'Robin Hood: Season One' -High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Ken has reviewed 'Robin Hood's first season. He wasn't that into the
series (but it's evidently popular since it's ramping up its fourth
season) This new Blu-ray isn't much of an upgrade from the standard
DVD. Video is improved, but audio is underwhelming and supplements are
nothing new. Rent this one first.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/843/robinhood_s1.html

[Morphine]

1080i? Lame. Shame on Warner

[chowdachad]

Originally Posted by Morphine

1080i? Lame. Shame on Warner

Shame on BBC.......Warner may just be the NA distributor

[Kurri]

if it was in 1080p it would not save this series, rented this, watched the first disc, and could not take anymore. i had high hopes for this series

[Iggytx]

I was really close to ordering this, I need more opinions. If you've seen this please comment on what you think. I'd greatly appreciate it.

[Duncan]

AFAIK the show was made in a mix of 720p and 1080i, so its potentially a bit hit and miss on the picture front, but I didnt notice any obvious problems when watching it on BBC HD.

Prepping for a 4th season? Well they are currently finishing the third season ready for broadcast either late this year or early 2009 so it may be premature to think of a 4th season.

I think Robin Hood got off to a slow start - the first 3-4 episodes arent terribly good. But after this, with the characters finding their feet, it improves greatly. Personally I thought Keith Allen was excellent, and the brooding version of Gisbourne makes for great scenes between the two. Not as good as the sublime Nickolas Grace and Robert Addie in the unequalled Robin Of Sherwood but very good all the same.

Season two gets even better with a surprise ending, and I'm really looking forward to season 3. The BBC are to be commended for their commitment to quality family drama. With Doctor Who, Robin Hood and soon to be shown Merlin, it's a great time for saturday night drama.

[freekedoutfish]

Is this really onto its 4th season already? Do they only have 10 episodes a season because it hasnt been on air that long?

I tried to watch this when it was first on TV and I was kind of excited, and saw it as a space filler while Dr Who wasnt on, but it was just sheer agony trying to watch it week after week.

The plot line for EVERY episode went like this..

...they somehow find they have to break into the castle AGAIN, and either rescue someone or steal something or humiliate the sheriff somehow and someone ends up with a knife to their head and Robin has to save them and yet it all ends happily ever after.

It really was the most awful show I had ever seen, with storylines with absolutely no originality and freshness.

The scenes are all either in the woods, in a castle or in some old house and those cocky, southern, posh accents just sound like nails on a choke-board to me.

I hated this show and I havent even seen the 2nd, 3rd or 4th seasons.

[Duncan]

For the avoidance of doubt:

13 episodes per season

2 seasons broadcast to date

3rd season currently in production

NO publicly revealed decision about a 4th season, which given casting revelations may not be too surprising.

[joeymac]

Originally Posted by Morphine

1080i? Lame. Shame on Warner

Blu-Ray doesn't support 1080p25.... only 1080i50. Shames on you

[Matt865]

Small error - Video Resolution/Codec under Disc Details says 1080p/VC-1, not 1080i/VC-1.

Totally agree with the reviewer's opinion. This is a poor quality show.

[Cochise]

Originally Posted by Duncan

AFAIK the show was made in a mix of 720p and 1080i, so its potentially a bit hit and miss on the picture front, but I didnt notice any obvious problems when watching it on BBC HD.

Prepping for a 4th season? Well they are currently finishing the third season ready for broadcast either late this year or early 2009 so it may be premature to think of a 4th season.

I think Robin Hood got off to a slow start - the first 3-4 episodes arent terribly good. But after this, with the characters finding their feet, it improves greatly. Personally I thought Keith Allen was excellent, and the brooding version of Gisbourne makes for great scenes between the two. Not as good as the sublime Nickolas Grace and Robert Addie in the unequalled Robin Of Sherwood but very good all the same.

Season two gets even better with a surprise ending, and I'm really looking forward to season 3. The BBC are to be commended for their commitment to quality family drama. With Doctor Who, Robin Hood and soon to be shown Merlin, it's a great time for saturday night drama.

Very good analysis, IMO ^^^^. I've been watching the HD DVD (UK import) over the past few weeks. Yeah, the 3-4 episodes drag a bit and I almost lost interest. Then I started watching it more and was more drawn into it on the later episodes. Keith Allen as the Sheriff of Nottingham is excellent; he's almost "campy" and very funny. Jonas Armstrong is certainly a different take on Robin (is he really a British "hearthrob"? He looks kind of scrappy to me). All in all, I enjoyed it, and look forward to season 2, on BD or DVD.

One note - I don't think you really have to dig that deep to find the Dolby 5.1 audio. Yeah, it's not listed on the case, but the Audio Setup menu is pretty prominent on the disc menu and the 5.1 track is clearly listed. And for the HD DVD, my receiver says it's Dolby Digital Plus, not just standard DD. But yeah, it's a BBC TV show, so it's not going to have the sonic blast of a Hollywood Blockbuster - the vast majority of BBC viewers probably listen to it on their TV's tinny speakers.

[mistermono]

I've watched the first two episodes on the UK HD DVD and enjoyed them. Nothing earth-shattering, but totally watchable. Reminds me of the kind of thing that would be on PBS on a Sunday night when I was a kid. The PQ is on par with other BBC hi-def releases like Hotel Babylon, Bleak House, 20,000 Streets Under the Sky, etc.

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by Matt865

Small error - Video Resolution/Codec under Disc Details says 1080p/VC-1, not 1080i/VC-1.

Totally agree with the reviewer's opinion. This is a poor quality show.

Ah! Thank you sir, it's been fixed.

Also, as far as my comment about a fourth season is concerned, I used the words "gearing up" to suggest the production team is preparing to pen and prep a fourth season (which has been confirmed in numerous interviews), not to suggest a fourth season had started shooting yet. Hope that helps clarify.

[Sarang]

Originally Posted by Duncan

AFAIK the show was made in a mix of 720p and 1080i, so its potentially a bit hit and miss on the picture front, but I didnt notice any obvious problems when watching it on BBC HD.

Am I the only one who has problems with this being presented all in 1080p when some was shot in 720p? I would prefer it be kept it's original res. accordingly during said scene, giving people the OPTION if they wish to upconvert it.
I'm also shocked it wasn't all shot in 1080i or 1080p since this was the flagship show to debut HD to Londoners on the BBC. You'd think they'd put a higher budget behind it. I'm also surprised to hear about the res. issues but this could be the 720p thing going on for some scenes. If not just those then I'm surprised at what a shitty master was done then, hopefully only for the U.S.
Anyone know what res. "Torchwood" is?
edit: I hope "Hotel Babylon" suffers from none of this as I'd like to enjoy myself looking at Natalie Mendoza in SHARP High Definition.

[Duncan]

I think its fair to say that the BBC were finding their way in 2005/6 when it comes to location based HD drama series. There were issues with some HD cameras in the early weeks of production on Torchwood series one, but these were soon worked out.

Hotel Babylon is almost 100% studio and looks great in HD.

As for subsequent series, both Torchwood series two and Robin Hood 2 looked fine as well - I watch BBC HD on a 100 inch screen so any shortcomings soon become apparent.

I wouldnt classify Jonas Armstrong as a particular "heartthrob" but his profile and career will certainly have been helped by Robin Hood. Certainly no where near David Tennant levels, but then again DT is working on "the" show and playing "the" part