An Ode to The Princess Bride
by Krista Webb
It’s been 35 years since The Princess Bride, a classic film that has everything a viewer could wish for, first premiered in theaters.
But how do you sum up a movie that has everything? Just ask the Grandfather in the film, played by the legendary Peter Falk, of course.
“Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles!”
Maybe that’s why the 1987 film feels timeless despite having been only modestly successful at box offices originally. For the very reasons we love it, the film was hard to advertise for precisely because it did have everything.
“When it came time for the movie’s release, no one had any idea of how to sell it,” Director Rob Reiner wrote in the foreword to Cary Elwes’ (Westley/Man in Black) book, As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride. “Was it a fairy tale? Was it a swashbuckling adventure? Was it a love story? Or was it just a nutty satire? The fact is it was, and is, all of the above. Not easy to capture in a two-minute preview trailer or a thirty-second TV ad.”
But thanks to the new technology of the VHS at the time, the film was not lost to history. Instead, its star power grew. It became a film that parents and children could watch together and share with their friends. Now it is a beloved family film for multiple generations of fans.
I can’t actually remember the first time I watched the film. It was always there as far back as I can remember, either on our movie shelf or playing on TV. It even inspired me to join the fencing club at college where I met my now husband, who also joined because of his love of the film.
During his book tour for As You Wish, I told Elwes how the film had brought my husband and myself together. He was charmed by our story and took my hand in his. I immediately went weak in the knees and forgot all about my significant other for five seconds. Sorry hubby, but the Man in Black is irresistable.
And that’s what this movie is: irresistible. There’s something so endearing about the cast of quirky characters like Fezzik the Giant who likes to rhyme or Miracle Max who doesn’t believe in his own miracles.
The movie is famous for its memorable quotes, none more so than “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” or “Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line.” If you didn’t hear those lines in Mandy Patinkin and Wallace Shawn’s voices, you clearly aren’t a real fan.
“It’s the kind of dialogue that holds up,” Elwes wrote. “In fact, like a good wine without iocane powder, it seems to get better with time.”
While the movie’s humor is unquestionable, so are its action sequences. Its big sword fight between the Man in Black and Inigo is billed as the Greatest Swordfight in Modern Times and boy, does it deliver.
Just read the behind-the-scenes details in Elwes’ book and you’ll know how many months of preparation went into preparing for that scene. Anytime Mandy Patinkin or Elwes had time between filming, they’d be whisked off to practice.
“As a result, Mandy and I hardly ever sat down during the entire production,” Elwes recalled. “While the other actors were hanging out and generally having a good time, we were working on our fight sequence - day in and day out. For me, it was the equivalent of a graduate-level course in professional fencing from two masters.”
And romance? That’s the heart of the whole movie. Westley and Buttercup are the couple that all others aspire to. After all, if even death cannot stop their True Love, what could? The idea that True Love can conquer all is a soothing balm in an otherwise unfair and cruel world. Seeing Buttercup and Westley beat all the odds to be together is romance at its finest, without being too cloyingly sweet.
But how can I praise the movie without also crediting its original source material? Author William Goldman wrote the original Princess Bride novel as well as adapted it for the screen. The wit and charisma of his characters shines in his screenplay, something that might not have been possible had anyone else written the film.
In fact, the Writers Guild of America has ranked Goldman’s script as one of the top screenplays ever written. The film is also in the top 100 Greatest Film Love Stories according to the American Film Institute and also on Bravo’s 100 Funniest Movies list.
I think it’s safe to say that, no matter what you’re looking for, The Princess Bride has it. Except perhaps an easy summary.
