Robin Hood is an old-fashioned, rousing tale of good guys and bad – of a man who discovers his history and his own strengths and weaknesses, of loyal and stalwart friends, of the love of a strong and courageous maiden – and of the enmity between the English and the French. I'm not sure the on screen written explanations were needed, because at 2 and one half hours, it runs a bit long, but it holds your interest from beginning to end.

We saw the film on a giant wide screen with overwhelming sound. At first, it was hard to take it all in, much less follow the plot, with the hiss of arrows, the clash of swords, the boiling of oil, and the bloody carnage that surrounded us. But as time passed, the effects and the sounds made the movie very personal to watch.

As critics have noted, the first scene of the attack on the French castle and the last on the beach were perfect Scott set pieces. He does this so well that you forget how difficult it must have been to direct those huge mobs of actors and extras, while not losing sight of the main characters and what was happening to them.

Those main characters all remain in the mind long after the film ends – from Russell as heroic Robin Longstride (love that medieval name), to the wonderful Cate Blanchett as a woman any man would battle for (and who indeed could go to battle herself), to the Merry Men companions (with a special nod to Kevin Durand as the big man), to Mark Strong’s completely evil Sir Godfrey, William Hurt’s land owner with a conscience, Oscar Isaacs’ wormy King John, and Mark Addy’s bee-loving, mead-making Friar Tuck. And let’s not forget the great Eileen Atkins as feisty Eleanor and Max Von Sydow as blinded Locksley, old, but still a young warrior in his heart. And I'll remember those great bows and arrows as weapons, swords with a message, the forests and the trees, happy village orgies, Merry Men antics and songs, that ghostly white horse, and the homeless forest imps.

The relationship between Robin and Marion was beautifully told - the holding back, the pull of attraction, the final giving in. It has been done a thousand times in a thousand movies, but it’s new each time. Particularly throat catching was his lifting her from the water after the big battle and then kissing her and carrying her off the beach.

My other pleasure in seeing the movie was the great attention paid to the smallest detail that carried us back to the 12th century – castles, rustic huts, clothing, utensils, even the bad teeth and the feeling that everyone really needed a bath. Of course they all had to work three times as hard as we do today. Just the pushing of the battering ram and sowing of the fields made me tired!

It won’t be my favorite Crowe movie. That honor goes to The Insider for me, but Robin Hood stands as a worthy successor to Gladiator (which it does indeed resemble at times – I spotted that dog at the end). It has big action, big moments, great characters, evil and good writ large. Go see it and find out for yourself.