The Princess Bride, a movie from 1987, is considered one of the classics. And I, someone who has lived under a rock for most of my life, had never seen it until very recently. And let me tell you, it’s a pretty good movie with a story that has become repeatedly recycled because of how great it is.

It opens with a sick boy, and his grandfather begins reading him a story called The Princess Bride. It then jumps inside the story to the main characters, Buttercup and the love of her life, Westley, on Buttercup’s farm.

Westley goes away and is killed by pirates, leaving Buttercup heartbroken with a vow never to love again. The movie then cuts to five years later where Buttercup is betrothed to the Prince Humperdinck, though she does not love him at all. She gets kidnapped by three men: a swordsman with a revenge complex, a gentle giant, and a cocky brainiac. The four of them get chased by a clever masked man and Humperdinck, both of whom want Buttercup, and the story follows this chase for the princess.

Directed by Rob Reiner, this work of art was incredible. It stars Cary Elwes as Westley, Robin Wright as Buttercup, and several other famous actors such as Mandy Patinkin, André the Giant, Wallace Shawn, Chris Sarandon, and Christopher Guest. The acting, in my opinion, was very good, and some parts where it didn’t look quite as good only added humor, such as overdramatic pauses before collapsing from a death-blow. 

I did find some of the technical aspects very obviously fake – though, I remembered that the movie magic in 1987 was not remotely as strong as it is now and reconciled with the occasional fake looks. It could also be said that Reiner made it look purposely fake and didn’t care to make it look as realistic as possible since his story was already fake (the book) inside a made-up plot (the sick boy being read the story).

Some scenes were obvious that there were cords attached to actors to complete their feats, and the sets looked very fake for the most part. Honestly, I put it off as just ‘80s movies, but when I think more about it, I realize it was likely purposeful since the young boy’s bedroom looked much more realistic than the fantasy story did, adding to its fantastical and story-like feel.

Now, as I have seen many plots that have used this type of storyline, I was able to predict several factors of the movie (though I won’t spoil them for whoever hasn’t seen it). However, that doesn’t take away from its greatness as it was humorous and adventurous and I felt myself rooting for the characters throughout the movie. I really enjoyed it, and there were several times that it jumped out of the story back to the boy’s bedroom where he shared a thought about the plot, or complained about kissing scenes, which I found was a great addition to an already amazing story.

Some movies I remember that use a similar plot to The Princess Bride are The Neverending Story, which has a similar type of quest through a magical land and several characters that are in similar roles to those of The Princess Bride; Maleficent, with a princess kept from her true love; and honestly any other fairy tale, especially if there’s a quest or adventure aspect. The woods are always dangerous, true love conquers all, etc. Clichés like that are all echoed in The Princess Bride.

Personally, I really liked the humor woven throughout the movie. First of all, the sick boy (he’s never named) had some really funny insights, where he complained about unfairness, or how kissing was gross, or when he finally accepted the kissing scenes. He served as an audience, same as the viewers, and he commented on what a lot of people often would be thinking: Buttercup should end up with Westley, and it’s not fair otherwise, and other comments like that.

Second of all, the cocky brainiac – Vizzini, played by Wallace Shawn – was constantly exclaiming how “Inconceivable!” everything that happened was. He thought he was the smartest, but he was really rather stupid, which made him a really good character for comic relief in the beginning. 

Next, Westley was sarcastic and turned lots of things into little jokes. He was honestly my favorite character with his wits and skills that he was oddly humble about. Cary Elwes did this part very well and really portrayed Westley’s humble arrogance through not only the words he was scripted but his tone and body language.

I’m going to be perfectly honest, I really hated Humperdinck. Played by Chris Sarandon, he seemed to me like the epitome of evil in a regular human being by choosing to separate two people in love and wanting to start a war. He was annoying and dumb, and very demanding. He always expected things to go his way as a prince and heir to the throne, and he really just made me angry at every scene I saw him in. But I have no doubt that this was intentional by Reiner, as it’s obvious the sick boy hated Humperdinck, too.

Humperdinck reminded me a lot of Lord Farquaad, who also didn’t care about anyone but himself and thought that he was the center of the world. Farquaad was likely modelled off of our pompous prince to be put in Shrek – their characters are nearly identical.

With all of this in mind, I think that everyone should watch The Princess Bride. Having finally seen it myself, I now better understand all of the Inigo Montoya references I’ve heard. For one, my friend made a joke a few years ago, quoting Inigo, and I had no idea what she was talking about but I just went along with it. 

Another reference is the “Inconceivable!” exclamation – my mom has done that quite a few times, and I never understood it until I watched this movie. I get to finally stop getting flamed by my friends for not watching it, too. It’s an incredible movie with good acting, a great plot, and amazing characters. It is truly a classic in the world of film.