Blame Kevin Costner

This shot is still cool.

Blame Kevin Costner. And Alan Rickman. And Morgan Freeman. And while we're at it, might as well blame Christian Slater and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and whomever played that creepy witch. And I suppose you should include the directors, writers, and producers too.

It's because of them that I ended up writing an adventure-fantasy novel some twenty years after seeing Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I freaking loved that movie. Loved it. Robin Hood action figures? Yeah, I had them - every single one. The video game? My brother and I went in half with our post-Christmas loot and played it until we were ready to drop (unlike most tie-in games, it was quite a bit of fun, too). The classic books? Read them, cover to cover.

My eleven-year old self is dying inside right now, pining for the Sherwood Forest playset.

But the movie was the best part. I can't tell you how many times we watched that video tape, but we loved every second of it, from the opening prison escape to Robin Hood getting his butt kicked by Marian to the wackiness of Alan Rickman all the way through "Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams, which featured a summary of the movie in the video to really drive home what we just saw (I'm still bitter that the video has been excised from the DVD releases. It just doesn't feel quite right without it). The finale, featuring the hangings and an epic sword duel between Robin and the Sheriff, is still amazing, and Sean Connery's cameo has to be one of the greatest cameos in movie history.

Top of the line graphics in the early 90s.

As far as what's wrong with the movie, I didn't care then and I don't care now. Robin Hood being played by an American, one who makes no attempt to have a British accent? Don't care. The insertion of a Moorish character played by Morgan Freeman into the legend? Don't care, and what's more, it worked exceedingly well. The lack of tights? Yeah, I really don't care about that one! Keep on complaining, movie geeks, but I still love it, and I know there are many out there like me.

So when I talk about what influenced me to write an adventure story, one that I could someday read to my daughter and future child of undetermined sex, I can sit here and talk about "credible" influences like The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lord of the Rings, The Count of Monte Cristo, and even the original Robin Hood legends, and it would all be true, but at the end of the day, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was what set me on this path. Give it it's due, and if people are still bitter about Costner's lack of accent, well, England has it's shot at revenge this summer with the casting of British actor Henry Cavill as Superman in Man of Steel.