The 10 Best Robin Hood Movies, Ranked
Take a glance at the history of Robin Hood adaptations, and you end up in some interesting places.
When I started researching this piece, for example, I had never heard of The Ribald Tales of Robin Hood, a softcore skin flick from 1969; nor had I come across the even more enticingly titled The Sword of Sherwood Forest—which, somewhat disappointingly, is apparently a run-of-the-mill version (with Peter Cushing as the Sheriff) released by Hammer nine years earlier. Between 1946 and 1976, the world apparently had Hood fever, with a whopping 13 feature-length films released. That was followed by a decade and a half of nothing—at which point Kevin Costner said, “hold my ale”.
All in, at the time of writing, there have already been 20 live-action features on top of various shorts, TV shows, TV movies and cameo appearances (there’s a memorable one in Shrek) as well as a few unrealised projects—including a tasty-sounding 2010 Wachowskis picture that never was. This September, that number will rise to 21 with the release of Pig director Michael Sarnoski’s The Death of Robin Hood—the most high-profile acquisition from Sundance this year and a movie that, if the trailer is something to go by, looks to be offering a Logan-esque, samurai-coded tale for the once merry man—and not just because Hugh Jackman’s in it.
All of which leads us to our ranking of the best Robin Hood movies, which I’ve listed below in ascending order. You can read on to discover more about each title or simply use the guide below to find them on Apple TV+, Netflix, Prime Video and elsewhere.
Over the years, different filmmakers have tried to make Robin look cool and modern, which simply doesn’t work—at least not most of the time. You could see some version of this in that recent William Tell movie, but 2018’s Robin Hood, starring Taron Egerton, is the biggest culprit—a film somewhere downstream of Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur, albeit one that performed even worse at the box office.
Still, the film is not fully without charm—though this easily has more to do with the quality of the cast (Jamie Foxx as Little John, Eve Hewson as Marion, Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff) than anything else that director Otto Bathurst was attempting to do. Let’s say this is one for the curious viewer only.
The second of four adaptations on this list to carry the most unimaginative title available, the most significant thing about John Irvin’s Robin Hood was how unlucky it was to be scheduled for release in 1991.
Irvin made his name as a steady-hand director while working for the BBC, notably as the man behind the acclaimed Alec Guinness-led adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. His Robin Hood was the first of a solid run of ‘90s movies—one that later included Widow’s Peak and City of Industry—for the director and featured Patrick Bergin and Uma Thurman in the cast, with a production credit for Die Hard creator John McTiernan. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be.
It’s true, Irvin’s movie had the misfortune of being released just a few months shy of Costner’s incoming juggernaut (more on that later) and was thus relegated to TV movie status in the U.S. In the early ‘90s, that meant obscurity. We rank it at a respectable ninth place on our list.
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The first Walt Disney adaptation to feature here is The Story of Robin Hood and his Merry Men, a 1952 live-action feature starring Richard Todd (The Dam Busters) and Joan Rice with the great Peter Finch (roughly 25 years shy of winning the Oscar for Network) as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Coming some time after the Errol Flynn glory days and a few decades short of the ‘70s and ‘90s resurgences, this version is nothing special, but it’s easily the most satisfying of the various mid-century offerings. Think Sunday afternoon TV vibes.
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The first major adaptation of Robin Hood might have reached its centenary in 2022, but it still packs a punch. This is thanks largely to having both the great Douglas Fairbanks in the lead and the might of silent era Hollywood (the set design alone is worth the entry) at the filmmakers’ disposal.
If you’re into early silent films, like Fairbanks’ similarly swashbuckling The Thief of Baghdad (released a couple of years later), you might be interested in checking this one out!
The last of the nominally titled versions on our list is Ridley Scott’s 2010 reimagining—a movie that fans of the director’s recent period smash, The Last Duel, will probably have a pretty great time with.
This was Scott’s most recent collaboration with Russell Crowe (after Gladiator and American Gangster), and watching it today really does make you wish they’d reunite. The bombastic Aussie stars, of course, in a cast that also features Cate Blanchett (Maid Marian), Matthew Macfadyen (the Sheriff), William Hurt and Oscar Isaac.
Released two years after Costner’s 1991 smash, Mel Brooks certainly had his finger on the pulse when he wrote and directed Robin Hood: Men in Tights—a movie that did for Robin Hood what Brooks’ Spaceballs had done for Star Wars and Blazing Saddles had done for Western movies.
Taking the swashbuckling fun up to 11, Brooks cast Princess Bride star Cary Elwes as Robin and even managed to get Dave Chappell in as his right-hand man. If you’re getting a little tired of the more serious-leaning adaptations on this list, look no further.
The last great Robin Hood movie before the fallow 1980s was Richard Lester’s Robin and Marian, a handsome and stately production that boasted Sean Connery in the lead and the legendary Hollywood star Audrey Hepburn as his Marian.
As well as being the most fateful retelling of the Robin Hood legend, this one might also interest James Bond fans. Not only does Connery feature, but it also has a score by the great John Barry. Robert Shaw and Richard Harris round out a remarkably muscular cast.
And so we finally reach the most influential modern version of the Robin Hood story—the one that I’ve already referenced on this list several times. Yes, it’s Kevin Costner’s 1991 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves—a movie that made an absolute killing at the box office and yet is still probably best known these days for Bryan Adams’ unavoidable tune.
Naturally, like basically anything that involved Costner at that time, this version is about as ‘90s Hollywood as they come. If you’re a fan of Costner’s work from that era—think movies like Dances With Wolves and Waterworld—you’re probably gonna love it.
For most people, nothing will ever beat the Disney animated version of Robin Hood. This is the one where Little John and Prince John are played by the bear and the snake, respectively, from The Jungle Book, a smooth-talking cockerel whistles a song you will never be able to get out of your head, and Robin and Marian are foxes—quite literally.
If you’re a fan of classic Disney from that period—think The Aristocats—or are looking for a Robin Hood movie that younger viewers can enjoy, this is a timeless delight.
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While we’re on the topic of timeless delights, Errol Flynn’s swashbuckling (and endlessly influential) classic The Adventures of Robin Hood hasn’t aged a day. The mood is still adventurous, the colours are still drop-dead gorgeous, the stuntwork is still astonishing, and the chemistry between Flynn’s Robin and Olivia de Havilland’s Marian is still capable of warming the soul.
If you’ve seen the Disney version a hundred times, you’ll also likely recognise most of the key scenes here—at the end of the day, that animated movie is nothing if not a love letter to this one. Don’t let that year put you off; The Adventures of Robin Hood is a stone cold classic.
