Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1698 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-29
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 675 minutes

DVD Description
This DVD includes all 13 episodes of the popular BBC series starring Jonas Armstrong in the title role.

Robin of Locksley (Armstrong) returns home from defending King and country in the Holy Land, to find a corrupt and changed Nottingham. The ruthless Sheriff of Nottingham (Keith Allen) is now in charge, crippling the poor with greedy taxes and severely punishing them for stealing even a loaf of bread.

The ever-gallant Robin and his faithful, if slightly unenthusiastic, manservant Much (Sam Troughton) are determined to fight for the good of these hapless people. Aided by a gang of talented outlaws including Will Scarlett (Harry Lloyd), the ingenious engineer who can construct anything from any material, just as long as it's wood, Little John (Gordon Kennedy), the man-mountain who can destroy all in his path, but is afraid of a trickling stream, and Djaq (Anjali Jay), master of trickery and disguise.

As each episode unites the gang against the Sheriff and his dastardly deeds, will they succeed in thwarting injustice to relieve the poverty and hunger of the good people of Locksley?

Starring: Joe Armstrong, Jonas Armstrong, Gordon Kennedy, Lucy Griffiths, Keith Allen, Richard Armitage, Sam Troughton, William Beck, Harry Lloyd, Anjali Jay.

Synopsis
Lavish retelling of the legendary hero who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Newcomer Jonas Armstrong stars as Robin Hood, with comedian Keith Allen playing his formidable foe, the Sheriff of Nottingham. Features all the episodes from the first series.

Customer Reviews

Good in the Hood
The delay in this dvd box set being released in the UK has already been covered in previous reviews; however, I am extremely pleased that this item has become available. The other 'volumes' of Robin Hood had nothing in the way of features at all.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first series of Robin Hood when it was shown on the BBC, but refrained from being any dvds until a box set came out (reason being that I love special features!) The packaging is nice, and the episodes are spread over 4 disks, the fifth being for special features, however there are small extras on the other disks as well, e.g. character profiles on all the main cast (excluding Joe Armstrong a.k.a. Allan A Dale, who doesn't do interviews), as well as commentaries on four episodes: Episode 2: Sheriff Got Your Tongue?, Episode 4: Parent Hood, Episode 8: Tattoo? What Tattoo? and Episode 13: A Clue: No.

The commentaries are highly amusing, and the cast & crew add some interesting and humorous insights to the filming of certain scenes. For example, did you know that Guy of Gisborne's (Richard Armitage) tattoo in the series was originally red instead of black?

There is also a 'Hood Academy' featurette, which shows the training the cast had to do in preparation for filming as well as the thoughts behind the costumes (which I found quite interesting- especially the reasons behind Allan A Dale's costume) as well a 'Designing the Hood' feature, and a 'Making Of', which has some highly amusing clips of Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood) and Harry Lloyd (Will Scarlett) speaking some quite random Hungarian.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with these DVDs. The series can be light and fun, but there are also undercurrents of sinister evil, which is quite apparent; especially in the later episodes. I've watched each episode numerous times and I've never got bored of them yet.

If you're looking for historical accuracy, maybe this item isn't for you; but if you're looking for something fun and exciting, with a good script and power packed action sequences, this is an item I would definitely recommend.

Great, but...
This isn't a review of the item - which I don't have any kind of problem with (in fact, I welcome it) - but an opinion on the thinking behind its release. So to be fair, I've rated the item for what it is (i.e. something I'd very much like to have) and NOT based on my feelings below.

Robin Hood is a British-made series, made by the BBC with money raised by the TV licence : basically, everybody in the UK who owns a television has paid for this series to be made.
So why are the British the LAST people in the world that this Complete Series boxset has been made available to? It's already been available - exactly as shown here - in every DVD Region EXCEPT Region 2 for a good while now.
I think it's contemptible that the BBC released the three separate discs for Series One - with almost nothing in the way of extras - without even hinting that a boxset (with the many extras listed above) would follow :- they always announce that Doctor Who seasons will be released individually with no extras, and followed a SHORT while after (not a year, as in this case) by the extras-laden boxset.
They've misled us into believing that the individual volumes will be the only release, and given us a year to go out and buy them. And now, when any true fans of the series have more than likely already got them, they have to go and buy them all over again (I should point out that the global releases of Series One were ONLY available as a boxset).

I e-mailed the BBC on this subject when I discovered the existence of the Region 1 boxset about two months ago... they have yet to reply, showing yet more disdain for the people who pay for their existence.
PLAY FAIR, BBC!

A wasted opportunity
I wanted to like this series, I really did. I awaited its first transmission with baited breath, regularly visited the internet to find information about it, and counted down the days to the first episode transmission. What a let down! It fails for a number of reasons and I think the reason it has annoyed me so much is that so many of its faults were, in hindsight, so easily rectified. The actor playing Robin, good as an actor that he is, is just not Robin for me. He looks like he's just finished his paper round! The character of Little John was 2 dimensional and a bit too....Scottish? I understood the character of John Little was from Yorkshire, not the Scottish Glens. Marion was one of the saving graces of the series, well written and cast to someone who can act well and striking. The rest of the merry men? Mostly pretty dull and either reactionary or cliched. I couldn't care less for Will Scarlet and Alan A Dale, despite having a history of being a minstrel, sounded like a cockney geezer! How drab in an attempt to make it somewhat contempory. Where was Tuck? I understood the writers said they didn't include Tuck as they didn't think it was right to `Laugh at fat people in this day and age' ??? Why would we laugh at him, if he was well written and courageous? This smacks of the problem of the whole series, it is all about how it looks and not about how it actually is. Too much effort in having green hoodies and not enough time spent on plot development and character depth. And excitment! The character of Djac was interesting and clearly derived from Nasir in Robin of Sherwood, but female. Nice twist though.

The sheriff looks and acts like he's wandered off stage from Panto at Southend-on-Sea (purple eye make up? I don't think so, do you?) and Guisburne in black leather may be good for the mums watching, and although he also was well acted with the script given, all the smouldering looks, well it just didn't wash with me.

I hoped it would improve with series 2, but if anything it got worse! I saw a documentary prior to the first series, and the actors were asked whether they had looked at previous versions of Robin Hood, in particular Robin of Sherwood. They responded laughing and almost sneering at what had been done previously; sorry chaps, your version is not a patch on Robin of Sherwood, on any level. To compare that series to this one is like comparing a Rolls Royce to a wheelbarrow!