Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) User Reviews

Absolutely hilarious

[philip_vanderveken · 8/10 · 17 November 2004]

After I've seen this movie I find it hard to understand why so many people seem to hate this movie. I'm not saying it belongs in the top 250 of all times, but in it's genre it is a great movie. I know, not many people find it amusing to see how a legendary story like 'Robin Hood' is turned into a comedy. Many people still seem to believe that some things shouldn't be laughed with ... they are wrong.

Mel Brooks has done an excellent job with Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I have seen the original Robin Hood movies as well, but I never had such a good time when watching them as I had with this one. It's just one continuation of hilarious moments and parodies on famous people and movies (Winston Churchil, The Godfather...).

I recommend everyone who wants to have a good laugh to watch this movie. To those who think Robin Hood shouldn't be messed with, you're wrong, but you better don't watch it because you'll probably be offended by it. I give this movie an 8/10.

Silly but funny

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 7/10 · 24 January 2004]

This is definitely one of the better Mel Brooks movies, along with Spaceballs(although I will openly admit to not having watched many others, at least yet). It's very silly and thoroughly funny, there are hardly more than a few minutes throughout the entire two hour run-time, where you aren't entertained. Almost all of the gags have a great comical effect, few of them fall flat. I saw this movie right after seeing and reviewing Spy Hard, and comparing these two spoof movies, I realize exactly of how high quality this movie really is. It's funny from start to finish, none of the comedy is overdone or boring. The music is marvelous, as is the choreography of both dancing and fighting. The acting is pretty much what you would normally expect from this type of movie... Elwes is a great comedian, and makes a good Robin. The plot is typical Robin Hood, more or less everything from the legend is fit into this movie(and spoofed majorly). If you like Mel Brooks, or you're just a fan of silly humor, or you're just dying to watch a good parody of the legend of Robin Hood, this is definitely the film for you. The HBO First Look special on the film is also worth watching, and in that, you may want to keep watching throughout the credits, too. I'd recommend it to any fan of Mel Brooks movies, and to people who enjoy silly humor. 7/10

Mel Brooks writer, actor and director.

[Captain_Couth · 7/10 · 27 August 2005]

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) was a much needed parody from Mel Brooks. He has the assignment of spoofing the Robin Hood legacy and the couple of movie dealing with the mythical honorable thief of English folklore. Cary Elwes stars as Robin Hood. He's looking for a few good men who'll join him in his quest to topple the evil sheriff of Nottingham (Roger Rees) and win the fair hand of Maid Marian. Robin also has to deal with Prince John (Richard Lewis).as well. Tracey Ullman co-stars as Prince John's personal witch Latrine who has her eyes on the Sheriff.

Will Robin find his merry men? How far will the Prince go to throw his weight around in the absence of his father? Why does the Sheriff hate Robin so much? To find out you'll have to watch ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS!! Check out the hilarious cameo by Dom De Luise who plays the Duke of Jersey.

Highly recommended.

Unlike other Robin Hoods I do it with an English accent

[allenblank · 15 April 2006]

This was a very enjoyable spoof, but when watching it one thing stuck in my mind. It was when Robin said, "Unlike other Robin Hoods I do it with an English accent" which of cause was said as a joke to Kevin Cosner's "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves". But as I was thinking of other past Robin Hoods, I was reminded of two other Robin Hoods without English accents. One was Dick Gutier on a TV show called "When Things Were Rotten" and the other was George Segal in a TV movie called, "The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood". Both projects were produced by a short Jew from Brooklyn born with the name of Melvin Kaminsky. I wonder if Mel Brooks knows of this man.

Excellently funny!

[grahamsj3 · 7/10 · 3 August 2003]

This is a funny film and I like it a lot. Cary Elwes plays Robin Hood to a tee. This is, of course, the usual good vs evil with Robin against the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. The humor is sort of in your face stuff for the most part, but still works well. A comedy for a night when you don't want to have to think much, it's well worth a rent!

Even Blinkin could see most of the jokes coming a mile away.

[cricketbat · 6/10 · 22 September 2023]

I remember Robin Hood: Men in Tights being funnier than it is. Maybe it's because I originally saw it as a teen and Mel Brooks' style of humor is inherently juvenile. Or perhaps it's because this movie came out hot on the heels of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, which I thought was awesome. However, watching the movie again as an adult was a little bit of a letdown. There are still some funny moments, though. The cast seems be having fun and I enjoy the songs. It even brought back a few memories. Nevertheless, this comedy feels dated now, and even Blinkin could see most of the jokes coming a mile away.

Takes a real man to wear tights!

