The Princess Bride (1987)

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writers:

William Goldman (screenplay) and
William Goldman (book)

Release Date:

25 September 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance

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.

Plot:

A classic fairy tale, with swordplay, giants, an evil prince, a beautiful princess, and yes, some kissing (as read by a kindly grandfather).

Plot Keywords:

Story Within The Story | Electronic Music Score | Friend | Loss Of Boyfriend | Video Game

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Cary Elwes	...	Westley
Mandy Patinkin	...	Inigo Montoya
Chris Sarandon	...	Prince Humperdinck
Christopher Guest	...	Count Tyrone Rugen
Wallace Shawn	...	Vizzini
André the Giant	...	Fezzik (as Andre the Giant)
Fred Savage	...	The Grandson
Robin Wright Penn	...	Buttercup / The Princess Bride (as Robin Wright)
Peter Falk	...	The Grandfather / Narrator
Peter Cook	...	The Impressive Clergyman
Mel Smith	...	The Albino
Carol Kane	...	Valerie
Billy Crystal	...	Miracle Max
Anne Dyson	...	The Queen
Margery Mason	...	The Ancient Booer

Also Known As:

The Bridges' Bride (Philippines: English title)
Braut des Prinzen, Die (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
A Herceg menyasszonya (Hungary) [hu]
A Princesa Prometida (Brazil) [pt]
Bleka dödens minut (Sweden) [sv]
Caballero negro (Venezuela) [es]
Narzeczona ksiecia (Poland) [pl]
Pirata y la princesa, El (Venezuela) [es]
Princesa prometida, La (Spain) [es]
Princess Bouton d'Or, La (Canada: French title) [fr]
Princesse Bride (France) (dubbed version) [fr]
Prinsessan ryöstö (Finland) [fi]
Prinsessebruden (Norway) [no]
Storia fantastica, La (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | West Germany:6 | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-10 | France:U | Netherlands:AL | Norway:10 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) | Philippines:G

Filming Locations:

Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Act III Communications

Trivia:

While rehearsing for the film, André the Giant's thick accent prevented many of his lines from being understood. To remedy this, actor Mandy Patinkin slapped André in the face to get him to concentrate harder.

Goofs:

Continuity: Inigo confronts Count Rugen and four attackers while Fezzik holds the man in black. Inigo kills the four attackers and chases Rugen. Whan Fezzik returns to find the man in black after breaking the door down for Inigo, the bodies of the four attackers are no longer in the same position that they were when Inigo killed them.

Quotes:

[first lines]
The Mother: Hi, honey.
The Grandson: Hi, mom.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius: Lights! Camera! Danger!" (2004)

Soundtrack:

A Happy Ending

True Love Conquers All

Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, and Robin Wright Penn star in this classic fairy tale entitled The Princess Bride. It is based on a novel by William Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay. Director Rob Reiner brings life to this story and effectively evokes the enchanting spirit of the witty 1973 novel.

The movie opens with a sick boy (Fred Savage) who receives a visit from his grandfather (Peter Falk) who intends to read to him from his favorite book. The boy is not exactly pleased to be distracted from his world of video games. However, his mood quickly changes as he and the viewer are transported to a place out of time. We are taken to Florin, a kingdom in an imaginary land, complete with dashing heroes, cowardly princes, rhyming giants, rodents of unusual size, fancy swordfights, and yes . . . even some kissing.

This fairy tale begins on a farm in the countryside. There lives a beautiful, young woman named Buttercup (Robin Wright Penn) who learns that "as you wish" really means "I love you" when she falls for her farmhand Westley (Cary Elwes). While trying to seek his fortune, Westley disappears at sea and becomes an apparent victim of the Dread Pirate Roberts. A few years later, Buttercup, who is now engaged to Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), is kidnapped by a trio of misfits, which includes brains--Vizzini (Wallace Shawn); brawn--Fezzik (André the Giant); and sword--Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin). As they sail away toward the Cliffs of Insanity, they notice the pursuit of a man in black. Now begins the adventure . . . .

The central idea of The Princess Bride is that true love can conquer all. Throughout the movie, there are many hardships and trials that true love must endure. The movie keeps the viewer guessing until the very end whether or not there will be the classic fairy tale ending.

This movie is appealing to me because of the classic fairy tale style combined with the witty humor, well choreographed action sequences, and intense instances of suspense. The characters are well developed and all the actors give an amazing performance which adds to the overall appeal of the movie. The Princess Bride is easily one of my all time favorite movies.