Robin Hood (2018) – Otto Bathurst

Every decade or so filmmakers try to deliver a new version of the legendary outlaw, Robin Hood. There’s something about the character that keeps drawing us back. Everyone seems to know the basics, and each iteration seems to want to play with the characters, and story and try and do something new. Sometimes it works,…

Magnum P.I. (2020) – The Night Has Eyes, and A World of Trouble

Magnum (Jay Hernandez) and Higgins (Perdita Weeks) are on the hunt for a stolen urn that may have been used in a murder and may in fact be more valuable than initially thought. Higgins also has to deal with the fact that her temporary visa is days away from expiring. Written by Ashley Charbonnet, this…

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) – Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks skewers the legend of Robin Hood with his 1993 film Robin Hood: Men in Tights. None of the versions created are safe, and Cary Elwes is perfectly cast as the iconic hero that from its opening moments takes shots at everything, nothing is safe. Using the classic tale of Robin of Locksley coming…

Batman (1966) – Shoot a Crooked Arrow, and Walk the Straight and Narrow

Between season one and season two of Batman, they released Batman the Movie on 30 July, 1966. Then on 7 September, 1966 season two got underway with Shoot a Crooked Arrow. Written by Stanley Ralph Ross it introduced a Robin Hood-type character named The Archer (Art Carney) and his familiar-looking merry men. The villains even…

Robin Hood (2010) – Ridley Scott

Director Ridley Scott does away with the romp and romantic adventure that has permeated the Robin Hood myth down through the ages, and through a number of onscreen iterations to tell a more historical-based version of the tale. He packs it with stars, but the lack of derring-do may have kept audiences away, who knew…

Doctor Who (Peter Capaldi) – Robot of Sherwood, and Listen

The Doctor (Capaldi) and Clara (Jenna Coleman) embark on a bit of a lark with Robot of Sherwood. Written by Mark Gatiss this episode first aired on 6 September, 2014. Clara has always wanted to meet Robin Hood, which the Doctor insists was made up. To prove the point he takes her to Sherwood Forest…

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991) – The Nth Degree, and Qpid

Captain’s log: stardate 44704.2 Airing on 1 April, 1991, The Nth Degree, written by Joe Menosky, brought back fan favourite Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz). Barclay is slowly finding his way out of his shell, working with Crusher (Gates McFadden) on some theatre workshops. He’s slowly finding his way. The Enterprise arrives at the Argus Array…

Time Bandits (1981) – Terry Gilliam

Back in 1981 or 1982, on a free Super Channel or First Choice weekend I received my first introduction to the cinematic stylings of Terry Gilliam with Time Bandits. An odd, decidedly British science fiction adventure film, it is also one of the recommendations (following T2) as I return to the Action genre of the…

Iron Monkey (1993) – Woo-Ping Yuen

  A Robin Hood style adventure launches the kung fu in this highly enjoyable addition to the 101 Action Movies list. Yu Rong-Guang stars as Dr. Yang, who along with his assistant Miss Orchid (Jean Wang) tends to the poor and the refugees in a small village. The village’s governor (James Wong) however is only…

The Mark of Zorro (1940) – Rouben Mamoulian

The 101 Action Movies brings is a rip-roaring adventure starring Tyrone Power as Don Diego Vera and his alter-ego Zorro! This film relaunched the character of his previous on-screen appearance after Douglas Fairbanks had essayed the character in the silent era. I have to say, Zorro is a pretty cool character, and he’s like the…