"A book?"
"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."
"Has it got any sports in it?"
"Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..."
"Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake."
"Oh, well, thank you very much, very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming."
The Princess Bride (1987) 98 min"Has it got any sports in it?"
"Are you kidding? Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles..."
"Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake."
"Oh, well, thank you very much, very nice of you. Your vote of confidence is overwhelming."
You know the story...kids these days don't read, so when Grandpa (Falk) comes over he brings a treasured family book "The Princess Bride" to read to his ill grandson (Savage). Despite the protests from his grandson, the grandfather proceeds to narrate the rest of the film by reading the story.
While there is a lot going on, it is mostly a love story, but don't let that affect your opinion of the film. The story embodies and then parodies the epic hero films...you know the ones with the perfect hero and the flawless woman he loves, the villain who is scary/evil beyond all reason... Director Reiner and writer William Goldman (who also wrote the book) manage to make a film that anyone (regardless of age) can enjoy. Children are spellbound by the action and fascinating characters, while the comedy is more for the adults (kids probably won't get it all)...but on to the story...
Buttercup (Wright) loves Westley (Elwes), but their love must endure her kidnapping and marriage, and his death (she thinks he's dead, and then he actually does die). Buttercup is engaged to Prince Humperdinck (Sarandon): expert tracker and the villain. His sidekick is Count Rugen (Guest): the six-fingered man, has a passion for torture, and together they employ the Albino (Smith) to care for prisoners and work on "the machine". The Princess (Buttercup) is kidnapped by a group of criminals: Vizzini, Inigo, and Fezzick. Vizzini (Shawn) is the leader of the group, a self-proclaimed genius ("Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?... Morons") and likes to say "inconceivable!". Inigo (Patinkin) is a Spaniard who seeks justice for the death of his father ("Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die."), is handy with a sword. Fezzik (Andre the Giant) is a gentle giant who is the biggest and the strongest, but doesn't even exercise and is better at fighting groups than just one person. Also worth mentioning is the Clergyman (Cook) with a speech problem: "Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...", oft duplicated but never the same.
The funniest scene has to be Miracle Max...it took me awhile to figure out who the actors are under all that makeup...but they don't disappoint! Miracle Max (Crystal) was the miracle man for the king, but was fired by Humperdinck. Helping with his miracles is his nagging wife Valerie (Kane) who he thinks is a witch "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife". So many quotable lines, so little time... Totally worthwhile, and acceptable regardless of gender or age!
Dude, it's quotable: you can't tell me you've shouted "inconceivable" or gone back-and-forth with your friends with random lines from this film
Buy it: always a crowd pleaser
While there is a lot going on, it is mostly a love story, but don't let that affect your opinion of the film. The story embodies and then parodies the epic hero films...you know the ones with the perfect hero and the flawless woman he loves, the villain who is scary/evil beyond all reason... Director Reiner and writer William Goldman (who also wrote the book) manage to make a film that anyone (regardless of age) can enjoy. Children are spellbound by the action and fascinating characters, while the comedy is more for the adults (kids probably won't get it all)...but on to the story...
Buttercup (Wright) loves Westley (Elwes), but their love must endure her kidnapping and marriage, and his death (she thinks he's dead, and then he actually does die). Buttercup is engaged to Prince Humperdinck (Sarandon): expert tracker and the villain. His sidekick is Count Rugen (Guest): the six-fingered man, has a passion for torture, and together they employ the Albino (Smith) to care for prisoners and work on "the machine". The Princess (Buttercup) is kidnapped by a group of criminals: Vizzini, Inigo, and Fezzick. Vizzini (Shawn) is the leader of the group, a self-proclaimed genius ("Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?... Morons") and likes to say "inconceivable!". Inigo (Patinkin) is a Spaniard who seeks justice for the death of his father ("Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father prepare to die."), is handy with a sword. Fezzik (Andre the Giant) is a gentle giant who is the biggest and the strongest, but doesn't even exercise and is better at fighting groups than just one person. Also worth mentioning is the Clergyman (Cook) with a speech problem: "Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...", oft duplicated but never the same.
The funniest scene has to be Miracle Max...it took me awhile to figure out who the actors are under all that makeup...but they don't disappoint! Miracle Max (Crystal) was the miracle man for the king, but was fired by Humperdinck. Helping with his miracles is his nagging wife Valerie (Kane) who he thinks is a witch "I'm not a witch, I'm your wife". So many quotable lines, so little time... Totally worthwhile, and acceptable regardless of gender or age!
Dude, it's quotable: you can't tell me you've shouted "inconceivable" or gone back-and-forth with your friends with random lines from this film
Buy it: always a crowd pleaser
Rating: PG
Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: Cary Elwes as Westley
Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya
Chris Sarandon as Prince Humperdinck
Christopher Guest as Count Tyrone Rugen
Wallace Shawn as Vizzini
Andre the Giant as Fezzik
Fred Savage as the Grandson
Robin Wright (Penn) as Buttercup
Peter Falk as the Grandfather/Narrator
Peter Cook as the Clergyman
Mel Smith as the Albino
Carol Kane as Valerie
Billy Crystal as Miracle Max
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