The Princess Bride (1987)

I wanted to watch The Princess Bride after reading that one of the characters in the story was a very mean prince, named Prince Humperdink. Prince Humperdink wants Princess Buttercup to be his wife, but as she doesn't love him, the prince tortures the princess's lover. I thought that was interesting, because torture scenes in fairy tales for children are rare, especially if the movies/books are made by Americans. The original fairy tales (like by the Brothers Grimm) have nasty scenes, but when they are made into films, those nasty scenes are removed.

To my surprise, The Princess Bride by director Rob Reiner is very good and I like it a lot. The DVD by Lionsgate is also very good and the pictures are sharp and clear. The plot is rich (blessed the writer!) and the lines are often hilarious, reminds me of 'Fanfan la tulipe', another great swashbuckling movie. This movie has: revenge, true love, torture, friendship, honour, kidnap, monster, battle of wits, traps, duel, giant, villain, adventure etc.


Princess Buttercup, Prince Humperdink's fiancée, is kidnapped by 3 men. Their intention is to start a war with the neighbour country. A masked man who saves Princess Buttercup, is none other than Westley, her long lost lover, whom she thought had been killed by pirates. However Prince Humperdink has another intention in marrying Princess Buttercup.

The story is framed with modern scenes, where a grandfather read the story book to his sick grandson.

Cary Elwes is perfect as Westley, but my favourite is Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya, a swordsman who is looking for a six fingered man who has killed his father. I remember him from Sunday in The Park with George and Evita. I also like the bishop who cannot say 'r'.