Robin Hood Men in Tights | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review | Commentary 

Stewart was doing a Scottish accent at the end because he was parodying Sean Connery in the same role in Prince of Thieves. "Sending a fox" was a joke on sending a fax.

Watching Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves would help with catching a lot of the references. This movie's basically a direct parody of it. Saw it in the theater with my mom when it came out. Really fun to watch it again.

Fun fact: This was Dave Chapelle's first movie. Also George is kind of right in a roundabout way because the Speech he gives is a reference to a famous speech by Malcolm X who Denzel Washington actually portrayed a few years before this movie in a biopic. Robin's speech is from Churchill.

"And why should the people listen to you?" "Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent." That burn was meant to sting. This is what the world needs. More uncontrollable laughter, smiles and good times... Mel Brooks is a national treasure and still going strong at 96 years of age.

The unsung hero of this movie is the fantastic Blinkin. He simply steals the spotlight every single time he's on screen.

The longer pauses in older movies are for audiences in a theater, so that the audience laughter for a joke doesn't stomp over the next line. Watching at home, it's not needed as much, as you don't have as many people around you laughing, plus you can rewind.

There’s no inside joke for the “Mervin? You’re name is Mervin?” It’s just a completely random, uncommon, hilarious & unexpected name for him to have 😂

Funfact : Nottingham had their first black sheriff in 1989 ( a few years before this movie) His name was Tony Robinson, he shared his name with a British actor and TV presenter ( Sir) Tony Robinson .who at the time was playing the sheriff of Nottingham in the BBC children's television series Maid Marrion and her merry men.( a twist on the Robin Hood story)

Love the Disney Robin Hood reference at the beginning. Favorite movie when I was a little kid.

At the end the line "It's good to be the king..." is from History of the World Part I. Again, Mel being an equal opportunity insulter like the jockeys on camels was referring to the derogatory term for those of Arabia. One of the best lines of "Unlike some Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent..." was parodying Prince of Thieves because Kevin Costner did use or even try an accent.

"Jerusalem?" Yes. This film is an almost scene for scene recreation of the Kevin Costner movie "Prince of Thieves". It also started in Jerusalem, and had Robin Hood as a prisoner of the Crusades, to expand the back story a bit. Also, I think there is also a beach scene, where Kevin Costner is talking to Morgan Freemen on the beach. I think there is a cut, and they all end up in England, and Mel Brooks decided to take some liberties with the interpretation of that scene. I think the opening credits are meant to be a throw-back to older movies, when pre-movie credits were a lot more prevalent. This style would have been pretty appropriate for more classical Robin Hood films. While Costner tried to update the idea, I think Brooks decided to keep more of the classical grounding, to avoid seeming so dark and gritty. Most of the first half of the movie makes far more sense, if you have seen Costner's Robin Hood movie. I am glad you guys finally covered this one. It's a favorite of mine. I think it's slightly more refined than Spaceballs, with a stronger story, while also being a bit "safer" than "Blazing Saddles". Cary Elwes seems perfect for the part.

Early in the movie you get the joke of jockeys on camels. It's a reference to a slur used to refer to people from the middle east. This movie came out maybe 18 months after the end of the first Gulf War and it definitely influences some of the others references, as well, like Tomahawk Arrow.

This isn't a parody of just Prince of Thieves, but watching that would help with a lot of the references. There are also quite a few references to the Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland version.

Now that I know Americans call POLOs Lifesavers, that joke makes much more sense to me

Some jokes in the film work better than others, but Cary Elwes is soooo good in this. He's the perfect swashbuckling charmer.