[theawahaid · 9/10 · 19 January 2004]

I remember when I first saw this movie. I was babysitting for a friend of my mums, and one of the kids suggested we watch it. Thinking it was the frankly laughable 'Prince of Thieves' they were slipping into the video recorder, I was prepared for a few hours of boredom, What I got came as a shock, a pleasant one I'll admit, but still a shock.

Now, you all know the Robin Hood legend don't you? I shall explain a little. Robin Hood was a Saxon criminal, nicking money here and there and giving it to people who needed it, all the while seducing the beautiful Maid Marion, and vexing the Sheriff of Nottingham and prince john. That's the basics! Now, on with the review.

This movie was released in 1993, and is a take off of the whole Robin Hood legend and a p--- take of Prince of Thieves in particular.

Loosely following the legend, Robin of Loxley is first encountered in an Arabic prison during the third century crusades, and together with a 'Moor' as they were called in those days, he executes a cunning escape with a cellmate, Asneeze.

After escaping, Asneeze beseeches Robin to find his son Atchoo, a foreign exchange student in England and look out for him. This Robin vows to do! Robin swims back to England.

He returns to his home, Loxley castle to find it being wheeled away on the back of the cart by Bailiffs, and goes through he sorrowful revelation that his father, dog, cat, and even the goldfish are all dead. Desperate for a familiar face, he finds the family's loyal blind servant Blinkin sitting on the toilet with a Jazz mag in Braille. The hilarity continues throughout the movie.

As with all Robin Hood stories, Robin must thwart the evil plans of Prince John and the sheriff of Rottingham, who are wreaking havoc and charging exorbitant taxes on King Richards's kingdom while he's away.

Those familiar with the movies Mel Brooks has previously directed will have some small idea of what to expect. After all, this is the man responsible for Dracula-dead and loving it and young Frankenstein. All the jokes, which range from visual gags to wonderful witty comments are in exactly the right places throughout the movie, with never more than a minute between laughs.

Cary Elwes (incidentally the only English man to play Robin Hood in a movie), who many of you will know from Princess Bride brings his cheeky grinning twinkle eyed presence to this movie, and does a wonderful job. From outlandish heroic posturing, to a wickedly sexy glance, he really is amazingly funny. And the man looks better in tights than I do!

Richard Lewis is hilarious as the whiny, arrogant Prince John with the ever-changing mole. He gets the sissy-boy behaviour down to a tee, and his whinging American vocalisations are great. All the way through the movie, a mole on his face constantly changes position: it starts on his left cheek, then over to his right cheek, then his chin, then his forehead, before going back to it's original place. This is a subtle joke based on the mole on Alan Rickman when he played the sheriff in Prince Of Thieves

Roger Rees as the sleazy sheriff of Rottingham is marvellously slimy and nasty, and has some great lines throughout the film.

There are some faces here you'll be familiar with from other Brooks films. For instance Robert Ridgely, playing the hangman in this film also played the hangman in Blazing Saddles, another film directed by Brooks. He likes to add subtle references to his earlier films too; with several in this film that die-hard Brooks fans will easily spot. Those who watched History of the World part 1 will recognise the music to the song 'Men in Tights'. Also, when Patrick Stewart arrives and snogs Marion, Mel himself (playing Rabbi Tuckman) utters the line 'it's good to be a king', one of his lines in History of the world.

The whole cast is wonderfully comedic, even those with only a few lines bring a great depth of warmth and humour to them

What makes this film so wonderfully warm and funny in my own opinion are all the improvised scenes. Although there was a script of sorts, some scenes were completely improvised by the actors themselves, such as the scene where Latrine (Tracey Ullman) prays for Rottingham in her bed, and he falls through the ceiling, landing right where she wanted him, which was totally devised and thought out by the two actors.

There are few special effects, and those that are there are small but fun moments of computerised camera trickery.

The soundtrack is memorable, with some very funny songs, and a couple of cheesy love songs. You'll be singing 'Men in tights' or at least humming it to yourself, for weeks.

The rating is Pg, to which I say BAH HUMBUG. There is no bad language in the film, except in the use of double entendre, and one utterance of sh!t, and violence is minimal. In fact I'd go as far as to say non-existent, apart from a few comedy fight scenes.

A great fun film that adults and children alike will enjoy!

Those men of Sherwood and the women who'd like to love them

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 15 June 2016]

The Robin Hood legend and swashbuckler films in general get the Mel Brooks treatment in Robin Hood: Men In Tights. What that means is that a lot of movie clichés are broadly winked at, conventions are smashed and lots of laughs to be had.

