On my own, I would never have watched this movie based on the title alone. But it's in the IMDb 'Top 250', so as I manage my viewing to go through that list, this one came up in it's proper turn. I'd have to say this one was more than a surprise. It was fairly entertaining and I don't mind saying it had the very best sword fight I've ever seen in any movie, which is saying something because I've seen Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power and Douglas Fairbanks in action, and I don't think any of them could have held their own with either Dread Pirate Roberts/Farm Boy Westley (Cary Elwes) or Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin). Now there could have been some special effects involved there, but if so, it wasn't transparent. Those two put on quite a show.
The story also had a few pretty cool concepts like the shrieking eels and the Cliffs of Insanity. The Fire Swamp and the Lightning Sand were kind of original too. The convoluted turn of phrase that old Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) engaged in trying to outwit the Dread Pirate was pretty amusing, and if you try to keep up with it you'll be hopelessly lost, so best not even to try. It was also neat to see Andre the Giant in the film, one of the wrestling world's all time favorites. Interesting, but when he spoke he sounded kind of normal, unlike his in-character TV interviews where he had a much more guttural and heavily accented voice.
With all that going on, it's easy to forget that the Princess Bride tale is a story within a story, as a grandfather (Peter Falk) attempts to carry on a long family tradition of reading a favorite book to his grandson (Fred Savage). It doesn't sound very favorable at the outset with the romance and the 'eeeuw' kissing, but the kid warms up to the story when it sounds like there will be some action and adventure. If I had to come up with a minor nit-pick, it seemed like the picture got a bit more slapstick in the final third of the movie. Otherwise the humor was well placed and I thought it made for fine family fare.
The story also had a few pretty cool concepts like the shrieking eels and the Cliffs of Insanity. The Fire Swamp and the Lightning Sand were kind of original too. The convoluted turn of phrase that old Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) engaged in trying to outwit the Dread Pirate was pretty amusing, and if you try to keep up with it you'll be hopelessly lost, so best not even to try. It was also neat to see Andre the Giant in the film, one of the wrestling world's all time favorites. Interesting, but when he spoke he sounded kind of normal, unlike his in-character TV interviews where he had a much more guttural and heavily accented voice.
With all that going on, it's easy to forget that the Princess Bride tale is a story within a story, as a grandfather (Peter Falk) attempts to carry on a long family tradition of reading a favorite book to his grandson (Fred Savage). It doesn't sound very favorable at the outset with the romance and the 'eeeuw' kissing, but the kid warms up to the story when it sounds like there will be some action and adventure. If I had to come up with a minor nit-pick, it seemed like the picture got a bit more slapstick in the final third of the movie. Otherwise the humor was well placed and I thought it made for fine family fare.