Zanobard Reviews

Michael Kamen’s Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves is one of the composer’s most beloved works, and it’s not difficult to hear why; led by a brassily boisterous theme for Robin and a love theme that knows no bounds, the sheer enthusiasm of Kamen’s orchestrations here is a thing to behold.

I ought to review more Michael Kamen scores really. Die Hard, Band Of Brothers, Licence To Kill – there’s no shortage of fantastic compositions that the late and very talented composer crafted in his time, and at minimum I would like to get around to all three of the above at some point or another. For now though, I felt it was high time to tackle what is generally regarded as his very best work, and a film score that never ceases to make me smile in how delightfully upbeat and triumphant it is – Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. I actually quite like the 1991 film itself – Kevin Costner’s questionable English accent aside – it has a good story and doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is; fun. And at the heart of the film’s narrative is of course Kamen’s score, led by an aptly heroic and brassily bombastic main theme. Intrada’s absolutely gigantic expansion for it – a whopping four CDs long – introduces it straight away, in the phenomenally standout “Main Titles”; rapid strings open the three minute cue, with drums also quickly starting to build in the background. Before long grand swathes of brass also enter the fray, with a sudden explosion of tremendous grandeur then bursting free at just before the minute mark. From here Kamen’s full Robin Hood theme takes centre stage, charging heroically on absolutely sublime-sounding orchestra, and reaching such heights as to practically soar by the end.

There’s no denying the sheer catchiness of Kamen’s main theme for Robin its its marvellous debut here, and luckily the full score never shies away from using it either. Speaking of; the eleven minute “The Letter/Robin’s Hand/And His Merry Men” is up next, and it opens rather ominously with warily high-pitched strings and quiet woodwinds. As the music continues however the pace and volume start to pick up, with brass murmuring until – as promised – Robin’s theme suddenly thunders into frame for an anxious though fiercely determined action appearance. These frenetically theme-led orchestrations then slowly fade after the five minute mark, with a sense of pure triumph and hope then arriving from eight minutes as swelling strings and brass build to a delightfully grandiose rendition of Robin’s theme. Increasingly tense surges of brass and strings then open “Robin Foils Gisborne/Arrow”, with quiet woodwinds settling the music somewhat until a short though loudly bombastic Robin’s theme leaps back into frame. A sense of sorrow showcased on whistling woodwinds and solemn strings then envelopes “Gisborne Brings Bad News/Father” and “I Will Not Rest”, before the score then quietens with some rather medieval-sounding woodwinds in “Robin Gives Marian/Escape To Sherwood”, as the love theme is introduced.

Stirringly romantic strings swirl the motif behind Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do, I Do It For You” (a song co-written by Kamen for the film) alongside the aforementioned woodwinds, all-in making for an absolutely gorgeous-sounding debut for said love theme – though a short one, as frantic action then quickly surges back into centre stage for the track’s back half; an increasingly tense action motif runs at breakneck speed here, with crashing drums, brass and strings all leaping tremendously alongside until the emphatic ensemble finally fades to a close. The medieval sound of earlier then returns in “Eyes Of The Forest/Little John”, this time in a more playful, strings-focused manner, with “The Band In The Forest” afterward also following similarly suit with gentle strings and woodwinds. Flurrying medieval-styled action then flares through “Little John Fight Pt. 1 & Pt. 2” with string twangs abound at first before louder brass then starts to overtake in the second half with increasingly triumphant interspersions of Robin’s theme. The mood then simmers slightly for the more pensive first few minutes of “Robin Sees The Bishop/Robin Talks To Bishop”, before soaring brassy grandeur then charges in to give Robin’s theme a phenomenally heroic crescendo. Tense action is then the focus of “Village Destructo/Village Destroyed Pt.2” at first, before this fades in favour of downtrodden, rather sorrowful strings.

