Yeahhhhh, but.
Then you look at something like Braveheart and just think "wtf..."
Yeah, it ain't on my hate list with
Gladiator for nothing :disdain:
Looking for historical authenticity in a Robin Hood movie is much akin to looking for authenticity in a King Arthur movie. You're not going to find it since there really isn't enough historical fact behind the character.
The broader aspects of the story and the basic history of the period they decide to set it in are important though, just as they would be in a new film of
Ivanhoe or
Count Bohemond. For example longbows should be the right length and colour, mail should look like mail, swords should be of the right type(s) etc.
...
For anyone that doesn't feel that period accuracy is important in a fictional historical film, there's a pretty good extreme example that makes the point more obvious: say you have a film about the Romans and some bright spark decides that a visored helmet from the Vendel/early-Viking period looks good so they'll use it as a prop*. If you don't have a problem with that, how would you feel about an ACW film where they have Confederates armed with bolt-action rifles? Because despite not appearing to be the second one is actually
nowhere near as bad a historical faux pas.
*Those with a good memory will know this is actually a real example.
Einion