THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)

THE PRINCESS BRIDE (1987)

Tagline: Scaling the Cliffs of Insanity, Battling Rodents of Unusual Size, Facing torture in the Pit of Despair. - True love has never been a snap.

(Fantasy, Adventure, Family) [PG]

Where’s the sports, is this a kissing book?

In this one, an old man is reading a book to the dude from THE WONDER YEARS and it’s called “THE PRINCESS BRIDE”. The story revolves around a woman named Buttercup (played by Robin Wright, most known as Jenny from FOREST GUMP) who just loves bossing this farmhand named Westley (played by Cary Elwes,  probably best-known form ROBIN HOOD MEN IN TIGHTS) around. Westley is also super fond of saying “as you wish” for the first half of the movie. The two have an “unspoken thing” like Star Lord and Gamora in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY  VOL.  2, but Westley leaves Buttercup who is slated to be married to a Prince named Humperdinck. Rumor spreads that Westley is killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts but that isn’t true otherwise we don’t really have a movie. Will Buttercup and Westley find each other again in the face of many dangers and 98 minute run time?

I have to say that I never saw this full movie until this year. I have seen parts of it on various platforms in the form of clips and heard about how great it was from its cult following which cropped up after the movie semi-flopped at the box office. I say semi-flopped because it still made almost twice what it cost to make. A “real” flop understands that you need to make barely, or less than, what it cost to make. 

What I found really strong about this movie is its comic nature, and the way the actors all take that on. By far my favorite character in this movie is Inigo Montoya played by Mandy Patinkin. Not only was the character fun and slightly over the top, but you could visibly tell the actor was having a blast. Having said that this movie is loaded with talent featuring everyone from Billy Crystal to  Chris Sarandon (best known for his role as the main vampire in FRIGHT NIGHT), to wrestling sensation André the Giant.

I found myself laughing almost all the way through this thing. Some of the dialog is absolute nonsense and that actually just made me like it more. Even the plot is a bit suspect in places, but I wasn’t going into this thing expecting a serious movie. I was expecting a movie that was pure nonsense because that is what fans have portrayed it as since it came out. There is a decent amount of action in this movie, but it is largely dialog-driven so if you want to get the most enjoyment out if, you will want to be paying attention. Yes, that means put down your freakin phone. No, put it over there…. you see where I am pointing. Way over there. 

If I was going to pick out a weakness for this movie it might be the fact that a few scenes seem kind of slow, but even those are actually pretty iconic. I am thinking of the poison drink scene in particular. I do wish one of the characters hadn’t been killed off so quickly, but even that fits well. 

Now that I have given this movie a fair shot, I have to give it a 7 out of 7. I am sure those that loved the big have some nit-picky stuff they can point, out but if you know me, I never look at the book and try to compare it to the movie.
 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF ACT III COMMUNICATIONS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.  

Please check out the link below by clicking on the picture. Because no one should die buttonless. Until next time.