Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

1991 film directed by Kevin Reynolds

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a 1991 film starring Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman. The legendary archer and his Moorish sidekick lead Sherwood Forrest outlaws against the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham who covets strong-willed Maid Marian.

Directed by Kevin Reynolds. Written by Pen Densham and John Watson.
For the good of all men, and the love of one woman, he fought to uphold justice by breaking the law. Tagline

Robin of Locksley/Robin Hood

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  • This is English courage.
  • [about his father] He called the Crusades a foolish quest. He said it was vanity to force other men to our religion.
  • I'll not rest until my father is avenged. I swear it by my own blood.
  • [robbing a lady in a carriage] My lady, a woman of your beauty has no need for such... decorations.
  • [After stopping a band of the Sheriff's men raiding a convent] Good. Now tell the Sheriff that for every harm he does these people, I will visit it back on him tenfold.
  • [To Azeem after he delivers an infant by caesarean section] You truly are a great one.
  • The Sheriff calls us outlaws, but I say we are free! And one free man defending his home is more powerful than ten hired soldiers. The Crusades taught me that. I will make you no promises, save one: that if you truly believe in your hearts that you are free, then I say we can win!
  • It's a hot day my friend, to burden your horse with such a heavy purse.

Azeem

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  • Come, my friend! Make his sacrifice an act of honor! Come now.
  • Our way lies together with the speed of Allah. You have saved my life, Christian. Now, I will stay with you until I have saved yours. That is my vow.
  • Is there no sun in this cursed country?!
  • And they call me Barbarian
  • The hospitality of this country is as warm as the weather.
  • I once heard a wise man say "There are no perfect men in this world. Only perfect intentions".
  • English! English! Behold Azeem ibn Bashir Al Bakri! I'm not one of you, but I fight! I fight with Robin Hood! I fight against a tyrant who holds you under his boot! If you would be free men, then you must fight! Join us now, join Robin Hood!
  • [After saving Robin's life] I have fulfilled my vow, sadiq.

Sheriff of Nottingham

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  • Locksley, I'm gonna cut your heart out with a spoon!
  • I can't do this with all that racket!
  • Do you mind Locksley? We've just been married.
  • Just a minute. Robin Hood steals money from my pocket, forcing me to hurt the public, and they love him for it?! THAT'S IT, THEN!! Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings, and call off Christmas!
  • (after running Guy through) Well at least I didn't use a spoon.

Others

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  • Maid Marian: Men speak conveniently of love when it serves their purpose. And when it doesn't, it's a burden to them. Robin of the Hood, prince of thieves. Is he capable of love?
  • Duncan: (who's blind) Point me towards danger, Azeem, I'm ready!
  • Will Scarlet: [after Robin and Azeem are successfully catapulted over a wall] Fuck me, he cleared it!
  • Soldier: (looking at Marian) I've never seen the breasts of a noblewoman.
  • Friar Tuck: (last lines, to the audience) Come on, get out of it. We waste good celebration time.

Dialogue

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Azeem: No man controls my destiny... especially not one who attacks down wind and stinks of garlic.
Robin of Locksley: Come, Azeem, our fighting days are done. By nightfall, we'll celebrate with my father. You'll understand of course, I had to try.
Azeem: I would have succeeded.

Azeem: In my country, we talk to our women. We do not drug them with plants.
Robin of Locksley: What do you know about women?
Azeem: Where I come from, Christian, there are women of such beauty, that they can possess a man's mind so, that he be willing to die for them.
Robin of Locksley: Wait a minute. Was that why you were to be executed? Because of a woman? That's it, isn't it? That's it?
Azeem: It is close to sunset.
Robin of Locksley: You painted old hound, who was she? The mullah's daughter? Another man's wife? What's her name?
Azeem: Is there no sun in this cursed country? Which way is East?
Robin of Locksley: Her name.
Azeem: East?!
Robin of Locksley: Her name.
Azeem: Jasmina.
Robin of Locksley: [points] That way.
Azeen: You are sure?
Robin of Locksley: I would know blindfolded, I'm five miles from home. Was she worth it?
Azeem: Worth dying for.

