'The Princess Bride' movie review

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One of director Rob Reiner's best films is 1987's “The Princess Bride,” a witty-yet-sweet comedy/fantasy written by two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter William Goldman, who adapted his own novel about the beautiful maiden Buttercup (Robin Wright) who lives in the faraway land of Florin and whose true love, a young farmboy named Westley (Cary Elwes), goes off to sea to seek his fortune, telling Buttercup that he would come back for her.

But when Buttercup learns that Westley's ship has been attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts she swears she will never love anyone again, an oath she keeps even when she accepts a marriage proposal from Florin's Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), a handsome yet shady fellow who probably could give Machiavelli some lessons in, well, Machiavellian diplomacy.

Humperdinck’s scheme is simple: take over as King of Florin as soon as his father passes away, get bethroded to a beautiful engaging commoner, then stage her kidnapping and demise to incriminate the neighboring rival kingdom Guilder and start a war.

Aided by the equally heinous Count Rugen (Christopher Guest), Humperdinck hires a trio led by the too-clever-for-his-own-good schemer Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), the revenge-obsessed Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), and Fezzik (Andre the Giant), a brawny hulk with a heart of gold and a fondness for rhymes. The three manage to kidnap Princess Buttercup, but before they reach the Guilder-Florin border they run into an unforeseen obstacle: a dashing swordsman dressed in black.

Goldman's clever way of grabbing the audience's heart and funny bone is to present this fairy tale with a framing story of a 1980s grandfather (Peter Falk) who visits his sick grandson (a pre-Wonder Years Fred Savage) and reads the tale of “The Primcess Bride” to him, following a long family tradition:

GRANDFATHER
That's right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today, I'm gonna read it to you.

Goldman infuses the film with witty repartee and wonderfully memorable lines:


BUTTERCUP
I fear I'll never see you again.
WESTLEY
Of course you will.
BUTTERCUP
But what if something happens to you?
WESTLEY
Hear this now: I will come for you.
BUTTERCUP
But how can you be sure?
WESTLEY
This is true love. You think this happens every day?
***


INIGO
(softly)
That Vizzini, he can fuss.
(a slight emphasis on the last word)
FEZZIK
(looking at Inigo)
... fuss ... fuss ...
(Suddenly, he's got it again, emphasis on the last word.)
I think he likes to scream at us.
INIGO
Probably he means no harm.
FEZZIK
He's really very short on charm.
INIGO
(proudly)
Oh, you've a great gift for rhyme.
FEZZIK
Yes, some of the time.

***

INIGO
(heading out the door, FEZZIK close behind)
Thank you for everything.
MIRACLE MAX
Okay.
VALERIE
(waving after them)  Bye-bye, boys.

MIRACLE MAX
Have fun storming the castle.
VALERIE
(to Max)
Think it'll work?
MIRACLE MAX
It would take a miracle. Bye!
VALERIE
Bye.

Reiner gets wonderful performances not only from the major cast members, but also from Billy Crystal and Carol Kane, who play Miracle Max and his wife Valerie in a short but hilarious scene.
Reiner approaches the fractured fairy tale as a comedy/romance/swashbuckling adventure, poking gentle fun at the conventions of all the fantasy/medieval adventure films of the 1930s and '40s without being obnoxious or too sardonic. The result: a film that overcame box-office failure (it had a brief and unprofitable theatrical run in the summer of 1987) by becoming a home video success. 

(This is not unique to “The Princess Bride”, either. "The Wizard of Oz" was no box office champ when it premiered in 1939; only when it became an annual TV staple in the mid-1950s did "Oz" become a family classic.)

The 2001 MGM Special Edition DVD presents “The Princess Bride” in its original widescreen format, and features a director's commentary track by Reiner, a writer's commentary by Goldman, English and Spanish audio tracks, a new documentary on the making of the film ("As You Wish"), plus theatrical trailers and two original featurettes.

As Vizzini might have added, to try and find a funnier family film is absolutely inconceivable.

Blu-ray Specifications:
  • Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
  • Language: English (Dolby TrueHD), French (Dolby Surround), Spanish (Mono)
  • Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
  • Dubbed: English, French, Spanish
  • Region: Region A/1
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
  • Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
  • DVD Release Date: October 2, 2012
  • Run Time: 98 minutes


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