Released in 1993, Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a movie that I rented a bunch of times and always had a fun time with it. How can you go wrong with Mel Brooks spoofing Robin Hood? If you love the Mel Brooks sense of humor, you will no doubt have a lot of fun with this. I remember when it came out, it seemed to get mostly negative reviews, but I found it hilarious and I still do.
How to Download Robin Hood: Men in Tights
Robin Hood: Men in Tights was released on July 28, 1993. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. If you like Robin Hood movies, we recommend you also read our reviews of Robin Hood (1973), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), Robin Hood (2010), or Robin Hood (2018).
The Movie Review
The main inspiration for this has to be the Kevin Costner, Robin Hood movie that came out a couple of years earlier. What we have here is the story of Robin Hood, but Mel Brooks style. That means that the legend of Robin Hood is here, but most of it has been spoofed and spoofed very well I might add.
The Cast and Characters
Playing the lead role of Robin Hood is Carey Elwes and he is hilarious. Not only is this a spoof on Robin Hood, but you could argue that they are also spoofing Carey Elwes’s role from The Princess Bride too. After being away, fighting in the Crusades, Robin Hood returns home and finds that Prince John is abusing his power while King Richard is away.
Robin returns home, only to find that the Sherrif of Rottingham has taken his family’s house! Robin Hood decides that he will stand up against the corrupt Prince John, the sheriff of Rottingham, and anyone else who is abusing power and making the good people of Rottingham suffer as a result. Of course, Robin Hood is going to need a team to help him do this.
A Hilarious Take on the Classic Tale
The squad that Robin Hood puts together is awesome. Of course, we have Maid Marian! Maid Marian is played by Amy Yasbeck and she is awesome. Marian has a chastity belt and a huge part of the movie is Robin Hood trying to unlock this so they can… you do not need me to tell you why they need help getting that chastity belt off.
There are many other memorable characters too such as Little John, Will Scarlet O’Hara, and Rabbi Tuckman, all of whom are hilarious parodies of the iconic characters. It is also worth giving a special mention to a character called Ahchoo as this would be the first ever theatrical role for the comedy legend that is Dave Chappelle.
The Comedy and Legacy of the Film
As you would expect, this is a very silly and weird movie, but that is exactly what I love about it. I honestly have no idea why people at the time did not like it. Although, for some reason, my wife had never seen it and when I got her to watch it, she did not like it and said that it was dumb. Hey, I strongly disagree with this as I was cracking up multiple times while watching the movie!
There are so many great scenes in the movie, but if I had to pick a favorite scene it would be when he accidently stabs the Sheriff after saying he will spare his life. I touched on some members of the cast, but this movie as you would expect from a Mel Brooks movie is stacked as far as the cast goes with some great cameo appearances too. If you are in the mood for a movie that will make you laugh and allow you to just turn your brain off and have fun, that is 100 percent what Robin Hood: Men in Tights is offering.