Robin Hoods from Douglas Fairbanks to Kevin Costner probably saw lots of potential for a few winks themselves that Cary Elwes saw here. Our Robin here is all that one expects from a hero, brave, loyal, and true, a great fighter and would like to be a great lover if it weren't for that chastity belt that Amy Yasbeck as Maid Marian wears. Way back in those days many a maiden was put in one and I wouldn't be surprised if that was also a gift from King Richard to Errol Flynn for Olivia DeHavilland. Like a true Mel Brooks hero, Elwes is also a bit thick.

Kevin Costner's Robin Hood had a black cast member kind of grafted into the film so Brooks goes one better, he has two. A very hip Moor played by Isaac Hayes gifts charge of his son an 'exchange student' to a returning Elwes to England. A rapping Dave Chappelle is a nice addition to the mix.

Two of my favorites were Tracey Ullman as a witch and Mel Brooks as Rabbi Tuck. As King Richard himself gives the bride away in the end, all we can do is quote from another classic comedy, "a royal wedding, Mazeltov".

It's a Mel Brooks film so you know it will be great.

this and Spaceballs are Brooks doing his best "family" films

[Quinoa1984 · 9/10 · 11 March 2006]

Like many a child born in the 1980's, I grew up on the Mel Brooks films that weren't necessarily the 'racier' ones like Blazing Saddles and History of the World part 1 (I saw those, of course, though not as frequently as now), but the ones meant for the "whole family", Spaceballs, and this film. I knew at the time I wasn't seeing great art, but just a campy, goofy, though always laugh-worthy take on Robin Hood and/or adventure movies. But calling it a family movie in quotes means that a) adults really can enjoy it as much as kids, if not more because of the little in-jokes and silly vulgarities, and b) once a kid sees it, when he revisits it, as I have a few times, it's still as fresh but with some things not quite understood the first time around. It's a comedy that is not only filled with jokes at Robin Hood movies and other movies (Godfather of course, as well as little mentions for other movies of modern times), but one that references Brooks's own movies as well; this is a filmmaker who isn't above poking fun at even his own style.

Basic story- Robin Hood (Cary Elwes in one of his best turns) returns home from the crusades to see things are in peril with King Richard gone, and so goes forth to reclaim his land and to, naturally, rob the rich to feed the poor. Along the way he meets Achoo (Dave Chappelle), butts heads with Prince John (Richard Lewis) and the Sheriff, and of course still pines for the love of Maid Marian. This, of course, is the usual clothesline for Brooks to let the comedy run off into the scenes, and while sometimes a joke may not work or might become stale on a repeat viewing, so much of it sticks that it's hard not to chuckle. It also helps that a couple of bits are some of the best in any Brooksfilm, such as the Godfather bit (Dom DeLouise at his very best), Brooks's own cameo as the Rabbbi, Lewis and Chappelle's acting turns, and an endless slew of quotable lines and a couple of tongue-in-cheek songs. Some of it is obvious, yes, some of it just takes right from the pages of Blazing Saddles, sure, but is it a good time for the right crowd? Definitely- and for parents who grew up on the 70's Brooks work, it is a fantastic way to introduce the young ones to his work through this (even the suggestive sex jokes and such are not R-rated, all in good fun).

A classic spoof of a classic tale.

[marino_touchdowns · 7/10 · 28 April 2006]

Let me start off by saying that Mel Brooks is the funniest man alive. He has done several sweet movies like Blazing Saddles and Silient Movie. None of his movies however, match the joke after joke hilarity of Robin Hood Men in Tights. The movie takes classic characters and turns them into complete goofs. Cary Elwes is very funny as the English accented Robin Hood. Latrine is a a classic Tracy Ullman character that is funny throughout the whole movie. Ahchoo is played by a young lesser known Dave Chappelle and probably has the funniest lines in the movie that don't come from Blinkin'. Blinkin' is played by Mark Blankfield who does a terrific job playing the funny blind character. He is by far the funniest man in the whole movie. Throw in hilarious parts played by Mel Brooks, Richard Lewis and Isaac Hayes and then you have the funniest comedy of the 1990's.

Bad Mel Brooks Film

[thespeos · 3/10 · 9 June 2021]

Mel Brooks has made some really good movies, e.g. "Young Frankenstein," "Blazing Saddles," but this one is a stinker.

I tried giving this my customary sniff test, but after 10 minutes it was obvious. Someone did not invest time, creativity, or heart into this.

From the outset, the quality of acting wreaks of cheap slap-stick. This feels like a high school crew trying to make an SNL-like film.

STORY: Weird, no context, just here it is. What?

ACTING: Poor acting, poor script writing (Mel), and cheap gags.

TEMPO: OK, but as the film is, scattered.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Nothing useful.

DIRECTING: This feels poorly conceived and cheaply made. Bad job.

Summary: I strongly discourage you from watching this. Do something else.