Mel Brooks may give the jokes more room to breath because of his life experiences. He was a child during the twilight of Vaudeville acts and he cut his teeth writing sketch comedy performed before a live studio audience. So the ingrained timing is probably to hold a beat so that the audience's laughter doesn't cover up the next joke. For many years this continued to be simulated in sitcoms _not_ performed in front of a live audience (like MASH) by using a laugh track, so there was still the requirement to hold for the fake laugh to be inserted. The coming of the late 90s / early 2000s brought the decline of the laugh track, particularly with the rise of the popularity of single camera comedies like Scrubs, Malcolm in the Middle, Arrested Development, etc. so there was no longer a need to slow down the speed of the jokes. Young writers who grew up on that era of TV thus were exposed to entirely different comedic timing than Mel Brooks (who is nearly 97 years old).

They originally wanted Sean Connery to reprise his role in Prince of Thieves but he asked for 1 million so they got Patrick Stewart with a Scottish accent instead.

You're like the first reactors under 35 I've seen who got the Home Alone thing. It was way more obvious back then because the marketing for it was still fresh and we saw that "slap aftershave on, scream in pain" thing ad nauseum for quite a long time.

The most curious quirk is present when it comes to the Sheriff. He switches around phonemes in the sentences he utters. He says things like "He _deered_ to kill a king's _dare."_ Now it's clear what his _intended_ meaning is, but this is, nonetheless, a comedic _device._ It's called a _spoonerism._ It pops up when someone tries to quote Shakespeare and says something like, "What, by yonder light, breaks wind."

Blinkin jumping into the tree after saying "I can see!!!" just kills me every time. (P.S. Plus that Dom Deluise scene, haha. Always reminds me how underseen Silent Movie is.)

Simone earns the like whenever I understand her reference in the introduction.

The 'black sheriff' line isn't the only callback to Blazing Saddles. Men in Tights was made over 15 years later, but I love that we got more of Boris the cheerful Executioner.

The 1938 "The Adventures of Robin Hood" Is considered THE Robin Hood Film! It has an Oscar winning Score and is also said to be the best example of Technicolor!

Dave Chappelle was referencing Denzel Washington playing in the movie Malcolm X (1992)

Dom Delouise is a brilliant comedian. You should check him out in the two Cannonball Run movies. Him and Burt Reynolds are comedy GOLD together!

Save Dracula: Dead and Loving It for a Halloween Special. It truly is a comedy masterpiece with Mel Brooks and Leslie Nielsen from The Naked Gun.

The part she was singing at the beginning is from Disney's Robin Hood, an absolute classic of animation.

"Dracula: Dead and Loving It" is probably the only Mel Brooks parody movies that you're missing. I loved it as a kid but as I just noticed with Goldmember, my taste in comedy has...developed over the years so I can't guarantee that you'll like it. It does have Leslie Nielsen as Dracula though. Like the Swiss flag, that's a huge plus.

Fun Fact: The Actor who played Will Scarlett O'Hara would later play Robin Hood himself in The New Adventures of Robin Hood that aired on TNT from 1997 to 1999.

I find that of all the Mel Brooks movies, this is the one with the most "dated" jokes. The Patriot Arrow, doing "the Chop", the "woof woof" fist pump, and of course all the Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves references. Most of it still holds up.

Broomhilde is somewhat like the same character of another Mel Brooks film " Spaceballs " as DOT.🤖. If you notice the priest who does the Wednesday was also in Spaceballs as the father.

It would be the oldest film you've reacted to, but I would strongly recommend 1938's "The Adventures of Robin Hood" with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone & Claude Rains. Bonus: Great swordfight between Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone.

They mentioned the mole when they first saw it but they must've missed the running joke of his mole being in different places on his face, like Marty Feldman's hump in Young Frankenstein.

Dude who played Little John was the first live-action Thor in a Hulk TV movie.

My favorite line in this movie is when Isaac Hayes is describing Achoo: “He’s headstrong and cocksure. Or is it the other way around?”

What a classic, also love seeing a young Chappelle, I grew up with this movie and rented it SO many times from Blockbuster.

Tracy Ullman starred in a movie with Kevin Kline called "I love you to death." Worth a look, its also one of the last films River Phoenix worked on as well.

