‘The aim was to give Kevin Costner’s version a good kicking’: director John Irvin on his anti-Thatcher Robin Hood

Rush-released in the same year as Prince of Thieves blockbuster, this gritty British movie battled winter weather and chronic illness – and it still holds upThirty-five years ago, two films about the legend of Robin Hood – stealer from the rich, giver to the poor – met and duelled in cinemas; we all know who won, Kevin Costner’s big-budget blockbuster, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. But what about the other one? It was titled simply Robin Hood, directed by John Irvin and starring Patrick Bergin in the title role alongside a pre-Pulp Fiction Uma Thurman as Maid Marian.“It was very much a stand-alone film with the aim of giving Kevin Costner’s version a good kicking if we could,” says Irvin, now 85. “The studio wanted to go immediately because they wanted to pre-empt the Costner.” Continue reading...