It's been a while sense I reviewed a classic movie. Let's review this one. It's based on a book of the same name by William Goldman (fun fact: William Goldman also wrote the script for this). Let us begin.
We meet a little boy (Fred Savage). He is feeling sick, so his grandfather (Peter Falk) comes over to read him a story. The book he reads is The Princess Bride. The grandfather starts reading. In a kingdom far away we meet a woman named Buttercup (Robin Wright). She lives on a farm, she falls in love with the farm boy who works there, named Westley (Cary Elwes). Westley doesn't have much money, so he seeks his fortune overseas. But he's attacked by The Dread Pirate Roberts, and it is reported that he died. Buttercup makes a vow to never fall in love again. Five years later she is engaged to Prince Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon). But Buttercup doesn't love him. One day, Buttercup goes out on a horse ride. While riding she comes across three men: Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), and Fezzik (Andre "The Giant" Roussimoff). They all kidnap Buttercup and send the horse back to the prince to spark a war with a nearby nation. They take Buttercup onto their boat. They make it to an island but they are being followed by a man in black. They climb up a giant cliff but the man follows.
They tell Inigo to stay behind and fight the stranger. Inigo gives the stranger a chance to catch his breath. While preparing to fight, Inigo tells him that a six fingered man killed his father and that he spent his whole life trying to find and kill him. After the mystery man recovers, he and Inigo fight. Let me say this is probably one of the best sword fights in cinema history, right up there with Pirates of the Caribbean and anything related to Zorro. In the end, Westly wins and leaves behind Inigo. The man catches up to the rest of them. So Vizzini tells Fezzik to stop him. They have an honorable fight, but in the end the stranger wins. He catches up to Vizzini. They decide to have a battle of wits (to the death). The stranger poisons two glasses of wine. Vizzini chooses the wrong cup and is poisoned. So Buttercup and the man escape. Buttercup recognizes the man as Dread Pirate Roberts, who killed Westly. But it turns out that Roberts is Westly. But he tells her this as he is being kicked down a hill by Buttercup. Westly explains that he was given the position of Dread Pirate by the former Dread Pirate. They are happy to be back together but Prince Humperdinck is following, thinking that Westly kidnapped Buttercup. They escape into The Fire Swamp. Prince Humperdinck catches them and wants to have Westly killed. But Buttercup asks to have Westly sent back to the ship. He agrees. Westly also notices that one of the men with the prince named Count Tyrone (Christopher Guest) has six fingers.
***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***
Westly is knocked out by Tyrone and he wakes up in The Pit of Despair. Meanwhile Prince Humperdinck is planning to kill Buttercup on their wedding night. Buttercup doesn't want to marry Prince Humperdinck, so she asks Humperdinck to search for Westly. But Buttercup finds out that Humperdinck lied. Humperdinck tortures Westly to death. Fezzik and Inigo get back together and find Westly. They take Westly to Miracle Max (Billy Crystal). Max says that Westly is only "Mostly Dead" and he gives them medicine to bring him back to life. They make it to the castle and break in. Buttercup marries Humperdinck, Inigo Mantoya avenges his father, and Westly and Buttercup escape while the grandfather finishes the story. The End.
***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***
This is another classic. The stunts for the fighting are pretty impressive. The characters have their own distinct personalities. Another thing that is different from a lot of other fantasy movies is that most others choose to either be dark or lighthearted, this one is both. The one thing I didn't like is that some times Humperdinck and Buttercup felt a bit cliched. Seeing this movie was definitely worth it. See you next time.
POSTER FOR: GIANT MUTANT ALIENS IN SPACE 10
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