The Princess Bride is a 1987 movie directed by Rob Reiner and starring Cary Elwes and Robin Wright. It follows a swordsman trying to get back his true love from the clutches of an evil prince. This is a classic swashbuckling movie and it absolutely deserves it’s reputation.
The Princess Bride follows Wesley, a peasant who becomes a great pirate and swordsman after being captured by a famed pirate captain. However, the rest of the world believed him dead, and his lover, Buttercup, consequently became engaged to a prince. After Buttercup is kidnapped by bandits, Wesley must stop them as well the prince and bring her home.
This movie is great. I still remember seeing it on my cousins portable dvd viewer when we couldn’t sleep one night, and it retains the same charm years later. It’s got funny characters, such as Wesley with his dry wit, or even the prince with his cowardice, some excellent (albeit completely ridiculous) sword fighting, the fight between Wesley and Inigo is legendary among film buffs, and a really likable lead character that the audience roots for the whole film. As I said before, there is a very famous fight scene between Wesley, and a Spanish fencer named Inigo Montoya. It takes place upon a cliff side, with both men using rapiers. Some of the fighting is quite good actually, with fairly realistic, although slightly telegraphed moves. Granted, there’s also acrobatics and pirouettes which no fencer worth their salt would ever do, but it looks very cinematic. Additionally, the line, “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.” Actually comes from this film, and it’s constantly parodied.
The acting and plot in this movie are nothing particularly special. Cary Ewles as Wesley is incredibly likable, particularly due to some hilarious line delivery. Buttercup on the other hand is a little boring and doesn’t really do anything the whole film it seems. The main thing I didn’t really like about this film was the sub plot in the present day. Technically, the whole film is occurring while a grandfather is reading to his sick grandson. This wouldn’t be as much of a detraction from the experience, if it weren’t for the fact that the grandkid is really annoying, and seems to interrupt the action at the worst times. Also, it just seems unnecessary to even have a present day section.
Overall, The Princess Bride is a classic film, that should be watched. It’s got fun action, some hilarious moments, and incredible sword fights. I love this film, and I highly recommend it.