"A toll is a toll, and a roll is a roll. And if we don't get no tolls, then we don't eat no rolls." Basically why I go to work everyday. Trying to get those rolls.

13:46 George, I'm sure you've seen several of them, but Ghibli movies often feature long periods of just silence. Hayao Miyazaki mentioned that he thinks too many movies are afraid of silence. He felt that scenes need time to breath, and so his films frequently feature moments of lingering quietness. One of the best moments in Spirited Away is literally 6 full minutes without any dialog as Sen & Noface ride the train.

"A Black Sheriff!?" ", He's black?" "Hey, don't act so surprised. I mean, it worked in Blazing Saddles." Lol!! That was a great joke they threw in there.

I am so proud of myself that I knew the song Simone referenced in the opening, and knew the film that it came from. The animated Robin Hood is my favorite version of the story, so it was an easy one for me, although Men in Tights is a close second on the list. LOL

The joke with the Sheriff's name being "Mervin" is that it is, at least by today's standards, a really rare and unusual name, compared to standard names like "Tom", "Michael", or "John". It also sounds kind of "weird" to most people. "Kermit" is similar in terms of rarity and unusualness (though the "Muppets" association is part of that one), think of how many people today actually have either of those names. Interestingly, the name is Welsh, and means "great lord", which would actually make it a fairly appropriate name at the time.

The speech Chapelle gives is a parody of one given by Malcolm X. I think Denzel played Malcolm X in a movie, which is what you probably are remembering.

Chappelle speach is a reference to Malcolm X, which was played by Denzel in the movie Malcom X, so I guess close enough, also the last arrow in the competition was a reference to the Patriot missile which got extreme publicity during the golf war as being the weapon that could target anyone anywhere without missing, people thought that it would win the war practically by itself by the way they talked about it ostensibly in the news.

"...and if you couldn't pay your taxes, you went to jail. Yup, I'm in here too." " We'd up and flyyyyy if we had wings for flyin'; can't you see the tears we're cryin'? There must be some happiness for me ...but not in Nottingham." Eight year old me would bawl like a baby at that song -- excellent reference!

I'd recommend checking out History of the World: Part I, which is another great film from Mel Brooks and probably To Be or Not to Be

Roger Rees (Sheriff) could play comedy and drama with equal vigor. Unfortunately we lost him in 2015.

Fun fact: the archery contest announcer is played by an actor named Clement von Franckenstein. He had another small role (uncredited ) in Mel's Young Frankenstein

15:26 "I wanna dress up like this and run around!" And thus began Simone's "Ren Faire" era

You'd understand it all if you watch the Costner Robin Hood.

Simone singing that song from the animated Robin Hood, so appropriate, so legendary. If George hasn't seen the Animated version, we need a reaction to that!! ❤

Thank you Simone for the reference to the Disney's Robin Hood. Oo-De-Lally is one song from my childhood that has stuck with me and your reference put a smile on my face.

Her opening song is from the disney cartoon robin hood nice job Simone

"every town..." that song in the intro is the same song that was sung in the disney animated version of Robin Hood. Awesome call back! Mervin is a rare and, by many, considered to be a funny name in the US. Or at least that was true at the time of the movie.

Watching Robin Hood Prince of Thieves 1991 would of made all the jokes of this movie way more relevant.

The cold open was from Disney's Robin Hood." Not in Nottingham " from mid movie

Weird coincidence: Matthew Porretta, who played Will Scarlett here, also played Robin Hood in the 90s New Adventures of Robin Hood, a couple of years after this movie.

Disney’s animated Robin Hood is my favorite.

Mel produced a tv series of the robin hood story, "when things were rotten." Dick van Patten played friar tuck in the show, he got promoted to abbot for this film.

You should watch Robin Hood : Prince of Thieves. It's the movie Brooks is parodying here. Great cast : Alan Rickman, Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, Kevin Costner... Sean Connery has a cameo too. Huge budget for the time, and it's pretty good.