Guy of Gisborne: Would you be so kind as to give me your name before I have you run through?
Robin of Locksley: Robin of Locksley.
Guy of Gisborne: Well well. Locksley, welcome home. Kill him!

[Robin kills some men, rest flee. Robin jumps on Guy]

Robin of Locksley: Now, would you be so kind as to give me your name before I run you through?

Robin of Locksley: I've seen enough blood spilled to last two lifetimes. Now get off my land! And tell Nottingham what happens to his scum when they pick on small children! [to Azeem] And you! You travel ten thousand miles to save my life and leave me to be butchered?!
Azeem: I fulfill my vows when I choose!
Robin of Locksley: Which does not include prayer times, meal times, or anytime I'm outnumbered six to one.
Azeem: You whine like a mule. You are still alive!

Sheriff of Nottingham: Cousin, I hope you justify your intrusion with news of profound value?
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: I met a hooded man today who bade me warn you not to harm his people.
Sheriff of Nottingham: [to a wench] Who told you to cover up? [to Guy] His name?
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Robin of Locksley.
Sheriff of Nottingham: The prodigal son returns. He's a whelp! This girl could best him. Put it there!
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Yes, well, this whelp has bested four of my men.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Yes, well, your men were probably drunk. And yet you survived, cousin.
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: I barely survived. He has a companion, a dark skinned foreigner with the marked face of Islam and a Saracens sword.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Yes, yes, I'm sure it would take an army to match these rogues. I trust Locksley's visited his manor and found the home fires still burning!

Duncan: A curse on Moors and Saracens! If it were not for their ungodly ways, Master Robin would never have left. [To Azeem] What manner of name is "Azeem"? Irish? Cornish?
Azeem: Moorish.
[Duncan cowers]

Robin of Locksley: Marian! My purpose in coming was not to hurt you; I swore to your brother I would protect you.
Maid Marian: You cannot replace my brother!
Robin of Locksley: [hurt] I don't...I don't want to replace him! Marian, I've returned to my home to find it destroyed and my father murdered! And the only explanations for it are the ramblings of an old blind man.
Maid Marian: But all I remember of you is a spoiled bully who used to burn my hair as a child.
Robin of Locksley: Please allow these years of war and prison may change a man.
Maid Marian: Robin, whatever happened between you and your father, you mustn't believe... what they accused him of.
Robin of Locksley: I don't.

Robin enters the Bishop's Chambers
Bishop of Hereford: These are my private chambers, my son. (pause) I have priests who would hear your confession. (upon recognizing Robin) I see the boy I knew in the man before me. Welcome home, Robin.
(later)
Bishop of Hereford: I asked your father three times if he worshiped the dark one because his answer vexed me so grievously. He said he must meet God with a clear conscience.
Robin: [furious] You lie. [Robin moves to storm out of the room, only to meet the Sheriff coming in]
Bishop of Hereford: On your souls, do not shed blood in the house of God! [Robin slices the Sheriff's face with a dagger then dodges away from the Sheriff's guards as they break in]
Sheriff of Nottingham: [berserk] LOCKSLEY! I'm gonna cut your heart out with a spoon!
Robin: Then it begins.

[Robin, looking through a simple telescope, points his sword at Sir Guy on his horse from a distance]
Azeem: [Swatting the scope from Robin's eye] How did your uneducated kind ever take Jerusalem?
Robin of Locksley: God knows. [puts his sword away]
Maid Marian: What is it?
[Robin and Azeem jump over the wall]

Maid Marian: What is it?
Robin of Locksley: It's Nottingham's soldiers.
Maid Marian': Coming here? Is this you protection?
Robin of Locksley: I killed some of the sheriff's men.
Maid Marian: Oh, dear.
Robin of Locksley: I fear I place you in danger.
Maid Marian: [to Azeem] No, that's my horse!
Azeem: A truly magnificent animal, my lady.

