The Princess Bride
"Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles."
"It doesn't sound too bad. I'll try and stay awake."
Adapted from his book of the same name Bill Goldman gives us all of the above and more. For such a promising list of delights to come the film opens on a mundane setting. A young boy is sick in bed and his visiting grandfather brings him a gift. The kid can barely hide his disappointment on discovering that it's a book - the old man manages to display no disappointment at his grandsons ingratitude and resolves to read to him.
"When I was your age, television was called books"
That’s the opening scene, and although nowhere near "the action" already the bones of TPB are visible: For all it's swash and buckle - this is a film about relationships and it's themes of family, friendship, honour and love stitch the piece together under everything that follows. And Oh what follows… The book the grandfather reads is "The Princess bride" (S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale ™ of True Love and High Adventure) which is where the movie now fades into.
The Princess Bride - Buttercup (Robin Wright) is a pleasant friendly girl - but haughty and aloof to Westley (Cary Elwes) the stable boy she has known all her life who indulges her every whim. Naturally they work out that they are madly in love with each other and after pledging everlasting faithfulness Westley rides off to seek his fortune so they can be wed. Aw.
Remember the ""not the run-of-the-mill fairy tale warning"? 10 Minutes later Westley is dead, Buttercup is not only engaged to the local evil prince but has also been kidnapped by a Giant & a master swordsman at the behest of a criminal mastermind. To make matters worse they are being tracked by the most ruthless pirate that ever sailed a sea. To lay out any more of the absurd plot here would be a great disservice to the majesty that is S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale ™ - however it needs to be said that the story is the greatest adventure ever told, it's funnier than any other film ever made, the action (especially the swordfights) is breathtaking and the revenge the most satisfying you will ever see. As to the romance I should warn you, this film does contain kissing.
Princess Bride is justifiably on many peoples top 5 movies list. If you have not seen it you have a rare enchanting tread ahead & If you have seen it you could always read the book it's faithfully based on, the "good bits version" translation - by William Goldman.