This movie is probably my favorite Brooks film.. Fun fact, Kevin Costner wanted to reprise his role as Robin in this one, but it failed due to some scheduling conflict or something if memory serves (I know Mel spoke about it in a making of video)

"Sometime ups, Outnumber the down" Simone, did you have a crush on the fox as a kid?! 🤣

This was one of my "stay home from school sick" movies I'd watch. When comedy central was brand new they had a Daily Show type show called Short Attention Span Theater which was actually hosted by Jon Stewart for a time and they had Dave Chapelle on as a guest promoting this movie. He was 18 when he filmed it.

I'm all about your intro Simone. Disney's Robin Hood was a huge part of my childhood. Roger Miller's narration and songs in that movie is pure bliss to listen to, and Not in Nottingham remains one of my all time favorite Disney songs.

older movies understood to let moments breathe, create contrast, otherwise they would become insufferable noise

🤔watching Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves first might have added a little context. 😉

19:24 - The great Dom DeLuise... Oh - you have to watch 1981 "The Cannonball Run" and 1984 "Cannonball Run II"! Two very funny movies with the who is who of actors.

Perhaps take a look at the 1938 Adventures of Robin Hood w/ Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone, Olivia de Havilland et al. The classic on which all further Robin Hood movies (inc Disney) were based.

If those are your favorite Mel Brooks movies Simone, please, please add History of the World Part 1 to your list! 😀

So funny that George mentions he thinks Simone's opening bit is from Cheers, when Roger Rees (Rottingham) may he rest in peace was on Cheers for 1 or 2 seasons.

The "I'm so happy" line and the way she pronounced it is definitely a reference to the old "Scrooge" movie with Alastair Sim. One of the female characters says that line and pronounces it exactly like that, the difference being that the audience was supposed to take it seriously.

its now been multiple decades of me being brain scrambled at the fact that a lovely woman like Tracey Ullman can transform herself into a creature like La'Trine, absolutely amazing

During the World Cup ⚽🏆 , Patrick Stewart was at it. And he's a huge fan of Leo Messi . In an interview he said " It was great to meet the best football player of all time !!! ".

The term camel jockey became very prevalent during the Gulf War. Several references to it in this movie, such as the Patriot Arrow.

At the start of this movie one of the villagers when the roof catches fire was the really loud lady in Blazing Saddles (and is Dom Delouis' wife). That scene were Robin hits the sherif in the dining room, one of the women in red is Leita from Deep Space 9.

Fun Fact the actor for little John actually played Thor in the 1988 The Incredible Hulk Returns movie a follow up to the Incredible Hulk series from 77 to 82.

Please please watch the original 1967 *The Producers* . It is Mel Brooks’ first and best film. I’m not certain why more people aren’t reacting to it - legendary film critic Roger Ebert thought it the greatest comedy of all time. I love your channel. Keep up the great work!

‘But why a spoon, cousin?’

Love it when you do silly movies like this. You would enjoy Caveman, 1982, Ringo Starr and Shelley Long. You may want to get elevated, as it is very silly humor😊

I saw this movie when I was 10 years old, and have loved it ever since. Cary elwes is effortlessly charming and funny, and Blinkin makes the movie for me. Edit: can't forget about the sheriff of rottingham. Love him.

😉 I see that George needs to see the animated _Disney_ version of Robin Hood from 1973.

Gotta watch Robin Hood Prince of Thieves now!!! "Why is he in Jerusalem?" "English accent" "The multiple arrows"

Dave Chappelle doing the Men in Tights sequence could honestly be taken as a comedian in a film just wanting to be involved with the joke. I've always loved this movie, I had a crush on Amy Yasbeck when I was a kid and I think Blinkin has the second coolest pair of shades, right behind Ozzy.