Maid Marian: Stop them! They're stealing my horses!
Robin of Locksley: You're so kind, Marian.
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Have you been sheltering outlaws, Lady Marian?
Maid Marian: They are thieves, you imbecile!
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Luckily, they didn't steal your virtue as well. - A round for the man who brings me Locksley's head! - My lady.

Robin of Locksley: Have we lost them?
Azeem: No. My horse carries two, and yours is lame. We can not outrun them.
Duncan: Leave me, Master Robin, I slow your escape.
Robin of Locksley: We can lose them in the forest.
Duncan: Sherwood Forest is haunted, master.
Robin of Locksley: Either we take our chances with the ghosts or become ghosts ourselves.

Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Come on, damn you! There are only three of them!
Soldier: It's not the men we fear, sir. It's the evil spirits.
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Robin of the Hood! Son of a devil worshiper! Your father died a coward, cursing your name and squealing like a stuck pig!
Azeem: You will bring no justice to your father by dying today.

Duncan: Master Robin?
Robin of Locksley: There are your ghosts, Duncan. Wind chimes, a child's toy put to good use. [to Azeem] You're scared easily, my painted Moor.
Azeem: This forest has eyes, I swear it. In my dreams alone, have I imagined such a place.
Robin of Locksley: Then imagine a way to cross it. [finds a rope] There's hope.

Will Scarlet: [singing to the tune of "Pop goes the weasel"] There was a rich man from Nottingham who tried to cross a river. What a dope, he tripped on a rope. Now look at him shiver! Beg for mercy, rich man!
Robin of Locksley: I beg of no man.
Will Scarlet: Well, this here is our river, and any man that wishes to cross must pay a tax.
Robin of Locksley: I'll pay no tax, as you can see I have nothing, not even my sword.
John Little: Bollocks! Any man who travels with two servants and claims that he's got no bloody money, is either a fool or a liar.
Will Scarlet: Yeah, he's a liar!

[Robin fights a losing fight against John Little in a river]
Robin of Locksley: Any great ideas?
Azeem: Get up! Move faster!
Robin of Locksley: Move faster. Great idea.

Robin of Locksley: Do you yield?
John Little: I bloody can't swim!
[Robin dunks him]
Robin of Locksley: Do you yield?
John Little: Yes!
Robin of Locksley: Good. Now put your feet down.
John Little: [finds that he is standing in less than two feet of water] I'll be buggered.
Robin of Locksley: The medallion!
John Little: Give me your name first.
Robin of Locksley: Robin of Locksley.
[The camera shifts to Will Scarlet, whose face suddenly clouds over]
John Little: Well, Robin of Locksley, you've got balls of solid rock. Come on.

[The outlaws are passing a jug of mead around a circle; one of them finishes, then start to pass the bottle past Azeem]
Robin of Locksley: Has English hospitality changed so much in six years that a friend of mine is not welcome at this table?
Hal: But he's a savage, sire.
Robin of Locksley: That he is... but, no more than you or I. And don't call me sire.
[The Woodsman offer the jug to Azeem]
Azeem: With regret, I must decline. Allah forbids it.
John Little: Your bloody loss, mate.

Robin of Locksley: My father was no devil worshiper. And I'll have words with any man who says otherwise. But, he's right. I was a rich man's son. And when I killed the sheriff's men, I became an outlaw like you.
Will Scarlet: You are nothing like us. [leaves]
John Little: That there is Will Scarlet. Don't take no notice of him. He's full of piss and wind. Come on, lads, drink up. Don't talk about so much bloody rubbish. This is the best that we simple men can expect. Here, we're safe. Here, we are kings!

