The Princess Bride (1987)

A classic fairy tale, with swordplay, giants, an evil prince, a beautiful princess, and yes, some kissing (as read by a kindly grandfather).

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writers:

William Goldman (book), William Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon

Top 250 #193 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cary Elwes	...	Westley
Mandy Patinkin	...	Inigo Montoya
Chris Sarandon	...	Prince Humperdinck
Christopher Guest	...	Count Tyrone Rugen
Wallace Shawn	...	Vizzini
André the Giant	...	Fezzik (as Andre the Giant)
Fred Savage	...	The Grandson
Robin Wright	...	The Princess Bride
Peter Falk	...	The Grandfather / Narrator
Peter Cook	...	The Impressive Clergyman
Mel Smith	...	The Albino
Carol Kane	...	Valerie
Billy Crystal	...	Miracle Max
Anne Dyson	...	The Queen
Margery Mason	...	The Ancient Booer

Storyline

A kindly grandfather sits down with his ill grandson and reads him a story. The story is one that has been passed down from father to son for generations. As the grandfather reads the story, the action comes alive. The story is a classic tale of love and adventure as the beautiful Buttercup, engaged to the odious Prince Humperdinck, is kidnapped and held against her will in order to start a war, It is up to Westley (her childhood beau, now returned as the Dread Pirate Roberts) to save her. On the way he meets a thief and his hired helpers, an accomplished swordsman and a huge, super strong giant, both of whom become Westley's companions in his quest.

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Plot Keywords:

prince | pirate | grandfather | swamp | giant | 

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Taglines:

It's as real as the feelings you feel

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 September 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

La princesa prometida

Filming Locations:

Burnham Beeches, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$30,857,814 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Act III Communications, Buttercup Films Ltd., The Princess Bride Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the filming of some scenes, the weather became markedly cold for Robin Wright. André the Giant helped her by placing one of his hands over her head; his hands were so large that one would entirely cover the top of her head, keeping her warm.

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Goofs

During the fight with the ROUS in the fire swamp, when the ROUS attacks Buttercup and bites her dress, you can see the silhouette of a crew member's hand holding the dress in the ROUS's teeth.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Mother: Hi, honey.
The Grandson: Hi, Mom.

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Connections

Spoofed in The Jedi Hunter (2002)

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Soundtracks

"The Friends Song"
Written by Mark Knopfler

User Reviews

A great adventure film in somewhat the same style as other great fantasy adventures like The Neverending Story, The Princess Bride takes us on a wonderful trip along with fascinating and enormously amusing c

I'm not exactly sure what exactly it is that makes The Princess Bride such a spectacular film. Or, at the very least, I just can't pinpoint a single characteristic about it that really rises above all others as the main reason that no one should miss it. Indeed, it has a title that should prove to be remarkably uninteresting to the typical action adventure fan (okay, MALE action adventure fan), but even the most die-hard Die Hard fan would love this film. It is extremely important not to judge this film just because it has such a flowery and dangerously (at the risk of sounding shallow) girly name, because it is full of wonderful adventure and even some good killing and violence. Does this belong in this kind of romantic comedy? Absolutely! The cover box of the film looks like that of a cheesy romance novel, but the film is truly great from start to finish. And, indeed, the film is very aware of the superficial impression that it leaves, and it even presents it directly through Fred Savage's initial response to his grandfather reading him the story. But as the film goes on, we begin to have the same reaction that Fred has. We can't get enough.

Cary Elwes delivers by far the most outstanding performance of his career as Westley, the love-struck servant to Buttercup, a beautiful blonde woman living in a misty romantic fantasy world. Sadly, Elwes' later career has been punctuated by roles that do not serve him well, especially after such a stunning performance in this role. Liar Liar and Twister come immediately to mind. Robin Wright also gives one of the best performances of her career in her film debut here as Princess Buttercup, but the real quality of the performances that makes the movie so great is the fact that they were able to pack the film full of comic relief (it was nearly nonstop from start to finish) without taking anything away from the tension or the overall respectability of the film. It is interesting to consider the polar opposite effect of the comic relief on the vast majority of the James Bond films. Wallace Shawn is absolutely hilarious as Vizzini, the bonehead villain who is completely convinced that he has the whole world figured out, Andre the Giant delivers a lumbering but highly impressive performance as Vizzini's enormous, idiot sidekick, and by far my favorite of all, Mandy Patinkin creates one of the most entertaining and likeable characters created in a film in the entire decade of the 1980s (`My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!').

This is great stuff. Told as a story read from a book, just like The Neverending Story, The Princess Bride provides a magical mix of romance and fantasy and action and comedy to provide an enormously entertaining film for moviegoers of all ages. The Princess Bride is an absolutely wonderful film that is truly not to be missed.