Bloody Brilliant

[Planty_Pie · 10/10 · 20 April 2006]

Cary Elwes have to say puts on a better performance then Costner did in RHPOT but anyhow.

Have to say this film it just makes me laugh so much mainly because the actors seem really into what their doing and you just sit there and thinking 'what the hell are they on' but in a very very very very good way.The random outbursts of songs were brilliant and well and the musical score used I really really liked.Great casting and as said before everyone seemed so into their roles

10/10 from me defiantly

'Because unlike some other Robin Hoods.I can speak with an English accent'

We're men..... We're men in tights.......

[uncleal · 7/10 · 16 May 2006]

This review contains *minor* spoilers.

OK... So this isn't young Frankenstein or Blazing Saddles, but overall, it's a pretty funny Mel Brooks Movie. It is a send up of Robin Hood movies in general, but specifically "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves" in the same way that "Spaceballs" was a sendup of the Star Wars movies.

We get the usual Brooks schtick here.... Jewish jokes, (Brooks doing a cameo as "Rabbi Tuchman", Richard Lewis muttering "Trafe" when Robin drops a pig on the table)("Trafe" is a yiddish word for something that is non-kosher) , references to (then) current events and movies, (Dave Chappelle in his movie debut, being roughed up by the royal guard, and saying... "I hope someone is making a video of this", and the archer aiming at Robin from "Ye olde folio depository.) There's even a tribute to "Blazing Saddles", but I won't give that one away. (One other thing..... Only Mel Brooks could find a way to fit a "Malcom X" reference into a Robin Hood Movie.)

There's Brooks standard breaking of the "4th wall", (cameramen and crew obviously visible and part of the movie), and Robin announcing.... "Prepare for the fight scene." AND, there's even a big slap in the puss to Kevin Costner when Elwes says.... "Unlike other Robin Hoods, *I* can speak with an English accent." (Trivia note: Out of all the actors who have played Robin Hood, Elwes is the only British actor to do so.)

The musical numbers are fun, (We're men, (MANLY MEN!), we're men in tights....... We roam around theforest looking for fights.......) and even though the movie is a bit dated now, (it came out in 1993), it still has enough humor to hold one's interest. Sure, some of the jokes are going to be clinkers, (lend me your ears!!!) but overall, the movie holds up well. The movie recently came out in DVD as a Mel Brooks box set. One can only hope that it will come out as a single DVD soon, hopefully with some great extras. It's not a Brooks classic, but it's one that I really enjoy.

Tiring

[meelaleks · 3/10 · 28 January 2019]

I'm into undercooled British humour and not a Mel Brooks fan, so dont expect me to say this movie is great. But... I saw some of his movies and I found some to be mildly funny, some even mediocre in quality (thats a compliment) This one is not. It leans heavingly on old jokes he used before. As before he used 'funny' jewish humour and (too much) music. There are little if not none surprises. At times it was toe curling and even painfull to watch. Yet a few moments I sort of smiled and thats why I upgraded my rating from a 2 to a 3.

"Hood"-winked....

[Mister-6 · 29 September 1999]

Actually, Mel's been here before.

Any of you remember a little TV series Mel wrote and created called "When Things were Rotten", starring Dick Gautier as our man Robin? I do, and the series reran in my mind many times while watching Mel's big-screen take.

I guess he had to do this to take a few shots at Kevin Costner's "Prince of Thieves", but this one also takes aim at and makes points of reference to "White Men Can't Jump", Bruce Lee films, Larry King, seders and even brings out the reserves from Mel's projects of yore (McCann, Van Patten, De Luca, De Luise).

Some gags work, some don't but as always, Mel tries. Too bad he's working under the restrictions of that darned PG rating. What Mel could have done in his heyday with an R rated "Robin Hood"! Though admittedly, the finale of Robin's (Elwes') serenade to Maid Marian (Yasbeck) earns big laughs. Loved finding out the first name of the Sheriff of Rottingham (Rees), as well. You will, too.

As I've said before, any Mel is good Mel. If you've seen any Robin Hood movie, good. You'll get a lot of the references here. Even with the Mafia connections, hot tubs, and the new Club for horses.

Five stars. Bless you!

