Can you tell the difference?
So I’ve stumbled upon the Prince of Persia movie poster and spent some time marvelling at it. I haven’t seen the movie but the poster sprang to mind the many hours I spent with the game back then, some twenty years ago. I don’t remember exactly when it was but I do remember that Mach 3, Digger and Prince of Persia where at that time the only sane PC games, the alternatives to a splendid array of games I could play on my Atari 65 XE – and that should tell you that the PC game industry was at its very infancy to say the least.
I didn’t have have a color PC monitor at that time but could’ve sworn the prince in question was dressed in white and was a blond. The lady he was to rescue wasn’t a blond but they both still looked pretty much like a typical-stereotypical pair from One Thousand and One Night, or I should say, as the book used to be illustrated in Central Europe at that time which basically meant light- or brightly-colored and comfortable yet always modest clothes. So when I saw that 20 years later our prince is all in black, the lady’s dressed in darker clothing too and he has an appropriate 3-day beard, I instantly recalled yet another thing from my childhood, a Robin Hood book I used to read.
Here’s the cover of a Robin Hood book published in the year 1979
And here is Robin Hood in 2010
That’s the movie poster I saw earlier this year. I hear other countries were more “lucky” and people actually were given a chance of seeing someone aiming a bow instead of sporting a damn hammer but that’s how I was greeted by the last incarnation of the legend.
So what’s changed in the 30 years of hard life in the forest?
Well, the first thing is, there’s no forest anymore. Whereas the first guy clearly has something to do with living in woods, the latter one has come out of the shadow and he’s now riding a horse. Not any horse mind you, he’s light gray, no doubt one of mearas and I bet Gandalf himself wouldn’t be ashamed to ride him. On the other hand, there’s something very darksome about the horse. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s the deep black eyes, maybe it’s the contrast between the leather harness and the horse’s gray coat? Or maybe it’s the riveted harness itself? What do you think? And where did Robin keep the horse?
What about Robin? I don’t know about you but the first difference I saw was a subtle smile on the guy’s face 30 years ago and a roar he’s giving out now. So much for someone who was supposed to be clever and cunning, clearly current situation calls for spreading shock and terror instead of using shrewdness and wisdom. Robin Hood of today is anything but merry, and it’s only exacerbated by a thing unthinkable back then, that he has blood on his face.
On the other hand, neither the old picture nor the newer one sport Lincolne Greene, but at least the gentleman from the ’70s doesn’t have a lamellar armour. Can you imagine how tremendously must it improve his swiftness? And his head, back then a hat with a feather was a must, today a naked head will defeat any shield in a mighty charge so why bother with a hat? Not to mention the feather!
As for weapons there’s hardly more I can say, a bow and quiver has been replaced by a hammer. Obviously for crushing orcs and goblins bred in thousands in lairs under Nottingham. To be completely fair I need to admit the old one has a sword but at least he has the grace to keep in the sheath instead of brandishing it before my eyes.
If I’m really to be just I cannot conceal the mustache which we see on the older picture, but hey, that was 30 years ago and everyone has their style, OK? What compensates for it now is a fashionable 3-day beard, the same one that made me recall the story of Robin when I saw the Prince of Persia movie poster.
I’m nearing towards end and the last thing I’ll mention is what we can be seen on the horizon. Years ago it was Nottingham and today it’s a battlefield. But not an ordinary one, oh no, it’s a battlefield with flapping banners. Banners of whom, may I ask? The Mighty Legion of Sherwood Outlaws? That’s a very long way from robbing the rich and giving to poor to marching under an own banner. Or maybe it’s of the sheriff’s forces? The Orcs Auxiliary Regiment’s perhaps?
So there you have it, a brute instead of a gentleman, a barbarian instead of a folk hero. These were the differences I was able to spot and how about you? Can you see anything more?
