There are some movies I would never watch if it wasn’t for lists like the IMDB top 250. The Princess Bride would be a good example of this. Looking at the summary and some pictures this didn’t seem like my type of movie. When I bought the DVD it was in a “Princesses” box together with another princess movie starring Anne Hathaway. I had the feeling that I was buying something for a little girl as it was all pink, but had to watch this one. Luckily my persistence was awarded with a very nice movie.
For those that haven’t seen it (although it seems many of you have), The Princess Bride begins with a little boy (Fred Savage) who has to stay home because he is ill. His grandfather (Peter Falk) pays him a visit and brings him a book, The Princess Bride. Initially the kid is not interested in it, but when his grandfather tells him that it is a very exciting adventure with “Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles” he wants his grandfather to read it to him.
It’s a great setup which works very well. The story has a couple of scary moments right after those moments you return to the boy’s bedroom responding to what happens, which of course mirrors what a kid would be feeling about it. This way of telling a story reminded me of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, which I absolutely loved when I was a kid. The Princess Bride felt similar as it does go into darker territory, but also has enough humor to make sure it’s not too scary. I really loved the cast in this movie. Robin Wright is great as Princess Buttercup, Cary Elwes plays her love interest Westley, Chris Sarandon is the evil Prince Humperdinck, but my favorites are André the Giant as Fezzik and Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya.
This movie really has all the right ingredients the grandfather mentions to make it an entertaining and exciting movie to watch, both for adults and kids. It really is an adventure with some great sets, swordfighting on top of a cliff, a dark and dangerous forest and of course castles as well. This movie made me feel like a kid again and was smiling from start to finish. Definitely a movie worth checking out if you have not seen it yet.
Score: 8
One of my all-time favorites, and it’s always a pleasure to see someone discover it that hadn’t seen it before. The reaction is almost always foretold perfectly by the kid’s reaction in the movie: “Is this a kissing book?” And then they discover that despite the title, this isn’t some sappy little pre-teen romance, but a fantasy action-comedy that manages to be note-perfect all the way through.
Nice review. Andre and Patinkin are among my favorite actors in the film as well, though of course, Billy Crystal and Carol Kane completely steal the scene they’re in.
Exactly, as a viewer you are kind of like the little boy! 🙂
Thanks. Billy Crystal was great although it’s very easy to recognise him, just by the way he talks!
Seems worth to watch 🙂 Might want to check it out later. Thanks for posting this.
It really is, I can almost guarantee you will enjoy it.
I love your tweet about this, Nostra. “If you haven’t seen this, don’t judge this movie by the name, but look at my review. It’s great.” 😛
I really like The Princess Bride. It’s a bit kooky and has lots of great characters. “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” has got to be one of the most quoted lines, ever!
Yeah, I think there are a lot of people, like me, that would skip this purely based on that title 🙂
That kookiness is exactly that charm which I liked! Hahaha, that line was good!
I wish they could’ve changed the name on this film. It is such a great movie that I even avoided for years based on the name alone. In the commentary track they reveal that Andre the Giants back was bad at that time, that no was actually carried on his back. They stood on boxes that just weren’t shot in the scene. I thought that was interesting.
The fact that you haven’t watched it till now is ‘inconceivable!’.
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” 😉
That title surely doesn’t inspire to go and watch it….
Thinking about it, I’m not sure why they called it The Princess Bride. She’s not even the lead character really, Westley is!
That’s a very good question and you are completely right, she doesn’t appear that much, but I guess they wanted to get a female audience to go?
Adore, adore, adore this movie!
“Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
I love it, Mandy Patinkin is amazing, they all are. Plus the first time I saw this I would have been around the young boys age, and I think my reactions were mirroring his, haha.
It probably scared you at that age! I’m going to try and show it to the kids as well, they should be able to enjoy it…
With a superb Billy Crystal cameo not to miss in Miracle Max and the immortal lines of – “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” – its impossible not to love this classic parody fairytale that will infinitely charm the hearts of the young and old.
Glad you liked it my friend and this is a nice write up on it.
I don’t understand that I never heard of it…so many people have a lot of love for this movie, obviously nobody around me has seen it 😉
Thank you!
I’m glad you ended up watching and liking the movie. It’s one of those that you really have to convince people to watch, and in most cases they like it for its no our and certain “darkness”. Good stuff!!
Yes, nobody told me about this movie before, but luckily I’m always willing to give something a chance 😉
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