Maid Marian: There's a price on your head.
Robin of Locksley: How much?
Maid Marian: One hundred gold pieces.
Robin of Locksley: Is that all? I shall have to annoy the good Sheriff more. Soon it will be a thousand.
Maid Marian: For a thousand, I would turn you in myself. Nottingham is mounting an army. He has every blacksmith in the county hold up in the castle making swords and armour.
Robin of Locksley: What is he planning?
Maid Marian: I don't know. But there's no limit to the man's ambitions. Go!
Robin of Locksley: Thank you.
Maid Marian: Quickly, go! Robin, do something for me.
Robin of Locksley: What?
Maid Marian: Take a bath.
Robin of Locksley: Take a bath?
[Marian nods]

Robin of Locksley: You wish to end this? You wish to go home? Then we must stop fighting amongst ourselves, and face that the price for it may be dear. I for one would rather die than spend my life in hiding. The Sheriff calls us outlaws, but I say we are free. And one free man defending his home is more powerful than ten hired soldiers. The Crusades taught me that. I will make you no promises, save one: that when you truly believe in your hearts that you're free, then I say we can win!
Bull: They got armor.
Robin of Locksley: They got armor, Bull? Even this boy can be taught to find the chinks in every suit of armor.
Man: But we ain't got nothing to eat!
Robin of Locksley: What do we need that the forest cannot provide? We have food, wood for weapons, we'll find safety and solace in our trees.
Man: Yeah and what about our kin? Sheriff's taken all they got too!
Robin of Locksley: Then by God, we take it back.

Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?
Sheriff of Nottingham: Because it's dull, you twit! It'll hurt more! I want this brigand found. Starve them out, slaughter their... No, take their live stock. I want Locksley's own people fighting to bring his head in.
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Perhaps, we could create a name for him. Something to drive fear in the hearts of the populace, maybe "Locksley the Lethal" or "Wreaking Robin".
Sheriff of Nottingham: Whatever! I want him dead by the next full moon, before the barons come back! Now, sew... and keep the stitches small!

Robin of Locksley: How many?
Azeem: 20.
Robin of Locksley: 20?!
Man: How many?
Robin of Locksley: 5. [to Azeem] He can't count anyway. Why scare them?
Azeem: And they call me barbarian.

Friar Tuck: [singing drunkenly] Old King Richard's gone to war, loves his wine and warring/But those of us who stay at home, there's only beer and whoring/Play the music, dance the day, think not of tomorrow...
Sir Guy of Gisbourne: Friar! I'm sure you shall find it much more difficult to sing with a sword in your gullet!
Friar Tuck: Yes, my lord. [laughs, to himself] You pig.

Robin of Locksley: Do you yield?
Friar Tuck: I'd rather roast in hell.

Azeem: Salaam, little one.
Small Girl: Did God paint you?
Azeem: Did God paint me? [laughs] For certain.
Small Girl: Why?
Azeem: Because Allah loves wondrous varieties. You see, that is why your hair is brown and your--
Friar Tuck: Keep thy heathen words away from the ears of this innocent or youll answer to me. You know nothing of our God.
Azeem: Is not Allah the god of Abraham as is your God?
Friar Tuck: Don't trick me with twists of the devil's tongue. Come, child, come.

Maid Marian: How is it, that a once-arrogant young nobleman has found contentment, living rough with the salt of the earth?
Robin of Locksley: I've seen knights in armor panic at the first hint of battle. And I've seen the lowliest, unarmed squire pull a spear from his own body to defend a dying horse. Nobility is not a birthright. It's defined by one's actions.
Maid Marian: It's interesting to hear you say that.
Robin of Locksley: I didn't. My father did.
Maid Marian: Did the holy quest erase your hatred of him?
Robin of Locksley: I don't know. All I know is that our last words in this world were spoken in anger. I was lost after my mother died. My father too, and for a short time he found comfort in the arms of another woman, a peasant woman. I thought he was betraying my mother's memory.
Maid Marian: So he gave her up?
Robin of Locksley: For the love of a twelve-year-old by who would never forgive him.

Robin of Locksley: What are you going to do?
Azeem: I have seen it many times... with horses.
Robin of Locksley: With horses?

Friar Tuck: Today the Lord has taught me a fine lesson; though I may think I am godly, I know I am not worldly. [offers Azeem his hand] Please. Please. [they shake hands] Come, my barbarian friend. Let us open a bottle and do our best to save each other's souls.
Azeem: Alas, I am not permitted.
Friar Tuck: Fine then, you talk, I'll drink.

