The Princess Bride (1987)

While home sick in bed, a young boy's grandfather reads him the story of a farmboy-turned-pirate who encounters numerous obstacles, enemies and allies in his quest to be reunited with his true love.

Director:

Rob Reiner

Writers:

William Goldman (book), William Goldman (screenplay)

Stars:

Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Robin Wright

Top Rated Movies #233 | Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cary Elwes	...	Westley
Mandy Patinkin	...	Inigo Montoya
Chris Sarandon	...	Prince Humperdinck
Christopher Guest	...	Count 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
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

An elderly man reads the book "The Princess Bride" to his sick and thus currently bedridden adolescent grandson, the reading of the book which has been passed down within the family for generations. The grandson is sure he won't like the story, with a romance at its core, he preferring something with lots of action and "no kissing". But the grandson is powerless to stop his grandfather, whose feelings he doesn't want to hurt. The story centers on Buttercup, a former farm girl who has been chosen as the princess bride to Prince Humperdinck of Florian. Buttercup does not love him, she who still laments the death of her one true love, Westley, five years ago. Westley was a hired hand on the farm, his stock answer of "as you wish" to any request she made of him which she came to understand was his way of saying that he loved her. But Westley went away to sea, only to be killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. On a horse ride to clear her mind of her upcoming predicament of marriage, Buttercup...

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Plot Keywords:

true love | giant | fairy tale | pirate | princess | 

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Taglines:

Heroes, giants, villains, wizards, true love

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Genres:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Princess Bride

Filming Locations:

Penshurst Place, Penshurst, Kent, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$206,243, 27 September 1987

Gross USA:

$30,857,814

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$30,877,156

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

In order to create the Greatest Swordfight in Modern Times, Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin trained for months with Peter Diamond and Bob Anderson, who between them had been in the Olympics; worked on Bond, Lord of the Rings, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and Star Wars films; and coached Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster. Every spare moment on set was spent practicing. Eventually, when they showed Rob Reiner the swordfight for the movie, he was underwhelmed and requested that it be at least three minutes long rather than the current one minute. They added steps to the set, watched more swashbuckling movies for inspiration, re-choreographed the scene, and ended up with a three minute and 10 second fight which took the better part of a week to film from all angles.

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Goofs

When the Man-in-Black knocks Fezzik out and is rolling him over, there's a large rock in the way. At the end of the shot, the rock has moved over to allow room for Fezzik's head.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

Buttercup is referred to on-screen by name, but is only credited as "The Princess Bride."

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Connections

Featured in Lost in Adaptation: The Princess Bride (2015)

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Soundtracks

A Happy Ending
Written by Mark Knopfler

User Reviews

Possibly one of the most enjoyable films ever made...

"As you wish..." "Inconceivable!" "My name is Inigo Montoya..."

I love this film so much.

From its opening scenes of the young boy being read a story by his kindly Grandfather to the romance, action, adventure and fun of the fairy tale. The Princess bride tells the tale of the beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright) and her true love Westley (Elwes)who become separated through the course of an unfortunate event involving some pirates. Westley's destiny is to rescue Buttercup from the clutches of an evil Prince so that they might be together again. Yet he's not bargained on some of the wonderful characters that he will meet (and befriend) along the way...

This film is so deliciously acted, made and written that it is a treat to watch.I've lost count of how many times I've seen it now. But every time I still gain the same enormous amount of pleasure from watching it. A movie that is a delight for the young and just as much fun for everyone else.

The actors are all superb in their roles ('perfect casting' does not come close to describing it!) A young Cary Elwes is suitably dashing as our cocky hero (check out the sword fighting!)and Robin Wright is good as the beautiful Buttercup. Mandy Patinkin is great as the vengeful Inigo Montoya who utters that famous "you killed my father. prepare to die" line. Everyone else gives there all, including Christoper Guest, Chris Sarandon (as the main villian), Wallace Shawn, the late Andre The Giant,Mel Smith, and Billy Crystal.

Even though it is about 18 years old, the humour and sly jokes are still as sharp today as they were back in 1987.You know you are watching a great movie when you here Elwes' "To the pain..." speech near the end. You've probably seen The Princess Bride. If so...go and watch it again. Right now, and remind yourself how good it is! And if you haven't- what are you waiting for? Go and check it out now! It's worth it! Hands up who can quote this entire film off by heart! ;)

Watch out for:

The R.O.U.S's Elwes' and Patinkin's Sword/word fight The Miracle Max scene When our heroes storm the castle (Go Inigo! Go Inigo!) Elwes' "To the pain..." speech. (Superb. Shows what a great (and unfortunately underused) actor he is)