Dir Rob Reiner

Written by William Goldman

Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Andre the Giant, Wallace Shawn, Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Peter Cook, Mel Smith, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal.

When a young boy (Savage) is home sick, his grandpa (Falk) comes by to read him a story, of The Princess Bride; a tall tale of love, revenge and a whole lot more.

** Warning Spoilers *** In a far off land lives Buttercup (Wright), who finds her true love in Westley (Elwes). But when Westley must go away – he is captured and killed by pirates. Five years later, when she is about to marry the slimey Humperdink (Sarandon), she is kidnapped by three men Vizzini, Inigo and Fezzik (Shawn, Patinkin & AtG), but they are in turn being chased by a mysterious Man in Black – who just so happens to be Westley returning to her after years of slavery (and more).

Soon they are torn apart again, by the villainous Humperdink, and are aided by their new friends, and more to get back to one another.

A timeless classic is still as solid over three decades later. There is wonderful direction by Reiner, who was given a brilliant screenplay by the original novel writer to work with. Such impressive moments include the climb of the ‘cliffs of insanity’ and the fight scenes included.

The cast are all impeccable, with Elwes and Wright simply adorable as the soul mates trying to get back together for true love. The villains, played by Sarandon and Guest are also great, and you desperately want to see them fail. While AtG does struggle with his English at times, he was perfectly cast as Fezzik, and the role was practically written for him. Crystal and Kane’s third act cameo is a bit of fun too. The MVP goes to Patinkin as Inigo – with his classic phrase.

The screenplay is filled with not only such classic catchphrases (‘as you wish’, ‘inconceivable’, and ‘my name is Inigo Montoya..) it also has very well written conversational pieces between characters, mainly between Westley and those around him. The first act in which he meets, and converses with the three kidnappers (and then befriends two of them) were all very well written. There are also some comedic moments (like Smith’s albino in the pit of despair) and some more dramatic moments (Inigo’s ‘guide my sword’).

The score is complementary to the many different emotions that the characters are faced with (dramatic, suspenseful, romantic etc).

This has aged very well, and deserving of the top score.

5/5

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