The Princess Bride (1987) Review

 

The Princess Bride (1987)

The Princess Bride follows Westley, who must rescue his true love, Princess Buttercup, from the grips of the evil Prince Humperdink, in this bedside retelling of the novel by William Goldman. 

Thanks to it being my Mom’s favorite movie, I have seen The Princess Bride no less than what feels like a hundred times, and yet, it’s a film that only seems to improve as the years go by, with the action and adventure that dazzled me as a youth now replaced with the unbelievably hilarious humor and silliness of my now being an adult. To say that it has a little something for everyone would be an understatement, combining romance, action, adventure, and parody to create the perfect movie, which is saying something if you are aware of Reiner’s filmography. Sure, it borders on being a campy B-movie the whole time, with it’s cheap sets, often silly makeup, and slapstick exposition, but like any good parody, it’s the intent behind doing so that makes this rather hilarious, if not a little charming. 

It practically follows the playbook for your classic quasi-heroic epic fantasies to a T, becoming the benchmark for fairy tale movies that, as the Grandpa puts it, isn’t just a kissing movie—and then it goes for the laughs. The level of sarcasm and humor in the movie is honestly like no other, likely molding me into the sarcastic jackass I am today, while providing myself, and my family, with some of the most quotable lines imaginable to spit off ad nauseam. 

We get also get a delightful cast, starring Peter Falk, Fred Savage, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Chris Sarandon, André the Giant, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright, and Cary Elwes. Obviously, the pairing of the wonderful Wright and heroically sidesplitting Elwes is a match made in movie heaven, but it’s Elwes interactions with the rest of the cast like Sarandon, André, Shawn, and Patinkin (who is still just so endlessly cool and funny) that just push this film into the upper echelon’s of comedy.

Based on the William Goldman novel, The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner, is a delightfully postmodern fairy tale that in taking itself so serious, allows it to be an all-too-fun parody of the genre that is an excellent viewing for the whole family. 

9.4/10