Robin of Locksley: You're King Richard's cousin. You can give word of Nottingham's plan. He would believe you.
Maid Marian: If the sheriff found out, I could lose all that I have.
Robin of Locksley: That's true. But will you do it for your king?
Maid Marian: No. I'll do it for you.
[She kisses him and gets on the boat. They look at each other intensely as the boat leaves]
Duncan: He fancies you, my lady. I am blind, but some things I can still see.

Sheriff of Nottingham: In ten days time, the barons are coming. Robin Hood has stolen what I was to pay for their allegiance. And I'm surrounded by fools who do not realize my obligations. Tell me, Mortianna. Am I thwarted?
Mortianna: Recruit the beasts that share our god.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Animals?
Mortianna: From the North.
Sheriff of Nottingham: You mean Celts? They drink the blood of their dead.
Mortianna: Yoke their strengths.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Hired thugs... Ahh, brilliant.
Mortianna: Put thine own issue on the throne?
Sheriff of Nottingham: A child, how?
Mortianna: Ally with royal blood.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Who?

Sheriff of Nottingham: Locksley! I'm gonna cut your heart out with a spoon!
Robin of Locksley: Then it begins...

[The sheriff shows Marian Robin's medallion]
Sheriff of Nottingham: I'm truly sorry, my lady, he wasted his life. How many more lives would you waste? What a beautiful child. So young, so alive, so unaware of how precarious life can be. [to a little girl] I had a very sad childhood, I'll tell you about it sometime. I never knew my parents; it's amazing I'm sane. Marian, our union would allow these children to grow up as my allies. You understand... I cannot allow them to grow up as my enemies.
Maid Marian: I have no choice.
Sheriff of Nottingham: That's true.

Mortianna: You come early. The signs have not aligned yet.
Sheriff of Nottingham: And you can stop all that, you old fake!
Mortianna: I will try for thee anyway... The union. The blood of the lion and the house of Nottingham. New power, new soul.
Sheriff of Nottingham: I've found the hole! You dare to spy on me? I want the truth.
Mortianna: Why? Truth has never served you before. Truth didn't put Nottingham where he is today. Mortianna did.
Sheriff of Nottingham: You freakish imp, I despise you. After the wedding, you're on the streets. Without my protection, the people will rip out your black heart and burn it!
Mortianna: Without me, you're nothing. You're straw. A fleabite. A speck. I birthed you from this body. I stole a babe in this very castle and killed it. So that you might rise in its place. You're my son. You despise me? You are me. You know, from your empty soul, that is the truth. All my life, I've been a freak. But when you stud the Lady Marian. My grandchild takes the throne. My blood. This twisted seed will rule through him. We'll see who's freakish then.

Sheriff of Nottingham: Will you keep the noise down, please? Now I have heard that Robin Hood may still be alive. Either tell me where he may be hiding, or you will all be hanged and we will catch him anyway and do the same thing to him.
Will Scarlet: I'd love to kill him for you.
Wulf: Will, no!
Sheriff of Nottingham: So he is alive, then?
Will Scarlet: I'm not really sure.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Then why would I need you?
Will Scarlet: Because, my lord, if he is alive, I can get close to him. I'm one of his men. He would never suspect me.
Wulf: He knows you always hated him, traitor!
Sheriff of Nottingham, Will Scarlet: Shut up!
Will Scarlet: He's a trusting fool. He'll believe me. And if he doesn't, he'll kill me. Then you've lost nothing.
Sheriff of Nottingham: If you fail, I will personally remove your lying tongue.
Will Scarlet: And if I succeed, I want my freedom and the bounty on his head.
Sheriff of Nottingham: The lash, I think. Sorry about that. It'll make it more convincing.

Robin of Locksley: My pride brought us to this.
Azeem: No, Sadiq. It was you who gave pride to these people.
Robin of Locksley: I was a fool. I was a fool to let him leave, to believe I planned it all so perfectly.
Azeem: I once heard a wise man say "There are no perfect men in this world. Only perfect intentions."
Robin of Locksley: You are an honor to your countrymen today, Azeem. You fought better than twenty English knights.

