The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride

By: Nicolette Karter

        I don’t even remember the first time I watched this, that is how long I’ve been watching this movie. I get a thrill every time I see this, & I’ve been watching this my whole life.

        I heard that when this first came out in 1987, only a few people liked it; it opened in 16^th on its first box office. Ouch. But now it’s a modern day classic & almost everyone has at least heard of it, if not seen it. (I bet the John Carter filmmakers are hoping for that scenario, uh?) And everyone I know who’s seen this absolutely loves it; I know someone my age that has a shirt with Mandy Patinkin’s famous “You killed my father” line on it.

In the credits it says that this was based on a book by William Goldman, and he also wrote the screenplay so that the movie did his book justice. Although I have yet to read this book, I think everyone involved with the production of this stayed true to the book. I read that it took 14 years to get this made from book to movie because Mr. Goldman took so much time & care on choosing the people who would be a part of it, like the director, Rob Reiner. I like that Mr. Goldman took such pride in his work. As a writer he took care in his book, and even though some writers snub their noses at movies because it’s “selling out” or something, he also took care that his movie was as wonderful as it could be.

Speaking of wonderful things, I also read that when Billy Crystal was doing his scene as Miracle Max, people had to leave the set because he was so funny. Apparently a lot of the lines were ad-libbed by him, and Rob Reiner (the director, as I said) had to leave the set during his scene because he would laugh so much & so hard that he would get sick &/or ruin the take. And Mr. Pantinkin says he got a bruised rib from holding in his laughter. I love Billy Crystal so much, he is hilarious.

But, really this whole movie is funny (at least at times). Which is nice, because this is a romance with some sinister characters and dramatic scenes, yet the filmmakers managed to keep it humorous. I credit some of that to the interjections by the Grandson & Grandfather. Again, I haven’t read the book, but I assume it doesn’t start out with someone reading a book to someone else. And, seeing as this was based on a book, it was a really cool way to introduce the story & interject some plot points that may not have adapted onto the screen very well, not to mention add more wit.

And apparently they edited out some more gore-y details, and now it’s PG; so kids can enjoy this as well, which is nice because it’s a nice fairy tale that people of all ages can take pleasure in. It’s especially nice because I heard that Mr. Goldman was having a bit of writers block before this, & asked his 2 daughters what his book should be about. One said princesses & one said brides, so I’ll go out on a limb & guess he took the advice. Seeing as he kind of wrote it with his daughters (probably quite young, based on the answers they gave) in mind, it’s nice this was a movie little kids can watch. But I’m not a little kid & still watch it, even without a little kid around as an excuse to see this; which is either a compliment to the filmmakers or a problem I should see someone about.

What about you, reader? This is not really a review or a critique so much as me just talking & I’m sorry if you are disappointed by that, but what do you think of the movie? Are you obsessed like me? Or possibly a whippersnapper who has no idea what I’m talking about? Either way, if you haven’t seen this movie, do because it’s fantastic.