STORY 5 out of 5

STARS: CARY ELWES, ROBIN WRIGHT, CHRISTOPHER GUEST, WALLACE SHAWN, MANDY PATINKIN, CHRIS SARANDON, ANDRE THE GIANT, BILLY CRYSTAL, CAROL KANE, FRED SAVAGE, PETER FALK

The Princess Bride is a fairy tale with a twist. A classic tale about a sick little boy (a very young Fred Savage) who reluctantly at first listens to his grandfathers (Peter Falk) rendition of ‘The Princess Bride’.

In the fairytale, a young farm boy named Westley (Cary Elwes) is tormented by the girl who lives on the farm, the beautiful Buttercup(Robin Wright). She takes great pleasure in HAVING him perform the most menial of tasks, regardless, Westley is in love with Buttercup and soon enough the feelings are returned.

Aware that he could not make his fortune as a farm hand, he sets off in search of his treasure with the promise to return to his ‘true love’. News gets back to Buttercup of his demise at the hands of the Dread Pirate Roberts and Buttercups world is shattered.

Some years later, Buttercup has agreed to marry the evil Prince Humperdink (Chris Sarandon) despite his knowledge that she does not love him. An evil but very short genius by the name of Vizzini (Wallace Shawn) enlists the help of top flight swordsman Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) and man mountain Fezzik (Andre the Giant) to kidnap the princess to start a war between two neighbouring lands.

Vizzini and his men are being hunted down by a man in black, sure enough it is Westley to save his true love. He did not die at the hands of the pirate, instead he assumed his identity. Once again the lovers are reunited.

However all is not well as Humperdink and his second in charge Count Rugen (Christopher Guest) have their own plans and cannot let true love blossom.

Please don’t let the above description lead you to believe this is a kids only film, this is a story that audiences of all ages will love. Director Rob Reiner has imbued the production with an abundance of dark humour, cynicism and downright weirdness to entertain everyone.

It is very hard to single out acting performances when virtually all of the featured players just revel in the material but special mention must go to Mandy Patinkin and Andre The Giant who plays the only character he was ever likely to play with any realism and does it beautifully.

A modern day classic which will stick in your mind forever, if you don’t start annoying your friends with Inigo Montoya’s catch phrase (as my friends did to me) then you need to find your sense of humour.

THE EXTRAS

Photo Gallery: A 3 minute montage of not quite sharp pictures from the set of the movie set to the main theme music of the movie. Uninspiring.

CONCLUSION

A classic film which people of any age can enjoy. Perhaps if the unnecessary DTS soundtrack was removed more features could be squeezed in, regardless a must for any collection.