Robin of Locksley: You were to use this information to get close to me and then kill me, right Will? What are you intentions?
Will Scarlet: Well, that depends on you, Locksley. I never trusted you, that's no secret. But what I want to know is, are you gonna finish what you started? I want to know if he's gonna turn and run like the spoiled little rich boy I always took him for.
Robin of Locksley: Did I wrong you in another life, Will Scarlett? Where does this intolerable hatred for me come from?
Will Scarlet: From knowing that... that our father loved you more than me.
Robin of Locksley: Our father?
Will Scarlet: We are brothers, Robin of Locksley. I am the son of the woman who replaced your dead mother for a time. It was your anger that drove them apart!
Robin of Locksley: It's a lie!
Will Scarlet: It's not a lie! You ruined my life! I have more reason to hate you than anyone. Yet I found myself daring to believe in you. And what I want to know, brother, is will you stay with us and finish what you started?
Robin of Locksley: I have a brother? I have a brother! [hugs and holds Will] I will make my stand with you, side by side. To the end.
Bull: To the end!
John Little: We're all bloody in!

Bishop of Hereford: It's rebellion, my lord. We must escape.
Sheriff of Nottingham: Marry us!
Maid Marian: I will never marry you!
[Mortianna slaps Marian hard]
Sheriff of Nottingham: That's my wife, crone!
[Mortianna feels Marian's stomach]
Maid Marian: Get away!
Mortianna: She is ripe. She will give us a son. You must take her now.
Sheriff of Nottingham: I will not take her until we are properly wed! For once in my life, I will have something pure. Will you stop interfering?
Bishop of Hereford: It's madness to delay.
Mortianna: Marry them or face me!

[Friar Tuck confronts the Bishop, who is hastily gathering up gold coins]
Friar Tuck: So, you sold your soul to Satan, your Grace? You accused innocent men of witchcraft and let them die!
Bishop of Hereford: Brother Friar, you would not strike a fellow man of the cloth?
Friar Tuck: No, no I wouldn't. In fact, I'll help you pack for your journey. [he swiftly ladens the Bishop down with several heavy sacks] You're going to need lots of gold to help you on your way-you're a very rich man, eh? This too, and that! [Tuck holds up one final bag] Here's thirty pieces of silver, to pay the Devil...ON YOUR WAY TO HELL! [Tuck shoves the Bishop to his death out a window]

Maid Marian: You came for me... You're alive...
Robin of Locksley: I would die for you.

Friar Tuck: By the power vested in me by God's Holy church, I say any man who has reason these two should not be joined, let him speak now or forever hold his peace. [silence] Then I now pronounce you...
King Richard: Hold! I speak!
[Everyone turns around and sees knights coming.]
Maid Marian: Richard!
[Everyone - except Marian and a confused Azeem - kneels.]
King Richard: I will not allow this wedding to proceed!
Robin of Locksley: [gets up] My lord...
King Richard: Unless... I am allowed to give the bride away. You look radiant, cousin.
Maid Marian: Oh, Richard.
[They exchange kisses on the cheeks]
Robin of Locksley: We are deeply honored, Your Majesty.
King Richard: [shakes his hand] It is I who am honored, Lord Locksley. Thanks to you, I still have a throne. Friar, proceed!
Friar Tuck: [gets up] My liege. [clears throat] ...Husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.
Robin of Locksley: I know that.
[They kiss, and everyone cheers. The camera shifts to the Friar]
Friar Tuck: [w:Fourth wall|to the audience] Come on, get out of it! We waste good celebration time. [laughs]

Main cast

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Actor Role
Kevin Costner Robin of Locksley
Morgan Freeman Azeem
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Lady Marian of Dubois
Christian Slater Will Scarlet
Alan Rickman Sheriff of Nottingham
Mike McShane Friar Tuck
Brian Blessed Lord Locksley
Michael Wincott Sir Guy of Gisbourne
Geraldine McEwan Mortianna
Harold Innocent Bishop of Hereford
Daniel Peacock David of Doncaster
Jack Wild Much the Miller's Son
Sean Connery King Richard I
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