Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Straight Out of Brooklyn, Dark Obsession, Bright Angel, 1991
Spike Lee talks to Gene Siskel about Cannes Film Festival and his losses.
Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews
Original movie reviews untainted by time!
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I saw Robin Hood in the theater. What a piece of crap.
I saw Robin Hood when my teacher brought it in for movie day in school. I hated it. I’ll never forget the inappropriateness of the bouncy, comedic Disney-esque music score playing along with the attempted rape scene. The movie completely failed to find any appealing or engaging tone whatsoever for its entire running time.
Unfortunately I have a terrible memory of that awful Robin Hood movie too. I was nine and my dad was gonna take me out to a movie (The Rocketeer) for the first (and last) time. I was so excited it was gonna be just be me and my dad. Then last second he brings my d-bag sister along who decides we should see Robin Hood instead, he sides with her and I’m sitting there in the dark with tears in my eyes watching that awful movie. After the movie we went for ice cream and I was still crying and they both were laughing at me. Nice huh? The next day my mom the hero takes me via cta because she couldn’t drive to see the Rocketeer.
I saw Dick Tracy, Rocketeer and Back to the Future III in theaters in 1990 and didn’t like any of them. They all had a blandness to them. Gremlins 2 wasn’t bland but it took a good story and turned it into a bad comedy. I liked Home Alone, Arachnophobia and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles better. My favorite movies that year, Die Hard 2 and Total Recall, I didn’t see until home video because they were R-rated. They also showed us Awakenings in school and I thought it was great. They tried to show us Dances with Wolves and I could barely stay awake through it.
I remember seeing Robin Hood and thinking, Kevin Costner is too depressed for this movie. He should’ve played Hamlet, and Mel Gibson should’ve played Robin Hood. Just switch roles. Problem is, Costner still would’ve had to do battle with that British accent.
I was trying to research running times and I think Robin Hood was the first “non-art-film” to match Superman’s (1978) running time of 143 minutes. Clearly it was a bloated movie that had no business being that long. I think Independence Day was the first one to surpass Superman’s running time, going 2 minutes longer.
Dang, I thought I had you with Aliens (1986), but it was only 137 minutes. You make a good point…. nowadays, of course, practically every action movie is at least 2-1/2 hours long. Robin Hood was so long, I feel like I’m still watching it, 30 years later.
Haha, yeah, I made sure to check all of Cameron’s, because I know his usually ran longer than average. Of course one year after ID4, he busted that record with Titanic at 195 minutes. Probably got away with it because it was in the tradition of the old Hollywood epics like Gone with the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia which were even longer. Titanic’s running time was of course a major subject of its press coverage. I’m not sure what was the last major Hollywood film going backwards from Superman that hit 143 minutes. But for that time period crossing through the ’80s, Hollywood was holding running times in check. I guess it’s debatable whether Dances with Wolves counts as a mass market release or on art film. That was 181 minutes in 1990. But its budget was not too big at $22 million and I don’t think they expected it to be the mass audience hit that it was. Of course, its success is probably what caused Hollywood to start loosening the reins on running times, and let Costner stretch Robin Hood longer than it should’ve been. Titanic’s success obviously added rocket fuel onto the move to increase running times.
Going backwards, it’s probably something from the 1960s, they pumped out epics like it was going out of style….which it was. Lawrence of course, Dr. Zhivago, Cleopatra, Once Upon a Time In The West, Hello Dolly, Ben-Hur from 1959, on and on. The Godfathers were super long, but those are definitely “art films.”
Personally I love long running times, especially now. I’m shelling out $20 just to walk in the door, nevermind popcorn and drinks, it better be an epic.