As the midnight hour passed, and it was inching closer to One in the A.M., we decided to thread up THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.

The crowd had thinned significantly since TRON, but most of who remained had never seen THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD.

It’s amazing to me, to believe that so many people haven’t seen the film, which has been my favorite film since the age of.... oh.... 4 or 5.

THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD is a perfect film for me. This film is tied with KING KONG (1933) as my fave, and the one thing that joins both of those films is the fact that neither film exists in reality.

This is my number one pet peeve with modern cinema. So many of the films we see today are set within our time and our reality. Whether it be tidbits of PC-ness.... Or we decide to research what the costumes of the period Looked like.

In THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, this is all gone. The costumes are those of the fuzzy recollections of the books... the brightly colored plates that illustrated every 20th page of the novel. Who cares if TIGHTS didn’t exist.... They look right dammit! They FEEL right.

Can you imagine have the talent all together to make this movie today? I mean.... everyone that was in this film were at their best. Be it Errol Flynn or Howard Hill.

Howard Hill?

Oh yes.... Howard Hill. Many people don’t know this man’s name at all, but he’s one of the PRIME reasons this movie is AWESOME.

Howard Hill was the world’s foremost archer at the Time of this film. The very next year my grandfather saw him perform in San Francisco at one of the great halls of the time period. At one point in the show, a man stood up behind my grandfather (who was 18 at the time) and started heckling Howard Hill. Screaming out that it was all fake.

Suddenly Howard Hill turned to face the audience, pulled out an arrow, and shot the man in the heart. My grandfather nearly shat himself. Turns out that the man in the audience was a plant. And that he had a piece of 2 by 4 in place over his heart, and it was this that Howard sunk the arrow into.

And in Robin Hood.... the people being shot with Arrows are actually being HIT with the arrows. You see the arrow enter the frame and into the chests or the backs of the characters as they run. It is Howard Hill that did this.

Or... there’s Erich Wolfgang Korngold and his score. A score that is simply one of the greatest scores every created by man. I have listened to this and the Max Steiner KING KONG scores so often that I now every note of the scores. Korngold’s score is the very essence of adventure. You feel like swordfighting, you feel like leaping from the tops of trees. You want to fight Prince John. You want to duel with Sir Guy of Gisbourne.

I sat on the edge of my seat the entire film. When I heard some people in the backyard jabbering as if an episode of FRIENDS was on, I screamed out, “Keep it quiet over there!”

This is an energizing film. A movie that makes you want to watch movies. That makes me feel like staying awake all night talking about movies. (and I did too)

There have been few films made that make you completely believe in adventure. And this is my favorite. As a kid, I used to work at the Texas Renaisance Fair outside of Houston, Texas. And I joined up with Robin Hood’s gang in Sherwood Forest, sure it was make believe, but it was this movie that I played in my head as I cornered people with my sword and took them back to Robin.

One of the chief complaints that people have with Robin Hood is the sure Joy that everyone seems to be having. But that is one of my chief reasons for loving the film.

When you are off on an adventure, you smile... you laugh and you are in good cheer. Adventure is FUN. You don’t get melancholy in an adventure. Sure there is pain and agony in the film. The bad guys rape and kill and rob families of everything they have... But there is hope, and he wears green tights and he kicks ass for Richard and England.

Sigh. It’s not something I can really explain... it’s something that I... that I have to.... SHOW YOU. It’s a visceral rush that comes over you whilst Korngold plays, as Flynn waves his sword about.

God... If only Flynn could have been a Jedi. My god, to have seen Flynn wave about a lightsabre and kick ass.... Oh man. He was, is and always shall be my favorite Jedi.

I hope you have seen this movie. If you haven’t... RUN to your local video store (doesn’t matter which one, they all have it) and check it out. There’s a spirit of adventure that should get into you.

When I’ve had a bad day... Robin Hood cheers me. When I’ve had a great day, it elates me. Doesn’t matter how tired I am or how down I am, the movie is always there as a bright non-toxic dose of fun.

Enjoy your first taste.... and your second, third, fourth.....