Good Parody Film with High Joke Hit Rate

[PartTimeCritic · 6/10 · 26 February 2023]

ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS (B-), a 1993 parody film from Mel Brooks, takes aim at the Robin Hood story; well, mostly the immensely popular 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and the 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood. Starring in the titular role is Cary Elwes who is an absolutely perfect fit for the role. Like Leslie Nielsen as a policeman in his Naked Gun role, Cary Elwes is perfectly believable replacement for a "takes the entire story seriously" Errol Flynn esque Robin Hood - his Robin laugh is spot on. Once escaped from imprisonment in the Holy Land while on Crusade, Robin Hood heads back home to find his castle repossessed by the Sherriff of Rottingham and now accompanied by Achoo (Dave Chappelle) and the blind servant Blinkin. Robin eventually hooks up with Little john and his merry men (in tights!) to take on Prince John and the Sherriff as well as win Maid Marion. Along the way we get some fun takes on historic moments like little John protecting a tiny bridge over a small stream ("This ain't exactly the Mississippi") in a fight with ever dwindling sticks to fight with. Additionally, we get a great homage and parody of Robin Hood interrupting Prince John's banquet. As with almost all parodies, it can get bogged down and move slow when a few jokes don't hit in a row and this film has its fair share of lame or dated jokes (air pump shoes, Rodney King, Home Alone, & Godfather (a lengthy scene) references). The high production values and strong casting make this one a joy. Beyond Elwes, Richard Lewis is perfect as Prince John, delivering Brooks' comedy with perfect pace and expression (and a traveling mole). This might not have the most memorable lines or scenes of a Mel Brooks movie, but it's overall a pretty easy and enjoyable watch with a strong hit rate of jokes.

The Prince Of Thieves Bloopers.

[adamjohns-42575 · 6/10 · 18 February 2024]

Robin Hood: Men In Tights (1993) -

To deliver a story of the greatest outlaw ever known, this film was so obviously a composite of all the Robin Hood stories that had gone before, including the Disney version (1973), the Errol Flynn version (1938), the Richard Greene TV Series and certainly the Douglas Fairbanks 1922 film. That was clear by Cary Elwes continued mimicry of that actor as he had done in 'The Princess Bride' (1987), but this particular film most definitively presented a parody of 'Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves' (1991) with some scenes being almost like for like and direct references or jokes aimed at that film made only two years before.

It really was very silly though and the humour was crude and simple. There were times when I thought that it was a bit pants and others that made me laugh out loud, which I do tend to find has been the case with most of Mel Brooks' films and I have only found that balance to be acceptable in 'Spaceballs' (1987) and 'Blazing Saddles' (1974). This production came close to doing it well, but just teetered in to the ridiculous a tad too often.

For instance, Tracy Ulman as Latrine was terrible in her role representing the witch character from 'RH:POT', but in a really sleazy sex mad and depraved way.

And Roger Rees' speech impediment got quite annoying, although he was quite good otherwise as a version of Alan Rickman's Sheriff (Obviously not a patch on Al's performance). That doesn't mean that I wasn't a bit disappointed with him at times for some of the things that he did lower himself to do.

I did like King John played by Richard Lewis however. There was nothing specific to remark about what he delivered, but he just seemed to fit the character well.

Cary Elwes made a good Robin Hood too, but it was almost like a copy and paste for him from his previous role as Westley.

I did feel that there were some obvious moments that had caught Mike Myers attention and where he had got some of his comedic ideas from for his 'Austin Powers' (1997 - 2002) films - The mole, the silhouette and just some of the general humour.

As I've stated above, the storyline was very similar to Kevin Kostner's interpretation, with the titular man returning home from the crusades and determined to restore freedom to the land, ending King John's tyranny and that of his Sheriff along the way, whilst also gathering a band of Merry Men and falling for the the charms of the fair Lady Marian. This attempt was laden with jokes, some that hit the right note for me and others that fell flat and while I wouldn't shy away from seeing it again, I also wouldn't ever prioritise it. As films go there are definitely better attempts at telling the legend of Rob and his Merry Fellas and as comedies go there are certainly funnier ones out there, because this one had sadly fallen in to a category of being dated. That was due to so much of its time being spent on slapstick comedy that may have been a bit out of touch even in 1993. I don't know if Mr. Brooks had ever intended for it to be timeless, but the soundtrack alone put it right back there in the early nineties. With that said I did actually enjoy the small musical interludes, which added to the fun, which the film was in all fairness. I couldn't have come away from it feeling upset, disgusted or angered, because it just didn't hit those sorts of notes, but there was plenty of scope for something more polished and less silly.

Perhaps the production was meant to be aimed at families and they tried too hard to provide something for everyone instead of just making it funny, but the cheaper jokes didn't hit home with me as much and lacked longevity.

Fun for all the family certainly, but not one to get excited about or to expect much from.

639.99/1000.

Quite funny!

[trulinotanother · 8/10 · 19 December 2004]

Robin Hood; Men in Tights is worth watching, I recently watched it because I've just become a Cary Elwes fan, and this is one of of his lead-roles. Some moments really made me crack up so hard! I didn't expect them you know, it was so funny, Even the 2nd time around you'd still fall off your chair The cast is great, of course especially Robin of Locksley himself,Cary, but Blinkin and the Sheriff and Little John (Don't let the name fool you, it's veryy big! lol) and everyone else!

