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We're men.
We're men in tights,
We roam around the forest looking for fights.
We're men
We're men in tiiights
We rob from the rich and give to the poor
That's right!
We may look like sissies
But watch what you say
Or else we'll put out your lights
We're men
We're men in tights,
Always on guard,
Defending the people's rights!
-The Merry Men
Really, it was only a matter of time before Mel Brooks turned his sights on the venerable legend of Robin Hood and completely shredded it (again - see When Things Were Rotten). This anachronistic, irreverent romp through one of the best-known tales of the Western world runs roughshod over classic and modern adaptations alike, aiming most of its quips at Kevin Costner's Prince of Thieves version but getting in a good many jabs at the classic Errol Flynn The Adventures Of Robin Hood as well.
And it has a British dude playing Robin. Who would have thought?
This movie contains examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Played straight with Latrine.
- Though you can hardly blame her when her victim is the handsome Roger Rees...
- Accidental Aiming Skills: "To tell you the truth, I was aiming for the hangman!"
- Affectionate Parody: Mel Brooks' raison d'etre.
- Aliens Of London
- Altar The Speed: Subverted.
- Always Lawful Good: Rabbi Tuckman.
- Anachronism Stew: Because it's funny, dammit!
- Angrish: The Sheriff of Rottingham, numerous times.
- Arrow Cam: Parodied.
- Arrows On Fire
- "Every time they make a Robin Hood movie, they burn our village down!"
- Automatic Crossbows: Used by a sniper, complete with laser sight and lots of clicking.
- Award Bait Song
- Badass Back: Accidentally.
- Bad News In A Good Way: Trope Namer present and accounted for, sir!
- Bishonen - Will Scarlet O'Hara.
- Blade Lock: Subverted.
- Blind Mistake
- Breaking The Fourth Wall: Repeatedly.
- Camera Abuse: The camera moving in on Marian singing in the bath crashes through a window before sheepishly retreating.
- Don't forget the Abbot's staff smashing into the camera lens!
- Captain Obvious: "I will take these cotton balls from you with my hand and put them in my pocket."
- "They call me Little John. Oh, but don't let my name fool you; in real life, I'm very big."
- Carey Elwes Is About To Shoot You: With Six Arrows At Once!
- Celebrity Paradox: At one point, they pull out the script to see what happens next.
- Character Filibuster: Played for laughs.
- Check Please
- Chosen One: Subverted. Robin's key fits Marian's chastity belt, but it doesn't work.
- The sheriff had been using a jackhammer on the lock earlier, that can't have been good for the mechanism.
- Call a locksmith!
- Call a locksmith!
- Combat Breakdown: Damn substandard quarterstaves...
- Cool And Unusual Punishment: As punishment for his treachery, King Richard names all the toilets in England after Prince John.
- Don't forget making him part of the tour.
- Cough Trope Cough: Yeah, we all believe that the misdeeds were totally the Sheriff's fault...
- *cough*Bullshit!*cough* *cough*Bullshit!*cough*
- Creator Cameo: Mel Brooks as a Jewish rabbi selling sacramental wine.
- Crowning Moment Of Awesome: "Patriot Arrow?"
- "You haven't seen the last of us!" (arrow outline) ".....you've seen the last of us."
- Deus Angst Machina: Parodied.
- Disability Superpower: Blinkin. "I heard that coming a mile away!"
- Dont Explain The Joke: "And why not? It worked in Blazing Saddles."
- Easy Come Easy Go: "I CAN SEE!" *CRASH!* "No, I was wrong."
- Embarrassing First Name: Mervyn, the Sheriff of Rottingham.
- Everybody's Dead Dave: Mercilessly parodying a similar scene in Prince of Thieves.
Robin Hood: Blinkin, listen to me. They've taken the castle! Blinkin: I thought it felt a bit drafty. Cor, this never would have happened if your father was alive. Robin Hood: He's dead? Blinkin: Yes. Robin Hood: And my mother? Blinkin: She died of pneumonia while... oh, you were away... Robin Hood: My brothers? Blinkin: There were all killed by the plague. Robin Hood: My dog, Pogo? Blinkin: Run over by a carriage. Robin Hood: My goldfish, Goldie? Blinkin: Eaten by the cat. Robin Hood: [on the verge of tears] My cat? Blinkin: Choked on the goldfish. [ beat] Blinkin: Oh, it's good to be home, ain't it, Master Robin?
- Exactly What I Aimed At: Inversion: "I was aiming for the hangman."
- Eye Of Newt: And Latrine's the cook...
- Fake Brit: Strangely enough, averted with Robin Hood. Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, he can speak with an English accent.
- Falling Chandelier Of Doom: ...wrong rope.
- False Reassurance: Semantics, semantics...