The standout “Courage/Training Sequence Pt. 1 & Pt. 2” opens with hopeful strings before some absolutely spectacular-sounding brass then builds to a fantastically grandiose and happily lengthy rendition of Robin’s theme; it’s got to be said, if there’s one track on this score other than the “Main Titles” that proves the versatility and raw power of Kamen’s main theme here, it’s definitely this one. After the Merry Men then dart mischieviously through some sprightly medieval-sounding string and woodwind focused moments in “The Merry Men Continue Raids” and “The Merry Men Plot The Ambush”, the score once again descends into luscious romance with the standout “Marian At The Waterfall/Camp”; here the softer side of Robin’s theme and the ‘Everything I Do’ melody are the spectacular centre of attention, mixing romantically with gorgeous orchestrations and spine-tingling crescendos happily abound. The subsequent and four minute “Reprise” then enjoyably lingers on this sublime thematic intermix, with a particular and rather breathtaking strings focus on ‘Everything I Do’ also emerging in the back half. Said love theme then also continues on tranquil string plucks and woodwinds in “The Plot Thickens (Maid Marian)” for another delightfully romantic crescendo, before increasingly wary brass starts to seed malevolence in the track’s back half that then all comes to an anxious head.

The aggressively brass-heavy “Celt Battle” action setpieces continue this rising tension, as said instruments and thudding drums contribute to a veritable sea of orchestral chaos with anxious renditions of Robin’s theme also darting along. Wistful woodwinds and strings then return to the gentler, more medieval side of the score in the first part of “Duncan’s Death” before anxious bursts of brass suddenly overtake, and coldly ominous atmosphere descends for the eerie “Generic Witch Ambience Pt. 1 & Pt. 2”. A determined pace then kicks off the ten minute “Circle Of Stones/Plans For Rescue/Will Captured”, with the medieval-styled woodwinds and strings from earlier together with increasingly grand brass then adding to this rising grandiosity. Mammoth thirteen minute setpiece “Rescue Marian/Robin Fights The Sheriff” then delivers the tremendous action finale of the score with Robin’s theme held heroically high on bounding brass and orchestra, impressively not letting up the excitement for pretty much the entire track’s runtime. “Finale Pt. 3 & Pt. 4” then wraps up the story with a lovely reprisal of the ‘Everything I Do’ love theme to start, before seguing into brassy fanfare for Sean Connery’s excellent cameo as King Richard and then blasting Robin’s theme for a triumphant finish. Bonus cue “End Credits” then offers a soothingly romantic and enjoyably lengthy rendition of the love theme to close the album.

Overall, one can’t deny the sheer enthusiastic entertainment of Michael Kamen’s Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. It’s led by a brassily bombastic and quite memorable main theme (introduced in the opening “Main Titles”) that never lets up in its charging heroic triumph all across the album, with highlights including action setpieces “Training Sequence” and the mammoth “Rescue Marian/Robin Fights The Sheriff”, with the theme’s versatility also being proven through the gentler, more romantic “Marian At The Waterfall” cues. And speaking of romance, a stellar standout is of course the love theme; Bryan Adams’ “Everything I Do, I Do It For You”. An absolutely gorgeous song in its own right, the melody behind it simply shines throughout the score as Kamen utilises it to dazzlingly heartwarming effect, with its better moments including the aforementioned “Marian At The Waterfall” as well as the conclusive “Finale Pt. 3 & Pt. 4” and “End Credits”. The orchestrations that hold the above-mentioned motifs high are extraordinary as well, with the composer’s use of enthusiastic brass in particular being fantastic. That all being said though, while I do really like this score I feel that its ‘masterpiece’ reputation is perhaps a little too strong; the endlessly bounding orchestra for example can get a bit tiring after two hours, and I do feel that the suite performances of the original soundtrack release (included at the end of Intrada’s four CD treatment here) highlight most of the standout moments on their own. But then if you’re a completionist – like me – it certainly doesn’t hurt to have everything!

Score: 8.5/10

Standout Cues: Main Titles, Courage/Training Sequence, Marian At The Waterfall

Buy Michael Kamen’s 4-CD score for Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves here, by Intrada!

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