174. The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride (1987)

Director : Rob Reiner

Starring: Cary Elwes

Robin Wright

Mandy Patinkin

Andre the Giant

IMDb Rating: 8

My Rating: 7

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Synopsis

The Princess Bride is a fairytale in the grand tradition of fairytales. The central focus of the story lies on the rescue of the beautiful Princess Buttercup (Robin Wright) from an arranged marriage to the evil Prince Humperdink. Buttercup is being pursued by her one true love Wesley (Cary Elwes), who was presumed dead at sea. Westley enlists the help of Inigo Montoya, a sword fighter seeking revenge for his father's death, and a lovable giant Fezzik (Andre the Giant) in his rescue mission.

What's so great about The Princess Bride?

The Princess Bride is a flat-out fun film to watch. It's easy to root for our hero Wesley, as he is charming and pretty funny. Our villain Prince Humperdink is as sinister as a family-friendly film's anti-hero can get. The best, and probably the most famous, performance of the film easily belongs to Mandy Patinkin, as Inigo Montoya. He plays his character with heart and flair. So overall, it's an enjoyable film to watch and it never really takes it's self too serious.

Anything not so great?

Don't get me wrong, The Princess Bride is a good film. There just isn't much substance to it. What you see is truly what you get. The plot has been delivered before, so while the movie is fun to watch, it's really nothing more than a live-action Disney fairytale.

Best Scene

See quote above.

Does The Princess Bride belong in the 250?

Not really. While it's a fun family film, it's unoriginal plot makes it's place in the 250 seems unjust. It seems to me that this film received a lot of votes based off of nostalgia and not content.

Final Words

I enjoyed The Princess Bride when I was a kid, and still have some laughs with it today. It's extremely quotable and is at it's core, a great movie to watch with the family. However, it's plot seems more affected by previous fairy tales and folklore than it's original. If you enjoyed The Adventures of Robin Hood or the recent Disney film Enchanted, you would greatly enjoy this film.