I don't know if it's still this way but back in the day Rent-a Wreck was awesome. You'd rent a car or truck for dirt cheap. It was clean and ran fine but it was usually dented and scratched, so if you accidentally added another dent, they didn't give a shit unless you actually broke something. Perfect for moving small loads of furniture or appliances, or doing a run to the landfill.

The "Hey Abbott!" line at the wedding was a reference to Abbott & Costello. Lou Costello would want to get Bud Abbott's attention when he was on trouble or scared on their movies abd he'd holler "Hey Abbott!"

This is like watching Spaceballs before Star Wars. ...Which I kinda did, so I shouldn't complain. The great thing about Mel Brooks' best parodies is that you can get a lot out of rewatching the originals and the spoofs multiple times over the years, picking up ever more references on the way.

This movie (like a lot of the later Mel Brooks movies) suffered from a few too many "funny this week" sort of jokes, like the Pump sneakers and the Home Alone kid.

Love that opening. Glad to know I'm not the only one who still remembers the songs from the Disney Robin Hood...lol

0:06 ♪♫Sometimes the ups outnumber the downs. But not in Nottingham. I'm inclined to belieeeeeeve if we weren't so down, We'd up and leave. We'd up and flyyyyy if we had wings for flyin'. Can't you see the tears we're cryin'? Can't there be some hap-pi-ness for me? Not in Nottingham♫♪ Oooo-de-lolly! Thank you for that, Simone. I love to see when other people remember that one. It's still one of my fave Robin Hood adaptations. ♥

As for Simone's desire to interact in costumes like this, I heartily invite her to any local [in reference to myself or her] Renaissance Festivals, they are great fun!

Patrick Stewart appearing as King Richard was the tail end of an extended joke that began decades ago. His appearance spoofed the last scene of "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" (1991) where Kevin Costner played Robin Hood. in that film King Richard also interrupts the wedding in the exact same way, saying he hadn't kissed the bride yet. Sean Connery played that role. That was also intended as a surprise joke because back in 1976 there was a movie called "Robin and Marian" where Sean played a more elderly Robin Hood with Audrey Hepburn as his Maid Marian.

Interesting thing about prima nocta (the "right of first night" that George mentions) -- there aren't really any historical accounts of it ever being a real thing. It shows up in fiction as far back as the Epic of Gilgamesh as a shortcut explanation for why the bad guy is bad, but it's never mentioned in any kind of charter, legal document, or historical reference contemporary to when it would have been practiced. Could a lord have done something like that and got away with it? Probably -- but it does not appear to have been a right of nobility or anything like that.

Starts in Jerusalem because it's supposed to be the middle of the Crusades, with King Richard the Lionheart and all. Incidentally you should do Kingdom of Heaven one of these days.

Most motion pictures still have at least the Actor/Actress and Producer/Director credits at the beginning, and repeated at the end. The start of the film in Jerusalem is reference to the Crusades.

Two notes about Patrick Stewart as King Richard: 1) his continuous rounding of the R was due to him parodizing Sean Connery (who is scottish), as Sean Connery played Richard in Prince of Thieves; 2) I wonder if Mel Brooks remembered that Maid Marian was King Richard's niece - then again, he's Mel Brooks, so... possibly?

Yes, that's Tracy Ullman. She often had elaborate costumes on her shows, even playing male characters with a beard.

Fun fact that also makes some scenes even funnier is the guy who plays Little Johh, Eric Allan Kramer, was the first live action Marvel Thor in The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988). Being in my early teens when this came out seeing "Thor" thrashing around in a puddle had me dying. It's like if Lou Ferrigno jumped up on a chair screaming being scared of a mouse. 😆

The reference to the mole moving always makes me laugh

I think all of the reaction videos I watch are always movies I've already seen. But it s a great way to rewatch an older movie you haven't seen in awhile in a condensed manner and through the eyes of someone watching it for the first time.

Funnily enough, Playboy really did make a braille edition. It didn't have any nude pictures so a blind person could say they're reading it for the articles.