There were some moments of course, the film tried to make a comedic scene out of but you don't necessarily laugh at it,.... but OK.

This is the second time Cary Elwes and Patrick Stewart appeared in a film together by the way, they both worked on "Lady Jane" in 1986, and it was fun to see them, 7 years later, older, awwww.

It's definitely worth watching, quite hilarious indeed!

Brooks' best movie in decades

[davidmvining · 7/10 · 26 February 2022]

I think this is the movie that Spaceballs was trying to be. Funnier, with a better lead (though I do like Bill Pullman), and a better understanding of the source material, Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a consistently amusing comedy from a pigeonholed filmmaker. Life Stinks was either an earnest attempt by Brooks to reclaim the kind of filmmaking he had started out doing with a movie like The Twelve Chairs or a deeply cutting satire of a subgenre of movies, but either way it failed miserably at both the box office and with the critical community. So, a few years pass and he comes back with something much more in his wheelhouse, a parody of Robin Hood.

In Jerusalem, Robin of Locksley (Cary Elwes) has been captured by the Muslims and imprisoned, chained next to Asneeze (Isaac Hayes) who helps him escape with the promise to look after his foreign exchange student son Achoo (Dave Chappelle), studying in England. Swimming all the way back to the coast of England (looking very much like a California coastline for some reason), he discovers that his ancestral home has been taken by Prince John (Richard Lewis) to pay the family's taxes, leaving the blind family servant Blinkin (Mark Blankfield) alone in the remnants of the castle that has been carted away. After meeting up with Achoo, being beaten up by a gang of soldiers, Robin makes the acquaintance of Little John (Eric Allan Kramer) and the Sheriff of Rottingham (Roger Rees), setting up the main conflict of the film.

Now, a plot description is pretty much, with some variation, just the story of Robin Hood, and I think that's an advantage to the film. It's a familiar tale, well told through the history of film, and there are obvious influences on story and visual aspects in particular from the Errol Flynn 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood as well as the recently released Kevin Costner vehicle Prince of Thieves from 1991. Using the familiar story, Brooks is able to simply find places to hang jokes in familiar story beats that provide a strong enough undergirding on which everything can rest. This is no High Anxiety where scenes drag out looking for jokes. It's more of a rapid fire Airplane approach, keeping things moving to find the next gag.

Not everything hits, of course, but enough hits consistently to keep things amusing and engaging. In the opening prison sequence is a Maitre d for the prison, complete with a bowtie above his bare chest, desperate to please the screaming inmates that's an entertaining bit of anachronism. The Sheriff's tendency to mixing up his words is good for a chuckle (though that it never builds up to some larger gag in the end is a disappointment). The fight with Little John over a meaningless bridge with increasingly smaller bits of wood is funny. And through it all is Cary Elwes as Robin, and he's a complete charmer in the role. He'd make a wonderful Robin Hood in a straight, light adaptation akin to Flynn's work in the 30s, and it's obvious that Brooks cast him in the lead due to his reasonable resemblance to Flynn as well as his effervescent charm.

The film follows the normal contours of the Robin Hood story with little variation. Robin Hood meets Maid Marian (Amy Yasbeck) and they instantly fall in love while the Sheriff pines for her. Robin collects his Merry Men to rob from the rich and steal from the poor (something that never actually gets seen, by the way), irritating Prince John to the point that he sets up a trap at an archery tournament that Robin wins. There's a big showdown at the castle where the Merry Men and John's soldiers fight it out, all ending with the arrival of King Richard (Patrick Stewart).

The joy of the film is how it plays with the routine things. The opening credits mimic those of Prince of Thieves but becomes one of the main bits of real satire in the film when the people of a village complain about how their houses burn down with the filming of every Robin Hood movie because they always involve archers firing flaming arrows into the world. Friar Tuck is replaced by Rabbi Tuckman (Brooks), offering circumcisions to all the men with his little guillotine. The Sheriff hires out the hit on Robin to the local Italian mob boss Don Giovanni (Dom DeLuise), playing it like Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone with amusing beats in his one scene. Robin wins his contest with a PATRIOT ARROW after needing to reference the script for clearance for a second shot. There's also a couple of musical numbers that, while smaller and less gaudy than the great numbers of Brooks' career ("Springtime for Hitler" and "The Spanish Inquisition") are good for a fair number of laughs. And, of course, Cary Elwes shines through it all, especially in the final fight with the Sheriff in Marian's bedroom.

