? I may have had an older one? Best wishes!
------------------
Rachael, the big disc cat! "...Mandrake, have you ever seen a commie drink water..."
AFI Film Challenge, hey I've only got 1 to go!

 

[Roger Rollins]

I certainly agree with Alan, and so did everyone else when the MGM "Robin Hood" LD arrived....it was significantly more colorful and beautifully done than the Criterion disc.
The Criterion benefitted from supplementary material and chapter encoding, but the MGM disc won hands down in the color and sound departments. This was one of several titles
in the early '90s where MGM put out LD transfers of titles far superior to those that Criterion had issued (ULTIMATE OZ, SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, WEST SIDE STORY).
It sounds like Rachael may be referring to the old CBS/FOX
laserdisc (not the MGM) as inferior to the Criterion. CBS/FOX's effort was pretty horrendous looking.
One can only hope that Warner Home Video's eventual DVD
treatment of ROBIN HOOD will (like their stunning NORTH BY NORTHWEST) be a superb testament to this spectacular film.
They should certainly give this title special treatment as it is one of the "benchmark" titles in their studio's
illustrious history.

 

[RobertR]

One can only hope that Warner Home Video's eventual DVD treatment of ROBIN HOOD will (like their stunning NORTH BY NORTHWEST) be a superb testament to this spectacular film.

The thought makes me salivate in anticipation
I love this movie.
------------------

 

[alan halvorson]

The MGM version I'm talking about is the one pictured in this auction (not mine): Adventures of Robin Hood .
------------------
They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!
- Napoleon XIV

 

[Patrick McCart]

When WB does release the DVD, I'd certainly buy it.
WB has shown how great their Technicolor 3-negatives recompositing software is with Wizard of Oz (and perhaps North By Northwest?)
I have the MGM/UA video and the color is OK...but it looks a little bit of yellow fade (common to Tech prints)
Let's just hope the negatives are in good condition since they've been part of a massive hand-me-down over the years.
------------------
P.S.: There's no P.S.