Robin Hood: Men in Tights

Robin Hood: Men in Tights is a 1993 French-American musical adventure comedy film and a parody of the Robin Hood story. Produced and directed by Mel Brooks, the film stars Cary Elwes, Richard Lewis, and Dave Chappelle in his film debut. The film includes frequent comedic references to previous Robin Hood films (particularly Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, upon which the plot is loosely structured, Disney's Robin Hood, and The Adventures of Robin Hood).

Plot
The standard story of Robin Hood: Evil Prince John is oppressing the people while good King Richard is away on the Crusades. Robin steals from the tax collectors, wins an archery contest, defeats the Sheriff, and rescues Maid Marian. In this version, however, Mel Brooks adds his own personal touch, parodying traditional adventure films, romance films, and the whole idea of men running around the woods in tights.

Trivia
The scene where the Sheriff (Roger Rees) falls through the roof of Latrine (Tracey Ullman) and she tries to get him to have sex with her was completely improvised by Rees and Ullman. Throughout the movie, a mole on the face of Prince John (Richard Lewis) changes position: it starts on his left cheek, then over to his right cheek, then his chin, then his forehead. It then goes back to the original place. This lampoons the mole on Alan Rickman's face in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It's also a nod to the famous "I-gor's hump" gag from Young Frankenstein. The gag about Robin being able to speak with an English accent is a reference to Kevin Costner's performance in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Unfortunately viewers who saw both movies in a dubbed version couldn't get this gag. For the German dubbed version the gag was changed to: "because I - unlike some other Robin Hood - do not cost the producers 5 million". The German word "kosten" (cost) was also pronounced to sound a little bit like Costner. In the French (France) and Italian (Italy) dubbed versions, it is translated as, "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I do not dance with the wolves", referring to another Kevin Costner movie Dances with Wolves. In Quebec, the translation becomes "Because unlike other Robin Hoods, I accept to wear tights," which refers to the fact that Costner didn't wear tights in the 1991 movie. Matthew Porretta, who plays Will Scarlet O'Hara, went on to play Robin Hood in The New Adventures of Robin Hood, on TNT. There is a rumor that the idea for this film came when a studio executive turned to his son and jokingly demanded "Give me an idea for a sure-fire hit, or else!" The boy replied "That's easy. Do a parody of Robin Hood." When Ahchoo first appears, he and Robin fight Prince John's knights with a style Robin calls "Praying Mantis". Praying Mantis is an actual martial art - a style of Kung Fu emphasizing grabbing your opponent and bringing him to the ground - but it is nothing like the slapstick techniques that Robin and Ahchoo use.

Box office
Robin Hood: Men in Tights was not one of Brooks's best grossing films. The film debuted at #6 at the North American box office, with only $6,841,830. The film went on to gross a domestic total of $35,739,755.

Henry's copy
Henry has the 1997 VHS of this movie from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It has no previews.