Is the film a hilarious piece of non-stop laughs? Not really. It really could have been tightened up a bit, shaving off maybe four to five minutes to get things moving a bit faster here and there. The Robin Hood story often feels like an excuse for jokes instead of finding ways to find fun in the absurdities of the story itself like a satire might. Not all of the jokes land, and Dave Chappelle looks bored half the time.

However, as a complete package, I get more out of this than any movie Brooks had made since Young Frankenstein. It may not be great, but I laugh through it every time without feeling like its dragging too badly or ever taking itself too seriously (the romance here is much more of a joke along with the rest of the movie unlike the romance in Spaceballs). I like it.

'Rottingham' will never be the same

[ben_mister_s · 8/10 · 17 November 2008]

This movie is FUNNY!!!

I remember seeing this movie for the first time when I was about 8 years old. My brother came home with it and told me I should watch along. I must say, what was funny back then is still funny now. The movie gains strength out of the nonsense humor. People who don't like this kind of humor, don't watch. People who want to have a fun night full of laughter en weird jokes with friends (or alone) will surely enjoy this.

Have you ever wanted to see someone swim from Israel to England and once arrived, see the name England written, Hollywood style, right of the beach? Or how about a bunch of men dance and sing to the CanCan? A sheriff who "pronounce can't sentence one correctly single" oh I'm sorry, I meant a sheriff who can't pronounce one single sentence correctly. That's just a couple of the million funny things in this movie.

I'd say, put your mind to sleep, invite people to come watch, make popcorn and have a good time. I know I did!!!

8 out of 10, definitely!!!

very funny

[big_bea · 7/10 · 14 April 2009]

This film is very funny. I don't have a problem with a parody of the Robin Hood legend, and I can't imagine a better way to do it then to make fun of the "Prince of thieves", for it was released only two years before "men in tights" and therefore still stuck in everyone's memory. Some of the greatest scenes are when Robin tries to deliver a touching speech but no one really listens. I often feel that heroes in movies act very lofty, and it's nice that this has no effect for once. There are some pretty flat jokes in this film, too. But I admire the way this film manages to parody the "prince of thieves" so to the point and still be full of new ideas. If you are looking for a movie to watch when you are in a bad mood and don't want to think to much, this is your film! I've seen it about five times and I still laugh almost without a break.

Watchable but not very funny

[pmtelefon · 5/10 · 24 April 2021]

"Robin Hood: Men in Tights" plays less like a Mel Brooks movie and more like one of those "Hots Shots"/ "Scary Movie" type comedies. There's nothing wrong with those movies (I like a lot of them) it's just that I expect more from Mel Brooks. The cast (including the always welcome Avery Schreiber) sure is game. They all do a nice job. The cast is actually funnier than the material they are given. Most of the jokes are corny and pretty lame. That said, "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" is not the worst way to spend a lazy afternoon. Honorable mention: a dreamy Amy Yasbeck.

Not Brooks' best but still hilarious

[puttputtk · 8/10 · 7 October 2010]

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

Robin Hood: Men in Tights is far from Mel Brooks' best film, but it definitely is hilarious. As far as his films that parody other film franchises go, its no Young Frankenstein but it is better than Dracula: Dead and Loving it.

Not the greatest acting but few comedies ever do. There may not be any great performances but they are funny performances. I don't think I would have thought that Cary Elwes was the right choice to play the lead in this film, but they made the right choice by picking him. He gave a very Princess Bride like performance that worked out well. Dave Chappell gave a good debut performance, though he definitely wasn't as funny as he would become later on. Mark Blankfield as Blinkin I think is probably the most remembered character in the film and its for good reason, he is hilarious.

The film is full of great Mel Brooks style jokes and gags that would make The Marx Brothers proud. Some jokes are misses and are slightly painful due to how unfunny they are but those come rare, its usually consistently funny. It's probably my favorite Mel Brooks movie after Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. Though it is a little less liked and a little dumber, I think fans of those two films will still like this one.

Before you watch Robin Hood Men in Tights I would suggest you see at least one other version of Robin Hood, to understand the story they are making fun of. Im sure the film would still be funny who didn't know the story but I think some knowledge of the legend would make it better.

Anyone who likes Mel Brooks, anyone who likes Robin Hood and anyone who likes comedies should give it a try. Some people might find it a little annoying and dumb at times but I think most people will at least get enough laughs to like it.

8/10

A Painfully Sad State of a Great Comedian's Affairs

[jzappa · 7/10 · 11 July 2011]

Having garnered a cult following full of excuse-making couch potatoes, this lazily anachronistic airball is one of the more contemporary of Mel Brooks' films, though you'd almost not realize it by watching. Indeed, it reveals how little Brooks' comic manner has evolved over time. The film is a send-up of the 1991 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, on top of shreds of countless other Robin Hood films. Most of the gags were moan-inducing when this film was new and they haven't enhanced with time. Do names like "Ahchoo" which is invariably followed by "gesundheit," and "Sheriff of Rottingham" amuse you? Jokes bank on an inherent surprise element, to put it very reductively, and if an audience is subjected to it a bunch of times uninflected or it's so obvious that children who still play in sandboxes could have written the same gag, there's zero surprise, scarce laughter and even scarcer joy.