- Fate Worse Than Death: The Sheriff of Rottingham's fate is to spend the rest of his life with Latrine.
- Flynning: Parodied.
- Gag Penis: By way of a suggestive shadow puppet.
- Gesundheit: A common gag regarding Ahchoo.
- Glove Slap: ...using a gauntlet.
- Godiva Hair: Maid Marian, coming out of the bath.
- Hey Its That Guy: Robin Hood is Westley.
- Ho Yay: Prince John and the Sheriff of Rottingham, in spades.
- I Have You Now My Pretty: ... too bad about the chastity belt, though.
- "That's going to chafe my willy."
- "No matter what you do, I shall *never submi-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-it!"
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Subverted. He was aiming for the hangman.
- Innocent Innuendo: See Gag Penis, above.
- Insurmountable Waist High Fence: The bridge that Little John guards, spanning a stream that's only a few inches wide and deep.
- It Will Never Catch On: "A black sheriff?!?"
- Knife Outline: Using six arrows, fired all at once.
- Large Ham: King Richard. This should come as no shock, though, being played by Patrick Stewart.
- Malcolm Xerox: Achoo's Rousing Speech to the villagers.
- Missed Moment Of Awesome (because there's no trope for Missed Moment Of Funny yet): The scene where the villagers join the fight and Will cries "It's the villagers!" Why, Mel, why didn't you make it "It's the Village People!"?
- Moment Killer: Marian's nursemaid. That's her job.
- More Dakka: CALL A LOCKSMITH!
- Names The Same:
Random voice: Hey Abbot!
Abbot: I hate that guy!
- And here's the kicker: the random guy looks like Lou Costello. Get it?
- No Fourth Wall: Constantly.
- Offhand Backhand: Do You Know Praying Mantis?
- One Scene Wonder: Patrick Stewart as Richard the Lionhearted.
- Pig Latin: Or, the New Latin used by the Abbot.
- Produce Pelting: At Robin, after he actually loses an archery contest.
Blinkin: "Oh, they've opened the salad bar."
- Promise Me You Wont X
- Rage Against The Author: The villagers in the opening sequence yell at Mel Brooks for burning down their village - again.
- Real Men Wear Tights
- Repeat After Me: Walk this way, indeed.
- Reverse Funny Aneurysm: This was Dave Chappelle's first film. Who would have guessed he would later make a successful and over-referenced gag out of a guy named Lil Jon?
- Will Scarlett O'Hara is played by Matthew Porreta, who played Robin Hood later on in a TV series. *
Which was riding on the popularity of Kevin Sorbo's Hercules series at the time, rather than any Robin Hood property. There was also a Sinbad series then. They replaced him in the role long before it was discontinued.
- Rousing Speech: Subverted and played straight, in that order.
- Running Gag: Robin lapsing into long-winded speeches, him and Maid Marian being prevented from kissing, people mistaking Achoo's name for a sneeze, Prince John's mole moving around his face......
Prince John: I have a mole?
- Scarpia Ultimatum
- Sexual Karma
- Shadow Discretion Shot: Subverted for laughs.
- Shoot The Rope: Not what he was aiming at.
- Shout Out:
"A black sheriff?!
"Wasn't your mole on the other side?"
- Something Else Also Rises: The moonlight serenade.
- Spiritual Successor: To When Things Were Rotten.
- Stealth Pun: Look closely the magic pill Latrine gives the Sheriff to "save his life."
- Sword Over Head
- Sword Sparks: Lampshaded.
- Take That: To Prince Of Thieves, most obviously in the line: "Unlike other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent."
- The Italian version says: I'm not someone who Dances With Wolves.
- The German version has him say that he doesn't cost ("Kosten") the producers several million.
- Theme Tune Rap
- Throwing Down The Gauntlet: Parodied: the Sheriff of Rottingham slaps Robin with a glove to challenge him to a duel, and Robin counters with an actual gauntlet by way of accepting the challenge. Rottingham then lays out the terms of the duel, which happens to include calling in a whole mess of guards.
- Training The Peaceful Villagers: Parodied.
- Trick Arrow: Laser-guided Patriot Arrow.
- Troll Bridge
- Uncle Tomfoolery: Parodied by David Chapelle.
- Unfortunate Names: Latrine, whose ancestors changed it from "Shithouse".
- Visual Innuendo: The moonlight serenade.
- Visual Pun: "Lend me your ears!"
- Walk This Way: Led by the Sheriff of Rottingham after the archery contest.
- Wedding Deadline
- We Will Meet Again: Parodied and subverted.
- What Are You In For
- Whatever: "Hold this, Father." "Rabbi." / "Thank you, your majesty, here's your knife." "Sword."
- Yiddish As A Second Language: Really, most movies Mel Brooks has been in.
- You Fight Like A Cow
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