The Princess Bride is a very well-known classic film, so it’s rather surprising that I had not seen it all the way through before this March. I had watched the second half of it when I was 12 or so with some friends, but I was only really partially invested in the movie, and far more invested in painting my friend’s nails. For these reasons, just about the only things I remembered from this movie were the torture scenes. My mother, however, holds this film in high regard, so I decided that I should give it a second chance as a 17-year-old because I really wanted to understand the hype. After having now seen The Princess Bride all the way through and having been elated nearly the whole time, I have come to the conclusion that this movie is perfect and everyone should watch it.
The Princess Bride could best be described as a fantasy romantic-comedy. It takes place in a vaguely medieval-inspired setting. All of the characters wear somewhat historical European-inspired clothing and sport somewhat historical European-style accents while they storm -if you can believe it- a somewhat historical European-inspired castle. This added to the odd torture methods, rolling green hills and fields, and dark forests filled with threats really sells the fantasy aspect. Pretty much all of the sets in The Princess Bride look very much like what they are: sets constructed for a movie. Say what you will about this, but for me this adds heavily to the charm of this movie as well as its very storybook feel. As far as the romantic comedy parts go, they are perhaps some of the most well-done I’ve seen.
Starting with the romance, I have zero complaints, and since I’m a bit of a fiend for romance media, as almost anyone I know will tell you, I like to think that I’m at least somewhat qualified to discuss this topic. Wesley and Buttercup are set up really early on as in love and in a relationship, so the film doesn’t explore them getting together, but rather it explores them finding each other again after Buttercup falsely believed that Wesley was dead. I, personally, am a huge fan of stories that don’t make me wait for some kind of romantic realization slow-burn and would much rather see two people in love being in love. This film fulfills that perfectly. Every time Wesley and Buttercup are together it is immediately clear that they are very deeply in love; their chemistry is phenomenal. They defend each other, wait for each other when they are separated and are clearly overjoyed when they are reunited at various points in the film. The romance element is certainly not hurt by the fact that the actors who play both Wesley and Buttercup are swoon-worthy levels of gorgeous and have very pretty voices (as do some other members of the cast) that I’m sure would be really good at reading audiobooks (I really do believe that around half of this cast could really excel in jobs at audible). Wesley and Buttercup as romantic leads are beyond perfect and set a standard for relationships that I’m sure I will never be able to reach.
In terms of its comedy, this film is delightfully weird and funny in a really unique way I don’t see much. Just the fact that this film contains the ROUS (rodents of unusual size) as one of the most major threats is really unique and weird in a way that I really enjoy in my comedy. The comedy as a whole is quite well done and has led to a myriad of oft-quoted lines that are well-deserving of their status in society, including but not limited to “inconceivable!,” “my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die,” and – my mom’s personal favorite – “have fun storming the castle.” This movie made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions, and that is certainly not an achievement to be taken lightly. In a world where rom-com sometimes means romance with the occasional awkward meet-cute, the fact that The Princess Bride has such well-developed comedy, which is ever-present through the film, is really delightful and refreshing.
The swordfighting and other forms of combat displayed in this film are always adding well to the romance, the comedy, or both and, honestly, it’s really well done. It also adds well to the fantasy aspect of the film. The swordfight between Wesley and Inigo, in particular, is iconic, and I truly have absolutely zero notes. It’s energetic, at times silly, creative, swoon-worthy and just very fun to watch in the way any good sword fight really should be
I truly believe that everyone should see The Princess Bride because swordfighting, romance, inconceivable humor, betrayal, revenge, and castle-storming have combined to make this film a very well-earned 10/10.