Unlike Blazing Saddles, where Brooks does actually utilize such postmodern self-conscious gags to timeless effect, that's as if the same man couldn't have made both movies. This parody, which barely qualifies as such, is unimaginative, worn-out and weakly written. And while one might be swift in pardoning Brooks by observing that he wasn't to blame for conceiving the story, no medieval mobsters held any silly handgun-shaped crossbow to his head. He ran right beside J.D. Shapiro and Evan Chandler on the screenplay, then said the words "Roll camera," when he should've only ever screamed "Cut!" Spaceballs was a major step down for Brooks, though it was still thick with gags, both funny and flat. But this one has even more brainless lines, and also less. There are lingering sections where it just plays like another version of the Robin Hood film rotation. That's definitely the case with the scene in which Robin gallantly enters the castle of Prince John and cuts short his banquet with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Except for the joke of having Robin carry a dead boar to his "hosts" instead of the king's deer, the Flynn version gives off far more humor and liveliness. That's also the case with the archery contest, in which Robin disguises himself to vie for Maid Marian.

I was astonished, basically, that someone didn't sever Marian's hand and brandish it as the actual prize. That very sort of shallow dumb-pun humor mechanism is both on auto-pilot and overdrive in this sad state of a great comedian's affairs, whether it's one of the few welcome gags, a reprisal of the "walk this way" gag in which everyone imitates the way that the Sheriff saunters, or a confounding pathetic "lend me your ears" plea that becomes the obligatory occasion for all the peasants yanking them off and tossing them to Robin. It's purely unfunny. "Watch my back." "Your back just got punched twice" is a little funnier, but it didn't take much effort or inspiration to hit upon those jokes, and that's the prevalent trouble with this film.

Sporadic lines can be amusing, as when Robin, about to leave the Crusades and return home, meets a black warrior who says he has a son in England, a son who's head strong and cock sure, or is it the other way around? Roger Rees as Sheriff of Rottingham delivers the most laughs. The next most are during a scene in which Dom DeLuise makes a cameo as Don Giovanni in a longed-for off-the-wall slider of a Godfather burlesque, you find yourself laughing quite a lot, but also at this point surprised to be doing so. Alas, when the blind Blinkin asks, "Did you say Abe Lincoln?" and the reply is "No, 'Hey, Blinkin,'" one cannot help but agonize over why Brooks and his writers thought it would help to kill the already desperate joke by redundantly appending such an already obvious punch line. Same with a jailer who's dressed like a maitre 'd and tells Robin he cannot seat him without proper attire, then puts a false beard on Robin. This means you also have to question if some of these gags might've fared better than increasingly depressing dead air had Brooks poked and played with them more. But this is such a lethargic, idle film that takes every path of least possible resistance, and dilly-dallies too long to do even that.

The beginning of the end for Mel Brooks.

[Jetset971 · 3/10 · 14 May 2010]

Oh, Mel! What has happened to you? To think the comedic master that brought us such timeless treasures of comedy like "The Producers", "Blazzing Saddles", "Young Frankenstein". Has now been reduced to handing out schlock like "Life Stinks", "Dracula dead and loving it" and this cinematic suppository "Robin Hood, Men in Tights". I went to this movie with such high hopes and expectations, feeling confident that in the hands of a master like Mel Brooks, he would surely pull of another scathing parody like he has done so many times before. However, after seeing this movie it felt like I had been cheated. Not only out of my time and money but by something even worse. My trust had been violated. This movie was so lackluster and mediocre that it must have been a doppleganger of Mel Brooks. It felt like some hack had stolen Mel Brooks' name and was pawning off for his own twisted use. Alas, no it was Mel's creation. More the pity.

I feel the biggest problem with this script is that it had absolutely nothing fresh to it. The set-ups, gags, even jokes were written and executed so shabbily that you could see the punch line coming a mile away. Another thing happened that had NEVER happened to me watching a Mel Brooks film. I got bored, in fact I even started to wonder how much more of the movie was left and even contemplated skipping out. This movie would be just another forgettable comedy except it still bares the name of Mel Brooks and that makes it all the more painful. Thankfully, after the 1990's Brooks was smart enough to realize that he was way past his prime and went back to Broadway to revive "The Producers" and "Young Frankenstein". Just please, please, PLEASE, Mel. Never bring this movie to Broadway.