The Princess Bride (1987) is as close to perfect as a fairy tale movie can be: sweet, charming, funny, swashbuckling, and romantic. Throw in the key ingredients of "fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, [and] miracles", and you have an outright memorable experience. William Goldman's delightful screenplay (lovingly adapted from his book of the same name), coupled with Rob Reiner's lively direction and the superb cast, lend themselves to making this a timeless classic that has earned its status as one to be shared with every generation. Despite this movie being the fantasy fairy tale genre's gold standard, I will quickly summarize this classic.
The Princess Bride begins with a narrative framing device of a grandfather (played by Peter Falk) reading S. Morgenstern's book, The Princess Bride, to his sick grandson (played by Fred Savage), who is initially uninterested, but gradually warms up to the story and characters.
The main story introduces the audience to a beautiful and graceful young woman named Buttercup (played by Robin Wright in her film debut), who lives on a farm in the kingdom of Florin, and falls in love with a farmhand named Westley (played by Cary Elwes), who always replies to her requests with the phrase, "As you wish." However, after Westley leaves to seek his fortune overseas for their marriage, his ship is attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts, infamous for never leaving survivors, and Westley is presumed dead.
Five years later, Buttercup is set to marry the evil Prince Humperdinck (played by Chris Sarandon), but as she is out riding her horse, Buttercup is kidnapped by three men; the short-tempered Sicilian Vizzini (played by Wallace Shawn), the physically towering yet gentle giant Fezzik (played by André the Giant), and the skilled Spanish fencing master Inigo Montoya (played by Mandy Patinkin), seeking revenge on a six-fingered man for murdering his father. Soon, they find themselves pursued by the Dread Pirate Roberts, who easily outduels and outwits the three and retrieves Buttercup, where he eventually reveals himself as Westley, who had assumed the inherited title of the Dread Pirate Roberts after the previous Roberts wanted to retire.
The couple then barely survives the Fire Swamp, filled with quicksand, random spurts of fire (hence the name), and R.O.U.S.s (Rodents of Unusual Size), before being captured by Humperdinck and the sadistic Count Rugen (played by Christopher Guest) (revealed to be the six-fingered man), who takes Westley to the Pit of Dispair, where he is tortured and seemingly killed by Humperdinck. Fezzik and Inigo discover Westley's body and take him to the eccentric wizard Miracle Max (played by Billy Crystal) and his wife Valerie (played by Carol Kane), who successfully revives him via a chocolate-coated pill. From there, the trio team up to rescue Buttercup and defeat Humperdinck and Rugen to fulfill their storybook ending.
First off, the cast and their performances are impeccable. The standouts are Elwes and Wright, who have sincerely sweet chemistry, and their magnetic screen presence make them the ultimate fairy tale couple yet to be surpassed. Sarandon's cunning and calculating yet cowardly Humperdinck serves as an excellent dramatic counter to the film's loveable characters, as is Guest's turn as Count Ruger. Guest makes Ruger more evil in nature than Humperdinck, which showcases his impressive acting range, given that the only other film I have seen Guest in is This is Spinal Tap (1984), also directed by Rob Reiner.
The supporting cast is also excellent, from Shawn's scheming Vizzini, a memorable one for his "dizzying intellect", and his famous and frankly hilarious utterance of the word "inconceivable", and André the Giant's natural charm and comedic timing for Fezzik, which is infectious and endearing, to Patinkin's committed performance as Inigo, with his profoundly compelling drive for revenge, with his friendly banter with Westley and Fezzik adding plenty of humanity to his character and overarching arc. Falk and Savage's shared scenes as the Grandfather and Grandson are warm and affectionate in their depiction of the timeless quality of storytelling without ever becoming distracting from the overall narrative. However, the scenes featuring Crystal and Kane as Miracle Max and Valerie, respectively, are show-stealers, with their comedic adlibs and zingers like "a nice MLT - Mutton, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich", "I'm not a witch! I'm your wife!" and "Have fun stormin' the castle!" "You think it'll work?" "It would take a miracle." are some of my all-time favorites.
Director Rob Reiner's enthusiastic approach to the direction is the perfect match for this movie, for he injects just the right amount of heart and sincerity into this project with such reverence toward the source material; along with the masterful storytelling skills of knowing when to highlight the romance, adventure, comedy, and fantasy elements, while never losing focus on the characters and their quests. Goldman's screenplay and dialogue is second-to-none, for not only does he consistently delivers catchy lines and phrases like "Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while." and "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die", but his seemingly effortless tonal and balance between the genres of romance, comedy, fantasy, and adventure is one that I admire and consider the gold standard for screenwriting.
On a personal note, my mother, who watched this movie multiple times during its original theatrical run, owns almost every physical copy of the film on various home video formats, from the LaserDisc and the DVD to the different Blu-rays. She also possesses the original soundtrack, a copy of Cary Elwes' book, As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride, and the audiobook edition, narrated by Elwes himself. Like the grandson in the movie, I was introduced to this movie at a young age, and my love for this story has continued to grow. I also enjoyed seeing this film with friends in a local movie theater during a theatrical re-release for The Princess Bride's 30th-anniversary celebration in 2017.
In conclusion, The Princess Bride is a must-see regardless of the viewers' age, for it remains as timeless as the first time I watched it on DVD. Since then, I attribute much of my standards for tonally balanced and well-written screenplays to The Princess Bride, and my fascination with blending genres to create and tell unique stories through writing. See this timeless classic on home video, streaming, or the big screen if you haven't already. You will not regret it, and "have fun stormin' the castle!"
Comments